We need to tell you something unprecedented happened during our SNES rankings debate. After three weeks of arguments about Chrono Trigger vs Earthbound, fights over whether Street Fighter II deserved top ten, and one genuinely heated discussion about Donkey Kong Country that almost got personal – we unanimously agreed on one thing.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past belongs at number three, and not a single person fought about it.
Carl immediately got suspicious. Joe accused us of groupthink. Tim worried we’d lost our critical edge. Sam thought maybe we were all having strokes simultaneously. John suggested we table the discussion and come back to it after arguing about something else to make sure we still had our edge. But no – after replaying it for this ranking, we all came to the same conclusion independently.
A Link to the Past is that good.
What Makes A Link to the Past Special
Developer: Nintendo | Released: November 1991
A Link to the Past took everything the original NES Zelda established – exploration, dungeon crawling, gradual power progression – and perfected it. The game world feels massive despite technical limitations. The dungeons are brilliantly designed puzzle boxes. The Light World and Dark World mechanic creates two complete versions of Hyrule that mirror and complement each other.
You play as Link, awakened in the middle of a rainy night by a telepathic message from Princess Zelda. The wizard Agahnim has taken over Hyrule Castle and is kidnapping the descendants of the Seven Sages to break the seal on the Dark World. What starts as a rescue mission becomes a quest to save both the Light and Dark Worlds from the demon Ganon.
The dual-world system is genius design. Early in the game, you gain access to the Dark World – a corrupted mirror of Hyrule where everything is twisted and dangerous. Objects and locations in one world correspond to their equivalents in the other. A boulder in the Light World might be a warp point in the Dark World. A cave entrance in one world could be inaccessible in the other.
This creates exploration that’s constantly engaging. You’re not just mapping one world – you’re understanding how two worlds relate to each other. Finding a chest in the Light World might require accessing that location from the Dark World. Reaching a dungeon entrance could mean switching between worlds multiple times to navigate obstacles.
Dungeons That Demand Spatial Thinking
The dungeons in A Link to the Past are some of the best in gaming. Each one is built around a central mechanic or item, with puzzles that require you to think about space, timing, and tool usage simultaneously.
The Eastern Palace teaches you basics – simple switch puzzles, basic combat, the bow as your first major item. By the time you reach Turtle Rock near the end, you’re dealing with ice physics, multiple floor levels, moving platforms, and complex enemy placements that require mastery of your full arsenal.
The Ice Palace with its multiple floors and ice-sliding puzzles. Misery Mire’s teleportation maze. Skull Woods’ fragmented structure across multiple buildings. Each dungeon introduces new ideas while building on mechanics you’ve already learned. The difficulty curve is perfect – challenging without being frustrating, teaching without hand-holding.
Boss fights test whether you’ve actually mastered whatever item you just acquired in that dungeon. Moldorm requires careful positioning to avoid falling off the tower platform. Blind demands you track an invisible enemy. Mothula combines dodging with environmental hazards. Trinexx in Turtle Rock requires using both fire and ice rods to expose weak points.
The Overworld That Rewards Curiosity
Hyrule in A Link to the Past feels alive and packed with secrets. Heart pieces hidden under rocks, behind trees, in caves tucked away in corners of the map. Caves that require bombs to open. Entrances hidden by bushes. Fairy fountains scattered throughout both worlds.
The game never tells you where anything is. You have a map that shows terrain, but finding secrets requires observation and experimentation. See a cracked wall? Try bombing it. Notice a circle of bushes? Cut them down and find a hole. Spot a rock in an odd position? Lift it with the power glove.
This philosophy of “reward curiosity” runs through the entire game. The game respects your intelligence enough to hide things in plain sight and trust you’ll experiment to find them. No quest markers. No glowing indicators. Just environmental design that encourages exploration.
The Dark World adds another layer. Locations that seemed insignificant in the Light World become crucial in the Dark World. The witches’ hut transforms into the magic shop. The fortune teller becomes the cursed village. Navigating Hyrule requires understanding both versions simultaneously.
Combat That Feels Weighty
Link’s movement and combat in A Link to the Past set the standard for every 2D Zelda that followed. The sword swing has weight and range. The spin attack – charged by holding the sword button – deals massive damage but requires timing. Different items offer different approaches to combat situations.
The bow for ranged attacks. Bombs for area damage. The hookshot for pulling enemies close or stunning them. The ice rod to freeze enemies in place. The fire rod for damage over time. You’re not just swinging a sword mindlessly – you’re choosing the right tool for each situation.
