Link to the Past is the definitive 2D Zelda experience with a solid conversion to GBA that retains most of the SNES ed.
The GBA edition of A Link to the Past with very few differences, and those changes won't effect gameplay much if at all. This time around, a Dark Wizard has usurped the King of Hyrule and has kidnapped various Maidens, including Zelda. These Maidens are the descendants of the sages that sealed the Golden Land and Triforce away years ago. It's up to Link to first gather three medallions, and then rescue all 8 maidens from the Golden Land to restore peace to Hyrule. It's a pretty straight-forward plot, much like every other Zelda out there, with very few surprises.
Gameplay is, again, tried-and-true 2D Zelda. There's nothing you won't find here that doesn't already exist in the Oracle or Minish Cap games. That being said, having played this after all of the 3D Zeldas, I feel the dungeons here were even more deadly, and the bosses much more difficult to defeat. Is it that the Zelda series has softened since the olden days? Personally I think it's a problem that occurs naturally from going 3D, but that's another discussion entirely. It all boils down to this is Zelda as it was originally intended, so expect some backtracking, and lots of inventory using to complete your quest.
Sounds incorporate MIDI music in various classic Zelda tunes, but the GBA port also adds audible "Hyah!"s to the sword slashes, pitfalls, and anything else that makes Link grunt. The new effects blend in very nicely with the existing sounds, although the existing effects test just how much you want to torture your ears. At times, it seems like they wanted to use the highest pitches available to them, or they designed rooms to be very noisy and distract the player, whatever the case, the sound is superb, if annoying now and again.
Graphically, the game looks very much like it's SNES counter-part, with as much detail given to the various sprites and environments as possible.
in the end, this is one of, if not the, best 2D Zelda adventure available. Easily recommended to both veterans and newcomers to the Legend of Zelda series.