After three weeks of arguing about whether Chrono Trigger or Earthbound deserved higher placement; debating whether Street Fighter II was/is worthy of a top ten spot; and going back and forth about Donkey Kong Country until it threatened to become ad hominem – we actually reached a consensus on something.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is the third-best game on the SNES and not one member of the NPC crew argued about this placement. Carl began to question if something was wrong with the team. Joe mentioned we might be suffering from group think. Tim thought we had all lost our capacity for critical analysis. Sam felt we were all probably having strokes simultaneously. John had the brilliant idea to table this discussion until we fought about something else and revisit it to see if we still had our edge. But we did not do that. What we did was replay the game individually for this ranking and each of us came to the same conclusion:
A Link to the Past is that good.
Why We Agree A Link to the Past Is So Good
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: November 1991
A Link to the Past refined every aspect of the original NES Zelda formula (exploration, dungeon crawling, gradual empowerment) and elevated them to near perfection. The open world feels larger than it probably is. The dungeons are robust puzzle boxes. The Light/Dark mechanic opened up a hidden version of Hyrule that both complements and mirrors your journey.
You control Link who is awoken from sleep by Princess Zelda’s telepathic plea for help. Evil wizard Agahnim has taken over Hyrule Castle and is kidnapping children (descendants of the seven sages who helped Link in the first game) to break the seal on the Dark World. Soon you learn you are not just rescuing kids but preventing Ganon from conquering both the Light and Dark Worlds.
Nothing about the game is handed to you. While the Dark World hints where to go next, the overworld does not babysit you. Your map will mark where you have been, but it takes careful observation to find secrets. There are treasures hidden all over the place but also tucked away behind coy illusions. Only by throwing bombs will you know if there is a secret cave behind that rock.
Same goes for puzzles. You won’t know there is a chest hidden in that block until you pull out your power glove and use it. This extends into just about every facet of the game. Every answer is not explicitly spelled out for you. Nintendo established good combat and dungeon design tutorials, but it’s up to you to experiment and learn.
Dark Worlds clever design makes you think. Once you gain access to the Dark World near the beginning of the game, you are presented with an inverted version of Hyrule where almost everything is reversed. Items and landmarks will have their counterpart in the opposite world. Big areas in one world might be small in the other. It constantly challenges you to recognise these patterns.
Need to cross a wide canyon with a small gap? Find that gap in the Dark/Light World and it may be a large hole you can jump across. Want to find a chest? Search the opposite world; it’s probably there. Every puzzle you solve will have an alternate solution in the other world.
Let’s dig deeper into some standout aspects of the game.
Dungeon Design – Teaching you how to learn dungeons
The dungeons in A Link to the Past are some of the best ever designed. Each dungeon is themed around a certain tool/item and teaches you how to use that tool while challenging you to solve puzzles within that space.
Eastern Palace teaches you the basics. Simple puzzles that revolve around switches. Combat. How to use your bow (your first big item). By the time you reach Turtle Rock towards the end of the game, you are solving complex puzzles with multiple floors, moving platforms, and challenging enemy placement that require you to master all of your acquired items.
Ice Palace feels like a true test of everything you learned. With its multiple floors and puzzles that utilize ice sliding mechanics. Misery Mire with its teleportation room puzzle. Skull Woods and its fractured layout spanning several buildings. Every dungeon teaches you something new and builds off of principles you learned in previous dungeons. Dungeons even get harder as you play them causing you to learn how to learn.
Bosses – Actual bosses that require skill
Each boss challenges you to use the tool you learned in the dungeon you just completed. Moldorm requires precise positioning so you don’t roll off the platform. Blind makes you track an invisible enemy. Mothula has you dodge his fireballs while avoiding falling into bottomless pits. The final boss in Turtle Rock is a feat of memory as you need to remember where to stand when to utilize both your fire and ice rods to expose weak spots.
Explore the World – There is always something to find
Zelda’s Hyrule feels alive with secrets. Hidden heart pieces under rocks, behind trees, in caves tucked away in the outskirts of the map. Caves that can only be accessed with bombs. Bushes that hide secret entrances. Fairy fountain locations strewn about both worlds.
The game doesn’t give you anything. Sure your map will help you navigate the terrain, but you’ll need to scour the environment to find secrets. See a fissure in the ground? Throw a bomb. Circle of bushes? Cut them down and there will be hole underneath. Oddly placed rock? Must be something, grab your power glove and lift it.
This theme of “rewarding exploration” flows through every inch of the game. It trusts you are smart enough to hide things semi-obviously and let you discover them on your own. No arrows on your map showing where to go next. No quest markers guiding you around each dungeon. Simple level design that encourages you to explore.
Which works in tandem with the Dark World. Exploring the Light World only becomes half of your tasks once you gain access to the Dark World. Suddenly that inconsequential hole you saw in the Light World is a big area with goodies inside in the Dark World. The witch’s hut becomes the magic shop. The fortune teller is now the cursed village. Moving around Hyrule will have you jumping between both worlds at all times.
Combat – Weighty
Link’s movement and combat are the gold standard for every 2D Zelda game that would come afterwards. The sword actually feels like it has heft and weight to it. The slash is longer than normal. Your spin attack (input by holding your sword button to charge up) will do massive damage, but only if you time it right. Each item you acquire allows you to approach enemies in different ways.
