Josh Krubner’s Favorite Game of All Time: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to The Past

By: Josh Krubner

It was Christmas morning 1991 as I dove into the pile of presents and eagerly opened up that Super Nintendo Entertainment System I spent so many nights dreaming about. Despite the fact that the system came with “Super Mario World” I tossed the cartridge aside as I unwrapped my REAL present, “Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past.”

The title serves of course as a double entendre encompassing the overall history of the game, and the would-be titular character and protagonistic mainstay of the series, Link. Now, 20 years in the future, it’s taken on a third meaning; one that serves as a “link” to my past, to simpler times and far better games.

To those of you who have lived under a rock for the past 25 years, right behind Mario in the form of Nintendo mascots stands Link. Link, a carefree adventurer thrown into a medieval land of magic and Moblins, is often charged with hunting down various treasures and saving the wily Princess Zelda from the physical embodiment of greed, Ganon. He also must do this while wearing some truly awful tights. In essence, Link is Indian Jones meets Tom Cruises’ gay character from Legend.

“Past” follows the green-clothed elfin adventurer, Link, as he journeys with his uncle to the castle in hopes of rescuing a telepathic damsel from a wicked wizard. Not five minutes into playing does your uncle bite it after a minor tussle. Immediately, players took notice of the much darker and more mature tone as opposed to the airy tunes and cartoonish gameplay of the NES predecessor.

Shattering Zelda templates to present day, five minutes more into gameplay and the player is rewarded with a partnership with the Princess Zelda herself. Throwing gamers through a loop just enough to expect a team-up adventure, Zelda goes and gets herself captured (possibly killed?) and sent to the “Dark World”.

Link to the past set the precedent for EVERY future Zelda title, wherein the Hero must traverse three “starter” dungeons, acquire three shiny gems and then the REAL fun starts. Unlike later games, “Pasts” REAL dungeon list tops out well over 15, with each one getting progressively harder than the last. “Past” brought with it enhanced gameplay over the original and a much different turn than “Zelda II: Adventure of Link” Past relied heavily on magic power and trading items to advance questing. NPCs were given a much bigger role than classic one-liners such as “Take this, it’s dangerous to go alone” and “I am Error!” Players are treated to a familial rivalry, a sick child, a shy minx, and even a few thieves and dwarves. “Past” was also the first game to include not one, but several side-quests in the form of super-powered items: The three medallions, the magic cape, and the cane of Bryna. The option to upgrade swords, shields, and armor was available to tenacious gamers.

Perhaps the best element of “Past” was the boss fights. While Big Bad Ganon himself is seen as a bit of a predictable pattern having pushover,  gamers found themselves hitting the “continue button” an infinite number of times against the likes of the Helmasaur King and, fan favorite, Blind. Whereas modern Zeldas (and most modern games) feature one-sided boss fights in which the player must avoid an attack pattern before capitalizing on a weak point/counter, all of “Past’s” boss battles took place in real time, in a kill or be killed fashion. Fastest fingers were quickly rewarded with a giant heart container and a piece to the overall game puzzle. Those not so lucky were treated to the reserved bottled fairies or the dreaded game-over screen.

To this day gamers traverse the 2D world of Link to the Past in search of newer glitches, items, passage-ways and the coveted “Houlihan Room” a room designed as a result of a Nintendo Power contest and so elusive that most gamers were never made aware of its existence.

In keeping the game fresh, the entire thing was revamped and ported to the GBA bundled with “The 4 Sword Adventure.” This stand-alone multiplayer doubles as an add-on dungeon to give a 20 year old game yet even more playability. It was such a success that a direct sequel, inspired by LttP, was made for the Nintendo Game Cube, also titled “Four Sword Adventure.”

“Past” took a lot of young gamers and dumped them in a very “real” world. All around you is death and destruction. A young boy who stands as an Orpheus/Robin Hood caricature is on screen for ten seconds before he petrifies and turns to wood.

As if his on screen “death” wasn’t terrifying enough, later the gamer meets him in the “Dark World” (a visual representation of Hell) where the wooded character tells of how his greed and apathy got him in the situation he is currently in. Looking back on this with the knowledge of a 25 year old, that the “flute boy” was most certainly on drugs and that in some popular hell mythos, suicides not only go to hell, but become part of a living forest.  One has to wonder if I was six years old playing a game about a boy who ran away from home and OD’d in the forest! In any event, you’re soon granted access to his magic duck which proves, if you do nice things, you get to ride the magic duck…or something.

Link to the Past teaches several life lessons: It’s ok to be a criminal provided you destroy all your wanted posters; If a pretty girl asks you to take her home, throw bombs at her and leave her in blinding light; Recite pagan prayers and then hit priceless statues with a sword; and above all else, Tra la la, look for Sarahashla.