Zelda: A Link to the Past turns 32 years old today. What are your first memories of the game?

[Nessus]

When I was about 9 years old I was at my cousins' house and one of their friends had brought over his SNES along with Link To The Past and SimCity.

His save file was already in the Dark World so the game seemed extra mysterious. I don't think I actually got to play it at the time.

I ended up getting both games after my parents got me my own SNES.

Link To The Past is still tied with Link's Awakening for my favorite Zelda game.

 

[HolyJonte]

I REALLY recommend Randomizers for this game if there is people here who don't know about them. They are SO fun both to watch races on YouTube and to play on SNES emulator. Then there's the Super Metroid/A Link to the Past Randomizers also.

 

[DoctorPlayer MD]

I remember playing it for the first time at a friend's house. I had never seen a game like it before. The presentation, music, gameplay, the whole world design felt like the most unique thing ever. It's still may favorite Zelda and one of my favorite games ever.

 

[Soapbox Killer]

Another thing I remember was thinking (I was 14) that video games can't get much better than this. And even though I no longer consider it the single greatest game ever made....I was still right. 32 years later and games still don't get much better than A Link to the Past.

 

[antitrop]

I think the color palette they chose is timelessly gorgeous. I always love looking at ALTTP. It's bright, it's vibrant, it pops. Favorite Zelda.

 

[Grue]

I still wish we got a remake of this packed along with Link's Awakening

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I have this high on my betting list of things Nintendo will do to fill the gap to Switch 2.

 

[Mirage]

I got the gba version as a Christmas gift as a kid and named my character Zelda lol.

 

[Grue]

I think the color palette they chose is timelessly gorgeous. I always love looking at ALTTP. It's bright, it's vibrant, it pops. Favorite Zelda.

Click to shrink...

Completely agree.

I came to this late, in fact Link's Awakening was my first LoZ, seeing a bigger version of it was in vibrant colour all this time was quite something.

 

[Otakunofuji]

When I was a child and wanted a SNES I had two options - one set that had Mario All-Stars and Mario World, and a set that only had LInk to the Past. They were both $130 and my child brain thought getting more games was obviously the better deal so I got the Mario set and didn't play LttP until a couple of years later. I don't think I made the wrong decision, - Mario 3, SMW, and LttP are all among my favorite games ever - but I do wonder how my gaming tastes would have evolved differently if I had experienced Zelda earlier.

 

[Wojo]

Amazing game and amazing memories. First thing I remember is the opening and the rain and the ability to push the guards off the ledge to their deaths in the first dungeon.

Also, the other thing I remember is the game coming out in the middle of Easter/Spring break so I was off of school. It was awesome. I remember beating Gannon and the game on Easter Sunday before we left the house to go for Easter dinner. It was bittersweet because that also happened to be the last day of Easter break and I had school the next day. I was 12y old and had just gotten a SNES that Xmas. 1991. What a time to be alive.

 

[Tohsaka]

I remember playing it at a Nintendo mall tour after seeing it advertised in Nintendo Power and I was glad I went. Was crazy to get to play it early. Still the best 2D Zelda as well.

 

[Kenagain]

I played this at my cousins house, I remember being mortified of the town thinking you're a thief? I think that's what it was

 

[naff]

I played it on a singapore airlines flight in my teens for over 10 hours straight, they had some Nintendo collaboration in-flight entertainment system. It blew my mind how good this "classic" was, and my dad was impressed something held my attention for that long. Have never finished nor revisited it, imagine one day I will.

 

[ghostemoji]

At that time, my console journey was a weird one because I could only play what my parents got together for us. So I had played Zelda 1 and 2 on the NES, and then I played Link's Awakening. It was several years later that I finally played Link to the Past as my household skipped the SNES generation, and it always felt like a less tight game than Link's Awakening so I've always struggled with it a bit. I ultimately think I prefer both the original game (lots of nostalgia) and Link's Awakening (one of my favorite games ever). However, I've come to recognize that I have an outside opinion on this kind of thing.

 

[Puddi64]

A hotel I stayed at when I was a kid had SNES and I played ALTTP on it along with Street Fighter 2, Mario Allstars, and some other stuff I can't remember, for the first time. This was AFTER Ocarina of Time, by the way, which was my first Zelda game. I had fun messing around for a while in ALTTP and later bought the game when the GBA version came out. I never actually owned a SNES, but played all of the games I was interested in through ports and emulation.

 

[JaseMath]

I loved (and still love) this game. It's the pinnacle of top-down Zelda imo

 

[theMrCravens]

The best Zelda, alongside the first.
None of the sequels has topped it yet.

So many secrets that you had to figure out pre-Internet days.
I still remember being in awe of the TV commercials for it.

