This was defintally a solid zelda game, damn near perfect. There are still 3 heart pieces that i cant find in order to fully complete this game, and i refuse to look it up on the internet.

Also, did this game come with a map when it was first released. I'm trying real hard to remember if it did or not, thanks.

A classic game, I loved it.

I remember this as the first Zelda game that I got, have been hooked ever since.

Literally got my Wii in yesterday and got a cheap copy of Windwaker off of eBay - came with Link To The Past and Masterquest inside - I'm as happy as can be !

Zelda, my first ever huge game, and each time it gets released I get it again. Such a cool game, and the first one I ever played with side quests.
Why dont games get made like this anymore?

In answer to an earlier question, yes the original did come with a map (at least the pal version does cus i still own it) And yes when is it coming to the UK cause OOT is good but this is the best

I'd really like to know what kind of PAL conversion this game has, not that that will affect my buying decision . I've only got 700 Wii Points though, so I'll be purchasing it tomorrow.

Looks like the borders are reduced (I saw Kirby and noticed them a lot more), for the speed I can't say, but since it's not f-zero or sonic I think the gamplay doesn't suffer.

I didn't feel any particular problem trying it.

Zeruda No Densetsu!!!!

There's few moments in games as good as when you walk out of the cathedral for the first time and your ears are blessed with the overworld theme from A Link to the Past. Only my personal favourite Majora's Mask to come now but this is a very close second.

Zelda

Ahhh zelda xD
1992 what a year in gaming that was

This seems to be optimized for PAL... no black borders, and it runs the same speed as NTSC. Thank god for that!

No borders at all Dan? And full speed? That's quite something! SNES VC games tend to have minimized borders, but they're still there, and the speed tends to be the same as the original 50Hz version.

About the optimization.

Is anyone sure (and I say:SURE) about the speed?
I don't know the way used to check all the other games....

Since here and on the Wikipedia page there are doubts about the speed, I tried myself to run a ROM on an emulator along with the VC title. Two monitors running the same scene one next the other.

I think A Link to the Past has NO optimised speed.

I noticed the text was running faster on the VC title, but the movements of Link were a bit slower.

Maybe my method is totally untrustable, I don't know. What's the "official" way of checking the speed?

... have a US SNES with the game running next to it
and i'm sure the Speed is NOT optimized
since i played Zelda on the SNES recently
swinging the sword seemed like slower to me

but i could be wrong too

there are small borders and the game is a lil bit slower than the original

This game is amazing. I played twice through the Japanese version when it first came out - not knowing any Japanese! And this will be the first time that I will have ever gone through it in english - I cannot wait to get stuck in!

I loved this game on the snes, and i had an emulator on my laptop 5 years back and played it then for a while, I just found out that you could use the ocarina to warp to places by doing something at the weather vein in the village-

all these year and i never knew, i just ran around the place- no wonder it took so long-

any one know if nintendo are planning on releasing game boy games (namely zelda) on the VC?

F:S

Fail Safe: You are talking about Ocarina of Time on the N64

-K- no, i was talking about link to the past, i know that you used the ocarina to transport around in OOT, but this idea came from LTTP- infact on the VC operations guide it says that the item --> ocarina can be played in a certain place to transport around the world.

I just got this game afew days ago and it all came flooding back, harder than i remembered but so much fun, its wonderful to see ideas and details that made it in to later games - not to mention the fantastic music!

Does anyone know how you get the ocarina from the ghost of the forest boy. every time i aproach him he vanashes, none of my items work on him. please help!

You'll never be able to approach him, fail:safe. However, if you want to progress further through this sidequest, try going to the same area in the Dark World...

For more information, I recommend www.gamefaqs.com!

yah i cant get the ocarina too but in the dark world talk to him and do what he says. im not done this game yet, but i would give it a five star (im not done because i started playing super paper mario)

Just bought it yesterday... as I've allready got it on the GBA! Is it me or does it feel like a new and better game on a big screen!? What an awesome game!!

Nintendo turn on the style again, as Link and Zelda make their 16-bit debut. After a somewhat 'experimental' re-envisioning of the series in Zelda 2 on the NES, Miyamoto and his team decided to go back to the format of the original game. The result is a hugely rewarding game!

