The SNES was filled with soft reboots of iconic Nintendo franchises that debuted on the NES. In the case of the system's launch title, Super Mario World, the game held the essence of the first three Mario titles, but the nature of Mario was fundamentally enhanced. The graphics of Mario were given a glossier sheen with tighter enhancements to the familiar gameplay. These improvements proved substantial and made the NES titles look incredibly rudimentary with just one successive generation. This evolution was easy for Mario because Nintendo chose to expand upon the first game's gameplay before the launch of the new console with Super Mario Bros. 3. The refined nature of Super Mario World was a pleasant improvement, but it did not come as a surprise. On the other hand, fans of The Legend of Zelda didn't know what to anticipate from a next-generation Zelda game.
It's a wonder if people felt as disenfranchised with Zelda II back in the 1980s as they seem to be now. It was a sequel that radically deviated from the first game's foundation. It wasn't "breaking the mold" of the franchise quite yet because the mold of a Zelda game hadn't settled quite yet. Zelda II continued the first game's story, but every other aspect seemed incredibly unfamiliar to everyone who played the first game. The shift to a side-scroller was an acquired taste, and so was the excruciating difficulty level. While I appreciate Zelda II more than others, continuing the franchise with Zelda II as their muse would prove complicated. The cracks of Zelda II were more than just unrefined. Zelda II's infuriatingly inaccessible, cryptic habits were the pinnacle of the unsavory design aspects of the NES era. Translating the design of Zelda II would take more than improving the graphics and gameplay with superior hardware; it would take a total overhaul of the entire game. Some players welcomed this new direction to the franchise while others nervously sweated at the notion of this game setting the course for every future game. Nintendo decided that adapting the makeup of the first Zelda title proved to be a more straightforward and more sensible solution. The latter's worries were relieved with the next-generation follow-up to Zelda II: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. With just one more entry, the new conventions established by Zelda II were blown to the wayside. Instead, A Link to the Past built upon the foundation the first game put in place, aided by the advantages of next-generation hardware. If the first Zelda game was a rough template for the series to work upon, A Link to the Past is the unlocked potential of the first game.
There were plenty of ambitious and admirable qualities in the first Zelda title to expand on in A Link to the Past. The unprecedented open world that the first Zelda game presented was groundbreaking, but the primitive hardware of the NES marred its intended expansiveness. Implementing this splotchy, 8-bit world was a commendable effort, but traversing through it block-by-block on a grid system felt counterintuitive to the intended effect of the open-world design. The open-world in A Link to the Past doesn't entirely fix the awkwardness of the first game, but the improvements are readily apparent. The blocks of land that divided Hyrule in the first game were the same size, symmetrically composed with rectangular spaces of the same relative size. Traversal in A Link to the Past causes the map to shift in the same manner as the first game, but the area in one unit of land is far more spacious. The camera moves with the classic top-down perspective and shifts logically by dividing the map. This perspective makes room for structures like fortresses and castles, which now have an intimidating stature, unlike the dungeons in the first game. This spatial adjustment also extends to settlements like Kakariko Town, something the first game desperately needed to make Hyrule feel more lively. It all aids in the expansiveness of Hyrule. However, shifting between parts of the area, like in the first game, is still jarring. Refining the map's structure here isn't perfect, but it's a less restricted step in the right direction.
Hyrule's geography has shifted back to the layout of the first game. Death Mountain towers on the peak of the land in the north, and Lake Hylia sits in the southeast. The various green shrubberies and the dry, depleted-looking desert areas are located in between. The primitive graphics of the first game made these topographical areas discernible through a simple color scheme and a bit of the player's imagination. Still, the 16-bit outlines make them lucidly visible. Green grass is planted everywhere without blending in with Link's tunic; the trees have trunks, and the terrain of Death Mountain is rocky and steep. It's precisely what the developers at Nintendo wanted this magical kingdom to look like. The rudimentary look of the first game that made traversal and secrets somewhat cryptic is alleviated with the graphical overhaul. Now the player can see the cracks in the walls that indicate it can be exposed by planting a bomb there. As far as retaining that feeling Miyamoto used to get when he would explore the woods as a child, that endearing effect is somewhat lost here. The attention to detail regarding the geography of Hyrule and the settlements sort of compromises the magic of imagination. I doubt that there were colossal towers and castles in Miyamoto's backyard. The initial impetus for the Zelda series is gone, but only due to positive evolution. The first game was how it felt for Miyamoto to adventure outdoors, but A Link to the Past is the full vision of Miyamoto's imagination while adventuring.
