The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Is The Greatest Game Of All Time

A Link to the Past is no longer my favorite game (it lost that position to Persona 4 some time ago), but I am replaying this game (among other Zelda games) in the lead up to the release of Breath of the Wild, and this game is simply superlative. It is, quite simply, the one game ever made that I think is truly perfect.

Everything about this game is amazing, and just works, even today, 26 years after its initial release. The mechanics are simple and hold up remarkably well, the level design is sublime, with the best dungeon designs in the series, the overworld is dense, and full of secrets, inviting exploration, combat is never a drag, the pacing is immaculate, the music is iconic, and the game almost imbibes a Metroidvania structure to its overall progression. There is a sense of cohesion to progressing through A Link to the Past, while still giving the player freedom, and A Link to the Past's later mechanics (via late game items, and especially the Dark World) are ingenious. There is a sense of atmosphere to the game that is amazing to behold, given the game only has 16 bits to work with. Even the story in the game is enough to give the grand rousing adventure enough of a context, but to step out of your way after that.

A Link to the Past is perfect. A Link to the Past is iconic. A Link to the Past is foundational. Every Zelda game that has come since owes itself entirely to A Link to the Past, and a lot of games in general do. There is a reason that A Link to the Past continues to top lists for best Zelda game, best SNES game, best 16 bit game, best Nintendo game, and best game in general- this game is perfect. We will never quite get anything else like it.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, everyone- the greatest video game ever created.

Not even the best Nintendo game on the Snes.

Your high opinion of this game is aggravating, the game I chose of most best is far superior.

@charizard1605: No offense, but you have some really shitty opinions.

Lies. The G.O.A.T was. is. and will forever be Streets of Rage 2. It's a top 5 Zelda though.

This. Mega Man X, X2, 7, and Super Metroid stomp ALttP, imo. I'd think about putting Chrono Trigger over it too.

Well bingo there, I did qualify it with best "nintendo" game, not necessarily the best snes game overall. But yeah Super Metroid over it easily.

@Renegade_Fury: Totally fine with Streets of Rage 2 as a pick, actually. Played it for the first time via the 3DS port last year, fell in love with it (one of the reasons I liked Yakuza is because it kind of feels like a Streets of Rage in 3D... albeit not as tight, obviously).

The 16-bit era was truly something

Not gonna argue it, I can't even choose a best game of all time. But you could certainly choose worse, ALttP is pretty fucking dope. Better than a lot of the shit people like to deep throat around here.

But...

Yeah. I'd argue SMW is just as good and Yoshis Island/Super Metroid are better.

They're all pretty great though, so whatevs.

@ConanTheStoner: To be totally honest and fair, Super Mario World, Super Metroid, and A Link to the Past is kind of like a holy trinity of gaming. Each is superlative, peak game design, each never outdone. Each also focuses on different aspects, so which one you pick in the end comes down to it being what flavor you prefer the most- for me, it happens to be A Link to the Past.

Chrono Trigger and Super Metroid over it, but not the mega man's.

I saw that you did, but I can't go without giving a shout out to my actual favorite SNES titles. With or without the qualifier, we're in agreement that Super Metroid is amazing though.

@charizard1605:

Yeah, pretty much. I'll usually lean towards platformers and action platformers over action adventures. But as far as what each of those games do for their respective genres, they're all top titty.

I would take the Mega Man's over it, not necessarily Chrono Trigger. That's at best a push to me.

Chaz is not worth thinking rationally for, he made a Bloodborne v Nioh thread after like 2 hours of Nioh play, and acted like Bloodborne is the best mechanical experience from any console game of the current gen. Chaz must be stopped.

I don't share your opinion at all. I don't even like Zelda games so you really lost me on that one.

Play it with a gamepad and a friend, and don't forget to crank up the difficulty to at least Hard. You'll thank me later, because it's a far better experience to play SoR2 that way despite M2 doing a great job with the 3DS remake. :)

I'll definitely look into getting a version on PSN or Virtual Console, then!

Is Hard difficulty necessary, though? I'm a total wuss with games haha

Yup. Plus not just genres, I'd argue game design in general. They're top notch. Few games since have managed to match them.

Woah, how did this get skipped lol.

Of course opinions are just... well, opinions. But it's not like he said Bubsy 3d is the best game of all time. That would be an undeniably shitty opinion. But ALttP? A gold standard in game design? A classic that proves gamers are stupid when they refer to proper game design as something that can "age"?

Nah, I'd say it's a pretty solid opinion even if I don't agree with it myself.

He has a point here Hasbro Chazbro.

I wouldn't put streets of rage 2 in my top 100 games.

In my defense, champ supported the Patriots in the Super Bowl

I'm cutting my beard btw. Not sure why I'm telling you guys and not sure why I'm saying it here of all places. But **** a beard. It was a good 3 months, but this shit is too much trouble.

Nah **** that, primorandomguy got this right. Chaz has some really shitty opinions.

I bet Chaz is the type who merges onto the highway without accelerating past normal speed.

Oh don't even make me think that might be true lol. Those assholes.

But nah, it's a solid opinion. Especially considering the board we're posting on, Chaz comes out like a saint in this case.

Beards have some utility in the colder months, but yeah, f*ck beards

I actually don't have a driver's license for here yet :/

I hate this constant rebooting of my driver's licenses lol

No.

