The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past: Difference between revisions
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The story is set many years before the events of the first two ''Zelda'' games, and begins with Link receiving a [[Call to Adventure|psychic message]] from Princess Zelda, telling him to come and save her from her imprisonment in the castle dungeon. Link's uncle, a former knight in service to the royal family of Hyrule and the lad's guardian, is about to leave the house with a sword and shield in hand; seeing Link wake, he promises to return in the morning and suggests Link remain in bed. Ignoring his instructions, Link sneaks into the palace via the sewers in an attempt to rescue the Princess himself, and finds his uncle mortally wounded, unable to go on. Entrusting him with the task of saving the Princess, he gives Link his sword and shield before dying.
As Link rescues Zelda, he learned that the evil wizard Agahnim is capturing girls from across Hyrule, specifically seeking out the descendants of seven Wise Men ([[Dub-Induced Plot Hole|later referred to as the "Seven Sages"]]) in order to spirit them away and consolidate his power: the only way to defeat him is to obtain the three Pendants of Virtue from dungeons across Hyrule, and then retrieve the Master Sword. Of course, saving the world isn't that easy - Link confronts the wizard and is forced into the [[Dark World]], a parallel version of Hyrule distorted by Ganon's wishes after he was sealed in the Golden Land. There, he must navigate both worlds to save the captured maidens and finally defeat Ganon.
The basic plot formula of ''A Link to the Past'' - gather three items, get Master Sword, huge plot twist, gather more items, fight final boss - is known to some fans as "the Legend" and would be repeated many times throughout the series. ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening]]'', a direct sequel to the events of this game, would continue the use of top-down perspective and focus on puzzle-solving and tailor it to a different setting, with more notable divergences from the "Legend" formula that gave the game a unique feel and established many of its own precedents.
''[[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time]]'' was the first to cement the overarching plot structure proper and translate it to full 3D gameplay, more directly conforming to that formula compared to ''Link's Awakening''. Chronologically, it would be established as directly leading into the events of this game in the "Downfall",
Released to critical and commercial success, ''A Link to the Past'' was a landmark game for Nintendo and is considered one of the greatest video games of all time. It was
The game is incredibly popular for [[speedrun]]ning, to the point that it was once the fourth-most played game as reported by [[Speedrun.com]] in 2019; though it still has a considerable player base, it has since fallen to a lower position (being just outside the top 20 as of November 2022). It is commonly run at the [[Games Done Quick]] charity marathon, where it is often considered one of the highlights of the event. ''[[A Link to the Past Randomizer]]'' is a [[Randomizer]] [[Game Mod]] created in 2016 that attempts to evoke the uncertainty and excitement of playing the game for the first time by shuffling item locations within dungeons and across the game's worlds - the mod commnunity has since expanded to incorporate various other challenges and randomization.
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{{tropenamer}}
* [[Dark World]]: ''A Link to the Past'' is the first game in the ''Zelda'' series to use this specific form of [[Dual World Gameplay]]. The Dark World here is said to be the corrupted Sacred Realm, transformed by Ganon's wish on the Triforce after he was sealed there. Many Light World dwellers have disappeared into the Dark World and been turned into monsters or other objects - Link himself is turned into a defenseless bunny upon first entering the Dark World, though he can use the Magic Mirror warp back to the Light World; soon after being given the Mirror, he can obtain the Moon Pearl which allows him to retain his form whenever he enters the Dark World.
{{tropelist}}
* [[All There in the Manual]]: The backstory, and a sealed booklet explaining how to beat some of the tougher puzzles. It should be mentioned that [http://www.zeldalegends.net/files/text/z3translation/z3_manual_story.html the translators of the American manual took a few liberties with the text
* [[And I Must Scream]]: Some of the trees in the Dark World are ''actually people''
* [[Animated Adaptation]]: An adaptation of the manga is [http://zeldamotion.webs.com/ currently in the works], starring [[Todd Haberkorn]] as the voice of Link.
* [[Arc Number]]: Seven Wise Men and their seven descendants The number 8, as pointed out by [[Zeta Plays]] in his LP of it. Eight Dark World dungeons,
* [[Arc Words]]:
* [[Bad Future]]: The timeline included in the ''[[
* [[Baleful Polymorph]]:
*
** The missing [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same|dwarven]] blacksmith who works near Kakariko Village ended up in the Dark World, trapped as a frog within a wall of heavy stones. Link
** Use Magic Powder on the Cucco hiding in a pot in the house of the white-haired woman that sics a guard onto you in Kakariko. Said chicken is ''not'' amused.
* [[Bladder of Steel]]:
** It's completely fixed in the GBA version. In that version, only dying raises the count. Turning the game off does nothing.
* [[Bling Bling Bang]]: Link's strongest sword is made out of (presumably magical) gold.
* [[Bonus Dungeon]]/[[Bonus Boss]]: The GBA [[Updated Rerelease]] has the Palace of the Four Sword, unlocked only by completing the multiplayer ''Four Swords'' game on the same save file. The bosses include rematches against stronger versions of the first four Dark World bosses and culminates in a [[Boss Rush]] against four differently-colored Dark Links.
