NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Link to the Past

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (ゼルダの伝説神々のトライフォース Zeruda no Densetsu: Kamigami no Toraifōsu^?, The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods), also known as Zelda 3 or Zelda III, is the third video game in The Legend of Zelda series, designed by Nintendo and released for the Super Famicom and Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game consoles. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1991, and in North America and Europe in 1992. Image File history File links Alttp_box. ... A video game developer is a software developer (a business or an individual) that creates computer or video games. ... Nintendo (Japanese: ä»»å¤©å ‚, ãƒ‹ãƒ³ãƒ†ãƒ³ãƒ‰ãƒ¼ NintendÅ; NASDAQ: NTDOY, TYO: 7974 ) is a multinational corporation founded on November 6,[citation needed] 1889 in Japan by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards, for use in a Japanese playing card game of the same name. ... Video game publishers are companies that publish video games that they have either developed internally or have had developed by a video game developer. ... Nintendo (Japanese: ä»»å¤©å ‚, ãƒ‹ãƒ³ãƒ†ãƒ³ãƒ‰ãƒ¼ NintendÅ; NASDAQ: NTDOY, TYO: 7974 ) is a multinational corporation founded on November 6,[citation needed] 1889 in Japan by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards, for use in a Japanese playing card game of the same name. ... A game designer is a person who designs games. ... Shigeru Miyamoto with some of his creations, from left to right - Luigi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Mario, and Yoshi stuffed toys Shigeru Miyamoto Shigeru Miyamoto (Japanese: å®®æœ¬èŒ‚, Miyamoto Shigeru, born November 16, 1952) is a Japanese electronic game designer. ... Takashi Tezuka is a video game designer for Nintendo. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Japan. ... November 21 is the 325th day of the year (326th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Notable events of 1991 in computer and video games. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... April 13 is the 103rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (104th in leap years). ... Notable events of 1992 in computer and video games. ... Image File history File links European_flag. ... November 24 is the 328th day (329th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Notable events of 1992 in computer and video games. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... December 2 is the 336th day (337th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2002 2002 in games 2001 in video gaming 2003 in video gaming Notable events of 2002 in computer and video games. ... Four Swords can refer to one of a number of video games in Nintendos The Legend of Zelda series. ... This is a listing of computer and video game genres with brief descriptions and examples from each genre. ... Action-adventure games (British English: arcade adventure) are video games that combine elements of the adventure game genre with various action game elements. ... In computer games and video games, single-player refers to the variant of a particular game where input from only one player is expected throughout the course of the gaming session. ... The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) is a self-regulatory organization that applies and enforces ratings, advertising guidelines, and online privacy principles for computer and video games and other entertainment software in the United States and Canada (officially adopted by individual provinces 2004-2005). ... More than one country has an organization called the Office of Film and Literature Classification. ... The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, also known as Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Brazil, Europe, and Australia. ... Satellaview base unit by itself Satellaview base unit docked with a Super Famicom with the recordable BS-X cartridge in the top slot Closeup of the flash-cart and its holster. ... The Game Boy Advance (often shortened to GBA) is a handheld video game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. ... In a variety of electronic equipments, a cartridge (in video game terms, cart, game pack, or Game Pak) can be one method of programming different functionality, providing variable content, or a method by which consumables may be replenished. ... The Legendary Triforce In the fictional world of the Legend of Zelda series of video games, the Triforce (sometimes called The Golden Power or The Golden Triforce) is a holy relic created by three goddesses. ... A computer game is a game composed of a computer-controlled virtual universe that players interact with in order to achieve a defined goal or set of goals. ... The Legend of Zelda series (often shortened to just Zelda, TLoZ or LoZ), first published on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo, is a series of video games created by the celebrated game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. ... Nintendo (Japanese: ä»»å¤©å ‚, ãƒ‹ãƒ³ãƒ†ãƒ³ãƒ‰ãƒ¼ NintendÅ; NASDAQ: NTDOY, TYO: 7974 ) is a multinational corporation founded on November 6,[citation needed] 1889 in Japan by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce handmade hanafuda cards, for use in a Japanese playing card game of the same name. ... This article should be merged with Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Famicom design differed from that of the American SNES, though the controllers are almost the same. ... The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, also known as Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Brazil, Europe, and Australia. ... A video game console is a dedicated electronic machine designed to play video games. ... November 21 is the 325th day of the year (326th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... Notable events of 1991 in computer and video games. ... Notable events of 1992 in computer and video games. ...

The game is hailed by many (especially of its generation) as Nintendo's finest hour and is considered one of the greatest video games of all time. It is also noted for its exceptionally long life in Nintendo Power's top games list: when the SNES list was finally retired, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past had more than five consecutive years in the number one spot. Because of its astounding success, it was re-released in 2002 on the Game Boy Advance with a new multiplayer expansion, entitled Four Swords. The first cover of Nintendo Power featured a clay sculpture of Mario from . ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... The Game Boy Advance (often shortened to GBA) is a handheld video game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. ...

