Game:

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)

Category:

Let's Play

Duration: 14:41

5,445 views

34

This is video #22 in my playthrough of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the SNES. After a long journey, Link has finally flushed out Ganon at Ganon's Tower. The fiend has crashed through the roof of the Golden Pyramid. After a little preparation, Link drops in. The Silver Arrows are absolutely required for the coming fight.

When Link lands, Ganon offers predictable villainous boasting. He starts out creating fireballs around himself. They first expand and contract, then they become fire bats that chase Link. When Ganon disappears, he may throw his spear. During this stage, swing away with the Golden Sword.

When he has taken a few hits, Ganon will pound onto the floor, causing the outer floor tiles to fall away. Link can drop down these, either by accident or on purpose.

When the outer floor tiles, Ganon will use a "secret technique of Darkness." He extinguishes the lights and attacks from the darkness. Very reminiscent of the original game. Link must light the torches, which is easier with the Fire Rod than the Lamp. The moment both torches are lit, Ganon will freeze, blinded. Turns out Blind isn't the only one that dislikes bright light. While Ganon is frozen, Link can slash him, turning him blue. At that instant, Ganon can be shot with a Silver Arrow. While both torches are lit, Ganon can be slashed while solid to be turned blue and then shot with a Silver Arrow. However, he cannot be slashed when any torches are out.

Finally, Link finishes off the evil one (time 3:18). An inviting door to the north opens, and the hero finally attains his goal. The music for this scene is amazing.

When the scene is over, we are treated to numerous scenes all across Hyrule (time 6:08). A very nice touch, and more great music. But is it true that the Master Sword will sleep forever?

I think my favorite music track in the entire series, though, is the music that plays during the credits (time 9:48). To me, it hasn't been topped in any Zelda game since, though the credits music in all the Zelda games clearly shows Kondo's mastery.

Note that to get a score of 0 games in the Quest History, Link cannot have died at all, and the player cannot save the game and resume. The player has to complete the game in one sitting or at least keep the console on.

In conclusion, A Link to the Past has been a personal favorite of mine since it came out. In fact, it is the game that truly pulled me into the series. The story pulled me in from the very beginning, and to me the play control is tuned better than the original game's. This game introduced several concepts used in Zelda games released later, such as the Master Sword, spin attacks, Heart Pieces, Bottles, the Hookshot, and the Sages. It is interesting that Ocarina of Time's story was built around the legendry introduced in this game. Even the concept of a Dark World was adapted for Twilight Princess, another amazing entry in the series. The music and graphics are still amazing, and there are a lot of good puzzles. I have to admit that the water switches in the Swamp Palace had me stumped for a while. My only regret is that there is not a hard mode or master quest in this game.

I truly believe it is one of the best games in the Super Nintendo library, and that is no mean feat, with other excellent gems like Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Final Fantasies IV and VI, Mega Man X, Lufia I and II, etc. (I would include the Super Famicom Dragon Quests and Final Fantasy V, but sadly we did not get them on the Super Nintendo.)

I have greatly enjoyed playing this game, and I hope you have enjoyed watching. If you have not played this game before, I highly recommend it. It is available on Nintendo's Virtual Console.

Thanks for watching!

This video is part of my Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past [SNES] Playthrough playlist. This is the version originally released for the SNES in 1992. I am playing on the SNES 9x emulator. All characters, story, music, artwork, and other components of this game are the property of their respective owners.

Played and recorded in SNES 9x version 1.53. Produced with Adobe Premiere Pro CS6.

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