The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: Difference between revisions

|successor= [[The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening]]

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'''''The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past''''' (ゼルダの伝説：　神々のトライフォース, ''Zeruda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Toraifoosu'', lit. ''The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods'') is the third game in the ''[[The Legend of Zelda (Series)|The Legend of Zelda]]'' series, and the first and only one for the [[Super Nintendo Entertainment System]].  After the side-scrolling and more RPG-like gameplay of ''[[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link|The Adventure of Link]]'', ''A Link to the Past'' was a return to the overhead view and gameplay style of [[The Legend of Zelda (Game)|the original]].  It introduced the concept of two different worlds (one dark, one light), which was revisited to an extent in its console successor ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|Ocarina of Time]]'' with two time periods rather than dark and light worlds.

===The Imprisoning War===

One day, a band of evil thieves managed to open the gateway to the [[Sacred Realm]], where the mystical [[Triforce]] was hidden. Upon finding the sacred golden relic, the leader of the thieves, [[Ganon|Ganondorf]], slew his followers and claimed it as his own. Before long, dark power began to flow forth from the Sacred Realm. People were drawn into this darkness, and never heard from again. As a result, the [[King of Hyrule]] ordered the seven [[sage]]s to seal the entrance to the Sacred Realm. A great battle ensued--monsters poured into the [[light world]] from the sacred land and attacked the castle. The [[Knights of Hyrule]] defended the sages during the great battle against evil, and, though most of them perished in the struggle, the sages were able to cast their seal, stoppering the flow of darkness and trapping the evil king Ganon within. This battle became known as the [[Imprisoning War]].

===The Wizard===

Once the conflicts against Ganon had ceased, Hyrule entered a time of peace which lasted for centuries, until one year, when unexplained catastrophes began to occur. Pestilence and drought ravaged the land. Thinking the recent disasters plaguing Hyrule were somehow linked to the sages' seal, the king ordered his sages to investigate--but the seal was still intact. Desperate for answers, he offered rewards for anyone who could find the source of Hyrule's troubles.

===Your Quest Begins===

One night, a girl's voice awakens you from your sleep.

You jump out of bed not knowing whether the voice was part of a dream or reality. Upon leaving your bed, you find your Uncle, who should be fast asleep at this time, preparing to go out, girded for battle. "I'll be back by morning," he says as he departs. "Don't leave the house."

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The game starts with [[Link]] being awakened in the middle of the night by a telepathic plea from [[Princess Zelda]], who tells him that she is being held prisoner in the dungeon of the [[Hyrule Castle|castle]]. Now wide awake, Link finds his [[Link's Uncle|uncle]] with sword and shield in hand. He tells Link not to leave the house, then sets off for the castle. Link ignores his uncle's warning and follows him, only to arrive at the castle to find him gravely wounded. He gives Link his sword and shield and entrusts him with the fate of Princess Zelda. Link proceeds to rescue Zelda, and the two escape the castle through its sewer system to the sanctuary just north of the castle.

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''A Link to the Past'' retains various gameplay elements from the original [[The Legend of Zelda (Game)|NES game]], among them the top-view perspective; Link can collect rupees once more and use items by assigning them to a button, as well as recovering his life energy with hearts. Returning from ''[[Zelda II: The Adventure of Link|The Adventure of Link]]'' is the ability to use magic to perform spells and to make special items functional, as well as a major interaction with non-playable characters to obtain vital information regarding the quest.

A returning mechanic from both games is the availability of dungeons, which must be conquered in order to archieve success in the adventure. Each dungeon has a map and a compass, the former shows the layout of the dungeon in particular and the latter locates the boss's whereabouts; keys must be collected in order to open locked doors, puzzles must be solved to progress, and enemies must be defeated if they are interrupting the exploration. The dungeons are multi-leveled, ranging in number from [[Desert Palace|two]] to [[Ice Palace|ten]], and [[Big Key|Big Keys]] are needed both to open major chests (containing items that increase Link's inventory and help him progress through his adventure) and to open boss rooms.

This game introduces a very important mechanic: The Light World/Dark World dichotomy. The game has actually two maps of Hyrule, which are related to each other in several ways; for example, by switching from the Dark World to the Light World while standing in an apparently empty dead end, Link can find in the latter world a secret cave or a passage that was otherwise inaccessible, leading to secret prizes. By doing the opposite (switching from the Light World to the Dark World), Link can gain access to new dungeons, which is important to have success in the quest. ''A Link to the Past'' is praised for using cleverly this gameplay device, which in some ways has been reused in subsequent Zelda games.

''A Link to the Past'' is also the first title to have a more developed storyline, which reflects for the first time the dungeon's different purposes. The first three house the sacred pendants that give Link access to the [[Master Sword]], the fourth has to do with a failed attempt to rescue [[Princess Zelda]], the next seven dungeons house the imprisoned maidens, who (once freed) help Link break the seal of the final dungeon's entrance. This style of story progression was used in various subsequent ''Zelda'' games, among them ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|Ocarina of Time]]'' and ''[[The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker|The Wind Waker]]'', although the latter added various twists and subversions to the concept (by adding the [[Triforce]] sub-quest, lacking a dungeon for the third pearl, etc.).

''The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods'' is the English translation of the original Japanese name, ''Zelda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Triforce''. It is said that [[Nintendo of America]] changed the name of the game to "''A Link to the Past''" because they wanted to avoid any references that could be considered religious in the title of the game.

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''A Link to the Past'' was remade for the [[Game Boy Advance]], introducing ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords|Four Swords]]'' into the same GBA cartridge. The game added sounds and music from [[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time|Ocarina of Time]] and altered the sprites somewhat. While not affecting gameplay, this remake of ''[[The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past|A Link to the Past]]'' featured newer artwork of Link looking slightly younger for some reason (compare old Link artworks of ''A Link to the Past'' to newer, cleaner looking artwork; Link looks slightly like his [[Oracle series|''Oracle'' series]] appearance but a bit older). The [[Ice Palace]] dungeon was altered to make travel slightly less difficult. Another thing to point out is the sprite of the [[Witch's Hut|Witch's Hut's]] assistant has changed to look like [[Maple]].  

The game was also ported to the [[Wii|Wii's]] Virtual Console on January 22, 2007.

*''A Link to the Past'' Instruction Manual

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