• Welcome to ZD Forums! You must create an account and log in to see and participate in the Shoutbox chat on this main index page.

A Link to the Past Tell Me Why I Should Play This Game.

ihateghirahim

The Fierce Deity
Joined
Jan 16, 2013
Location
Inside the Moon
I've never played Alttp. Which is surprising, as I have, starting with none, tracked down 10 Zelda games over the last 18 months. I've heard some great things about this game, but tell me. Why should I play it? What makes it so great? Why is it enjoyed and loved so much? (If possible, please recommend a port)
 

DarkestLink

Darkest of all Dark Links
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
I wouldn't play it if I were you unless it's some Zelda pride kinda thing. aLttP is one of the worst games I've ever played. The only Zelda (aside from CDi) that's worse is AoL.
 

Cfrock

Keep it strong
Joined
Mar 17, 2012
Location
Liverpool, England
A Link Tto the Past is arguably the most definitive title in the series. Certainly the most definitive 2D title, at least. ALttP took the formula of the original game and built on that foundation a castle which has stood the test of time. The narratve structure of ALttP has been re-used, tinkered with an adapted in six other titles and such elements as three-dungeons-then-twist, dual-worlds, and villain-twist-new-villain have become series staples that even people who are unfamiliar with much of the franchise recognise.

Gameplay-wise, ALttP displays a good amount of variety. The dungeons are a challenging mixture of combat and puzzle-solving and have some very interesting and unique concepts behind many of them. It's a tough game, not exceedingly difficult but not something you can breeze through in an afternoon. I appreciate that the game does make you go out and explore its world if you want all of the answers and secrets. There's plenty hidden away in there, for those who go looking. Combat is also wonderfully diverse, as ALttP has a large selection of items, most of which have some function in combat. Whether it's the Magic Cape turning you invisible to slip past enemies or the Fire Rod letting you burn them into oblivion from afar or the Quake Medallion turning everyone into a little wiggling sacks of what-the-fudge-just-happened, the items in ALttP means never a dull moment, I find.

It's just a pure Zelda game, plain and simple. Everything that the franchise is understood to be is present and accounted for in this game. There are great puzzles, deep combat, and a wonderful world to go out and explore with something to find just about everywhere. It also has some stellar music and a pink bunny rabbit and a pet chest and a man under a bridge and vultures and an old man and... Just play it. If you like Zelda then I don't think there's anyway you won't at least enjoy playing ALttP.

Edit: And green penguins!!
 
Last edited:

Curmudgeon

default setting: sarcastic prick
Joined
Dec 17, 2012
Gender
grumpy
If nothing else, just to see where the series, and gaming in general, came from. The world is small by modern standards, but extraordinarily detail-rich. You have to remember what you see and where you saw it. There isn't a ton of hand holding beyond "hey, go over that way". LttP rewards a sharp memory and pressing the boundaries of the world. Exploring an extra screen off the beaten path will reveal hidden treasure or an important clue for later, even if it isn't obvious at the time.

If you're not used to elements like these in games, you'll probably find yourself running in circles a lot. While it may seem frustrating, these design choices were soup de jour for us at the time, the visual language of gamers. Just remember that there isn't a ton of wasted space and that nearly every corner of the map plays some role or another by game's end.
 

DarkestLink

Darkest of all Dark Links
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
I guess it's a matter of taste, and I don't know what games you played...but think LoZ, a TINY bit more story, slightly easier, and more bland combat. Oh sure, you had items, but even assuming you found all the hidden ones, a lot of them do more or less the same thing and you won't be using them because of that pain in the *** magic meter. The story and characters haven't reached modern post LA levels yet (even that isn't much), the puzzles are few and very simple. There's little structure, the difficult curve is almost non-existant, but I will admit it is one of the harder Zelda titles. Still, see how dull and repetitive running up and mashing B is, I don't see it as that appealing. Eh maybe watch a Let's Play or something before handing over your money.