The developers also unlocked the full potential of what Link intends to play like. The courageous, green elfin scamp controls have been polished with the same attention and care as the world of Hyrule. For one, Link looks more like a person and less like a globular mess of pixels meant to resemble a human being. Link has a relatively expressive face, with his eyes widening whenever he gets hit. More importantly, the smoother traversal rate compliments Link's new range of movement. Link's sword swings emulate more natural-looking swiping motions instead of erecting a tiny, brown pixel that does not even resemble a sword. Link's sword swipes are so fluid here that charging up a swipe allows him to swing the blade in a circular motion, damaging all enemies in his vicinity. This fluidity also translates to his general movement as Link moves smoothly across the map frames with a charge move he can build up for ramming speed. At full health, Link retains his projectile ability with his sword, but this move has advanced to the point where Link's sword spurts circular beams of magic that annihilate foes. Link feels far more capable than before, and all of the extra abilities are simply a case of the developers flaunting the new freedoms of movement.
Link is much more capable this time around because of the extensive arsenal A Link to the Past provides. The various items of the first Zelda game merely represented the essential fantasy tools made familiar across all fantasy lore. Link's sword, shield, bombs, and arrows were enough to defeat Ganon in the first game, but A Link to the Past is a more arduous venture. All of the items mentioned above make a return but are much more advanced than in the first game. The most powerful sword in the first Zelda title was the enigmatic master sword, which stands as a series symbol. Uncovering the master sword in A Link to the Past is a seminal moment in the game, but the player might have difficulty dealing with the challenges after a certain point in the game if they insist on using it. Link's sword can upgrade past this to the crimson tempered blade and the glorious golden sword to dice enemies into a paste. The shield can be upgraded further to a mirror shield that reflects most projectiles, plus the maximum number of bombs and arrows can increase to unprecedented sizes. New items like the Hookshot and the magic hammer are tools that further accentuate Link's new smooth range of movement and can also be used as long-range weapons to substitute the arrows and the boomerang. Link can even huck pots and other miscellaneous items at enemies in a pinch. A bigger Zelda adventure like this one couldn't have been confined to the simple aparati that the first game presented, so all of these new and refined ways to play The Legend of Zelda.
One aspect A Link to the Past borrows from its now bygone older brother Zelda II is a magic meter. In Zelda II, special abilities like rejuvenating health and jumping higher were selected in a menu. Using them costs a certain amount of a white meter displayed above the screen. A Link to the Past translates this much more smoothly with a green magic meter shown at the top left of the screen. Instead of being used for special abilities, magic in A Link to the Past is used for many new items. The Cane of Byrna creates a shield around Link that makes him invulnerable, and the Cane of Somaria generates blocks that can be pushed onto switches. The fire and ice rods shoot magic of each element, the magic cape makes Link invincible and invisible, and the bag of magic powder turns hostile enemies into more pleasant beings like fairies. The three medallions create a ripple of magic that obliterates the enemies on screen. The candle from the first game has even shifted to being powered by the magic meter. Naturally, all of these items drain the magic meter like nobody's business, but there are refill items of varying quantities all over. The magic meter is a sensible system that works with the franchise A Link to the Past's evolution. It's more practical than limiting the player to one-time use of a magic item like the candle per area.
These advancements to the Zelda foundation warrant a better sense of accessibility, something that the first Zelda game lacked, along with most other NES titles. For one, the player is granted the vast majority of their health instead of the measly three hearts the first game gives the player upon dying. Before that happens, the player is given plenty of resources to prevent it. Potions are purchased in the overworld in a few shacks that fully restore health, magic, or both in a blue concoction. The player keeps these potions in jars found in the overworld. The potions can be pricey, but another option is to keep the player from dying. In the first game, fairies were a relatively rare health item that would sprout up out of enemies on occasion. Their occurrences were random and tended to swindle the player if they found one while having most of their health. Fairy fountains could be visited for a more deliberate way to restore health, but only a few of these were on the map. Traveling to one of these on the map tended to be rather inconvenient. Not only are fairies more common in A Link to the Past, but the player can use a net to capture one and put it in a jar for later use. Having one in one's inventory can automatically revive the player as well.
