A Link to the Past

[James Harvey]

Is it really the genre defining classic and undisputed work of genius everyone makes it out be? I'm not convinced.

I'm not sure it's even the best Zelda game.

Please prove me wrong.

[Ian(not Ian)]

No point in trying to prove or disprove anything matey, we all have our own favourites.

I think the Ocarina of Time is the best so far, but then I haven't yet played Four Swords+.
LttP would be my second favourite.

[Oh! My Car!]

The alternate world...and back again.

That has to be the best, most complex and most brain-embolism-inducing level design ever. I mean, they must have had about 50 people working on that for weeks...or, well, just Miyamoto. 8)

[Adam Stone]

Links to a Past is a classic title. There is no doubting that ? but? there is no doubt in my mind that Ocarina of Time is the ?best Zelda game?. However I utterly adored Majora?s Mask and thoroughly enjoyed Wind Waker.

I made a topic a while ago which may help. The Legend Of Zelda: Which and Why?

Quite of number of people discussed which Zelda they feel is the best in the series etc. Worth a look? in fact? may be a good time to resurrect it with the recent release of Four Swords and all

[James Harvey]

No point in trying to prove or disprove anything matey, we all have our own favourites.

Yeah, I probably could have worded it better. It did sound a bit like I was trying to start a fight.

Basically I just wondered why it seems to be common opinion that Link to the Past is such an amazing game, when I always found myself pretty underwhelmed by it. It could be because I had never played it until maybe three years ago, so I have no nostalgia for the title.

Link to the past must have looked incredibly impressive at the time though... it was certainly leaps and bounds ahead of the first Zelda game, in any case.

Now though, the sprites look ugly compared to Capcom's artwork for four swords, and the whole light/dark world thing... it's a good idea and well implemented, but surely it's not that much to write home about? Plus, the game seems to lack the charm the Zelda series usually has, which is present in NES Zelda, and all the titles from Ocarina onwards (excluding the crappy Capcom GB games). Not in LTTP however.

Also 'Link to the Past' is a lame pun. Especially seeing as he doesn't go to the past! The Jap version is called something like 'Triforce of Power', or something, so I suppose that's more the fault of Nintendo of America than of the real Nintendo.

Anyway, you get the idea. I just want to know why every else loves it so much.

edit: I just read this incredibly stupid review on Gamefaqs which gave it 3/10... http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/review/R56721.html . As I read it I was reminded of how great LTTP is after all. But my critcisms still stand. I think it might just look unimpressive when put next to the later Zeldas, perhaps? Anyone else not a big fan of LTTP?

[Ian(not Ian)]

I first played LttP (a borrowed cart)about ten years ago. At that time I didn't complete it I spent more time playing Prince of Persia, SNES obviously, which to this day is still the hardest PoP game on any system. Anyhoo, I found LttP a bit on the boring side at the time. Sometime later along comes OoT and I jolly well loved it.

Had I bought LttP instead of borrowing it I would have seen it through at the time and I'd probably be saying it is the best Zelda game of the lot.

In OoT I spent days JUST trying to beat a a forest dweller in a race from Gerudo valley bridge to the forest. I tried everything to beat this bloke (Epona was knackered) including even setting up a teleport. Later on I found out that the bloke just couldn't be beaten in that race, didn't bother me though I had fun trying.

The point of all that is that a masterfully designed game like OoT will suck you right in. You'll live and breathe the bloody thing even when you're asleep.

LttP was, and still is a masterfully designed game, which if you give it the time and effort will suck you in as well, just as it did countless players ten-odd years ago.
About 2 years ago I bought a second-hand SNES, PoP, F-zero and LttP. I finished LttP for the first time about 2 years ago. It is that good James. No mistake.

[razu]

I think LttP is the best. Can't say why, but it's just the way I feel.

As for Miyamoto, isn't he just a brand? What did he actually do? What does he actually do? Isn't he just a producer, (e.g. the lowest form of contributor to the industry)?

Nintendo used to make some great games, but did Miyamoto really refine all of mario's movements and control? Or did he just make sure all the developers didn't take holiday at the same time? I don't know, why do you?

[lostn]

LttP has aged much better than OoT graphically. OoT has aged horribly, whereas LttP still looks pretty good. I beat the game last year for the first time, and I think it's the best Zelda game. You don't have the camera issues of OoT, or the insane popup, or choppy framerate. OoT has very low res textures, low poly count. Might have looked fine in its day, but now it's just unbearable, whereas LttP is fluid and still looks good.

