Hands down the greatest hand held port ever.
GAMEPLAY
LINK TO THE PAST
This is the exact same game as we played on the SNES, with a few differences. The game has been made easier in the ice dungeon and a few other areas, though only nerds who know the inside and out of the game will notice. You basically go through temples, fighting enemies with your sword, boomerang and many other items. Each item has a specific use, which will be needed to get through each temple.
There is an extra sword move to unlock, but it doesn't really affect anything.
FOUR SWORDS
MULTIPLAYER DUNGEON CRAWLING. Yes, possibly the greatest multiplayer mode I've ever played in a hand held. I loved it, it was fresh breath of air in an already dated game. I had more fun in this than in most games on the GBA.
GRAPHICS
This is almost identical to the SNES game. Some effects have been toned down though, including explosions and shadows I believe. The game other wise is an exact port, shining with SNES 16 bit beauty. The game has a believable tone throughout Hyrule, and a distinct darker... if not silly tone in the Dark World. Some things seemed to be added just for comedy. The graphics are utterly flawless, and nearly slow down free.
SOUND
The huge sound track from the SNES game is back (If you didn't know, the Link to the Past had 30 songs) and they all sound just as good as they did on the old SNES. Some songs will have you tingling with nostalgia, while others are still favorites used in Minish Cap and Wind Waker, and its nice to see how the song originally appeared. (The Hyrule Castle song is remixed no less than 3 times in Wind Waker and 3 times in Minish Cap!)
One huge problem is that Link's yelps have been added to the game... it just doesn't sound right. The same sounds sound fine in Minish Cap, but hear they just sound wrong.
I can't remember the songs from the multiplayer, but I'll expect that they were as equally as good, and even if they weren't it wouldn't affect the score.
VALUE
More than 11 dungeons, plenty heart pieces to collect, and even secret items, in the single player, plus multiplayer means tones of replay value.
TILT
Tilt usually comprises of for me, how the games story got me into the game. Link to the Past was weak in the story department, and never really drew me in. I never felt like I was Link in the game, I felt like I was controlling him. Its still nice to see the story is now required to be watched before you play the game, as before you could skip it. The story is very good, and sets the stage, its just that after that BRILLIANT cinematic, the story doesn't take off until after the third dungeon. Ah hell, its an old game I can let it off the hook a bit.
OVERALL
Buy this game if you haven't already, its worth every penny, if only for 1 minimum percentage playthrough and the multiplayer. Buy 2 cartridges for multiplayer and it would still be a decent value. Just an amazing game.