The primitive graphics of the original NES game have been replaced with a lavish game world and a splendid array of enemies. There are also far more objects to collect than in the original.

It is fair to argue that Zelda is not a true RPG as you don't rely or interact with NPCs half as much as in say an Enix game of the era. I'd argue that Zelda is more of an arcade adventure, either way it's absolutely brilliant! Fantastic dungeons, top secrets and as I mentioned, lots more items to collect. The map system is also a hundred times better than in the original NES game and actually makes sense now!

The game world is big and varied. It is also revealed to you in steps as you can only access certain parts when you've collected a specific object or performed a certain task. There is also a "Metroid Prime 2-style" 'light' and 'dark' world aspect to the game as well, which for the time was very innovative and also adds a whole new dimension to the game (literally) as to do certain things you need to be in a certain world. But that's much later in the game. All in all, I absolutely love this game and it's addictive qualities probably cost me some decent GCSE grades!

It's also worth mentioning the soundtrack is one of Nintendo's finest. The music consists of some fantastic new scores and tremedous, epic orchestrated renditions of classic NES Zelda tunes. Brilliant!

Is it worth downloading? It certainly is! Even if you have the GBA conversion it's worth getting as you can see the beautiful graphics in all their glory. Another jewel in the SNES's outstanding catalogue of games.

Mr 64, that was a beautiful explanation of the game. And I couldn't agree with you more this game is so much better than the game boy version. ( even though I've never played that one before ) I've never beat this game yet ( this is the first time i've played it ) I stopped because I wanted to play DK country, but those words you just wrote inspired me to beat this game and see what happens at the end.

Wow I'm in the 3rd temple in the dark world and I can't beat the boss.
It's almost impossible when all of those spikes keep shooting at you and the dragon thing is trying to hit you.

I just completed this game yesterday, it was utterly satifying. Just getting past the point i got to as a kid was enough but to see where the ideas that made later games came from was a real joy for a zelda fanatic like myself.

I loved the dark woods dungeon, such a great idea to have portions of the dungeon only accessable from hidden entrences/holes in the ground out side the temple its self- makes me wonder why this was one of the few ideas that never got carried through to the later games.

Also, i loved the fact that there were things you could totally miss and still get through the game, im still trying to find the bombos medalion and the golden bee. Makes the game so morish and expansive. Top stuff well recomended.

F:S

This is my favourite one player game ever, would happily play it all day. Sheer perfection!

A very pedantic point, but has anyone else noticed that there is no part of the game that has anything to do with "a link to the past"? a link to the dark world maybe, but the game is firmly set in the present tense throughout.

still, top game.

F:S

I think this game is called a link to the past coz this is the first game when you play as link as a child, I havn't played this game before but I have heard lots about it and I'm pretty sure that he's a kid.

simply INCREDIBLE. next to ocarina and twilight princess this has to be the greatest zelda game ever created

Woohoo! ALTTP ROCKS BIG TIME!!! Man.. I love playing that game ever since it came out years ago (SNES version)! I kept playing that game over and over and over... this beats out playing Zelda: MM, mind you.. but OoT is better than MM, in my opinion. But I don't know if I'd ever compete between Zelda 1 and Zelda 2 (both NES versions)... both are very good games, anyway.
Btw, Pocketim: How can Link play being a child and then adult in ALTTP? I know that it occurs in OoT, though. I could be mistaken.

Well... again, ALTTP rocks on!

I have link to the past now and at the very start sometimes if you talked to a guard he will say "Hey kid! What are you doing up this late? You can stay up when you are older!" or something like that so that is pretty good proof that link is a child in this game.

MASTERPIECE!!!! can't beat this one on the zelda front. Anyone else think it's better than the 3d games? and if ya think about it TP is pretty much the same game as Oot and it gets kinda borin after a while. But this game is addictive can't stop playin for ages...... god damn death mountain... -_-

A Link to the Past was my first Zelda game.. (I later beat Zelda 4, 5, 6, 1, 2, 7+8, etc. except the Panasonic one's) I never excpected anything from the game. It was always present in the 90'ies.. Zelda here.. Zelda there.. But I got it from a friend and as I began to play I didn't know what was going to happen to me. This game blows your brain.
5/5 Stars!

