The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is the third main installment of The Legend of Zelda series, and the first and only title for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, released in 1991 in Japan and 1992 in the United States. After the side-scrolling and RPG-like gameplay of The Adventure of Link, A Link to the Past was a return to the overhead view and gameplay style of The Legend of Zelda. The game introduced major new items to the series such as the Master Sword, and the concept of two different worlds (Light World and Dark World), which was revisited to an extent in Ocarina of Time with two separate time periods rather than dark and light worlds. A Link to the Past was re-released in 2002, on the Game Boy Advance, sharing a new game called Four Swords.
A Link to the Past retains various gameplay elements from the original NES game, among them the top-view perspective; Link can collect Rupees once more and use items by assigning them to a button, as well as recovering his life energy with hearts. Returning from The Adventure of Link is the ability to use Magic to perform spells and to make special items functional, as well as a major interaction with non-playable characters to obtain vital information regarding the quest.
A returning mechanic from both games is the availability of dungeons, which must be conquered in order to archive success in the adventure. Each dungeon has a map and a compass, the former shows the layout of the dungeon in particular and the latter locates the boss's whereabouts; keys must be collected in order to open locked doors, puzzles must be solved to progress, and enemies must be defeated if they are interrupting the exploration. The dungeons are multi-leveled, ranging in number from two to ten, and Big Keys are needed both to open major chests (containing important items that increase Link's inventory and help him progress through his adventure) and to open boss rooms.
Similar to the bombs in The Legend of Zelda and the magic meter in The Adventure of Link, various items in A Link to the Past can be upgraded either in capacity or by being turned into more advanced versions. This can be done through completing sidequests or entering certain special places. Optional weapons and items are hidden through Hyrule as well.
This game introduces a very important mechanic: The Light World/Dark World dichotomy. Light World is simply normal Hyrule, while Dark World is a twisted, desolate, more dangerous parallel version under Ganon's evil reign that was once the Golden Land. The game has actually two maps of Hyrule, which are related to each other in several ways; for example, by switching from the Dark World to the Light World while standing in an apparently empty dead end, Link can find in the latter world a secret cave or a passage that was otherwise inaccessible, leading to secret prizes. By doing the opposite (switching from the Light World to the Dark World), Link can gain access to new dungeons, which is important to the success of the quest. A Link to the Past is praised for cleverly using this gameplay device, which in some ways has been reused in some subsequent Zelda games.
A Link to the Past is also the first title to have a more developed storyline, which reflects for the first time the dungeon's different purposes. The first three house the sacred pendants that give Link access to the Master Sword, the fourth has to do with a failed attempt to rescue Princess Zelda, the next seven dungeons house the imprisoned maidens, who (once freed) help Link break the seal of the final dungeon's entrance. This style of story progression was used in various subsequent Zelda games, among them Ocarina of Time and The Wind Waker, although the latter added various twists and subversions to the concept (by adding the Triforce sub-quest, lacking a dungeon for the third pearl, etc.).
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