 

[mute]

As a kid, up until I was a teenager the whole of the game was just the Light world up until the first bits of the Dark world on Death Mountain where I always got stuck as a rabbit. Didn't have any idea about all the other dungeons or whole 2nd map or anything.

 

[bremon]

This was the most incredible adventure I had ever had in a game to that point. The graphics and art style were amazing, and I didn't even realize there was a dark world at first. I played it at a neighbours house then spent the 1993 CAD equivalent of $135 2024 USD worth of allowance, birthday and Christmas money on it and it was worth every penny. I played it so many times, always looking for new secrets. That damn game is why I always try to look for secrets behind waterfalls in every game since.

 

[Silent]

When I was old enough to play games, Ocarina of Time was releasing. I only owned a NES and SNES throughout childhood. I would go over to my cousin's house and play Ocarina of Time on his N64. One day, when I came home from school, my mom somehow had a bunch of new SNES games for me. I actually never asked her where she got them; it was probably a garage sale. But there were so many new games for me as a kid. Secret of Mana and A Link to the Past were among my favorite games I discovered that day. I remember when I first booted up A Link to the Past, there was already a file with the name Shane. For a long time I thought that was Link's official name haha, but now I realize that was likely the previous owner's name. I was actually disappointed when I first saw A Link to the Past's graphics. I had already seen Ocarina of Time, so A Link to the Past seemed like a downgrade (at this age I wasn't aware of the generational difference between a SNES and N64). But wow, did A Link to the Past blow me away.

I have not played A Link to the Past in years, but my memories are so vivid. Rescuing Zelda from the castle dungeon, figuring out how to get the blacksmiths to temper my sword, experiencing the Wallmasters for the first time, turning in to a bunny in the Dark World, finding the Great Fairy in the waterfall...so many good memories. This is kinda sentimental, but I really feel lucky to have lived at a time and place where I was able to experience all of these great games growing up.

 

[hikarutilmitt]

It launching, managing to get the rental the day it came out, taking it home and playing it while my mom was out with a friend playing Bingo. Renting it constantly because I could never finish it and then getting it for Christmas.

 

[Snagret]

I remember renting this game so many times and never making it to the dark world, I'd always get to death mountain and have to return it.

eventually I got it and just played it all summer.

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Haha same. And then we'd randomly get a rental with a late-game save and it would blow our minds

 

[OsakaDon]

This is still the peak of Zelda in my opinion.
The mood and feeling of the game is still unmatched.
The over world still feels the most fun to explore.
One of the best games ever.

 

[mopinks]

I had a family friend with connections offer to get me the game extra cheap but I passed on it because I didn't really like the first two zeldas at all

I made a mistake

 

[Molten_]

I think the biggest moment for me as a kid was being warped to the dark world and realizing that there was a second overworld, and the game wasn't even halfway over yet (even though I thought I had just finished it).

 

[Magnus]

Extraordinary game. Would have thought we'd see a remaster or something by now. Thankfully the OG totally stands the test of time. Some stuff like widescreen would be cool though.

 

[Andrew J]

One of my earliest video games. The foreboding atmosphere of the opening sequence still sticks with me to this day.

 

[BabyShams]

I actually do not like this game and think it's one of the worst Zelda's. I historically hate almost all light/dark world games and it probably started with this game. I also think the game looks ugly with just awful color and sprite choices.

My first memory would be watching my cousin play it when visiting because he had the SNES and we only had a NES and later Genesis. No idea why we went over to SEGA.

 

[Suede]

My friends and I were obsessed with it. Not sure about first memories. Turning into a bunny rabbit in the darkworld always stuck with me lol. Still my fave Zelda.

 

[Superking]

Replayed it a couple of years ago after a really really long time, and was shocked to see how well it aged. I figured modern day gaming would have spoiled me, but lttp managed to be nearly as enjoyable in the current age as it was when I first played it in the 90s. still the best 2D Zelda of all time.

 

[Gay Bowser]

Still the best Zelda, and one of a surprising number of SNES games in my top 10.

And no, that's not just because the SNES was my childhood or something. It wasn't; I started playing on the PC and N64 and only later "went backwards." The SNES era was just really good, and ALttP was just about as good as it got (alongside FFVI and Chrono Trigger).

Replayed it a couple of years ago after a really really long time, and was shocked to see how well it aged.

Click to shrink...

It really is timeless. If an indie studio put out ALttP today it would still be one of the best games of the year.

 

[mrmickfran]

*Finds a cartridge of GBA game with no label on the street*
"Oh sweet, I can't wait to find out what it is."
*Finds out that it's ALTTP*
*Is incredibly disappointed*

I absolutely hated Zelda when I was a kid for some reason looool. Tho I guess it's a good thing that I didn't play this ver since I didn't have to deal with the butchered GBA soundtrack and Link screaming with every slash

 

[Hattoto]

Before I played A Link to the Past, I remember going through old Nintendo Power issues and seeing Shotaro Ishinomori's comic adaptation of it. That was probably my first exposure to the game.

