Games I've played as a kid 1: Legend of Zelda A link to the past.

To start my first review I have decided to choose a series that's been with me my entire life. I have been raised on the Zelda games and I more or less have an obsession. The series started for me from a link to the past. Back in 1995 when I got my first console as a five year old it came with 5 games given to me by my uncle. It came with Donkey Kong Country, Megaman X and of course the legend of Zelda. After throwing a tantrum to get it plugged in upstairs I was eventually forced to play it at the kitchen table on a small portable TV. Didn't matter too much to me though after I put the cartridge in and turned the console on. The Nintendo bleep and logo came on the screen. Little did I know that sound would be forever implanted in my brain. The opening started playing, the music was ominous yet inspiring but nothing of much interest happened. Then I pressed start and was brought for the first time to the choose a save screen. Not knowing what I was doing I chose my uncles save which brought me about halfway through the game. I didn't have a clue what was going on but after about an hour left alone with it I figured out that I could throw stuff and kill things with my sword. I eventually tackled one of the dark world dungeons. Continuously died and didn't get very far. This game took me years to beat, mainly due to being a kid at the time. I eventually finished it in 2003 when they re-released for the GBA. 

The game follows the action RPG style, which works best for zelda titles since this series was the pioneer of the action RPG. A thing that surprised me about the early SNES days was the lack of these types of games. Sure platformers are great and if you have enough patience a turn based RPG or strategy RPG are fine but lets face it, as a kid you have next to no patience. I found this type of gameplay most appealing. Apart from how to play the game the elements that set it apart from the rest was the ability to have an arsenal of weaponry, various upgradable equipment and a levelling system that didnt require you to train for hours on end. As soon as you beat a boss you got an extra heart for your health metre. The game isn't simple though but at the same time its not too hard. If you can't get passed a certain boss you can always look for secret items, upgrades and various other powers that might help you get past them, not to mention each boss has a certain weakness and if you can figure them out it they'll be easy enough to beat. 

The graphics where very appealing at the time but now everyone has begun to move on from 2d into the world of 3d. The graphics are still pretty well done. One slight error though is that Link's hair has been coloured wrong. Apparently due to palette limitations. But whatever the case was his hair was pink. The sprites are superbly detailed and well done. But some points deducted for pink hair.

Music. I don't even know what to say. The music was one of the most inspiring elements of the game. The music in this game contain some revamped versions of the classic zelda soundtrack from the legend of zelda and.... i think Links adventure. I couldn't bare playing that one. Some day I'll get around to finishing it... someday.

Overall the game contains a lot of memorable elements. The story is well written and gives the character a proper objective rather than dropping you somewhere in the middle of Hyrule and expecting you to just walk into the first cave you see with no weapons or way to defend yourself... Ahem... moving on. The player feels as immersed as they can be in a 2d world.  Its a great game and well designed. The dungeons have a great feel and the game itself is fun to just pick up and play.