A link to the past was my first zelda game and it is a gaming experiance that i will never forget. It turned me into a zelda fan forever. In terms of quality i would describe it as on a par with the amazing OOT.

Not only was this the first Zelda game that i played but was also the first RPG style game that i had ever played. I will always remember this game as one of the best gaming experiances that i ever had. I am 29 years of age now so i was only a young boy when i played through it and i fondly remember scratching my head several times with some of the brilliant puzzles, and then feeling a great sense of acheivment, satisfaction and appreiciation when you cracked it. When i started the game i was very curious as to what the game would be like and little did i know that i would end up becoming a huge fan of the zelda franchise to this day. I rate this game as on a par with Ocarina of time but personally always prefered OOT. Truly an epic adventure which deserves all the praise it has ever had.

I'm currently playing through my GBA version of the game and ws wondering if there is a point in my spending a percentage of my last 1000 wii points on this game. Love the GBA version, currently facing the third crystal boss (mothula i think) but don't know if the game is worth starting over again just for the satisfaction of seeing it on big screen. Was too young to play the original game.

I haven't played Zelda:TP yet but out of the rest this is by far number one. It's perfect it every aspect. The second best one is (also by far) OOT, but even though OOT is as good as it is it's not close to as awesome as this game =)

Just beat it... I really need input about this.... This along with the 2nd Zelda (Yeah I know Im crazy) and actually that first one that came out for the black and white old school game boy were the only ones I really liked alot.... Is the new Wii one going to be alittle over this easily frustrated older gamer???

You know what.
I'm gonna just say this.

Forget Ocarina of Time.
The Best Zelda EVER MADE is Without a doubt, Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, for the SNES.

Hands Down BEST ZELDA GAME!!!
Ill be honest im not THAT huge into zelda.. sure it may sound crazy to some of you but thats the truth.
However, this zelda game is fantastic and worthy of 5 stars, I enjoy far better than Ocarnia of Time and highly recommend it over OOT!

loved this game, better than the first zelda. I haven't yet played the second.

I read all of the praise for this game and I am surprised by all of the people who say that this game was the first Zelda they've played. Zelda on NES was my first experience with the series - this game straight-up spoiled me...I guess I'm an old fogey. Link's Awakening is another well made game for the limitations of the Gameboy. Zelda fans who have not played that: I suggest you find a way to play that one also!!!

I have to agree with some of the reviewers. This is better than OOT. Who doesn't love being in Hyrule's dark side? Not me!

"
A very pedantic point, but has anyone else noticed that there is no part of the game that has anything to do with "a link to the past"? a link to the dark world maybe, but the game is firmly set in the present tense throughout."


It's called A Link to the Past because it takes place centuries before the two other Zelda games that were out at the time. The Link in this game is the forefather of the Link everyone knew at the time, so it's a link to the past, to see the first defeat of Ganon and the first time the Triforce came together. At the time. Nowadays we have Ocarina of Time and all those other games taking place even further in the past.

I was kind of spoiled by this game...as it was so good that Ocarina of Time became my biggest gaming disappointment of all time by comparison (not that it is a bad game, but it's no AlttP).

"Zelda 3" is, simply put, my favorite game ever.

Greatest Zelda ever, and one of the greatest games for the SNES. I have so many fond memorys of this game from when I was a kid.

My only disappointment with it is that they never made a proper sequel. If they made a LTTP/II it would be a platinum seller.

ALttP is the best Zelda game ever made. Everything that was good about the original Legend of Zelda is in this game plus many new items, puzzles, and enemies. This is the game that introduced us to the magic meter and the spin attack (both are main-stays of the series ever since) and, for the first time, you get to truly interact with the people of Hyrule. Great game then and still a great game now.

I have played this game all the way through probably 6 times and it is still just as fun as the first time. I own it on the SNES, but I will probably still pay $8 and get it for the wii.

What else is there to say? It's a masterpiece. My second-favorite SNES game, after Super Metroid.

800 POINTS!?!? If you don't have this game already in some form, download it! It's a 16-bit masterpiece!

This game is a classic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is the best game in an incredibly huge series, hands down, no questions asked.

HELP...I've been trying to find Kiki the monkey for weeks, i know i need to find him and pay him 10 rupees so he leads me to the dungeon but ive looked everywhere, i walked around under that big bush for ages but the little buggers nowhere to be seen, can anyone help?

@where's kiki
if my memory serves me correctly: on your way to the first darkworld dungeon you make your way through a bushmaze. when you exit it on the other side, there he is following you. go to the entrance, he will open it for 100 rupees.

I absolutely love this one, best game ever for me. and yes OoT was kind of a letdown after this. links awakening on the gameboy is my 2nd favourite zelda-game

This is the greatest game that i have ever played(after Chrono Trigger for the snes), and i think that every Wii owner should buy this no doubt.

I just downloaded this for VC the other day, I hadn't played it in probably fourteen years - I have been playing it almost non stop since I downloaded it.

Incredibly fun, tons of exploration, great puzzles, well designed dungeons.

Why don't they make games like this any more???

They do - have you tried Minish Cap on the GBA?

Classic. One of the few games that make me regret never getting a SNES back in the day. This would still be a 5 star game even by today's standards. It still feels brand new and just drips with quality.
No excuses. Download this now.

Everyone said how great this game is, so i tried it and was really disapointed, it was hard and boring.

It's a really good game I wish I could beat it but the temple in the dark worlds desert is kinda putting me off

I felt the same way, agent_lime, but then I gave it time, and it grew on me...and I found myself playing it more and more...compulsively. like the shoemaker said, the only thing I'm not too crazy about in this game is the dark world...a great game nonetheless.

what do you do in the castle at the begining?

At the start of the game you have to save Zelda. You wake up, and run to the castle. It's raining, but you find a secret passage way. You meet your relative and gives you your sword and shield. Once you free Zelda, you get a heart piece and is told where to go next. Very abrupt way to start a game, but it worked.

Yeah, the Zelda series has always been more about self-driven exploration then being told where to go, or at least, the classic Zelda games are...

This is an excellent game, but those who have played the bajebus out of it on the SNES and emulators may want to think twice about purchasing it on the Virtual Console, since it will be missing some of that "Wow" factor.

I have this on my GBA 9/10

Best Zelda! IMO

Never got it on the SNES, then bought it on the GBA and i loved it. Fantastic Game!

I bought this game off of a guy I knew and my sister and I played it like crazy every day after school. We still talk about this game. It's perfect!

Great solid adventure game! Unlike the Wii zelda game, the songs and gameplay are great and keeps you on a constant stance looking for the next "key" item and will never let you get bored, Wii Twilight Princess makes you want to snore, very boring and makes you lose interest fast unlike Link to the Past, the gameplay and music are always exorbitant, fast and great.

its a very hard game!! but i loved it

One of the best games of all time! A classic adventure that never fails to impress!

As many others before me have said, one of the best games on the SNES. I love it!

Definitly the best game that the SNES has to offer. The overworld has such a huge feel to it that makes you want to wander the landscape for hours.

One of the best SNES games ever...
The game is huge, tunes are top notch, bosses imaginative and the dungeons are wicked.

5/5 from me, this is what got me into the series!!!!

This is a great game, but it doesn't quite top OOT. It's a close second though. I like OOT cuz it takes zelda into the world of 3-D, but A Link to the Past does show off it's amazing music, clorfull dungeons, and clever puzzles. They are both no less than a five-star title!*****

Amazing game--downloaded it the first day it was out on the Wii, and enjoyed every bit of it. Colorful, detailed dungeons, and two huge worlds to explore--- who could ask for more than that?

As bad as this sounds, I never really played this game back in the day. A few years back I got Four Swords for GBA, but never got to into the game. At the time, I thought that nothing could be as good as the orginal Zelda for NES, and I was bitterly dissapointed with Zelda II for the same reasons most people are. I gave this game a second chance by downloading it the other day and I am not dissapointed at al! I don't know why it didn't click with me before, but I am impressed and inthrawed this time around. The graphic style doesn't feel dated, game play is awesome, the details are amazing, the depth, the list goes on and on. It's everything I loved about the original and more. This game is a must buy for Zelda fans, casual fans, or even people like me who are in the re-descovery camp.

The best game in Zelda 2D series... but if you don't speak English, I suggest to get the GBA version 'cause SNES version is not traduced.
In spite of that this game is the best 16-bit generation Action/Adventure game. Absolutely a Must-Have.

after reading some of the peoples comments i just wanna play it right now! the game just never gets old, even today. the boss battles are so much fun and the music is that much better. my favorite is the second boss-the giant worms.

Better or worse than Ocarina of Time?

i just can't choose between this and ocarina of time, there both really good it just kinda depends on what your
in the mood to play. a 2-D or 3-D zelda game.

To me, this is the first great Zelda game that deserves 5 stars. But it's hard, especially the dungeons.

5 stars. I finally beat it, and it was the most challenging Zelda game i've ever played. It's a great game and $8 is a steal!

The last bit of puzzles were very VERY tricky, I still am shocked that i actually beat it. Now on the mojoras.

My first ever VC download. What a teriffic game. The dungons are very clever with creepy music. Best SNES game ever. The only actual flaw in this game is that it actually ends. Highly recomended for a mere 800 points.

This is, without exaggeration, my single favorite video game. I've beat it well over twenty times, and in my first year of college there was a competition to see who could beat this game the fastest. At that video game tournament, myself and several others went up against a mysterious girl no one had seen before. This chick heard about the competition, but didn't attend the school, she decided to sign up anyways. Well, we all set off into Hyrule and within three hours this girl was already done, while I was still meandering somewhere around a fourth or fifth dark world temple. Needless to say, I was in love.

Getting this tonight...
This is gonna be awesome.

realy great game,

Still my favourite Zelda ever.

I think this is the best Zelda game ever made, and I even say this over OoT and TP. I got a real soft spot for the old top-down Zeldas, probably cuz Link's Awakening was one of my favorite games as a kid, as was the 2 Oracle games.

awesome, awesome game. Can anyone tell me where the big key is in the 3rd dark world dungeon? (I got pissed off cuz I couldn't find it and started doing the next dungeon lol)

Edit: never mind I found it (though I found the Titan Mit and got the tempered sword first; and no I didn't use a guide )

i have 3 crystals the 1st one the 4th one and another one i forgot

If you newbie Zelda fans want to know what this game is like, it's basically a 2D "Ocarina of Time." Yeah, it's that good, or at least that's how I feel. One of my favorites of the Zelda series.

Having played Twilight Princess first I'm really struggling to get into this. Im a 2D gamer at heart but this is gonna take me a while to get used to.
I wouldnt go as far as saying its overrated, but I just hope I can enjoy it as much as everyone else one day.

I beat this game when I was about 7 years old. This game is GREAT!

got this last week. 4/5 for good dungeon design, decent music, a somewhat annoying first boss, and nice controls. (After beating the first dungeon.) I didnt know if I would like old-school zelda, but here I am, not regretting it at all.

An excellent master piece!

I've been entertained for days with this one!

5/5

Though the game may be an ass in the beginning when you don't have that much health.

My first Zelda game and to this day... is still my favorite.

I await the day when I decide to buy this game...right now I'm in the middle of so many other current (Okami, Super Paper Mario, etc.) and classic titles (Ninja Gaiden II) that I have yet to finish. I never bought this game on SNES back in the day, and it's a game on my own personal pile of shame. I urge anyone considering to buy this game to go ahead and buy it. This game wouldn't be on any top game lists of all time for nothing. No brainer. The best 800 Wii points you'll ever spend.

i will buy this one soon, after bought SoM which i am waiting for way too long
this was (still is) a great zelda game, i would be happy to buy it
i always had to help others who had this game, i was the best in the neighbourhood i think i like to play it again on the wii with gamecube controller

and yes, i bought this one, awesome to have the old game on a new console
wii isnt that new anymore, but still the newest i have
i'm happy i bought it (same with the wii points today)

Maybe not the most difficult zelda of them all in classic form, but it is a true zelda game. Seeing Link more colourful and graphical for the first time really made a good entrance, and still does. The puzzles, advice and length of this game where good as well. what made this game one of the best zelda games in history.

