Legend of Zelda, A Link To The Past Review: Part 1

I have played this game so many times, it isn't even funny. It's my all time favorite game, but despite my bias, it does in fact have some flaws. This is the first game I ever remember playing, and is probably the main game that really got me into the gaming world. This game had adventure, not bad graphics (at the time), and was just plain addicting. And it is generally hailed as one of the best Zelda games out there... but still below Ocarina of Time.

The game is fun! You start off as link waking up to Zelda's telepathic voice to find out that your uncle is leaving the house for some unknown reason. You follow her voice, which leads you to a hidden passage, one that your uncle must have also known about. You find him against the wall, apparently too aged to defeat two green guards that don't even chase you and has a broken sword... or a dagger? My hero -__-

She is my what? 

You speak to him, and he gives you the sword and sheild. They tells you that you have to save Zelda, she is your........ well, it never says. This has actually become a meme in recent months, but it has been nagging at me since the age of 5. This question is never answered. Ever. What is Zelda's relation to Link? Don't think too much into that, although that might become a topic of a future post.

Can you tell me which bush the entrance is under?
You'd never guess.

The main appeal of the beginning is pretty cool. It is raining outside, storming even. And you have a voice constantly nagging you to go to the castle. You can try to explore, but you really can't. There are these golden guards that are only there to block your path and you never fight them in the game ever. They all tell you to go back to bed. You are basically led, through no other option, to find this not-so-well hidden entrance behind a bush.

The game altogether is not bad. But it can be kinda linear. Green knights take 2 hits to kill, blue take 3, and red takes 4. None of the bosses are hard to figure out either. But the monsters do start to become more and more difficult as the game goes on. Turtles that you find in the later dark world levels need to be hit with a hammer before they can be hurt. Some enemies, like the yellow Stalfos heads in the first dungeon are invincible, and other monsters, like the Freezor in the ice dungeon, can only be killed with the fire rod.

Some of the enemies are just unimaginative, or at best, similar to other characters from games. I mean, what game wouldn't be complete without a wide selection of colored Juju's?

Look familar? They should, they are a common monster found in many games
 as a cheap attempt to not think about enemy sprite designs.

These are from BOF 3

These are from FFX

The character design could have been better, but it really wasn't that bad for what they had. And some of them really aren't half bad. But of course, no talk of ALTTP enemies would be complete without mentioning:

OMG! It's VIVI!!!

The game does not have any cross-level gameplay. While there are some areas on the map that need certain items to get to a secret heart piece, etc, once you beat a level, there is literally no reason at all to return to it later on. Something that other Zelda's accomplished well. In fact, none of the levels contain any secret heart pieces, and only a few levels award your curiosity with rupee's, such as the first level. There is very little use for many items outside of the levels, except for a few notable exceptions. And you really cannot beat any of the levels out of order. Which sucks, but oh well.

There is a ton, and I mean a TON more I can talk about this game, such as the differences between the GBA version and the SNES version, and more hidden non linear adventures, as well as other things. But I think I'll save it for another part.