The Legend of Zelda - A Link to the Past

You guys should've known this one would be my first.

Background:
The Legend of Zelda - A Link to the Past is one of the many games in the Legend of Zelda series. A Link to the Past (henceforth abbreviated ALTTP) was released on November 21st, 1991, for the Super Nintendo entertainment system (commonly known as the SNES). ALLTP is a 2D top down dungeon crawler that takes place in Hyrule (as the majority of Zelda games do).

The plot:
The main character, DikBut  Link, is off on another adventure to save the titular character, Princess Zelda, from the evil clutches of the dark wizard Agahnim, who is trying to break seven seals (put in place by seven ancient sages) in order to gain access to the Dark World; a world of great evil, where the most evil being in the known universe, Ganon, resides. In the process of stopping Agahnim, Link transverses through several dungeons, collecting items, upgrades, and heart containers. Each dungeon houses one of three pendants that help Link on his quest to save Zelda (and the world) by granting Link access to the Master Sword, a legendary sword that can vanquish any and all evil. Once Link gains access to all of the pendants, and retrieves the Master Sword, he is able to fight (and defeat) Agahnim, freeing Zelda, and ending the game. Right? You stopped him from screwing up the entire world, right?

Wrong.

You're only halfway through. See, Agahnim zaps Zelda into the Dark World just before you fight him (what a dick!), and once Link is done putting the sword to him, he sends Link into the Dark World as well. Things start to get a lot more intense in the Dark World, and Link's skills are put to the test as he traverses through even MORE dungeons (seven), freeing the descendants of the seven ancient sages, so he can gain access to Ganon's tower, where you finally defeat Agahnim (for real this time). A dark figure rises up from his broken body - it's Ganon! Link goes to Ganon's giant evil pyramid thing, where the final battle begins. Being the big pig-beast that he is, Ganon plans on using Princess Zelda to open a portal to the Triforce, a source of immense power that grants the innermost wish of whoever touches it, so that he can send the world that cast him away into a thousand years of darkness where he would reign supreme. Link is easily able to destroy Ganon using the Master Sword, and rescues the princess. He allowed to touch the Triforce himself, thus sending the world into a time of great peace.

Whew, that was a lot. So what about the game itself? A game can have a great story and still be awful, so let's move on to...

The gameplay:

As I mentioned before, ALTTP is a 2D top down dungeon crawler.  The movement is really tight; Link is very responsive when it comes to the controls. On top of the standard sword and shield (which, thankfully, blocks arrows and such automatically), there is a plethora of secondary weapons/items; one for each dungeon (about 15), and several that the player must go out of their way to get, namely three medallions that allow Link to cast massively damaging spells such as an area-of-effect lightning attack. Each secondary weapon/item has its own use, and thankfully, there are no "one-use" weapons - you know the ones I'm talking about, the ones that only get used in the dungeon they're found in, the ones you never touch after you're done with them. Once you receive a new item, you'll find a use for it in pretty much every dungeon afterwards. And that's great.

The audio/visual aspects of ALTTP are amazing as well; the game sounds and looks great, and it's not hard to see that its graphical style has been copied in many newer indie games (go look at games like Wanderlust: Rebirth and tell me that its style isn't still popular). The graphical style is very basic, but maintains enough complexity to keep your eyes entertained throughout the game; it has a style that has and will stand the test of time. There's a lot of diversity as well; you'll travel through swamps, deserts, forests, mountains, castles and fields, and each area looks great. The music is amazing too; if you don't believe me, check this out. It really gets you pumped up, and helps get you in the dungeon-exploring mood.

The difficulty... what can be said about it? ALTTP isn't a terribly difficult game, outside of a couple of boss fights. It's a game that can be played easily by pretty much anybody, as long as you're prepared for one or two rough boss fights.

Length and replayability are important aspects in any game, and ALTTP is pretty good on both. It's easily 15 hours long the first time around, and can be extended by doing side quests and searching for pieces of heart. As far as replayability goes, I've played it over 5 times, so you can take that for what it's worth.

The verdict:
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is a timeless treasure that many people love, and that many people will love for years and years to come. I give it 5/5 stars; it's easily my favorite game in the whole Legend of Zelda series, if not my favorite game overall. If you haven't played it, I have two things to say to you: a) what rock have you been living under for the past 20 years, and b) go play it. Now. Seriously.