A Link to the Past

[I am nobody]

I first played this when I was 7. Not surprisingly, I was terrible, not being able to beat it for several years. When I did, the final screen rolled to reveal... 236 deaths. Link was evidently almost 26 cats, but I still had a great time playing this game. Why? That probably had something to do with the great dungeon design. Every dungeon felt different, and the bosses were all fun and challenging. Then we come to the items. Despite being 2D, it had items more fun to use than any other game in the series, except TP. Next come the characters. There were quite a few of these, ranging from a sword smith turned into a toad, to an ex-criminal with a nack for lock breaking. Finally, we come to the incredible soundtrack. The staff credits music was the best, although Kakariko and Death Mountain are a close second. Now, add FS, which comes with the GBA port, and you get a game that can compete with anything else in the series, and is still far better than many games today.

I listed just about everything I liked above, so I'll just for what I didn't like:

Didn't Like:
The fortune tellers.

And... That's it. My only complaint.

The only reason that I have to put this game at 3rd in the series is because of something the developers had no way of preventing. The 3D games, TP and WW specifically, have the capability to have more interesting bosses, and as a result, barely edge aLttP.

[X-3]

Trinexx was kickass, as was the Ganon fight. It was actually HARD. I needed fairies and potions.

I wuv LttP.

[Ace Mercury]

I remember playing that game. The Light/Dark world shifting is win.

[Mikhail Gorbachev]

I'm probably getting killed for saying this, but:
I never liked LttP that much for some reason. I didn't have an SNES as a kid, and my first experience with LoZ was with the handhelds. Now, maybe it's just that I came into LttP expecting way too much, but it came across as very, very average to me. Archetypical Zelda plot, no interesting/memorable characters, and I found light/dark shifting a bit less fun than age-shifting and season-shifting. Fighting Ganon was one of the few things I really liked about this.

[Erdawn Il Deus]

The LttP Dark World outweighs every other Zelda in terms of the macabre - even ooT's Haunted Future Hyrule. Seriously - roiling overcast landscapes of clouds, twisted, Escherean geography, and dark monuments like the Pyramid of Power and the Tower of Ganon. And the items - I still maintain that LttP Link in a fictional fight could destroy any other Link hands down - which is why I challenged Wyborn. The fool fails to asnwer me, alas.

[Cravdraa]

Originally Posted by Mikhail Gorbachev

I'm probably getting killed for saying this, but:
I never liked LttP that much for some reason. I didn't have an SNES as a kid, and my first experience with LoZ was with the handhelds. Now, maybe it's just that I came into LttP expecting way too much, but it came across as very, very average to me. Archetypical Zelda plot, no interesting/memorable characters, and I found light/dark shifting a bit less fun than age-shifting and season-shifting. Fighting Ganon was one of the few things I really liked about this.

Many people that played it after the later games come away with that feeling. I'm going to pick this post apart just because it's a good example, not because I'm taking any actual issue with it.

The first thing you have to realize going into playing LttP is that it was the first of it's kind in many ways. Look closely at LOZ and then LttP. Now realize that they jumped straight from one to other.

LttP was the first game in the series to let you pick up pots and rocks, and cut grass and bushes.
It was the first to use the now stale formula of collecting three things to get the mastersword. It was the first to have sword play in any form similar to the newer games.
It introduced the spin attack.
It was the first game to have an actual developing plot, simple as it was. There was no "Archetypical Zelda plot" before LttP.
It was the first game to actually have characters, unless you count error from AoL.
It was the first to have large, dynamic bosses. It was the first to introduce many now standard items, like empty bottles, and the hookshot.
It was the first game to have actual puzzles in the dungeons, beyond "bomb this wall" and "push this block." It was the first game in the series to have switches, and master keys. The first to have torches.
It was the first to have any sort of mini-games in it.
Try to wrap your head around this one: It was the first game (ever, to my knowledge) to use the whole light/dark world thing. That was actually a fresh idea back then.

I could probably keep listing stuff for over an hour.

The point is that it may seem average by today's standards, but that's only because it basicly introduced almost everything that makes a Zelda game a Zelda game, and every game since then has borrowed almost everything from it. It only seems like the standard, because it became the standard that every game in the series since then has built upon.

The jump between OoT and LttP, gameplay wise, is absolutely tiny compared to the jump between LttP and LoZ.

If you want to really give the game it's due, play through it and just try to absorb the huge amount of things it's given us.

[Mikhail Gorbachev]

The point is that it may seem average by today's standards, but that's only because it basicly introduced almost everything that makes a Zelda game a Zelda game, and every game since then has borrowed almost everything from it. It only seems like the standard, because it became the standard that every game in the series since then has built upon.

