RAAtEtHoTDVG 2: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Ridiculously Ambitious Attempt to Experience the Heart of Two-Dimensional Video Gaming, Part 2

The long-delayed second entry. This took me longer than I expected because I ended up having far less free time for this sort of thing than I expected and I might be less of a Zelda fan than I thought originally. I can't guarantee I'll post these any more regularly, but I'm not giving up.

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

Before I go into why this game bugged me, I will mention that it's influence on and importance to one of my favorite game franchises is obvious. The classical heroic storyline, many of the items, a few introductory dungeons before the real adventure begins, so much of it is now the standard for at least all the "normal" sequels it's gotten since it's release. Obviously the first game started it all, but this is the template they use now. It bugs me when people say Twilight Princess is better than Ocarina of Time when I see it as the same thing with better graphics, but the same argument can be made for Ocarina with regards to this. It's really a milestone for action adventure game design.

The problem is that I just didn't enjoy playing it that much. I adore the modern console Zeldas, especially the N64-era ones, but I can't say the same for this particular precursor. It's not just the age, because I greatly prefer Link's Awakening, the handheld sequel I never actually finished. At least in that game you could block attacks up close. What's the point of carrying a shield everywhere if you can't deflect a sword or spear with it? This was one of many small frustrations that made it feel like the game was more concerned with pissing me off than really challenging me. All the enemies are perfectly designed to inhibit what actually makes exploring the dungeons and temples fun, exploring and figuring out how the mazes work and solving puzzles to get through them. When I'm constantly getting poked and prodded by irritating foes at every turn, it really saps my enjoyment.

The game also seemed less than forthcoming about what exactly what was required to get to certain areas, forcing me to turn to GameFAQs to realize things like "Oh, I need to go to this area I've never been to before to get flippers so I can swim in this dungeon". This sort of trial-by-error design might have worked back then but it doesn't fly now. It does cool things with the story and the various townsfolk you can help out as you go, but in general, I felt like I was just going trough the motions to get to the last boss. The very first dungeon was an interesting, plot-driven rescue mission, and after that I was essentially handed a list of pallete-swapped deathtraps to plunder before I could get to the finish. I probably could have gotten a lot more out of the game if I really tried, I just never felt like the game cared if I did or not. Interesting history lesson, but I didn't love it.

Next: SCUMM changes the adventure game landscape.