So much fun that you'll play 'til the batteries run out. You simply cannot miss this game.
Link to the Past goes back to the days before Link looked like a mutated reject from a children's Saturday morning cartoon show; even further back than his N64 titles. It harkens back to the days of 16-bit glory when pixels were king and console wars were more violent. Don't let the age of this title scare any of you Post-3D gamers away, though -- this is one of the greatest gaming experiences you'll ever have in your life.
Gameplay - Link to the Past was a return to the original formula that made the first game of the series a hit (after the relatively disastrous second game). It has a top-down view of the action and is very battle and puzzle solving heavy. Fighting in the game is incredibly simple; swing your sword and hit the bad guy. There are a few variations to this formula (a bow and arrow, a boomerang to stun enemies, etc.), but basically you're just slashing up the baddies while attempting to avoid their own arrows and swords (and whatever else might get thrown at you, which includes but is not limited to: rocks, huge boulders, tridents and fire balls). The
puzzles in the game are never beyond impossible, though a few of them may make you scratch your head and grunt in irritation for a few minutes.
Part of what makes the gameplay so great, however, is the storyline. While by today's standards (what with your intricate FF7 plots and all) it may seem a bit simplistic (young hero must save princess, yadda yadda), but it's still great nonetheless and was stunning when it first came out long, long ago. Everything you do and use in the gameplay is connected to the story. You're not just going on quests for the sake of going on quests, you're doing it to collect legendary weapons needed to defeat your enemies and, well, save the princess. The items you collect (even the non-legendary ones) also affect the gameplay and give you more methods in which you can attack both enemies and puzzles. Everything from a lamp to a glass jar become incredibly useful items, if used correctly.
Adding to the gameplay is a new multiplayer game called "Four Swords." You and one to three friends can link up your GBA's and play this surprisingly addictive little addition. Rather than the typical "just kill everyone else except for your team members" style of gameplay usually seen in multiplayers, Four Swords forces you to work together as a team to get past obsticals and through dungeons. This tosses
in a little bit more incentive for those who have already played through Link to the Past to buy this new, pint-sized version, and since your multiplayer character can gain abilities you unlock in the main game, there's even incentive to play the original all over again (but really, did you need much incentive to play again?).
In a word? Perfect. There's a reason many people consider this to be the greatest game ever made, after all.
Graphics - It's difficult to say whether or not this game has good graphics. On one hand, they are outstanding when compared to other 16-bit titles that were out around the time of Link to the Past, but on the other hand, they're a bit bland compared to today's titles (even other GBA ones, such as Lunar Legend). At any rate, there is nothing here that is going to make you weep profusely; everything looks great (it's a perfect port from the SNES), but it's not jaw-dropping.
Just remember, though: when you see the arrows Link shoots stick into walls and wiggle slightly, that was mighty impressive once upon a time.
Sound - Through some means that I can only assume were magical, Nintendo managed to make the music in the GBA port of Link to the Past actually sound better than the original (plus you can hear Link yell and scream when falling and attacking, although he sounds like a 14 year-old girl). Songs range from the delightfully whimsical to the disturbingly freaky, and there seem to be even more sound effects in this version than before. Everything is in a very high quality and has raised the bar for soundtracks in other GBA titles (since we now know that quality sound can be achieved with the little handheld).
Gameplay
Overall Value - It doesn't matter if you've played this game a hundred times before; it doesn't matter if you hate those old, crappy 16-bit games that use something called "pixels" for graphics; it doesn't matter...in general. Feel free to insert your own excuse, but there isn't one good enough to justify not buying this game. This is a great opportunity for old schoolers to enjoy some excellent nostalgia (while kicking friends around in Four Swords) and new schoolers to partake in one of the greatest adventures of all time (er, while kicking friends around in Four Swords).