A better emphasis on accessibility is not a detriment to A Link to the Past that, makes for a more shallow experience. The scope of A Link to the Past is a hundred times greater than that of the first Zelda game, and the developers had to provide thusly. The story is the grandest aspect of A Link to the Past compared to the first game that necessitates all of these additions. It's essentially the same tale of Link defeating Ganon, but a more fleshed-out version of it with more context that makes it all the more magnificent.
A Link to the Past takes place before the first game and Zelda II, making this game a prequel. Yes, A Link to the Past is the first Zelda game to truly ignite the intricate "Zelda timeline," which is so convoluted that I completely ignore it across all Zelda games to save myself the migraine, but I digress. During a hectic rainstorm, Link is awakened at night by a telepathic message from Zelda signaling that she is in danger. Link's uncle saves the princess and commands Link to stay safe in bed. Link disobeys his uncle's wishes and follows him to the fortress in the center of Hyrule. Link encounters his uncle dying and takes his sword and shield, continuing his quest to save the princess. Link leads Zelda to a sanctuary where a priest protects her. The priest informs Link that the evil wizard Agahnim has taken over Hyrule and plans to use Zelda to break a seal that keeps Ganon in "the dark world." The priest instructs Link to find the master sword in the Lost Woods to defeat Agahnim and save Hyrule from succumbing to Ganon's darkness.
Before Link can obtain the master sword, he must find the three magic pendants found in three different dungeons across Hyrule. Like everything else in A Link to the Past, the dungeons have been significantly enriched, and the three dungeons in the light world are perfect for displaying the evolution of the Zelda dungeon. Like the first game, the dungeons can be accessed in any order with a suggested order that most players adhere to. Unlike the dungeons in the first game, these three are marked by their color amulets on the map, eliminating the hassle of finding them. Except for the final dungeon, the dungeons in the first Zelda game were reasonably straightforward. The player would be given two paths that would lead to either an item or the boss, and the player would have to trek back from either path to get to the other one. Getting through these dungeons involves the same objective of solving puzzles and defeating enemies to obtain keys that will unlock the boss, but the means of traversal have changed. The best word to describe the overall design of the dungeons in A Link to the Past, especially compared to the dungeons of the first game, is layered. The dungeons in A Link to the Past have a more intricate design that experiments with navigating the number of floors in each of them. The central foyer of many dungeons will give the player a visual idea of its massive layout, with the immaculate architecture that spans throughout. Describing these buildings as "dungeons" almost seems inappropriate because the word dungeon signifies dinginess and a dank atmosphere. They no longer have the cavernous aura that the dungeons in the first game exude. These capacious architectures are more fitting as palaces with their towering composition, and many of these places are given this moniker by the game. Link climbs several flights of stairs across each of these palaces and falls through pits in the floor to a lower level, another way to highlight how immense these structures are. Progression through these palaces is also more elaborate. Keys would appear in the dungeons of the first game to open various doors to get to the end goal eventually, but A Link to the Past presents a "big key" with horns and higher importance. This key is used to unlock the chest containing that palace's item/weapon and the door that leads to the boss. The player will often find the big chest or the boss door far before they find the big key, so the temple will show them in a myriad of directions that accentuates the complex design of the palaces.
After obtaining the three amulets, a battle with Agahnim occurs on the top of the fortress. Upon his defeat, Agahnim sends Zelda to the dark world, and Link follows after her. The player will already be familiar with this realm from traveling to the Tower of Hera. Link will uncover a weird portal that warps him to a shadowy land where he is rendered a pink, defenseless rabbit, a supposed reflection of Link's inner being. Now that the player has the moon pearl, Link can navigate through the dark world without transforming, starting at the top of the pyramid at the center of it. The dark world is a warped Bizzaro reflection of Hyrule, supposedly a grim foreshadowing of Ganon's influence if he breaks free from this realm. The familiar knights have been turned into armored swine, rocks are now skulls, the trees of the lost woods look like something from H.R. Giger, and there is a constant atmosphere of chaos and decay. It's Hyrule from the perspective of someone having a bad trip on magic mushrooms. The dark world has an exciting aesthetic, but it's the turning point where the cracks in this game start to show.
