The first two Zelda games were grand in scope. It may not feel that way to folks who cut their teeth on current- or previous-gen consoles, but to anyone who grew up with quarter munchers as their early companions, watching gaming evolve from level-by-level score attackers to high-fantasy quests was exhilarating. We went from titles where you were only given a mere glimpse of the worlds they inhabited to sword-and-sorcery pieces where you could wander the countryside and explore far-off corners in a way no one thought possible prior to mid-'80s.
Here's the thing with franchises like The Legend of Zelda, though: with each new installment on modern hardware, you've got to step content up to continue to provide that epic feel. Each fresh trip into Link's domain should include a more detailed overworld, stunning visuals, a killer soundtrack, and lore that keeps your audience talking about the game long after they've finished it. The only trade-off comes when you realize that future escalation sometimes leaves older entries feeling meeker than their contemporary cousins. This, my friends, is part of how media ages, and it happens to virtually all old titles. This isn't to say they aren't still great, but they may not sparkle quite as brightly now as they did when you were, say, thirteen.
...Which was my age when playing The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the first time, when I finally received an SNES and got into the 16-bit era in earnest. As you might suspect, I was blown away by this installment's advancement. The world shifted from a grid-based map with static screens to a more colorful, detailed, and open land where you could at last mosey diagonally and swing your sword in a semi-circle (or even charge up your strike and lash it in a complete 360-degree swipe).
Everything Past had to offer felt so damn modern in the early '90s, from its vibrant color palette to its adventurous music filled with blaring trumpets. You'd also see graphical flares every now and then that brought the experience to life like never before, like the moving shadow of a canopy in a forest that added a sense of depth to your surroundings, or the 3D model of the Triforce itself, which was beyond mindblowing to a teenager who previously thought gaming visuals peaked with Super Mario Bros. 3. Nothing prepared me for Past, and for a while, few things surpassed it.
Unlike before, the tale didn't drop me in Hyrule and guide me to a cave with minimal dialogue or fanfare. The campaign began with Link sleeping while hearing a voice apparently communicating with him telepathically. I received my first bits of direction from my uncle, who exited his cottage to go find out what's afoot at Hyrule Castle. Of course, I wouldn't be a hero if I didn't follow him, so I did so and traced the campaign's linear pathway to the palace.
There, I encountered my first brushes with dungeons and the early promises regarding the material this experience would provide. Dungeons were also no longer grid-based, and rooms weren't confined to simple rectangles. I'd find some chambers that were long and slender, others that were massive squares, and a ton that stuck me in tiny boxes that somehow felt appropriately restrictive. In other words, Past sought to hit me with more variety than its predecessor, utilizing variant room sizes to deliver hazards and segments that offered differing challenges. Sometimes I entered a section and merely battled enemies to open a door. Others, I had to face a long gauntlet of traps, damaging pits, environmental hazards (e.g. ice-slick floors, flowing streams, crumbling floors, etc.), or items I could lift off the ground.
Past also always found ways to step up its game. It tossed stronger monsters my way that sometimes required superior items, improved weaponry, or just plain skill to overcome. I learned to use the environment to my advantage, weaving around obstacles in an attempt to trip up my targets so I could get in a choice blow without sustaining damage myself. However, as the campaign progressed, I sometimes came in contact with sections that were outright cheap. One that stuck out involved fighting a butterfly-like boss in tight quarters filled with spiked traps, all while negotiating a moving floor that changed directions randomly. There was almost no way I could account for all of those moving parts and come out of the altercation unscathed. Sometimes, I got lucky and happened to miss every spike that came my way while dishing out punishment in a timely manner. Other times, I got my ass beat inward, and if I didn't have either a fairy in a bottle or a medicine, I was cooked.
Yes, this is part of Past that didn't age well. It didn't occur frequently, but the game occasionally hit me with cheap segments where rooms stood so full of dangers that I couldn't honestly hope to avoid pain. It was beyond frustrating because moments like these forced me to rely on luck, which doesn't sit well with this brand.
The greatest thing about the game's dungeons, though, is that I didn't always know how to advance, leaving me to explore and experiment to find my way. Sometimes, eliminating all opponents would open a closed door. Other times, I had to locate a key in a treasure box, being carried by a foe, or hidden underneath a movable item. That was all pretty well par for the course, honestly, but this title involved utilizing the magical items I obtained in the utmost. I often found moments where I couldn't advance any further until I obtained a stage's new toy, including a hammer that pressed pegs into the ground and a fire rod that lit out-of-reach braziers.
Sadly, recently replaying this game didn't quite scratch the Zelda itch like it once did. Somehow, it felt so tame and ordinary. Granted, I still had a great time, but exposure to more modern titles, built with the aforementioned escalation in mind, has dulled my senses to older pieces like this one. However, no exposure to modern gaming erases how I felt—and still feel—about some of the greatest and most memorable moments this adventure had to offer. I still get goosebumps when procuring the Master Sword for the first time, watching as a brilliant gleam of light builds and eventually explodes, transforming the corrupted forest in which the blade slept into a lush glade like something from a Disney movie. I still feel a pang of sorrow acquiring the ocarina and completing the sub-plot attached to it (and then a bit of relief when I see how things turned out in the closing sequence).
The bottom line is I still love The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, but I recognize that it isn't the perfect action-adventure cart I felt it was at age thirteen. It's been nearly thirty years as of this review since I first stepped into 16-bit Hyrule, and both of us have aged considerably. And while Past may still contain the vestiges of retro-game cheapness, it also showed us where the medium was heading. It gave us a golden view into a future that looked unbelievably promising, and this games aging is nothing but a testament to the notion that the medium delivered on that promise.
Community review by JoeTheDestroyer (August 28, 2023)
Rumor has it that Joe is not actually a man, but a machine that likes video games, horror movies, and long walks on the beach. His/Its first contribution to HonestGamers was a review of Breath of Fire III. |
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