After Mario, Mega Man and Samus, it was only a question of time before Link made the jump to the 16-bits era. He did so in 1992 in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. While I’m still looking for that “link to the past”, the jump to the Super Nintendo was excellent and could even be appreciated by people not prone to action games like myself.

Graphics: 8/10

The grade might look a little low, I admit it. But that’s mainly because the game barely features any 3D. Other than a few transition to the Dark World’s Golden Palace and the clouds on Dark Mountain (in both worlds), the game is in full 2D.

But notwithstanding this lack of 3D graphics, the game looks very nice and is a giant leap from the NES era. Although I admit being a bit disappointed by Link’s drawing – he looks about as small as his first adventure on the NES – he is nevertheless more colorful than during the 8-bits era. You can clearly see his eyes and mouth (which even shows an expression from time to time) and he moves 360 degrees unlike most 16-bits games which have characters move “in squares”. I find that his moves are even better than the character from Chrono Trigger.

Despite not exploiting the 3D capacities of the SNES, the designers still put a lot of effort on Link. His movements are very fluid and natural when he walks, swims or run (you can even see the dust behind his pace). He moves his sword more realistically than on the NES – he slashes rather than do the “switch-opening” move in Final Fantasy: Mystic Quest. Accordingly, the “magic sparks” coming from the sword once he gets the three medallions are fairly large circles rather than small rectangles. He can also pick up rocks and bushes; later in the game he gets gloves to pick heavier rocks and you can see the tremendous effort he puts to lift them. Furthermore his walking of stairs, as his jumping for a higher elevation, is done more realistically than in most RPGs. Finally he can also throw objects at quite a distance.

His arsenal is also much more elaborate than on the NES. Of course, he still has his sword, his bow and arrow, his boomerang and bombs. But now he gets magic wands (instead of candles, which are replaced by a lantern) that cast cold and heat (their animation isn’t very elaborate though) and one that creates magic blocks that can explode but also help you move like a platform across dotted chasms, magic medallions that cast magic (and can be useful to open certain doors), a hammer to knock obstacles and break strategic objects and a hook to travel across gaps and kill enemies. You also get useful accessories like a bug net to catch faeries (healing) or bees (attack), an ocarina to summon a bird to make you travel faster across the world and running shoes that allow you to dash.

Overworld graphics are light-years from their NES counterpart. They are nice and colorful and varied too – you don’t just have a stone path like in the first Zelda game. There is a fairly large village, forests (that are a little foggy), water and mountain paths. There is also a Dark World whose background is different from the regular world. The differences are subtle – rocks are shaped like skulls rather than having an 8 on them, the grass is darker – but noticeable. Even Final Fantasy V didn’t show that many differences between the three different worlds.

Dungeons are also very beautiful. Rooms are much larger than in Zelda 1, giving you more to explore. They are also very different and you won’t find two dungeons alike (not even the entrance); they all have different articles and, at times, are actually in agreement with their surroundings – the Desert Palace has sand on most floors.

Finally, enemies are beautifully drawn and have more fluidity than their NES counterpart- and even their Final Fantasy peers. Although sword-wielding enemies merely dash at you rather then swing it, they are still well-detailed. There are also some invincible enemies – like that laser-shooting eye in the Desert Palace – that will challenge you and others that may have weaknesses you can exploit. And bosses are HUGE and well-detailed too, although Aghanim didn’t seem to have received as much attention for his drawing.

Music: 9/10

Unlike Super Mario All-Star, Link’s jump to the 16-bits platform improved music and sound in every aspect.

First, the classical overworld theme now sounds “semi orchestrated” with trumpets and drums, making it all the more epic. It’s closer to the Zelda 1 version, but it flows much better.

Second, the soundtrack is so much larger than previous Zelda games. There are a few different dungeon themes, all sounding very dark and mysterious. You can also feel the mystery from the forest theme, appropriate with the fog of your surroundings. The village has a theme too, and so does the Dark World. It sounds less epic than the classical theme but is still nicely done. Although very short, there is also a track when fighting bosses that is very intense, and the following victory fanfare following your victory is much more epic than the Paladin Quest version.

Finally, the sound effects have also made a successful transition to the SNES While veterans might miss the classical magic sword beam (the same one you also heard in Captain N’ The Legend of Zelda TV show), the SNES version still sounds good – although they did keep the “successful” sound effect and improved it. Link has a vast array of sound effects: his sword slashing is nice, his wands make appropriate “magical” sounds (and the lantern sounds fiery), his hook has a realistic chain sound, the bombs have a realistic explosion sound and his ocarina has a realistic feel to it.