For one, the pivotal moment where Link arrives at the dark world is a significant spike in difficulty. Acquiring the master sword will increase the player's damage output, but this improvement will only be felt in combat by the player only while in the Hyrule Castle Tower. All enemies in the dark world take several hits to defeat and cause a hefty amount of damage to Link, a noticeable change from battling the enemies in the light world. If the player ever had trouble with a specific section in the first game, they could quickly obtain upgrades for their sword, shield, etc. Any experienced player who knew the locations of the heart containers could procure the master sword by the third dungeon. This flexibility is not the same for A Link to the Past, as roadblocks are locked by certain items and weapons in the palaces. The western side of the dark world can't be traveled to unless the player has the magic hammer, the tempered sword can't be unlocked until after the fourth dungeon, and the next armor upgrade is in the depths of the fifth palace locked by a big key. This restrained progression goes against the free-flowing ways of the first game and slightly discourages exploration. It's also inconvenient traveling to and from both worlds due to the mirror only being an exit from the dark world. Finding a specific place on the map to enter the dark world again is a vexing excursion.
In the dark world section, a Link to the Past also adopts a more languid pace. The task of rescuing the seven maidens is divided into a whopping seven palaces, and completing them one by one can get tiring. It doesn't help that the poor design of some of these palaces makes for a frustrating experience. Skull Woods attempts to design the palace in conjunction with Lost Woods overworld, an ambitious hybrid that falls completely flat. Using the keys of this dungeon is a waste because most of the dungeon can be passed by acquiring the key in the first room. The Ice Palace decides that being bombarded by enemies on slippery floors is an excellent method of challenge (it isn't) with a boss at the end who I'm convinced the player can't defeat without a full magic meter. Turtle Rock has a better overall design than the other palaces but is home to one of the most unfair sections in the entire franchise. The player must navigate a room designed with several swirling paths and manage to find the right way to both the switch and the exit door, all while avoiding two circular fire beams entirely in the dark. I used three fairies during this section and was beyond relieved when I overcame this fucking egregious section with pure luck on my side.
Unlike the palaces, a Link to the Past never compromises on its bosses. One of my biggest gripes regarding the first game was using bosses to pad the game. Bosses like Gohma and Dodongo were too simple to provide a substantial challenge. No matter the quality of the palace, the bosses across the entirety of A Link to the Past are varied, and the challenge never falters. The six Armos Knights hop around the arena with shields covering their front sides. The last of these knights turns red and tries to crush Link with his hulking mass. It's a relatively undemanding first boss that feels much more electric than Aquamentus, who requires that the player shoot a steady target while dodging frequently. Blind the Thief is the first cinematic boss in The Legend of Zelda as his princess mirage is exposed by sunlight after Link escorts him out of a cage. The Helmasaur King, my favorite boss in the game, is a giant, red reptilian whose armor needs to be broken off with that palace's item. It takes many hits to remove it, and each progressive chunk feels so satisfying to whittle away. The rubbery Moldorm may irk a few players, but I can still appreciate the boss's mechanics. The first game's lusterless final fight against Ganon is remedied here as Link climbs a colossal, sinuous tower to fight him in a duel that finally makes the dark king as imposing as his status. While I felt exhausted at the number of palaces in A Link to the Past, I yearned for more of these bombastic boss fights. Out of the improved aspects of the franchise that A Link to the Past makes, these fights are the most sizeable.
