Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past

The Legend of Zelda - A Link to the Past
Platform: SNES
Genre: Adventure
Developer: Nintendo

Story
You are Link, a young boy who lives with your uncle, an old swordsman. One night, under a heavy rain, Link recieves a telepathic message from Princess Zelda, asking for rescue. His uncle goes to the castle, but doesnt return. That's when Link decides to start his journey and find Zelda...
That's how Link's Adventure starts. After saving Zelda and taking her to a safe place, Link hears about Agahnim, an evil wizard who killed the King of Hyrule and wants the Triforce, a legendary artifact created by the gods. Link must prove his Power, his Courage and his Wisdom in 3 Dungeons, collecting the 3 Pendants, to fight Agahnim. Despite being defeated, Agahnim manages to merge the Light World and the Sacred Realm (the rest place of the Triforce), now transformed into the Dark World due to Agahnim's evil ambitions. Now, Link must defeat the Lord of Evil, Ganom, and restore peace to the Kingdom of Hyrule.

Gameplay
Like the first Zelda game (TLoZ for NES), AlttP offers a top-down view of the map. The player uses the diretional pad to move Link through the vast maps of the game. The B button makes Link attack with his sword; the A button is used to talk and to run with the Pegasus Boots; the X button opens the menu and the Y button uses the Equiped Item.
AlttP has lots of different items, from the Cane of Somaria to the good ol' Hookshot. Your equipment also changes as the game progresses: your sword has 4 levels in total (Your uncle's sword, the master sword, the tempered sword and the golden sword), while your shield has 3 levels. Your boomerang and your bow also get stronger, and as your tunics get better, you'll take less damage from attacks. Most of those items are acquired through some of the many sidequests of the game.
The game maps are vast. The dungeons are rich on enemies and puzzles, and they are all different. There are 3 Dungeons on the Light World, plus 7 dungeons on the Dark World, along with Ganon's Tower. There are 2 Worlds to be explored - the aforementioned Light and Dark Worlds -, each with its own special areas and differences. From the huge Death Mountain to the deep Lake Hylia or the mysterious Lost Woods, you'll have tons of places to visit.

Graphics
Like all Zelda games, A Link to the Past explores all the SNES could offer. The graphics are colorful and rich on details. The differences between the Light World and the Dark World become clear as the Southwestern Desert becomes the Swamp of Mysery Mire; as the Hyrule Castle becomes the Golden Pyramid; as the light green prairies of Hyrule become the depressing brown wastelands of the Dark World.

Conclusion
My favorite Zelda game. Alttp has so many things to do that it will keep you playing for hours and hours to complete it 100%. The game also shares some light on the history of Hyrule, especially how the Seven Sages imprisoned Ganon in the Sacred Realm (for that reason, some people say that Alttp comes after OoT in the timeline).
Be for the dungeons, sidequests or the amazing Dark World track, you gotta play this game.
~Vini