-30.jpg "a link to the past")
Goriyas are enemies designed as puzzles, balancing the skillful positioning of Zelda II with The Legend of Zelda’s brainteasers.
This is as simple as lining up in front of a green Goriya, but red Goriyas will attack Link on sight, forcing players to shoot first and quickly reposition their opponent. Players need to position themselves accordingly to fight back. The Dark Palace makes the most out of the Bow & Arrow specifically through Goriyas– enemies that mirror Link’s movement and can only be damaged with arrows. This becomes especially critical in the game’s first real “Level,” the Dark World’s Dark Palace.
#A LINK TO THE PAST HOW TO#
Early rooms feature pots that can be thrown to kill the Eyegores, but the last few rooms of the dungeon remove this crutch to force players to learn how to aim & dodge out of close-range combat. Eyegores infest the Eastern Palace, enemies that need to be baited before being shot with an arrow. Rather than using Rupees as ammo, the Bow comes with a proper Quiver this time around, incentivizing players to actually use their new toy.
#A LINK TO THE PAST FULL#
While it takes time for the Boomerang’s full potential to show, the Eastern Palace forces players to understand the Bow & Arrow’s utility before the dungeon is over. The Boomerang is as viable for puzzle solving as it is for combat, a distinction the item shares with most of A Link to the Past’s weaponry. Past the midway point, it’s not unusual to encounter rooms where the Boomerang is just as useful for subduing enemies as it is for progressing forward. Later on, however, players will realize that their Boomerang can hit switches from afar while phasing through certain obstacles. At first glance, it functions exactly as it did in the first game: stunning bigger enemies on contact, killing smaller ones outright, and nabbing items from afar. Link’s third item, the Boomerang is found deep within Hyrule Castle. It’s fitting that Link’s first two items function so ‘rigidly’ since the Boomerang represents the practicality of ALttP’s design as a whole. The Lamp places an immediate emphasis on exploration while stressing the importance of Link’s sub-equipment (arguably necessary since Zelda II kept Link’s tool mostly passive.) Compare the Lamp directly to the Sword, and they’re almost distilled versions of TLoZ & AOL respectively. Unlike Zelda 1’s Candle which lit any room the players used it in, the Lamp can only light specific torches– both as a means of casting out darkness and solving puzzles. The Lamp brings back Zelda II’s magic system while filling a purely navigational role. The very first item Link can get his hands on isn’t a weapon, but a puzzle tool. Battles aren’t framed around up & down movements, of course, but swordplay is fast-paced, enemies always deal a reasonable amount of damage, and Link’s item loadout goes so far to combine the versatility of Zelda II’s magic with Zelda 1’s equipment variety. Combat is never as demanding as it was on Zelda II, but A Link to the Past’s action is driven by the same conventions. Players need to be mindful of where they’re attacking from, reacting to enemy movements & attacking accordingly. Soldiers are quick to attack Link, and striking head-on can often result in blades clashing. Link begins his adventure swordless ala The Legend of Zelda, but breaking into Hyrule Castle in the middle of the night speaks to how Zelda II peppered progression with grand gameplay events (think to scale Death Mountain.)Ĭombat plays off Zelda II’s reflex-based swordplay.
#A LINK TO THE PAST SERIES#
The game’s opener– Link awakening in the middle of a downpour to sneak into Hyrule Castle– is more dramatic than anything the series has seen up to this point, but the entire sequence is driven by concepts the first two games already established. Where the original Legend of Zelda is best defined by an emphasis on freedom & exploration, and Zelda II by its combat & penchant for memorable setpieces, A Link to the Past carves its identity by blending together the NES duology’s strongest qualities.
0 kommentar(er)