[recipher]

OoT has aged horribly

Hardly.

[lostn]

OoT has aged horribly

Hardly.

Hardly wrong you mean?

As a rule, 3D games generally don't age as well as 2D because 3D constantly gets bettered, while 2D is quite stagnant in development. All games on N64 look horrible to me now. Yet most of the PS1 games I had still look beautiful to this day, such as Saga Frontier 2 and Legend of Mana. That's a thing 3D can't touch.

[James Harvey]

I think LttP is the best. Can't say why, but it's just the way I feel.

As for Miyamoto, isn't he just a brand? What did he actually do? What does he actually do? Isn't he just a producer, (e.g. the lowest form of contributor to the industry)?

Nintendo used to make some great games, but did Miyamoto really refine all of mario's movements and control? Or did he just make sure all the developers didn't take holiday at the same time? I don't know, why do you?

Miyamoto has become some kind of unofficial coroporate mascot for Nintendo, and it's true that with some games he's said to have worked on he didn't really do anything at all- usually the games where he's credited as 'Supervisor'. However, he still plays an incredibly important role. He's so much more than just a producer- that's a name he assigned to himself, btw- he is crucial to the development of not just the games, but the hardware and the company itself. To get an idea of what exactly Miyamoto does, visit http://www.miyamotoshrine.com/theman...ws/index.shtml and read some of the interviews there.

[Ady]

LttP brings back memories of just quitting uni (but sticking around where I was), working at a crappy pizza restaurant by night, and getting stoned, watching crappy daytime TV and playing video games by day. My housemate had a SNES, I'd just been dumped by my girlfriend and used to mope around the house playing LttP - the game that broke my Zelda cherry and helped me get over her. 8)

Having never played anything like it in my life, I was in awe. I was going through a 'bored of gaming' phase that lasted a couple of years. LttP revived my enthusiasm.

The graphics (which I still think look good, and even better than capcom's 4 Swords'), the sound (those tunes almost bring a nostalgic tear to the eye) and the classic Zelda gameplay mechanic which was totally new to me at the time. If I wasn't playing LttP, I was thinking about it. If I wasn't thinking about it, I was playing it.

Although Majora's Mask is my personal favourite Zelda game, LttP is an honourary favourite as it defined my first trip to Hyrule.

[Moodmon]

I agree with James. It's good, no doubt about that, I just feel there is a better 2D Zelda in the form of Link's Awakening. I can't pin down exactly why I prefer it, but I feel the structure and puzzles are 'tighter'. I love the way you get cryptic hints if you collect the owl's beak in the dungeons, and so on.

I thought having to get the invisibility cape for one of the rooms in LTTP was a little cheap too. Ho hum.

[dreamylittledream]

Now though, the sprites look ugly compared to Capcom's artwork for four swords, and the whole light/dark world thing... it's a good idea and well implemented, but surely it's not that much to write home about? Plus, the game seems to lack the charm the Zelda series usually has, which is present in NES Zelda, and all the titles from Ocarina onwards (excluding the crappy Capcom GB games). Not in LTTP however.

Also 'Link to the Past' is a lame pun. Especially seeing as he doesn't go to the past! The Jap version is called something like 'Triforce of Power', or something, so I suppose that's more the fault of Nintendo of America than of the real Nintendo.

Anyway, you get the idea. I just want to know why every else loves it so much.

edit: I just read this incredibly stupid review on Gamefaqs which gave it 3/10... http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/snes/review/R56721.html . As I read it I was reminded of how great LTTP is after all. But my critcisms still stand. I think it might just look unimpressive when put next to the later Zeldas, perhaps? Anyone else not a big fan of LTTP?

No charm? Having only just played the original Zelda and Link's Adventure on the recent collecters disk I suspect this is slightly nostalgic. I found them ages and well not all that charming anyway (and Zelda I is incredibly difficult!) Then again my love for LttP is probably due to nostalgia on my part....memories of my original experience in playing it and loving the game.

And of course the sprites don't look as good...its running on the SNES not Gamecube!!


As for the name - yes it isn't a great pun but the title comes from the fact its set before Zelda I and II - in an earlier time with an earlier Link and Zelda...

[James Harvey]

Hey... someone removed my 'HOT TOPIC!!!111' title...

While I'm here, I may as may point out that four swords isn't on the Gamecube, it's on the GBA. Four swords + is on the Gamecube. And the GBA is equivalent to the SNES so on you.

Also, you look like this: