If you are a gamer, and someone asks you, "What is your favorite video game", we all realize that this question is difficult to answer. All gamers like alot of video games obviously, so you have, naturally, alot of games to choose from. But it never was a difficult question for me. My favorite video game was the game that got me into video gaming in the first place.
That game is The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
This action/puzzle epic was the brainchild of one of the grandfathers of gaming, Shigeru Miyamoto. It was essentially a giant open playground, just waiting for you to uncover it's many secrets. You journey on a epic quest to save the land of Hyrule from the forces of darkness, uncovering many riddles and arming yourself with mighty weapons and useful tools.
The plot is simple, yet effective. You control Link, a boy who was awoken by a vision of a strange girl, beckoning him to come and save her from a horrible fate. Your uncle gets up, armed with a sword and shield. He simply states: "Don't leave the house."
The opening of the game is still one of my favorite moments in gaming, running through a storm going after your uncle. You find your uncle, near death. He gives you his weapons, and your quest begins........
It is deeper than that, but the short version is that you have to find 3 magic pendants, and then find 8 crystals.
The story is brilliantly conveyed throughout the entire game, and it's perfect for this kind of game.
The game looks fantastic, with well-detailed dungeons alongside a colorful overworld, cool effects including the 3D Triforce coming together in the game's intro and the Mode 7 scrolling world map. In short, LTTP is among the best of the 16-bit era graphically.
The sound and music in LTTP is phenomenal. Koji Kondo did a amazing job with this game. From the awesome tune in the title screen, the soothing music of the file selection screen, the epic and majestic theme of the overworld, the dark and menacing tune of the Dark World, the list goes on. LTTP has the best soundtrack on the Super NES, and has one of my favorite game soundtracks ever.
But LTTP's true calling is it's amazing, perfect gameplay(in my opinion). I have never enjoyed a video game as much as this one. It's a perfect blend of arcade-style action and deep, robust puzzle-solving. It's basically a much more fleshed out version of the original. A top-down action/puzzle game with some very light RPG elements. Whether you are exploring the land of Hyrule searching for it's many well-hidden secrets, trying to fight your way through a taxing dungeon, battling a intense boss, of simply swimming through the rivers, you will never stop enjoying this game. It has that perfect balance of difficulty: It's not a easy game, but it never feels cheap or frustrating. The most amazing aspect of LTTP is The Dark World. Imagine if you were living in your town/city, but suddenly, out of nowhere, everything became dark and evil, with certain death lurking around every corner. That is how it will feel in The Dark World, a evil and twisted version of Hyrule. It is a revolutionary game concept and the most ingenious in video gaming.
I can find no flaws in this game. It is seriously, to me, the perfect video game. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is quite simply the game to end all games. No gamer should not have this game in their collection. If it's on the original system, the Wii's Virtual Console, the Game Boy Advance, or even on a Emulator, you need this game. You need it.
LTTP proves that Nintendo was, and still is, the top dog in the gaming market. It proves that Miyamoto's creations are timeless and age gracefully. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is Miyamoto's magnum opus, and as I said before, the greatest video game of all time.
PROS:
+ Simple, yet effective storyline.
+ Perfect blend of Arcade-style and Puzzle gaming.
+ Perfectly balanced difficulty.
+ Epic musical score.
+ Colorful and detailed graphics.
+ So many epic moments.
+ Revolutionary and Ingenious Dark World mechanic.
CONS:
+ None that I have seen.
OVERALL: ****10 out of 10****
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