Long range attacks with your bow. Area damage with bombs. Pulling enemies in close or stunning them with your hookshot. Freezing enemies with the ice rod. Setting them on fire with the fire rod to inflict status damage. You never feel like you’re just recklessly hacking away at enemies; you are constantly deciding which tool is right for the job.
Enemies also do a great job of keeping combat feeling fresh. Basic soldier and spear chucking enemies at the beginning of the game that teach you enemy attack patterns and movement. Later enemies like the Wizzrobe who can teleport and is invisible until he attacks; the Like Like who steals your shield; and the violent charging Lynel who require you to approach each battle differently.
The progression of new weapons feels earned as well. You start with a wooden sword. Upgrade it to the Master Sword after completing the first three dungeons. You can even upgrade the strength of the Master Sword by tempering it later on. When you finally defeat the game, your Master Sword will feel legendary because you earned every upgrade along the way.
Music – Greatness
Soundtracked by Nintendo legend Koji Kondo, the music in A Link to the Past is fantastic. The overworld theme might be the most recognizable video game song of all-time. The Dark World’s theme uses many of the same motifs you here in the Light World, but tweaks them just enough to create an unsettling tone. Each dungeon has a fitting musical theme that matches the personality of the dungeon.
The musical theme you hear as you enter each dungeon sounds adventurous and curious. Profound Mystery has a dark and immediate feeling to it. Ganon’s Tower is epic and sinister. The final musical theme that plays as you battle Ganon increases in intensity as you destroy each of his phases.
Sound Effects – Helpful
But it wasn’t just the music. Sound effects also play a huge role in guiding you through the game. The twinkly jingle you here when you solve a puzzle. The triumphant fanfare you hear when you acquire a new item. The irritating beeps you here when your health gets low. Everything is used in conjunction with the music.
Why We Agree
Typically our rankings turn into giant debates of everyone talking over each other. Joe spends most of the time going on about how Sega is better. Sam has unnecessarily high standards that he uses to bash every game. Tim is a newcomer and constantly challenges our “delusions of nostalgia”. John will spend an excessive amount of time going on about how British computer gaming was better. Carl mostly just nods along, trying to get the others to listen to each other.
But not for Link to the Past. Every single one of us not only agrees it is the best Zelda game on the SNES, but it is also probably one of the best games of all-time. For every member of the crew, there was a different reason we all loved it.
Joe said it was “damned annoyingly perfect”, reinforcing his Sega argument. Tim cited “timeless design” as what stood out to him. Sam said the controls were “tight”, which is a huge deal for him to say. John started to make an argument about how Zeewolf on the Amiga was better, but stopped himself after replaying Link to the Past.
Carl didn’t even have to intervene on this one. SCARCITY OF CARL INTERVENTION.
Truth is Link to the Past simply does not have many flaws. Everything just works. Controls are tight. Difficulty is spot on. Dungeons are meticulously designed. Open world is packed with secrets. Linking two worlds together created a new sense of complexity and exploration. There are no dull moments in the game. Every item has a purpose. Game actually feels like it is progressing and teaching you.
It is literally game design at it’s finest. Nintendo had a vision of what they wanted to accomplish and executed on it to perfection. There are no compromises. No “it was good for its time” qualifiers. From start to finish A Link to the Past is perfectly polished.
Is it still fun today?
Oh yeah. This game came out in 1991 and still plays just as good as it did back then. Controls are tight. Graphic are sharp and easy to see. Game design is intuitive. Combat is fair. None of these elements feel outdated.
Modern day Zelda games like even Breath of the Wild took heavy inspiration from Link to the Past. Think about dungeon design, item gating exploration, balancing combat with puzzle solving, and rewarding players for exploring. BotW broke many of Zelda’s conventions, but pulled a majority of its DNA from this gem.
Gameboy Advance version added multiplayer and voice acting? Who cares about both. The original SNES version is perfect as it is. Playable on Switch Online, easily emulated, and available for purchase on nearly every Nintendo console.
There is no excuse not to play this if you haven’t already.
Why We Don’t Have It Higher
Two games. Those are the only reasons why A Link to the Past doesn’t rank higher on our list. Chrono Trigger told a breathtaking story with the then revolutionary concept of time traveling. Super Metroid created a oppressive and foreboding atmosphere unequaled by many games before or since.
Both of these games simply did something new. Everything else on the SNES we’ve seen replicated in modern games to a better standard. A Link To The Past is the SNES game we have referenced the most when discussing game design.
It perfected the genres that it belonged in.
Overall Verdict from our Entire Team
As you can see, we pretty much disagree on everything. Joe thinks Sega is better. Tim questions our memories. Sam is a jerk with high standards. John is British. Carl actually contributes useful commentary about once per season.
We can all agree that The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is a masterpiece. It’s one of those rare games that will stand the test of time due to fantastic game design that felt ahead of its time in 1991 and still does today. From its tight controls, clever dungeons, fun exploration, and cohesive game flow. A Link to the Past is a near flawless game you should play.
Unanimous Decision: 10/10 – 2D Zelda at its Best
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