Overall, though, the biggest flaw this game has is how much time is wasted doing nothing. You'll find yourself stuck doing boring sidequests until you finally found one you were supposed to do. You will then spend another 5 minutes tearing your hair out because the game left no hint you had to do a sidequest or even which sidequest you had to do. And then other times you'll think you need to go off the path and do something else--but no, it turned out you just gave up too quickly. The answer was in this randomly hidden area over here. Oh well, that's three hours you wasted doing nothing instead of studying for your math final--I'm sure you'll do fine.
 
Last edited:

Justac00lguy

BooBoo
Joined
Jul 1, 2012
Gender
Shewhale
The best we give you is opinions but I thought no its best to tell you the positives and negatives of A Link to the Past , just so it doesn't feel biased...

First off the game has aged really well, the graphics for a top down game haven't really shown aging all that much, considering how old the game is, it still really easy to pick up and get drawed into the game. It depends though, a lot of people tend to have this negative view when it comes to revisiting older Zelda games, mostly I'm talking about the first four and to an extent the Oracles. As these where the "original" top down games, even though I dislike the first two Zelda installments I love ALttP, it's probably the most advanced top down Zelda and well rounded to date (going off what I've played). In a way if you can get past the so called "old school" perspective then what you have is a truly revolutionary game, which in my opinion was more revolutionary than Ocarina of Time.

Now from what I've gathered you're a big OoT fan so don't bite my head off on this one but ALttP really lay the foundations for the true Zelda series, the reason as to why OoT gets the most credit is because it made the transition into a 3D world. I would strongly argue that both are equally revolutionary in their own way.

Some more positives would be the nature of the game itself, it differs from the 3D formula, so in a way it can be seen as a fresh experience despite its age. The game features I wide variety of items, correct me if I'm wrong but I believe this game has the most items in a Zelda game to date and I can safely say that the usage of the items it top notch. Adding to the items is also the magic, in my opinion it has the most effective usage of magic within the series, all of this really adds to Link's arsenal which is probably the most unique and extensive in this game alone. Then you have the nonlinear nature of the game, now it's not fully nonlinear but it provides a good sense of having the option to differ on different paths. Now within these specific sections you can choose on where to go and which dungeon to do first, now this may not sound like much but it really frees up the structure, in a way it makes the plot more flexible as we can manipulate it. It also add the sense of "strategy", as you find out which dungeon is best to tackle first and so on.

Final positive would probably be the overworld and dungeons, from the 2D overworld that I've played ALttP definitely comes on top and I only wish a 3D Zelda game could capture some of what this game did and put it in a new perspective. The overworld isn't huge but it's big enough to give it a sense of scale and a wide variety of exploration and different locations. Then of course you have the Dark World which provides the idea of a "duel world", it really freshens things up and adds a certain puzzling aspects while traversing the main world. The overworld doesn't really get boring or bland there's always something to find do and see, it has a perfect balance between content, exploration and size. The dungeons in this game were also great, some are actually difficult, yes you heard difficult. That's another thing, this game can give you a run for your money, it features some puzzling aspects that are rather foreign in the 3D games, so of you like a puzzling and challenging Zelda game then you have one right here.

The only problem I see with you not liking this game as much as others is that it is a top down game and this shouldn't really drag it down but sometimes 3D games just have that edge. I see this game as one of the least flawed Zelda games yet I rank other games that had many flaws above it. This is probably because ALttP can't provide that realistic sense of adventure and immersion that the 3D games can bring, even though a lot of aspects are great I feel they can be limited due to constraints of the perspective. With all this being said, I think it's a Zelda game that you must try out, not just because it is a truly revolutionary game nor the fact that it's a Zelda staple but because it's one of the best and least flawed game in the series, of course all in my opinion. Now if your not a big fan of the top down Zelda's then this may not have the same impact that the likes of OoT had but it's still a great game and an experience that should be played, even more so with the sequel coming out by the end of the year.
 
Last edited:

Salem

SICK
Joined
May 18, 2013
Maybe we shouldn't over hype this game and set ihateghirahim's expectations too high but I'll say this; Its my all time favourite Zelda game and maybe my favourite game of all time(I don't actually know, haven't decided).

