Tag: Legend of Zelda

Once again, it’s time to play some Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on SNES. Last time, I made my way through the East Palace to grab the first of three pendants. The elder also gave me the pegasus shoes, which let me run real fast.

This time, I had to journey west into the desert…of mystery!

Of course, everything has to be mysterious or dangerous. When’s the last time you visited the Desert of Sand or Joe’s Desert? But once I got to the dungeon entrance, I couldn’t go inside. It’s apparently because there was a book written in another language, and Link can’t read squiggly.

So I had to go back up to the village. The library had a mysterious book on top of the bookshelf, but poor little Link can’t reach it! He’s just a little elf, you know. But fortunately, Link knows how to use his head. So I had him charge up using the pegasus shoes and ram his head into the bookshelf at full speed. Now that’s a smart guy! The book fell to the floor and Link picked it up.

With the book in hand, I was able to return to the dungeon. I translated the text, made a wish, and then I was inside. I made my way through the sandy rooms, eventually finding the power glove! It lets me play NES pick up and carry rocks.

To proceed, I actually needed to go outdoors and use my new gloves to lift some rocks that were blocking a door. I was then able to advance to the boss room, where three large sand worms for waiting for me.

I don’t understand why three big worms needed a pendant when they were happy to just play in the sand, but I had to defeat them anyway. They weren’t very hard to beat, so I grabbed the Pendant of Power without a problem.

I still need one more pendant, and it’s up on Death Mountain. So that’s where I’ll be headed next time!

When I left off last time, I was in Kakariko Village. A boy told me the location of the elder I need to see. So today, I headed east to find him. He told me his name is Sahasrahla (bless you!) and he said I need to find three pendants before I can wield the legendary sword. He asked me if I really wanted to find it. The choices were “yeah” and “of course.”

I responded with a yes, and he told me I needed to first retrieve the pendant of courage from the East Palace. So I made my way there. And even though I haven’t played A Link to the Past in years, I remember this palace well. I also love the moody, atmospheric music in here.

After avoiding an endless stream of bowling balls and defeating wimpy skeletons that fly backwards every time you swing your sword, I acquired the big key. A couple screens later, I used it to open the treasure chest and I got a bow! I like how it tells me I can shoot arrows until I run out.

I then advanced to the ball room.

At least, that’s what it should be called. But these are no ordinary balls. They will hit you hard if you run into them, yet they have the magic ability to pass through other balls as if they were ghosts.

Anyway, I continued on to the boss room. You have to defeat these six armored knights that bounce around the room in patterns clearly choreographed by Paula Abdul.

They dance quite well considering all that armor they’re in, and they’ve obviously been rehearsing for weeks. But Link is able to break up their routine with his sword and arrows (until he runs out). Once five of them are defeated, the last one gets reeeeeeally angry at you and starts stomping around. I think he knows his dancing career is over at this point. Once he’s gone, Link gets a heart piece and the pendant of courage.

I then returned to Sahasaharahalaharalara the elder, who told me I need to recover the other pendants. He also gave the pegasus shoes, which let me run real fast and crash into stuff.

He also told me that a helpful item is hidden in a cave on the east side of Lake Hylia. I went to check it out and I got a cool ice rod.

That’s all for today, but this Link to the Past will continue in the future. See you next time.

As you may know, Nintendo is working on a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for Nintendo 3DS. It’s going to be called A Link Between Worlds, and it’s due to be released this November. With that in mind, I thought this would be a great time to revisit A Link to the Past on SNES. It’s my favorite Zelda game, and I’ve played through it multiple times before. But classics like this are worth playing over and over again, especially when a number of years have passed.

So I started up a new game, with my character named Link, of course. The game has a memorable opening scene, which takes place on a stormy night. Link seemingly receives a telepathic message from Zelda, who is being held as a prisoner in the castle. Link’s uncle, after warning Link not to leave the house, sets off to the castle.

Link, after collecting all the goodies from the house, also heads off to the castle. After stumbling into a secret entrance, Links finds a passageway to the courtyard. There, he sees his dying uncle, who gives Link his sword and shield, and tells Link to save the princess.

Link then enters the castle and makes his way down to the dungeon. After defeating a mini-boss, Link rescues Zelda.

The pair then make their way to the throne room, where a secret passageway can be opened.

After fighting through dark, rat-filled sewers, Link and Zelda end up at the sanctuary.

Zelda stays at the sanctuary for now, while Link  seeks out the village elder. One interesting thing about A Link to the Past is that Link receives items, such as the boomerang and bombs, very early on. Most later Zelda games have you playing for many hours before you acquire weapons like that.

In Kakariko village, Link finds that not all of the villagers are on his side.

But Link does receive information about the location of the elder. That’s where Link will be heading next.

To be continued…

Here is a video showing the beginning of the game, up to the sanctuary: