Jono Logan
Do you remember the experience that solidified your love of video games?
For me, it was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on the Super Nintendo. When released in the early days of the SNES, it exemplified everything this new generation of 16-bit gaming could be. Building on everything found in the original The Legend of Zelda for the NES, ALTTP refined the formula of dungeon diving for progression items to a masterful degree. In fact, this formula was so successful that they kept it for almost every Zelda game until Breath of the Wild in 2017.
However, the life of ALTTP extends far past the SNES. It is the basis of a Game Boy Advance remake that introduced the first Zelda multiplayer mode called Four Swords. It is the foundation of one of the greatest examples of ROM hacking, the fan-made masterpiece, Parallel Worlds. Most recently, it popularized the concept of “randomizers,” where all items are put in random locations throughout the world for the player to discover. These alternative modes of play are surely not what Nintendo intended when they developed the game in the early 90s, but they show how sound the mechanics and gameplay remain today.
For me, though, ALTTP is a game of nostalgia. I remember being shocked at the detail of the graphics, with moody rain showering across my TV screen, sitting on my bedroom floor, desperately trying to figure out how to get access to the Swamp Palace. Best of all, it holds up over 30 years later! My recent playthrough convinced me that A Link to the Past will be remembered forever, not just as the fantastic adventure it is, but also as a game that lit the path forward for everything that came after.
Joshua Lindquist
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is a life-defining video game for me. It was one of my first video games, and it inspired me not only to keep playing games but also to talk about them, write about them, and make websites about them. I replay A Link to the Past at least once every year; it’s a game that inspires me and keeps me going. I can always depend on it to make a bad day better.
In recent years, I have begun mastering the game in new ways. I’m far from being a proper speedrunner, but I am finding new enjoyment from finding an optimal path to pick up every item without backtracking. I have also taken extra time to explore the optional parts of the world to see details I had forgotten.
My most recent playthrough was on the GBA version. I was not able to finish Four Swords before recording the podcast, but I am excited to finish Four Swords again and finally replay the bonus dungeon that was added to the GBA version of A Link to the Past. More than 30 years later, A Link to the Past still has a secret that many Zelda fans have never seen. I encourage you to find a friend or three and play Four Swords to make some new memories and see some rarely played Zelda content. It never hurts to play A Link to the Past again, after all.
Michael Sollosi
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is so influential that its DNA is in just about every Nintendo game to come after; and it’s so excellent that I played it for the fifth time (or sixth? Seventh?) in 2024 and was immediately transported back to playing it for the first time 30+ years ago, but with a more discerning, jaded eye. Despite that, if anything, I appreciate the game even more now.
A Link to the Past has guided progression that wavers between straightforward and non-linear, but always gives players clues for the next location to visit in a manner that feels natural. It takes only a few minutes to thrust Link into the action, and with eleven or twelve dungeons over a playtime under twenty hours, A Link to the Past is expertly paced.
But these comments aren’t really the point. I’m talking about pace and nonlinearity in a game from 1991. A Link to the Past is brilliantly made and engrossing to play. It holds up incredibly well and helped make The Legend of Zelda one of the most popular game series in history. This won’t be my last time with it.
