• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Wow A Link to the Past is amazing

LakeOf9

Member
So I asked a few weeks ago if I should try old Zelda games if I like BOTW and TOTK and people gave me loads of advice. The most recommended games were Link to the Past, Link Between Worlds, Ocarina of Time, and Wind Waker. Since I am playing Tears of the Kingdom right now, I decided the 3D games would be too similar, and decided to look into the 2D ones instead. It also turned out they were much shorter which was another point in their favour.

So I decided to play Link to the Past. The context here is, I know nothing about the game except that it's very acclaimed and supposedly very influential, and my only experience with Zelda is BOTW and TOTK. Anyway, so I am playing this game, and I really, really love it! It's so different from BOTW and TOTK but it still keeps that sense of adventure and exploration, but there's a more Metroidvania style progression now that I am really digging. The game is also incredibly cinematic and atmospheric! That opening with the rainfall and storm is amazing, and I like how much there is an immediate threat in the story.

I love how quick the game is too, there is almost no bloat in any of it, and it also seems like almost all the cool modern Zelda plot elements like Hyrule Castle, Kakariko Village, Master Sword, the sages, and Ganon, were all already part of the series by this game. I love the dungeon design so much, it kind of feels like a 2D version of the Souls games (I know I have it backwards because this game obviously came before but I played Souls first so they are my point of reference here), and the item based gameplay is amazing, I can't believe how cool it feels to get an item that not only gives me new combat abilities but also completely changes how I approach dungeons and exploration now.

Like seriously the design and pacing of this game is mind blowing. And then there is the twist! I love the twist so much! I seriously thought I was almost done with the game, I was already loving it, I thought it was short but it makes sense because it's an old game, but the twist! And then the whole mechanic of the way the two worlds influence each other and how they are used for puzzle solving! And it turns out everything until then was just a tutorial, this is the real game! And everything is so much harder, so much more satisfying, so much better designed.

This game is a masterpiece. If they released it as is today, it would still be a masterpiece. I cannot believe how good this is, its almost 30 years old and was made for an 8 bit console, I literally can't believe they managed to do something like this back then.

What a masterpiece. At least I am starting to understand why the Zelda series has held hype for this long.
 
Holy shit I wish I could experience LttP for the first time again.

Edit- I would still recommend you play OoT, and WW in that order. OoT was the first 3d Zelda, but it set the foundation for every mainline game until BotW. WW perfected the formula for that style of game though.
 
Last edited:

BlackTron

Gold Member
Yeah my first Zelda was Link's Awakening, which began life by porting this game to Game Boy. Despite the platform, it fires on almost as many cylinders as LttP...putting that on GB is akin to putting TOTK on Switch.

Yes we were getting this type of gameplay portable before we had color or even a lit screen...Zelda has never not been crazy. Lowest point was Skyward Sword and even then you were given 6-point real time directional sword control.

Also Ocarina of Time is basically LttP in 3D. Of course it's not that simple but...pretty much. So it followed the convention of its predecessors more than say, Mario 64 which changed the format. That feeling of being in a deep dungeon and getting a new item that makes you reassess how you approach the whole environment was lifted directly out of 2D Zelda and put into a 3D game. Even now, I'm not sure I like TOTK more than OOT, needs some time to settle lol
 
Last edited:

Fess

Member
It’s fantastic, one of my favorite Zelda games for sure.
It was actually my first Zelda, I’ve been playing since the early 80s but I was playing on Commodore computers when NES was big.

If you haven’t already, go play Super Metroid. Nearly 30 years later it’s still my all time favorite.

You can play Meyroid Dread as well, it’s not as great when it comes to exploration, too much hand-holding, but the gameplay, controls, boss fights are among the best ever. Was my GOTY 2021.
 