4 - (4,5) stars

This is ONE of the best zelda games ever made, but I feel Ocarina of Time was superior, despite the similar plot.

Still, it's definitely the second best zelda game, and improved on the original substansiully. This game feels more like the first true zelda than the nes original, even though they are both great games in their own right.

I love this game but it is freakin' HARD! It took me- no joke- 5 years to beat it. Yep. It's a tough one. But very enjoyable.

The only reason I probably won't download it unless I completely run out of titles I want to download (highly doubt) is because I own it on the GBA. As far as I'm concerned the GBA is almost a perfect clone, but...

This game kicks major buttocks. It has an amazingly perfect dificulty curve and it really makes you think for the puzzles. This was the last (good, stupid CDI) 2D Zelda game, and it hit the mark with ablomb. I actually had the soundtrack stuck in my head for the castle, and I couldn't remember what game it was for a while, because I hadn't played it in a while. That's how good the game is, if you don't play it for a while if you haven't beaten it, it will call to you*. Like most of the Zelda Titles, it's definetely worth a download and your points. Come on...it's only 8 bucks!

*Game might not actually call to you

Wonderful, absolutely marvelous game, by far my favorite game in the series! Highly recommended!

I haven't played this of Ocarina of Time. Which is better?

@85. slangman
The only flaw in this game is that it ends!? This must be a good game, but is it better than OOT? (I haven't played eather one so could someone tell me which is better)

@103. Corbie: I'm glad SOMEONE agrees with me.

I know that I'm like 111th comment, but this is almost my favorite game ever. Period.

i agree with tatemon555 it in my top ten best all time best games along with mario worls ocarian of time starfox64 sin and puisment and pokemon snap i wish i was born in japan so ii can get a lot more games because i can speak japanese it just hard to get from asia

I try, and try, and try to enjoy this game, but I always get turned off by the gameplay and puzzles. Well, at least I like everything else about it.

@ nintendork
i know what u mean it does get very frustrating but the game is excellent

@cheeseman Well personally I reckon OOT has the slight edge but this is still a brilliant game that every Zelda fan should try out. And i still stand by my last comment it is a flawless game.

Own the GBA port, great game, possibly the second best Zelda ever. Even to this day I'm one heart piece and one Ganon-beating away from completing this game perfectly.

Zelda games are fairly distinct. Link to the Past has a really solid feel of classic fantasy done right (Lord of the Rings vein). This and OoT really towed the line of making sure they covered all the bases and could be called the ultimate Zelda games; big, epic, and didn't take as many chances or experimentation as Majora's Mask or Link's Awakening (the latter being my personal fav). The trade-off is risking coming across a tiny bit generic and by-the-book, which does happen a little.

Yeah, this is one of the two greatest orthodox Zelda games; in my mind, probably the better one. Great stuff, and lots of it--lots of big, gloomy dungeons. More story, more items than you could ask for (though remarkably, many of them prove awfully useful).

On the new rating scale, I'm going to look like the meanest reviewer ever to some people: 9/10

I don't care for ALttP, but LA is amazing (I'm replaying now since I haven't beaten it, and am loving it) it's traditional enough. Majora's Mask owned, it had all the great traditional aspects and then a bunch of great untraditional ones, the only area it lacked was storyline length.

I got this for GBA after enjoying FSA. I love it!

I honestly think that this is the best video game ever. From start to finish, it is just perfect. I cannot count the number of times I have completed it (and each play through come across something I have never seen or done before). This was the first game I ever really played that totally immersed me. Such happy memories, I still remember my first day of playing it all those years ago! Perfect.

This game had zelda all over it. The depth of the story to the controls to the vast range of weapons. This game was massive in scale for only a 16bit game. Great boss battles that everyone will remember for a lifetime. The game will have you playing it for hours,weeks and even months, trying to find all them 20 hearts is a challenge itself. A good clear story set this zelda game to become one of the most loved in the series and is my fav zelda game. A great snes game overall and does deserve a clear 10/10.

Ps this game did come with a map but i dont have the map shame

The pinnacle of 2D Zelda adventuring, and a classic in every sense of the word. This is definitely a must-play for any gamer.

this is the best video game ever!!