* [[Bubblegloop Swamp]]: The Great Swamp found to the south of Link's House and the [[Dark World]] counterpart, the Plains of Ruin, are treated as this: visually, they more resemble grassy (or badland-like in the Dark World) fields with a few lakes and ponds. The Plains of Ruin are home to the Swamp Palace, the second Dark World dungeon that is only accessible by opening the dam within the Swamp Ruin to drain the reservoir in the Light World. There is also the [[Swamps Are Evil|Swamp of Evil]], the Dark World counterpart to the Light World desert; unlike the dry humid area you reach it through, this swamp is constantly beset by torrential rains - the sixth Dark World dungeon, Misery Mire, can only be accessed by controlling the weather with the Ether Medallion.
* [[Call to Adventure]]: Zelda telepathically contacts Link in the beginning of the game.▼
* [[The Cameo]]: A pair of [[Super Mario Bros.|Chain Chomps]] appear in Turtle Rock. GBA-exclusive [[Bonus Dungeon]] ▼
▲* [[Call to Adventure]]: Zelda telepathically contacts Link in the beginning.
* [[Chain-Reaction Destruction]]: Serves as the death animation for various bosses - the three Lanmolas, Moldorm, the Helmasaur King, and Trinexx.
▲* [[The Cameo]]: A pair of [[Super Mario Bros.|Chain Chomps]] appear in Turtle Rock.
* [[Clear My Name]]: After helping Princess Zelda escape in the early part of the game, Link is accused of her abduction; this establishes the presence of the brainwashed soldiers that are scattered across much of the Light World, out to arrest him on sight. Kakariko Village in particular has two women at opposite ends of town that will call a guard and lock themselves in their house if they spot Link; after retrieving the Master Sword, the village is overrun by guards, and upon defeating Agahnim in the Hyrule Castle Tower the amount of guards in the overworld increases further.
* [[Color Coded for Your Convenience]]: Green, red and blue are recurring colors throughout the game. The armor of the enemy soldiers indicates their general strength level: green for the weakest form, blue for the stronger version, and red for the strongest version. This also applies to Link's mail as well, which can be upgraded to blue and then red. The Pendants of Virtue are also obtained in this order
* [[Comic Book Adaptation]]: Three of them:
** The western comic adaptation by [[Shotaro Ishinomori]] serialized in ''[[Nintendo Power]]'' and later published in graphic novel form.
** The first [[The Legend of Zelda (manga)|manga adaptation]] by Ataru Cagiva published in Japan after the SNES release.
** A second manga adaptation, this time by Akira Himekawa. It was originally published after the GBA release and was released in the states in 2010.
* [[Cutscene Power to the Max]]: When Ganon reveals himself in Ganon's Tower, Link uses the flute to summon the bird
* [[Death Mountain]]: The [[Trope Namer]] return and is known as Mt. Hebra, and still features Spectacle Rock as a landmark as in the previous games. The ''name'' of Death Mountain is given to its [[Dark World]] counterpart, and has more ominous (but still [[Awesome Music (Sugar Wiki)|catchy]]) music than the rest of the Dark overworld to go with its more twisted nature.
* [[Decoy Damsel]]: One is found within Thieves' Town. She's a bit conspicuous, though: 'she' is trapped not in a crystal, but a dingy cage, and is escorted through the dungeon similar to the escape sequence with Zelda near the beginning... {{spoiler|Until she gets antsy when you're about to exit the dungeon. Using a bomb on a cracked floor catching light from a window will cause that light to shine into the chamber below - take 'her' to that chamber and walk her into the light, and it'll force her into her true form of Blind the Thief.}}
* [[Disconnected Side Area]]: The Swamp of Evil in the Dark World, which even has a sign indicating "No Entry, No Escape." {{spoiler|
**
▲* [[Disconnected Side Area]]: The Swamp of Evil in the Dark World, which even has a sign indicating "No Entry, No Escape." {{spoiler|1=You have to reach it via a transporter tile in the Light World, which can only be reached via Flute/bird transport. The Ice Palace requires a similar trick}}. [[All There in the Manual|According to the lore]], it's because the swamp was overflowing with rain water that threatened to flood the rest of the land, so a mountain range was put up to prevent that from happening.
▲** And earlier in the game, there's Dark![[Death Mountain]], which falls under the "sneak preview of a later area" category.
* [[Distress Call]]: Zelda psychically sends one to Link and his uncle to start the game.
* [[Doppleganger Attack]]: One of Agahnim's moves used in the second battle within Ganon's Tower.
* [[The Dragon]]: Agahnim serves as one to Ganon, and marks the first time in the series that Ganon has someone doing his dirty work for him. {{spoiler|It is subverted late in the game
* [[Dual World Gameplay]]: ''A Link to the Past'' is the first game in the ''Zelda'' series to do this, and the first to employ the specific Light World/Dark World variant.
* [[Dummied Out]]: In the original and Virtual Console releases, a skull statue
* [[Easter Egg]]: The [http://zeldapedia.wiki.com/wiki/Chris_Houlihan Chris Houlihan room] is an extremely well-concealed<ref>The game only sends you there when an error occurs in sending you to wherever you were supposed to go.</ref> chamber filled with Rupees that was named for [[Contest Winner Cameo|the winner of a contest]] in ''[[Nintendo Power]]''.
* [[End of the World Special]]: {{spoiler|Link gets the full Triforce at the end of the game}}.
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