Any sequel on an advanced console should be objectively better than its predecessors on an inferior one in most regards. The core imperative of the SNES was to use the superior hardware to provide something they couldn't have done previously. In the case of Mario, translating the foundation of the series was arguably too easy because the foundation was already solidified. On the other hand, the Legend of Zelda managed to make something that surpassed the first game in spades during an identity crisis spurred by the previous game. A Link to the Past may be a bit bloated and more linear, but the significant improvements with the first game as its rough template are hard to argue against. It is essentially the first game, but bigger and better. A Link to the Past was the game that made the solid commitment to what a Zelda game is expected to be.
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Attribution: https://erockreviews.blogspot.com
It's a wonder if people felt as disenfranchised with Zelda II back in the 1980s as they seem to be now. It was a sequel that radically deviated from the first game's foundation. It wasn't "breaking the mold" of the franchise quite yet because the mold of a Zelda game hadn't settled quite yet. Zelda II continued the first game's story, but every other aspect seemed incredibly unfamiliar to everyone who played the first game. The shift to a side-scroller was an acquired taste, and so was the excruciating difficulty level. While I appreciate Zelda II more than others, continuing the franchise with Zelda II as their muse would prove complicated. The cracks of Zelda II were more than just unrefined. Zelda II's infuriatingly inaccessible, cryptic habits were the pinnacle of the unsavory design aspects of the NES era. Translating the design of Zelda II would take more than improving the graphics and gameplay with superior hardware; it would take a total overhaul of the entire game. Some players welcomed this new direction to the franchise while others nervously sweated at the notion of this game setting the course for every future game. Nintendo decided that adapting the makeup of the first Zelda title proved to be a more straightforward and more sensible solution. The latter's worries were relieved with the next-generation follow-up to Zelda II: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. With just one more entry, the new conventions established by Zelda II were blown to the wayside. Instead, A Link to the Past built upon the foundation the first game put in place, aided by the advantages of next-generation hardware. If the first Zelda game was a rough template for the series to work upon, A Link to the Past is the unlocked potential of the first game.
There were plenty of ambitious and admirable qualities in the first Zelda title to expand on in A Link to the Past. The unprecedented open world that the first Zelda game presented was groundbreaking, but the primitive hardware of the NES marred its intended expansiveness. Implementing this splotchy, 8-bit world was a commendable effort, but traversing through it block-by-block on a grid system felt counterintuitive to the intended effect of the open-world design. The open-world in A Link to the Past doesn't entirely fix the awkwardness of the first game, but the improvements are readily apparent. The blocks of land that divided Hyrule in the first game were the same size, symmetrically composed with rectangular spaces of the same relative size. Traversal in A Link to the Past causes the map to shift in the same manner as the first game, but the area in one unit of land is far more spacious. The camera moves with the classic top-down perspective and shifts logically by dividing the map. This perspective makes room for structures like fortresses and castles, which now have an intimidating stature, unlike the dungeons in the first game. This spatial adjustment also extends to settlements like Kakariko Town, something the first game desperately needed to make Hyrule feel more lively. It all aids in the expansiveness of Hyrule. However, shifting between parts of the area, like in the first game, is still jarring. Refining the map's structure here isn't perfect, but it's a less restricted step in the right direction.
Hyrule's geography has shifted back to the layout of the first game. Death Mountain towers on the peak of the land in the north, and Lake Hylia sits in the southeast. The various green shrubberies and the dry, depleted-looking desert areas are located in between. The primitive graphics of the first game made these topographical areas discernible through a simple color scheme and a bit of the player's imagination. Still, the 16-bit outlines make them lucidly visible. Green grass is planted everywhere without blending in with Link's tunic; the trees have trunks, and the terrain of Death Mountain is rocky and steep. It's precisely what the developers at Nintendo wanted this magical kingdom to look like. The rudimentary look of the first game that made traversal and secrets somewhat cryptic is alleviated with the graphical overhaul. Now the player can see the cracks in the walls that indicate it can be exposed by planting a bomb there. As far as retaining that feeling Miyamoto used to get when he would explore the woods as a child, that endearing effect is somewhat lost here. The attention to detail regarding the geography of Hyrule and the settlements sort of compromises the magic of imagination. I doubt that there were colossal towers and castles in Miyamoto's backyard. The initial impetus for the Zelda series is gone, but only due to positive evolution. The first game was how it felt for Miyamoto to adventure outdoors, but A Link to the Past is the full vision of Miyamoto's imagination while adventuring.