LTTP is the best game in the series, followed closely by OoT

BOTW/TotK, while good games, are nowhere near the focused quality of these two titles

No bloated overworld with endless doodads to collect and fetchquests

Dungeons that had actual progression and danger to them with far more interesting puzzles and mechanics

A darker, more sinister tone that has become lost

And an incredible soundtrack that’s still the best the series is known for

I wish they’d go back to that design
 
Not a huge Nintendo fan, and not even a big Zelda guy, but I’d be lying if I said LttP isn’t one of the best games ever made. A lot of memories with this one on Snes during my younger years.
 

sinnergy

Member
Yup, about 30 years late .. it’s one of my beloved memories on snes.. damn pink rabbit , was stuck for 3 days 😂 when little . SNES. is 16 bit btw .
 
Last edited:

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
LTTP is the best game in the series, followed closely by OoT

BOTW/TotK, while good games, are nowhere near the focused quality of these two titles

No bloated overworld with endless doodads to collect and fetchquests

Dungeons that had actual progression and danger to them with far more interesting puzzles and mechanics

A darker, more sinister tone that has become lost

And an incredible soundtrack that’s still the best the series is known for

I wish they’d go back to that design
Would you say the remake changes that? Or are you referring to the remake?
 

Robb

Gold Member
Yeah it’s one of my favorite games of all time and definitely in my top 3 Zelda’s.
 

Nydius

Member
I liked the first Zelda on NES, but wasn't so keen on Zelda 2. Knowing that Link to the Past was a return to the original top down design with dungeons had me super excited. I saved up all my lawn mowing money to be able to buy that game day one. Once I had it, I don't think it left my SNES for literal weeks.
 

Bloobs

Al Pachinko, Konami President
ALBW>>>

We didnt have a SNES back in the day so I played it years laters when we already had the N64 with OOT...
 

TIGERCOOL

Member
ALttP is amazing. I think OoT is required playing, but Majora's Mask did things no 3D adventure game has even attempted again. An absolute masterclass in game design and probably my favourite of all time.
 
Last edited:
LTTP is the best game in the series, followed closely by OoT

BOTW/TotK, while good games, are nowhere near the focused quality of these two titles

No bloated overworld with endless doodads to collect and fetchquests

Dungeons that had actual progression and danger to them with far more interesting puzzles and mechanics

A darker, more sinister tone that has become lost

And an incredible soundtrack that’s still the best the series is known for

I wish they’d go back to that design

OoT was way too empty in my book.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
I will always regret spoiling ALTTP for me by reading hints on magazines and on the clue sheet included with the game. I was a wee lad and I could never understand the entire game in English, but I really spoiled every major puzzle for myself before even getting there. A couple years later I managed to beat Link’s Awakening without any solution, so I could have beaten ALTTP too.

Thinking back, ALTTP was really amazing. The “twist” OP mentions is comparable to the one in Castlevania SOTN for how unexpected it is and for how much more longevity it gives the game. It’s also amazing how the devs hinted at it during the Death Mountain climb to the third light-world dungeon, and with the item you find there, but so many people were still left slack-jawed after beating the sorcerer.

On the negative side, I never really liked how the game looks, and how slow it feels. Link’s Awakening feels much faster, and being able to jump feels really liberating compared to the slowness of ALTTP.
 

simpatico

Member
Every pixel in the game is perfect. Truly a seminal release that influenced every single game that came after it.
 

MikeM

Gold Member
My last Zelda was ocarina of time. I feel like i’ve missed out on so many good Zelda games.

Can’t bring myself to buy shitty Nintendo hardware.
 

BlackTron

Gold Member
Every pixel in the game is perfect. Truly a seminal release that influenced every single game that came after it.

What series has this many games that made everyone stop and look and influenced everything after? If you didn't play OOT, would you even know it was the first game with 3D camera lock-on? Someone had to be the first to sort out all these systems and transitions. I think Zelda 1, LttP and OOT took up massive rent in every devs head so their influence on the whole state of gaming today is hard to understate. Zelda changed the timeline.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
What series has this many games that made everyone stop and look and influenced everything after? If you didn't play OOT, would you even know it was the first game with 3D camera lock-on? Someone had to be the first to sort out all these systems and transitions. I think Zelda 1, LttP and OOT took up massive rent in every devs head so their influence on the whole state of gaming today is hard to understate. Zelda changed the timeline.
Mario, Zelda, Metroid

You could make a tree of the industry and almost everything will trace back to one of those.
 
Top Bottom