Yeah it has its advantages, and it also increases your bad ass factor by like 5%, but it's too much maintenance. Might as well have a second girlfriend who doesn't put out.

See? How can Chaz even have the right to an opinion and he don't have a license? We have true patriot states that won't let you vote without a license, because they understand. No license=no right to an opinion.

Where are the real mods when we need them?

No. not even close.

Greatest game of all time among those games

This is actually only true if you can pull it off lol. I know too many poor sods who think they're coming off macho with beards, but come out looking like clowns lol, either due to uneven growth, or because they have a baby face that simply looks like it had a beard drawn on it with a sharpie

Yeah, but I live in Canada

@charizard1605: Well I was beating SoR 2 on normal since I was 7, so I think it is, lol. Out of all the Streets of Rage games, it's definitely the easiest, but at the same time, it being so approachable is one of the reasons as to why I do call it the G.O.A.T. Then once you get good, there's Hardest and Mania difficulty modes which are adrenaline pumping and challenging even for veterans. So regardless of skill level, SoR 2 is always fun to play, especially on co-op.

Canadians aren't even people.

Co-op is definitely something I wanna try with the game, yeah. Might be worth looking into a console version of it just for that, actually.

And alright lol, guess I'll just grow a pair and deal with it on Hard.

Yes, especially with that plastic money, WTF is up with that

Different strokes for different folks. Just sayin', but I wouldn't even put Mario 64 in my top 500 games. :)

Oh yeah, I know the type lol. But nah, I've got the Arab genes, so the beard is in full effect. I could sculpt this bad boy into anything I want. Even has some wizard grey on the chin for that extra 1% of bad assery. Kinda sad that it has to go, even my girl likes it.

Even when you win, you still lose lol.

jk I want to move to Canada, don't tell anyone.

Finally something we can agree on, probably the first and last time though lol.

@ConanTheStoner: Oh yeah, then you can probably get away with any kind of facial hair growth lol. I'm almost tempted to ask you to keep it in that case.

But nah, man, beards are fucking annoying. I actually get a really good beard myself, but it feels unhygienic and is such a pain to manage, so I never let it grow beyond 2-3 days. Maybe a week if it's cold and/or I'm feeling lazy

Why would you admit that in the open. This will haunt you like Wiimotefan's Ninja Gaiden Sigma admission did, Bronan

@i_p_daily: Lol. Well, it's true, though. Game design peaked then. It doesn't matter what console or genre you like, because Genesis or SNES, all companies were firing on all cylinders back then. The closest we ever got to that was the PS2/Xbox/Gamecube era, but it wasn't quite there.

Get the Streets of Rage Vintage Collection on 360 or PS3 if you want the best online experience; they even give you unlimited continues. I think the VC is backwards compatible on the Xbox One too.

Pro tip: Do Forward, Forward, Punch a lot. You should almost spam it, because that's how useful the combo is in SoR 2 & 3.

@charizard1605: LttP stumbles a lot on the freedom you basically lied about. It's largely linear.

Super Metroid doesn't do the same. Only stumble is Maridia, and that's partly the game expecting you to be able to git gud, as they say.

@Renegade_Fury: Gah, I don't have the Xbox 360 or PS3 on me any more. Gonna have to look into VC or Steam. Or I suppose I can wait, I am planning on picking up either an Xbox One S or a Scorpio, so I might as well wait for that...

Thanks for the pro tip lol. I'll use all the help I can get.

LttP lets you do a lot of the shit out of order. There is definitely some gating and a linear sense of progression (which I say in the OP too), but the game lets you move and do things at your own pace.

Off the top of my head, at least Skull Woods, Misery Mire, and Ice Palace can be done out of order (and really, you can do any dungeon in any order- you just need to go get the item from the dungeon first, without actually having to complete the dungeon).

No sequence breaking, sure, but definitely a lot of freedom given to the player. Unlike, well, a lot of other games, including every other Zelda game since (except for... A Link Between Worlds)

Never played lttp. Was too young at the time for such a game (6 Years old) if it came out 25 Years ago.

My top 5 of that gen.

sonic and knuckles.

Super metroid.

Street fighter 2 : turbo edition.

Wonder boy in monster world.

Dizzy.

I do own lttp on Wiiu but never played.

@charizard1605:

Well, it's done. Almost kept a goatee, but it looked too douche bag for my liking. Trimmed that away and almost kept the stache, but I looked like stoner Mario and could have possibly been mistaken for a cop or a fireman.

Now I'm just back to panty dropper stubble and my face can breathe again. Time to wash away the remains.

And no, nothing can be more shamefur then cucking for Sigma lol.

I still think to this day that the Megadrive/SNES rivalry was the best in the industry, so many great games to play no matter the system. Games were just uncomplitcated fun back then, gameplay was king and nobody gave a shit about graphics or any of the other garbage gamers talk about today.

And from a Sega fan to a Nintendo fan, remember Sega does what Nintendont :P

Bruh, we used to fist fight on the playground about graphics arguments, some shit never changes lol.

But yeah, back then gameplay usually did take the front seat. People weren't so quick to apologize for shitty gameplay with excuses like "But teh story, teh graffix!" We'd only argue graphics if the games in question actually played well. And nobody talked about fucking sales. Granted we didn't have easy access to those figures, but nobody really gave a fvck.

And most importantly? Even if we favored one platform over another, nobody actually wished bad upon another platform or user base. Because we were all going over to our friends houses playing both consoles anyways.

Good times.