Otherwise known as Triforce of the Gods as it was to be originally named this was published and developed by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo (SNES). This made for the third game in the series and was released in Japan in 1991 further to be released in 1992 for North America and Europe.

The Story - How The Evil Began

A young lad named Link is awoken by a telepathic message from The Princess Zelda whom informs the boy of her despair trapped in the Hyrule Castle dungeons. As Link climbs out of bed he notices his uncle prepared for battle armed with shield and sword telling Link to remain in the house and retire back to sleep. Link decides to venture to Hyrule Castle and stumbles across a back entrance as he finds his uncle wounded Link equips his uncle's shield and sword ready for combat. Link discovers Princess Zelda trapped within the dungeons and rescues her. Escaping to the sanctuary they learn that a wizard named Agahnim is planning to break the seal made hundreds of years ago by the Seven Sages. The seal formed was set to imprison Gannon in to the Dark World which one was a peaceful land until Gannon's evil heart touched The Triforce and turned the land into darkness. Link must discover the sacred blade The Master Sword and rescue the descendants of the Seven Sages.

How it Plays

A Link to The Past returns to a similar look down view to the original Legend of Zelda. It is possible to walk around a lot more freely than before as Link can walk diagonally and fall off ledges along with the introduction of a new inventory of items. There is a plethora of items some of which are used in conjunction with the magic meter that originated from The Adventure of Link. The arrows have returned from the original Legend of Zelda with the introduction of fire, ice and light which takes a small amount of magic to be used.

The magic meter concept is used in this quest as taken from The Adventure of Link once Link acquired certain items can require an amount of magic to be used which is monitored at the top of the screen. There is a chance to increase your magic meter bar and also to reduce half the magic used by half. New features make this for delightful new additions to an awesome game such as catching a fairy in a bottle can be used once weak from battle or even bring you back to life if you lose all your hearts. Four heart containers make up an additional new heart piece or frequently Link is awarded a whole heart piece for destroying the beast of a dungeon.

Dungeons and Bosses

There are a vast variety of dungeons across the whole adventure. The first three main dungeons must be completed in the correct order to progress further in search for the legendary Master Sword however once Link has obtained the sacred blade and been cast into the dark world the dungeons can be completed in a non-linear path. The bosses at the end of each dungeon can require some care and attention to patterns and movement made by the enemy. It doesn't normally take too long to discover their weakness and is part of the fun as always in Zelda games. Some of the later bosses can be quite frustrating ass you may run out of magic if you're not too careful but if you carry some blue potion or a concoction to fill your magic meter back up you should be fair through the fight.

A Great Adventure

Quite for my reason why The SNES was better than The Megadrive quite simply is this game and for any other games console is Zelda will always be a great quest and this is no exception. From start to finish this game has you gripped and makes you want to discover a new founding or even the entry to a dungeon. The music is formidable for a 16 bit system the return of the main theme has been improved if you didn't think it could possibly get any better think again because this is like taking gold and enhancing it.

This game see's the introduction of the dark world that was also used in The Ocarina of Time. Once Link has pulled the Master sword from its stone he must travel to and fourth from the Dark World with the aid of The Moon Pearl that allows Link to keep his true shape, if you do not have the moon pearl he becomes a pink rabbit. I don't know if that has anything to do with Links personality but that's what he becomes.

A Link to My Past

I borrowed A Link To the past in the early Nineties shortly after I got a Super Nintendo for my birthday I had to make the choice between the SNES and the Megadrive. I knew I had made a great choice with the SNES for as soon as I turned on Super Mario World I was instantly hooked and with a wide array of great games such as A Link to the past those were some of the best gaming days of my life. I used to play A Link to The Past when I had days off from school and it took me ages to complete because the map was so big and sometimes it wasn't always as straight forward as going to the next dungeon there were items to be collected or tasks to be completed. In my own opinion this was definitely one of the best games on the SNES and still rates highly today.

Sounds: The overworld theme has taken the original and made it even better!

Graphics: Imagine the original game but a whole lot better and detailed, look out for enemies reappearing from The Legend of Zelda.

Replayability: Not so much in a hurry is there much to come back to but I love coming back to it every so often.

I Award The Legend of Zelda: 8 Triforces