DarkestLink makes me sad...
 

snakeoiltanker

Wake Up!
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Location
Ohio
Darkestlink.....ewwww, if you wern't talking about ALttP i would leave you alone.

Bottom line is ALttP defined Zelda as what it is today, only its not 3D, which is why DarkestLink dont like it. hes mentioned it before, hes biased. However i am just as Biased as he is, only on the other side!

ALttP set up the formula used in almost every game after it! Not to mention, if you plan to play ALttP2, you might as well find out where it all began. ALttP is in the top 3 best games of the SNES era and at least top 10 of all time. So just play it, I hear the Gameboy Advanced Port was really good, and added an extra dungeon, its the one that came with Four Sword. So if your gonna play it play that one, its probably easier to find, but you gonna pay a price for it, so.... and i know that this is not condoned here at ZD, but dont even waste you money if you dont know if you really care enough about it. Get Zsnes or SNESX (SNES emulators) an give it a go. you will not be disappointed! the game is amazing!

However if you are not... I dont know how to say it...... Skilled in Legend of Zelda Games, and have a sharp mind a memory, the game will be difficult for you. its not as bad as Zelda II, and you need to use your map more in that game than any other, cuz it will literally tell you the general area you need to go to, but you gotta figure out what to do once getting there. just good luck getting the flute LOL! theres a lot of nonsense getting it, not to mention you gotta use it somewhere first, before it even serves its function LOL good Luck ghirahim hater
 

DarkestLink

Darkest of all Dark Links
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
It is true that I typically like 3D games more, but when it comes to 2D games, for me, it's this:

ST>PH>>>>>MC>OoA>OoS>LA>>>FSA>FS>LoZ>aLttP>AoL

Even by 2D standards I rank aLttP pretty low. Mostly because of a lack of structure and the magic meter.
 

Salem

SICK
Joined
May 18, 2013
Wait, I GET IT, darkestlink is using REVERSE PHYSIOLOGY to convince ihateghirahim to play alttp. hmmm... or maybe not
 
Last edited:

snakeoiltanker

Wake Up!
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Location
Ohio
dont fool yourself Sroa, DarkestLink DOES NOT LIKE ALttP. plain and simple, me and him are the most bias member of this forum when it comes to ALttP. its like Im Luke and hes Vader when it comes to this game LOL.

That sound about right DarkestLink?
 

PhantomTriforce

I am a Person of Interest
Joined
Jul 12, 2010
Location
Ganon's Tower
I'm not going to give any lengthy explanation as to why you should play ALttP, and ultimately, it's your choice.

A Link to the Past is where it all started. It is the roots of the Zelda series. That's right - not LoZ, but ALttP. Just about every game after ALttP uses many of this game's mechanics. Ever played Ocarina of Time? I consider A Link to the Past very similar to that game but better. Maybe not more enjoyable, but better. ALttP itself is not my favorite game in the series, but it is what I consider to be the best, and probably one of the best games in the world. This game represents Zelda, and has definitely defined it.
 
Joined
Aug 25, 2012
Location
The Hall of Darkness
Hey ihateghirahim if you haven't already made your decision there are plenty of sites were you can download ALttP as a ROM for free, as for the game I haven't played it either but I have heard very little negativity about it, download it play it and if you don't like it delete it.
 

ihateghirahim

The Fierce Deity
Joined
Jan 16, 2013
Location
Inside the Moon
Ok, I think I have my answer. This game sounds great. I think my suspicions that this game is amazing are confirmed. I played LOZ and Zelda II, and later OoT. It's clear that something made a big contribution to the series in between those games, and Alttp must be it. Thank you all, but I still need a version. My last attempt to download Earthbound and ZNES messed up my computer, so I'll never use an emulator again. Is there any version that is cheap/ easy to find?
 
Joined
Aug 25, 2012
Location
The Hall of Darkness
That sucks, well your safest bet is probably wii virtual console or getting a copy of the GBA port online

The GBA port may be expensive depending on what site you go to, you'll definitely find it on ebay.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom