The evil King
Ganondorf has once again attempted
to use the power of
the Triforce to take control of the world. Instead, the Triforce
created a mirror of Hyrule called the Dark World. In
the real Hyrule, a village boy named Link starts having telepathic
dreams about a princess named Zelda. Link wakes to find
his uncle leave the house with sword and shield in hand. Not
shy of adventure,
Link follows him to Hyrule Castle, but is too late to save his
Uncle from the corrupted guards.
The story is based heavily on the story of Ocarina of Time
(within the Zelda lore), featuring the descendants of its seven
sages as disappearing princesses, and Link and Zelda as the
latest in long bloodlines. As with many early Zelda titles, the
game is comparatively light on story, lacking the personality of
even the Oracle games or The Minish Cap. It is at least present,
offering enough drama to keep modern gamers interested.
A Link To The Past dropped the
controversial side-on view of The Adventure of Link for the traditional overhead view of
The Legend of Zelda.
This means that adventure is once more the dominant element in
ALttP, much to the episode's advantage. Hyrule is vast and
intricate, so there's
always something new to do, someone new to find, or something
new to see. The dungeons are varied and the puzzles within them
are sometimes tricky, but always logical. Control, particularly
combat, is sluggish and imprecise when compared to later 2D
Zeldas, but second only to Terranigma from games of its era.
ALttP's visual style is arguably the most
timeless of the Zelda series, alongside The Wind Waker's. Hyrule
is gorgeous, creating a
vibrant, colourful adventure with atmospheric locales. Use of
transparent sprite layers, black outlines and a primary colour
palette means that ALttP is the most distinctive 2D Zelda of
them all, and a far cry from the simple pixilated NES games.
The SNES's feeble sound system
must have been stretched to the max to pump out such wonderful,
valiant tunes. The game has one of the best soundtracks of the
series, as evidenced by later title's flagrant plundering, and it really lends the game a sense of life and
direction. The classic Zelda overworld music brought to life
here, fitting the overall tone perfectly.
ALttP is easily the most
atmospheric of all the
2D Zelda titles,
featuring gorgeous
weather effects such as
the foreboding rainstorm
at the start of the game
and the fog of the Lost
Woods. While the story
lacks a sense of urgency
and involvement with the
other characters, it
makes up for this with
an ultra-lucid
coherence, retaining
that classic Hyrule feel.
This instalment was made a huge contribution.
Chronologically, the
game practically ties
together the entire
series by introducing the concept of multiple
generations of Link and Zeldas, providing the basis of epic
flame wars on many a
forum. It also created
the 3-5 dungeon template
that was the maturation of the
original Zelda formula,
and one that for better
or worse, hasn't changed
much since.
There's little argument
that ALttP is a great
game, and one of the
best 2D games, but it
is, on the overall Zelda
scale, middling. To see
the 2D formula
perfected, turn to
Link's Awakening, but
for those looking for a
definitive home console
2D adventure game,
download this on Virtual
Console now!
|
Gameplay |
7 |
Overall
7 |
|
Graphics |
9 |
|
Sounds |
7 |
|
Atmosphere |
7 |
|
Contribution |
7 |