The sounds he personally makes are also well-done: forcing to pull a heavy rock sounds like a tremendous effort, his acceleration shows he’s going to run fast and the ensuing dash sound very swift, his walking in puddles of water sounds very life-like as is the case for his climbing up and down the stairs. However, his suffering sound when he gets hit (and the alarm sound when your life meter is low) can get annoying.

Addictiveness: 8/10

Along with better graphics and music, Zelda 3 has quite a bit to offer to players.

First, you have the possibility to have up to 20 hearts in your life meter. But to do so, you will need to both defeat bosses and find all 24 heart quarters hidden everywhere on the map. Most of them will involve traveling back and forth between the Light and Dark Worlds so you will need to set your teleportation with precision.

Like Zelda 1, there are treasure-opening challenges where you can only open one (or 2, if there are more than 3) treasure chest. Will you be able to get the most money/get a piece of heart? There’s a similar money/heart challenge where you must dig as much as you can in 30 seconds (don’t worry your shovel is sturdy). Finally, there’s a shooting gallery where you can earn about 60 rupees and a running contest that can reward you with a quarter of a heart.

Finally, there are many optional but very useful pieces of equipment you can get. There are shields that can protect you from small fireballs and laser beams, armors that can substantially decrease the amount of damage you receive and stronger swords that make your attacks more efficient.

And let’s not forget another great challenge: finish the game undefeated, i.e. by not dying anywhere nor resetting the game. Are you tough enough?

Story: 6/10

Despite making the jump to a larger platform, the producers didn’t spend as much time working of a deeper scenario, unlike Final Fantasy IV. Although the instruction booklet provides a deeper explanation of the background story, the in-game story is fairly straightforward for the first third.

The story is the classic fairy tale: a Princess (Zelda) needs her knight in, er, green fabric armor (Link) to be saved from an evil wizard (Aghanim). Although you’ve never even seen Zelda (she contacts you telepathically at the start of the game), you are still entrusted to save her. After the rescue, you goal is of course to defeat the evil wizard and restore peace to the world.

Fortunately, the scenario then gets a little deeper. Right before you confront Aghanim, he casts Zelda into another dimension in order to facilitate his control of both the Light and Dark World. After defeating him, you get warped to the Dark World, when you must free the seven maidens, descendants of the Seven Wise Men, from their crystals in order to restore peace to both worlds and reclaim the Triforce (that DOES come in three parts this time).

Depth: 8/10

Despite a simplistic story and dialogues (the maidens don’t have much to say) and no real character development, Zelda 3 still has a lot to offer.

As I said above, the dungeons are much larger. While some rooms still come in the classical square shape when you must kill enemies/bomb a wall/use a key to get out of them, most of them are actually quite large. They come with different obstacles, and some of them cannot be avoided by simply attacking them. You will even, at times, come back to the large rooms but on a different level; it makes the rooms more interconnected with each other. There is even a dungeon where your action (bombing a floor) won’t have repercussions until later on.

But the best part starts when you get access to the Dark World. At first, without the necessary spiritual strength, you will be transformed into a rabbit without any weapons. Of course, you WILL get means to withstand the strong dark energy from that world.

But once you gain the appropriate item, you will be able to fight the foes. However, you will very often need to switch back to the Light World in order to flick/pull a switch/smash something that will grant you access to a dungeon (or get a special item).

The village also plays a crucial part; blacksmiths in both worlds can help you get a stronger sword, and ingredients you get in one world can be used by someone in the other world to cook something useful.

Finally, both worlds are as big as the dungeons are. In fact it’s so large that you will be happy to have the “pigeon express” to carry you to eight strategic points on the map – you can also save and reset and start at Link’s house or the Golden Pyramid in the Dark World.

Difficulty: 6/10

As such the game isn’t so difficult, even for me.

Enemies in both the Light and Dark Worlds are of reasonable strength. Not too many regular enemies have obvious weaknesses, but they are not too difficult to defeat. You just need to be on your guards, especially in the Light World, since many enemies dash at you, leaving little time to respond if you’re distracted.

All dungeons have a boss and defeating them won’t be easy. Fortunately, you don’t be a genius to figure out that many have obvious weaknesses, shown by strategic colors or sounds when you hit them – or just, by “pure luck”, from the accessory you got in the dungeon. Smashing the attack button is only half the work to defeat them.

Speaking of which, the greatest difficulty in this game actually comes from brain, not brawn. As I said earlier you will need to constantly switch from the Light to the Dark World in order to progress in your quest. It won’t be easy to figure out the right way in since it sometimes require you to get accessories that can very hard to find (like the flippers).

But nevertheless, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is a game everyone can enjoy. The graphics are nice and colorful, the music both adapted 8-bits classics to the next level and created a vast array of new tracks and the game offers many secrets. And since there are two worlds to explore, that are similar but not identical, you will have to dig deep to find some of these secrets.