 

[GamerJM]

One of those games that's been around in my life as long as I have, along with SMB1, SMW, and F-Zero. These games were in my house since I was born and I watched my dad play them a lot as an infant, and again in early childhood. Asking me for my first memory of it is akin to asking for your first memory about walking or watching TV or something.

 

[PIMPBYBLUD]

That first level with the rain and music....magical. Also, arguably the best ending music in a game.

 

[jotun?]

 

[Suede]

I can still hear the soundtrack and the sound effects.

 

[Superking]

I think the color palette they chose is timelessly gorgeous. I always love looking at ALTTP. It's bright, it's vibrant, it pops. Favorite Zelda.

Click to shrink...

Completely agree.

I came to this late, in fact Link's Awakening was my first LoZ, seeing a bigger version of it was in vibrant colour all this time was quite something.

Click to shrink...

I love the color scheme as well, but the game is just overall graphically gorgeous. I love the way Super Mario World looks but compare that to link to the past, and you can clearly tell that Nintendo put significantly more effort into utilizing the super Nintendo's capabilities.

 

[Biteren]

Ah, my favorite zelda game and in fact my favorite snes game of all time. The fondest memory was child me begging to stay the night with my sister at her boyfriends house just to play it, also hearing the theme to the dark world fucking blew me away and hearing it now hits me with a weird good but sad feeling of nostalgia.

 

[evrythngwastakn]

Getting it while I finished grade 4. My grandma took me to the video store inside the grocery store that sold games as well and bought it for me as a present. It was life changing. Then I was the ringer at my daycare (which had a copy for everyone to play) since I'd played it to death.


Happily, my grandmother (now almost 90) bought my 7 year old son a copy of Tears of the kingdom for Easter. It warmed my heart.


My only criticism remains the light world looks so gorgeous and the dark world looks kinda… bleh? It's not spooky. It's not evil. It's kinda just mustardy.


Oh. And final boss Ganon is my first memory of sweaty palms.

 

[PaulieWalnutsASMR]

Dad surprised us with it one day. My sister played it a lot more than I did growing up. But it was one of the first times that I thought that games could be just as magical watching someone else play them.

 

[Vommy]

The rain and music after you wake up and leave the house. From this point I knew this is something special. Only Chrono Trigger gives me the same feeling.
As a kid I got lost with the two world system, so I never finished the game. Adult me did manage it though.
LTTP is by far my favorite Zelda.

 

[Roven]

Me getting it for Christmas and asking myself why it's not another platformer or fighting game. It obviously became one of my GOATs

 

[Scarlett]

My first memory is the Nintendo Power comic serial.

I don't think I got into LTTP until 93 when I borrowed it from a friend. And I traded to keep it.

 

[Hardvlade]

Oh man.

- I remember giving the Master Sword to the Swordsmiths, at the time my English wasn't anywhere near as good as it is now. I ran around with the hammer not knowing how to get the sword back so I restarted the game and avoided giving the sword to the Swordsmiths next run.

- My cousin tricked me into "talking" to the thief sitting the lost woods, he said he'd give me a piece of heart. The thief proceeded to bump me and steal my shit.

- Shooting beams out of the Master Sword was one of the coolest things ever, which made me sad when OoT didn't have that.

This is one of those games I've beat every year. This year I'll be playing the GBA version since it has the Palace of the Four Sword and I've never played it before. Looking forward to it!

 

[Starwing]

Every now and then ever since I first played this game as a kid I have the Kakariko Village theme play in my head whenever it a warm Spring day happens. I never beat the game, but the OST was sublime.

 

[Shan]

My favorite game of all time, I still replay it yearly thanks to the randomized runs.

First memory was renting it from a video game store, the box just stood there in the corner and the art caught my attention immediatly. Then I got home and it already had saves on it, my dad then came to my room and was like "nuh-uh" and deleted every saves on it. Either just to misbehave or tell me "nah start from the beginning".

32 years...godamn. Thanks for being part of my life for so long ALttP.

 

[stormfire]

Feeling like the King of the world holding aloft my Master Sword in the Lost Woods!

 

[Randroid]

Exactly remember the house and bedroom I played this in with two of my pals, who owned this game and introduced me to it. I never played anything like it so I was constantly lost and kept asking them 'where do I go, what do I do next', and they wouldn't tell me, saying 'the fun part is figuring that out for yourself' and that really frustrated me haha, 'just tell me!!!' They were right tho. Very formative game.

 

[JimNastics]

As a Sega boy growing up I was Master System and Mega Drive, first Nintendo console was the N64 and first Zelda game was OoT. I've played and loved every Zelda game since, but have never felt the inclination to play the pre-OoT games... what is the best way to play LttP right now?