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LEGEND OF ZELDA: A LINK TO THE PAST Company: Nintendo Released: April 1992 Genre: Action RPG Graphics: 9.0 Control: 9.0 Sound/Music: 9.0 Storyline: 9.0 Review by: Corbie Dillard ©2008 SUPER-NES.COM

If I wanted to, I could sum up this review with two words. It's Zelda! But for the sake of information and entertainment, I'm gonna embelish a bit. After the phenomenal success of the first Legend of Zelda game on Nintendo's 8-bit NES system, they released the sequel on the NES that was a very different looking and feeling rpg than its' predecessor. Some liked it, some didn't. But Nintendo decided to go back to the Zelda roots for their debut on the Super Nintendo system and the result is one of the most amazing action rpgs ever created and easily the best in the Zelda series to that point. The first Zelda game on the NES had a very distinct look and feel to it. Nintendo has taken that familiar look and somehow brought it into the 16-bit world of the Super NES system. Everything has a very bright and crisp look to it, and even the dungeons now have an extremely refined and detailed look to them. Even link himself looks better in this game. The Zelda games have never had a real flashy look to them, but have always managed to set themselves apart from other rpgs. Zelda 3 seems to take that idea and stretch it a length farther by keeping the visuals simple, yet at the same time showing a level of detail that has never been seen in the Zelda series up until this point. Every dungeon seems to have a look all it's own, and even the different areas on the overhead map show a level of personality that really sets them apart from the other areas in the game. You've got desert areas, swamp areas, and even a haunted forest area complete with a nice transparency mist effect. Overall Nintendo has done an outstanding job of giving the visuals a nice upgrade while still keeping the trademark Zelda look intact. As with the look of the game, Zelda has always had a very distinctive style when it comes to its' soundtrack. Many classic tunes make a return, this time completely redone in order to take advantage of the Super Nintendo's outstanding sound chip. You'll also hear a host of new tunes that keep with the typical stylings of the game's music. It's basically Zelda music the way it was meant to be and it's easy to see why so many rpg fans rate it so highly. I've got to admit, I've always been a big fan of not only the soundtrack of the Zelda games, but also the sound effects. Whereas a lot of rpg developers will spend big money to make the music in their rpgs top notch, a lot of them seem to all but ignore the sound effects. Nintendo's Zelda series has some really great sound effects, my all-time favorite being the sound effect when link completes a task, like opening a doorwar or pushing a block to reveal a special item. It's little things like this that set the Zelda series apart from other rpgs in this genre. Nintendo has once again outdone themselves with this one. Let's face it, no one does the action rpg better than Nintendo. They single-handedly created the genre and have utterly dominated it ever since. As in previous Zelda games, you have the ability to not only swing your sword, but also use a host of other items, such as the lantern, the boomerang, as well as newer items like the hookshot. It's these items that play a very key role in being able to solve puzzles in the different areas and dungeons of Zelda. You'll spend most of your time in the game's different dungeons. In these dungeons you must locate the big key and then fight a boss. You'll be helped out greatly by locating the map and compass, which are hidden in key places in these dungeons, but they'll come in extremely handy in some of the more complicated dungeon levels found later on in the game. Something else worth mentioning is the fact that your sword can be used in several different ways. Not only do you have the standard swing motion, but you can also hold down the "B" button until your sword charges up, and then release the button to do a spinning sword attack that will wipe out everything around you. As I said above, it's these little intricacies that make Zelda such a playable and enjoyable action rpg. There's a lot more gameplay to cover, but I think you get the point. I'll let you find out the rest for yourself. Zelda: A Link to the Past was a very highly anticipated game for the Super NES, and luckily Nintendo really delivered with this one. This game is everything that makes the Zelda games such a beloved series, this time with 16-bit graphics and sound. Many fans of the Zelda series still regard this game as the pinnacle of the series, even with the 3-D incarnations found on the N64 and Gamecube, and one play through this amazing rpg and you'll understand why. It's also the reason that this game consistently held the top spot in Nintendo Power's game rankings over the years. A classic in every sense of the word.