Heh, I know. I'm sure I would've loved it if I played it first, and I would probably then be picking apart OoA and OoS, which had their own major flaws. I'd probably be saying they were too unoriginal or something.
My post was really less of a 'LttP wasn't fresh or new at all' and more of a 'LttP wasn't fresh or new for me.' I'm aware LttP brought a lot to the table, but I can't be amazed by its originality if I've seen it all before. I'm sure someone who's never seen a tree before would be amazed at it while I don't even look at it. It's a tree. Maybe if it was a SUPER ORIGINAL tree, but usually I don't even think about trees when I walk by them. (god, this metaphor sucks)

If you want to really give the game it's due, play through it and just try to absorb the huge amount of things it's given us.

Alright, you've convinced me, I'll play through it again when I get the chance. Not sure how I'd be more impressed by it this time around though.

[Crazyswordsman]

Best Zelda game ever made. Period.

You didn't like the Fortune Tellers? Bwahahaha! Only the True Hero can jump into the well near Smithy's Shop! Bwahahaha! -CSM

[Microphone_Kirby]

Ahhhh... A Link to the Past. Great Game.
This may sound silly, but I never thought that I could put a Fairy in a bottle in this game until now... :/

[Crazyswordsman]

Uh....there must be a heart in the bottle. -CSM

[Cravdraa]

Originally Posted by Mikhail Gorbachev

Heh, I know. I'm sure I would've loved it if I played it first, and I would probably then be picking apart OoA and OoS, which had their own major flaws. I'd probably be saying they were too unoriginal or something.
My post was really less of a 'LttP wasn't fresh or new at all' and more of a 'LttP wasn't fresh or new for me.' I'm aware LttP brought a lot to the table, but I can't be amazed by its originality if I've seen it all before. I'm sure someone who's never seen a tree before would be amazed at it while I don't even look at it. It's a tree. Maybe if it was a SUPER ORIGINAL tree, but usually I don't even think about trees when I walk by them. (god, this metaphor sucks)


Alright, you've convinced me, I'll play through it again when I get the chance. Not sure how I'd be more impressed by it this time around though.

Wasn't trying to argue with you or anything, just using your post as an example. But if you really want to see the contrast, try playing LoZ first and then playing LttP immediately afterward.

On that note, isn't it interesting that LoZ doesn't suffer from this problem? In my experiance at least, people just tend to accept it for what it is and enjoy it anyway. Why do you think LttP gets compared so much more harshly to the newer games?

[Marilink]

LttP was a great game, and the first Zelda I ever played/beat. I love it to death, but I still like other games in the series more.

[Blake]

I need to beat this game! This game has so many freaking upgrades its ridiculous. I hate how the never games only use the rupee bag, bombs, arrow, sword, and shield upgrades, cause all you're left with is basically either rupees or pieces of heart.

I wish I was unaware of the spoilers(not anyone's fault, I knew this a long time ago)

After TP minimum item quest I should do this.

[I am nobody]

I hated the Fotune Tellers because I thought that the statue guy was bad. I didn't realize it halved magic use, not magic total and thought that the Fortune Tellers wanted to make the game harder.

[Cosmonautical]

Part of the LttP experience is the player's guide made by Nintendo. It's seriously integral, because the art and backstory take on their own life.

IMO the best console Zelda to date. As Crav pointed out, everything else is basically a LttP copycat in some form or another. I was so into this game that the concept of having a horse in Ocarina pissed me off, when I heard about it. It seemed like a crime that you wouldn't trudge across a vast wilderness on foot. I felt that way until I saw Hyrule field, which was as boring as it was barren. I would have put a horse in, too, if I'd programmed that sorry excuse for Hyrule overworld. Haha, here's to getting off-topic and taking shots at Ocarina.

LttP was easily my favorite Zelda. It was the least convoluted of the 2D Zeldas made since then, with a general openness in exploration that all recent Zelda games lack entirely.

[Crazyswordsman]

I read the Player's Guide. That was interesting to see all the pages about Hyrulean life. -CSM

[I am nobody]

I was cheap and looked at the guide whenever I saw it, but never botherd to buy it.

[Daos]

Link to the Past is still my favorite Zelda game to date partly because it introduced so many things to the Zelda universe that are common place now, some that even Crav did not mention.
Magic Meter
Heart Pieces
Master Sword
Ganondorf
Kakiriko Villiage
Cuccoos

Just to name a few.

The PROBLEM is previous games have not really strayed too far from that. I love the 3-D games don't get me wrong but they rehash so many things anymore.

[Ace Mercury]

Well, if you add new and more things, fans are going to complain that it strays from the "magic formula" adding more kruft and garbage. If you keep things the same, fans are going to complain that it's the same old crap over again. As a game designer, it's hard to make sequels. =\

[Wyborn]

Love LttP. Replaying it, actually.

....I'm still making a "Let's Talk About" topic somewhere down the road.