Enemy variety keeps combat interesting throughout. Early enemies like soldiers and spear-throwers teach basic patterns. Later enemies like Wizzrobes that teleport, Like-Likes that steal your shield, and Lynels that charge aggressively require different strategies. The game constantly introduces new enemy types that demand new approaches.
The Master Sword progression feels earned. You start with a basic sword. Upgrade to the Master Sword after completing the first three dungeons. Power it up further with tempering. By the end, that sword feels legendary because you’ve worked for every upgrade.
The Music That Defines Hyrule
Koji Kondo’s soundtrack for A Link to the Past is iconic. The overworld theme is one of gaming’s most recognizable melodies. The Dark World theme takes familiar motifs and corrupts them into something unsettling. Each dungeon has distinct music that reinforces its atmosphere.
The pendant dungeon theme sounds mysterious and adventurous. The crystal dungeon theme is darker and more urgent. Ganon’s Tower music is appropriately epic and foreboding. The final battle theme layers intensity that builds as you progress through Ganon’s phases.
Sound effects matter too. The puzzle-solved jingle. The item acquisition fanfare. The low-health beeping that creates panic. The sound design works with the music to create audio feedback that guides gameplay.
Why We All Agreed
During our ranking debates, A Link to the Past was the only game that generated zero argument. Joe, the Sega devotee, admitted it was “annoyingly perfect.” Tim, who came to retro gaming late, called it “timeless design.” Sam, who usually demands frame-perfect fighting game precision, appreciated the tight controls. John briefly tried claiming Zeewolf on Amiga was better, but even he gave up after replaying A Link to the Past.
Carl didn’t have to mediate anything, which was unprecedented and slightly concerning.
The reason is simple: A Link to the Past doesn’t have significant flaws. The controls are responsive. The difficulty curve is perfect. The dungeons are brilliantly designed. The overworld is packed with secrets. The dual-world system creates meaningful complexity. The pacing never drags. The items all feel useful. The progression is satisfying.
This is game design at its purest – a clear vision executed flawlessly. Nintendo knew exactly what they wanted to create, and they created it perfectly. No compromises, no half-measures, no “good for its time” caveats.
Does It Still Hold Up?
Absolutely. A Link to the Past was released in 1991 and plays perfectly today. The controls are responsive. The graphics are clean and readable. The game systems are intuitive. The difficulty is fair. Nothing about it feels dated or archaic.
Modern Zelda games – even Breath of the Wild – owe everything to A Link to the Past. The dungeon structure, the item-gated exploration, the balance of combat and puzzles, the reward structure for curiosity. BotW threw out many conventions, but the core DNA comes from this game.
The GBA port added a multiplayer mode and voice acting – ignore both. The original SNES version is perfect as-is. Available on Switch Online, easily emulated, still sold on various Nintendo platforms. There’s no excuse not to play this if you haven’t.
Why It’s Number Three
A Link to the Past sits at number three on our SNES rankings because two games barely edge it out. Chrono Trigger’s ambitious storytelling and time travel mechanics. Super Metroid’s atmospheric perfection. Both games are more innovative in specific ways.
But A Link to the Past is the most perfectly executed game on the SNES. It’s a masterclass in game design where every element serves the whole. The dual-world system creates meaningful complexity without confusion. The dungeons teach and challenge in equal measure. The overworld rewards exploration constantly.
This is the game that proved 2D Zelda could be more than just “the NES game but bigger.” It established the formula that would define the series for decades. And it did so with polish and precision that most games still can’t match.
The Verdict From The Entire Crew
We never agree on anything. Joe thinks Sega is superior by default. Tim brings fresh perspectives that upset our nostalgic assumptions. Sam demands technical perfection. John won’t shut up about British computer gaming. Carl tries to keep us focused and mostly fails.
But A Link to the Past? We all agree. It’s a masterpiece of game design that holds up perfectly decades later. The controls are tight, the dungeons are brilliant, the exploration is rewarding, and the whole experience feels cohesive from start to finish.
If you’ve never played it, play it. If you played it years ago, replay it and appreciate the design work. If you’re making an adventure game, study this one because it’s the template that still works.
Unanimous Rating: 10/10 – The 2D Zelda that perfected everything
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This review represents the collective opinion of the Balding Gamer crew – the only game we’ve ever unanimously agreed on, which frankly worries us a bit.