The developers also unlocked the full potential of what Link intends to play like. The courageous, green elfin scamp controls have been polished with the same attention and care as the world of Hyrule. For one, Link looks more like a person and less like a globular mess of pixels meant to resemble a human being. Link has a relatively expressive face, with his eyes widening whenever he gets hit. More importantly, the smoother traversal rate compliments Link's new range of movement. Link's sword swings emulate more natural-looking swiping motions instead of erecting a tiny, brown pixel that does not even resemble a sword. Link's sword swipes are so fluid here that charging up a swipe allows him to swing the blade in a circular motion, damaging all enemies in his vicinity. This fluidity also translates to his general movement as Link moves smoothly across the map frames with a charge move he can build up for ramming speed. At full health, Link retains his projectile ability with his sword, but this move has advanced to the point where Link's sword spurts circular beams of magic that annihilate foes. Link feels far more capable than before, and all of the extra abilities are simply a case of the developers flaunting the new freedoms of movement.
Link is much more capable this time around because of the extensive arsenal A Link to the Past provides. The various items of the first Zelda game merely represented the essential fantasy tools made familiar across all fantasy lore. Link's sword, shield, bombs, and arrows were enough to defeat Ganon in the first game, but A Link to the Past is a more arduous venture. All of the items mentioned above make a return but are much more advanced than in the first game. The most powerful sword in the first Zelda title was the enigmatic master sword, which stands as a series symbol. Uncovering the master sword in A Link to the Past is a seminal moment in the game, but the player might have difficulty dealing with the challenges after a certain point in the game if they insist on using it. Link's sword can upgrade past this to the crimson tempered blade and the glorious golden sword to dice enemies into a paste. The shield can be upgraded further to a mirror shield that reflects most projectiles, plus the maximum number of bombs and arrows can increase to unprecedented sizes. New items like the Hookshot and the magic hammer are tools that further accentuate Link's new smooth range of movement and can also be used as long-range weapons to substitute the arrows and the boomerang. Link can even huck pots and other miscellaneous items at enemies in a pinch. A bigger Zelda adventure like this one couldn't have been confined to the simple aparati that the first game presented, so all of these new and refined ways to play The Legend of Zelda.
One aspect A Link to the Past borrows from its now bygone older brother Zelda II is a magic meter. In Zelda II, special abilities like rejuvenating health and jumping higher were selected in a menu. Using them costs a certain amount of a white meter displayed above the screen. A Link to the Past translates this much more smoothly with a green magic meter shown at the top left of the screen. Instead of being used for special abilities, magic in A Link to the Past is used for many new items. The Cane of Byrna creates a shield around Link that makes him invulnerable, and the Cane of Somaria generates blocks that can be pushed onto switches. The fire and ice rods shoot magic of each element, the magic cape makes Link invincible and invisible, and the bag of magic powder turns hostile enemies into more pleasant beings like fairies. The three medallions create a ripple of magic that obliterates the enemies on screen. The candle from the first game has even shifted to being powered by the magic meter. Naturally, all of these items drain the magic meter like nobody's business, but there are refill items of varying quantities all over. The magic meter is a sensible system that works with the franchise A Link to the Past's evolution. It's more practical than limiting the player to one-time use of a magic item like the candle per area.
These advancements to the Zelda foundation warrant a better sense of accessibility, something that the first Zelda game lacked, along with most other NES titles. For one, the player is granted the vast majority of their health instead of the measly three hearts the first game gives the player upon dying. Before that happens, the player is given plenty of resources to prevent it. Potions are purchased in the overworld in a few shacks that fully restore health, magic, or both in a blue concoction. The player keeps these potions in jars found in the overworld. The potions can be pricey, but another option is to keep the player from dying. In the first game, fairies were a relatively rare health item that would sprout up out of enemies on occasion. Their occurrences were random and tended to swindle the player if they found one while having most of their health. Fairy fountains could be visited for a more deliberate way to restore health, but only a few of these were on the map. Traveling to one of these on the map tended to be rather inconvenient. Not only are fairies more common in A Link to the Past, but the player can use a net to capture one and put it in a jar for later use. Having one in one's inventory can automatically revive the player as well.
