4/5 ★ – Kalle_Deimos's review of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords.

TLDR: What a good Metroidvania! Gameplay: I don't get many opportunities to experience Zelda for the first time. A Link to the Past makes up some of the only gap of my Zelda-Experience throughout the entire series. And it's a spicy one. In a age where gamers are spoiled with modern gaming niceties, going back to old games can be difficult and disheartening. I'm pretty hard on old games since I have to see it through the lens of a zoomer, but ALTTP holds up very well. I had a significant sense of discovery throughout my playthrough since I really didn't know what the hell was going on. There's much less to do in the overworlds than future Zelda games but it's made up by packing the game full of dungeons. I think this is the most amount of dungeons in any Zelda to date. And Zelda Dungeons are my favorite parts of Zelda. The dungeons themselves aren't too varied in terms of aesthetics or stuff to do but I like experiencing one of the earliest Zelda games that started many traditions. Like Super Mario World, it's just good old fun. Not a lot to talk about or dissect. Just fun. The only thing of interest I have to say is that the game is HARD. Most Zelda games are very easy as enemies will rarely do more than a heart of damage at a time. ALTTP have enemies doing a ton of damage and there is a lot of them. And combat can be a bit finnicky whenever their sprite overlaps with yours or you're dealing with a y-axis for a jumping enemy. It's a bit finnicky but much more deliberate and somehow more weighty. Lots of fun. Also the overworld is mostly blocked off until you find the right items and it kind of reminded me of a Metroidvania and that's sort of how I played it. In a good way! Story: The Dark World is a cool concept. The Golden Land being warped by Ganon's Wish and humans transforming inside of it is a unique concept that I was a big fan of. Link even turns into a bunny! But the story is mainly reserved for the beginning and the end. And I really like the ending. Seeing peace returned to Hyrule, your Uncle coming back to life and the Golden Land being restored is a nice way to end things at. Graphics: Game look good. Like an SNES game. Full of color and detail. Link's hair is pink which is weird but I like it and I'm glad they didnt fix it for the GBA port. I like how expressive Link and some of the enemies are, especially when you fall off a cliff (or push one off a cliff). Sound: Classics left and right. Main Theme, Dark World, Dark World 2. It's all great. And big shoutouts to that opening. It's amazing every single time. Extra: Much less distractions in this title than other Zelda games. You have your heart pieces and some missable items and that's basically it. Good enough. Favorite Thing: Hearing Zelda's Theme after rescuing each maiden did something strange to me. Thinking about how important this piece of music is for the rest of the series makes me very nostalgic in a strange new way. Not My Favorite Thing: Getting completely ganked in that one room on Ganon's Tower with the helmasaurs and the conveyor belts and the spikes is rage inducing.