A better emphasis on accessibility is not a detriment to A Link to the Past that, makes for a more shallow experience. The scope of A Link to the Past is a hundred times greater than that of the first Zelda game, and the developers had to provide thusly. The story is the grandest aspect of A Link to the Past compared to the first game that necessitates all of these additions. It's essentially the same tale of Link defeating Ganon, but a more fleshed-out version of it with more context that makes it all the more magnificent.
A Link to the Past takes place before the first game and Zelda II, making this game a prequel. Yes, A Link to the Past is the first Zelda game to truly ignite the intricate "Zelda timeline," which is so convoluted that I completely ignore it across all Zelda games to save myself the migraine, but I digress. During a hectic rainstorm, Link is awakened at night by a telepathic message from Zelda signaling that she is in danger. Link's uncle saves the princess and commands Link to stay safe in bed. Link disobeys his uncle's wishes and follows him to the fortress in the center of Hyrule. Link encounters his uncle dying and takes his sword and shield, continuing his quest to save the princess. Link leads Zelda to a sanctuary where a priest protects her. The priest informs Link that the evil wizard Agahnim has taken over Hyrule and plans to use Zelda to break a seal that keeps Ganon in "the dark world." The priest instructs Link to find the master sword in the Lost Woods to defeat Agahnim and save Hyrule from succumbing to Ganon's darkness.
Before Link can obtain the master sword, he must find the three magic pendants found in three different dungeons across Hyrule. Like everything else in A Link to the Past, the dungeons have been significantly enriched, and the three dungeons in the light world are perfect for displaying the evolution of the Zelda dungeon. Like the first game, the dungeons can be accessed in any order with a suggested order that most players adhere to. Unlike the dungeons in the first game, these three are marked by their color amulets on the map, eliminating the hassle of finding them. Except for the final dungeon, the dungeons in the first Zelda game were reasonably straightforward. The player would be given two paths that would lead to either an item or the boss, and the player would have to trek back from either path to get to the other one. Getting through these dungeons involves the same objective of solving puzzles and defeating enemies to obtain keys that will unlock the boss, but the means of traversal have changed. The best word to describe the overall design of the dungeons in A Link to the Past, especially compared to the dungeons of the first game, is layered. The dungeons in A Link to the Past have a more intricate design that experiments with navigating the number of floors in each of them. The central foyer of many dungeons will give the player a visual idea of its massive layout, with the immaculate architecture that spans throughout. Describing these buildings as "dungeons" almost seems inappropriate because the word dungeon signifies dinginess and a dank atmosphere. They no longer have the cavernous aura that the dungeons in the first game exude. These capacious architectures are more fitting as palaces with their towering composition, and many of these places are given this moniker by the game. Link climbs several flights of stairs across each of these palaces and falls through pits in the floor to a lower level, another way to highlight how immense these structures are. Progression through these palaces is also more elaborate. Keys would appear in the dungeons of the first game to open various doors to get to the end goal eventually, but A Link to the Past presents a "big key" with horns and higher importance. This key is used to unlock the chest containing that palace's item/weapon and the door that leads to the boss. The player will often find the big chest or the boss door far before they find the big key, so the temple will show them in a myriad of directions that accentuates the complex design of the palaces.
After obtaining the three amulets, a battle with Agahnim occurs on the top of the fortress. Upon his defeat, Agahnim sends Zelda to the dark world, and Link follows after her. The player will already be familiar with this realm from traveling to the Tower of Hera. Link will uncover a weird portal that warps him to a shadowy land where he is rendered a pink, defenseless rabbit, a supposed reflection of Link's inner being. Now that the player has the moon pearl, Link can navigate through the dark world without transforming, starting at the top of the pyramid at the center of it. The dark world is a warped Bizzaro reflection of Hyrule, supposedly a grim foreshadowing of Ganon's influence if he breaks free from this realm. The familiar knights have been turned into armored swine, rocks are now skulls, the trees of the lost woods look like something from H.R. Giger, and there is a constant atmosphere of chaos and decay. It's Hyrule from the perspective of someone having a bad trip on magic mushrooms. The dark world has an exciting aesthetic, but it's the turning point where the cracks in this game start to show.
For one, the pivotal moment where Link arrives at the dark world is a significant spike in difficulty. Acquiring the master sword will increase the player's damage output, but this improvement will only be felt in combat by the player only while in the Hyrule Castle Tower. All enemies in the dark world take several hits to defeat and cause a hefty amount of damage to Link, a noticeable change from battling the enemies in the light world. If the player ever had trouble with a specific section in the first game, they could quickly obtain upgrades for their sword, shield, etc. Any experienced player who knew the locations of the heart containers could procure the master sword by the third dungeon. This flexibility is not the same for A Link to the Past, as roadblocks are locked by certain items and weapons in the palaces. The western side of the dark world can't be traveled to unless the player has the magic hammer, the tempered sword can't be unlocked until after the fourth dungeon, and the next armor upgrade is in the depths of the fifth palace locked by a big key. This restrained progression goes against the free-flowing ways of the first game and slightly discourages exploration. It's also inconvenient traveling to and from both worlds due to the mirror only being an exit from the dark world. Finding a specific place on the map to enter the dark world again is a vexing excursion.
In the dark world section, a Link to the Past also adopts a more languid pace. The task of rescuing the seven maidens is divided into a whopping seven palaces, and completing them one by one can get tiring. It doesn't help that the poor design of some of these palaces makes for a frustrating experience. Skull Woods attempts to design the palace in conjunction with Lost Woods overworld, an ambitious hybrid that falls completely flat. Using the keys of this dungeon is a waste because most of the dungeon can be passed by acquiring the key in the first room. The Ice Palace decides that being bombarded by enemies on slippery floors is an excellent method of challenge (it isn't) with a boss at the end who I'm convinced the player can't defeat without a full magic meter. Turtle Rock has a better overall design than the other palaces but is home to one of the most unfair sections in the entire franchise. The player must navigate a room designed with several swirling paths and manage to find the right way to both the switch and the exit door, all while avoiding two circular fire beams entirely in the dark. I used three fairies during this section and was beyond relieved when I overcame this fucking egregious section with pure luck on my side.
Unlike the palaces, a Link to the Past never compromises on its bosses. One of my biggest gripes regarding the first game was using bosses to pad the game. Bosses like Gohma and Dodongo were too simple to provide a substantial challenge. No matter the quality of the palace, the bosses across the entirety of A Link to the Past are varied, and the challenge never falters. The six Armos Knights hop around the arena with shields covering their front sides. The last of these knights turns red and tries to crush Link with his hulking mass. It's a relatively undemanding first boss that feels much more electric than Aquamentus, who requires that the player shoot a steady target while dodging frequently. Blind the Thief is the first cinematic boss in The Legend of Zelda as his princess mirage is exposed by sunlight after Link escorts him out of a cage. The Helmasaur King, my favorite boss in the game, is a giant, red reptilian whose armor needs to be broken off with that palace's item. It takes many hits to remove it, and each progressive chunk feels so satisfying to whittle away. The rubbery Moldorm may irk a few players, but I can still appreciate the boss's mechanics. The first game's lusterless final fight against Ganon is remedied here as Link climbs a colossal, sinuous tower to fight him in a duel that finally makes the dark king as imposing as his status. While I felt exhausted at the number of palaces in A Link to the Past, I yearned for more of these bombastic boss fights. Out of the improved aspects of the franchise that A Link to the Past makes, these fights are the most sizeable.
Any sequel on an advanced console should be objectively better than its predecessors on an inferior one in most regards. The core imperative of the SNES was to use the superior hardware to provide something they couldn't have done previously. In the case of Mario, translating the foundation of the series was arguably too easy because the foundation was already solidified. On the other hand, the Legend of Zelda managed to make something that surpassed the first game in spades during an identity crisis spurred by the previous game. A Link to the Past may be a bit bloated and more linear, but the significant improvements with the first game as its rough template are hard to argue against. It is essentially the first game, but bigger and better. A Link to the Past was the game that made the solid commitment to what a Zelda game is expected to be.
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