Although Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was well-received by the market, it was stylistically a major departure from the first game - being a 2D side-scroller rather than a top-down view - and as such, greeted with a less than enthusiastic response. Therefore, A Link to the Past returned to build on the original NES Zelda's gameplay. Despite its return to an earlier style, A Link to the Past greatly expanded on the game mechanics of the original, introducing many of the features of gameplay that are hallmarks of the Zelda series to this day, such as multi-level dungeons, the Master Sword, the hookshot, and a dynamic environment with parallel worlds. Along with Ocarina of Time and Link's Awakening, many fans consider A Link to the Past to be one of the finest games in the Zelda series. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the second in the Legend of Zelda series of games. ... This article is about the first game in the series. ...

Storyline

Shigeru Miyamoto has yet to make an official statement about the true chronology of the Zelda series. However, according to the text on the back of the game's packaging, A Link to the Past follows the adventures of Zelda's and Link's ancestors, referring to the characters from the two NES games The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Thus, A Link to the Past takes place before the events of the first two Zelda games. The story of the Triforce and the banishment of Ganon by the seven sages is a rough outline of the story of Ocarina of Time. References to the Imprisoning War places A Link to the Past after Ocarina of Time in the Zelda timeline. Shigeru Miyamoto with some of his creations, from left to right - Luigi, Wario, Donkey Kong, Mario, and Yoshi stuffed toys Shigeru Miyamoto Shigeru Miyamoto (Japanese: å®®æœ¬èŒ‚, Miyamoto Shigeru, born November 16, 1952) is a Japanese electronic game designer. ... The Legend of Zelda series (often shortened to just Zelda, TLoZ or LoZ), first published on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo, is a series of video games created by the celebrated game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. ... An ancestor is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an ancestor (i. ... This article is about the first game in the series. ... Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is a video game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the second in the Legend of Zelda series of games. ... The Legendary Triforce In the fictional world of the Legend of Zelda series of video games, the Triforce (sometimes called The Golden Power or The Golden Triforce) is a holy relic created by three goddesses. ... See Exile (disambiguation) for other meanings. ... Ganon, King of Evil Ganon (also known as Ganondorf) is the final boss and primary antagonist of several games in Nintendos Legend of Zelda series. ... The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was a video game released in 1998, and the first Zelda game for the Nintendo 64. ...

Long before the period during which the game's events occur, stories were told in Hyrule about a Golden Land, with unknown powers and controlled by an omnipotent and omniscient golden power; known as the Triforce. Once the vile Ganon gets into the Golden Land, he holds the Triforce and turns it into the Dark World. To lock Ganon there, the Seven Wise Men created a seal to the Dark World, which can only be broken by the Wise Men or their descendants. This story became a legend, and it is told to the player as the game unfolds. The Kingdom of Hyrule is a fictional land portrayed in The Legend of Zelda video game series created by Nintendo and industry legend Shigeru Miyamoto. ... Spoiler warning: The Golden Land (A Link to the Past, Kodai no Sekiban) or, by later translations, the Sacred Realm (Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker) is one of the more fantastical locations in the fictional Zelda world. ... Omnipotence (literally, all power) is the power to do absolutely anything. ... Omniscience is the capacity to know everything, or at least everything that can be known. ... The Legendary Triforce In the fictional world of the Legend of Zelda series of video games, the Triforce (sometimes called The Golden Power or The Golden Triforce) is a holy relic created by three goddesses. ... Ganon, King of Evil Ganon (also known as Ganondorf) is the final boss and primary antagonist of several games in Nintendos Legend of Zelda series. ... ...

Right before the game starts, the wizard Agahnim, who had achieved an important advisory role in the kingdom, gets rid of the King of Hyrule and starts searching for seven maidens, descendants of the sages, in order to send them to the Dark World and break the seal. It has been suggested that Mageborn be merged into this article or section. ... Agahnim is a fictional character from the Legend of Zelda videogame series. ...

At the beginning of the game, a young boy named Link receives a telepathic message from a girl named Princess Zelda. She says that she is locked in the dungeon of the castle, and Link goes to rescue her. On the way, however, Link finds his uncle severely wounded in the sewers, and receives his uncle's sword and shield before his uncle dies. Link and Zelda escape the castle via a secret passageway to a Sanctuary where Zelda stays while Link collects three pendants needed to free the Master Sword from its resting place. Link, seen here in some Twilight Princess artwork, is a courageous fighter who stars in the Legend of Zelda games. ... Telepathy (from the Greek Ï„Î·Î»Îµ, tele, distant; and Ï€Î¬Î¸ÎµÎ¹Î±, patheia, feeling) is the claimed ability of humans and other creatures to communicate information from one mind to another, without the use of extra tools such as speech or body language. ... Princess Zelda, in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. ... The dungeon of Bothwell Castle seen from the Great Hall A dungeon (derived from the Old French donjon, from the Latin dominus, lord), in its original medieval usage, was the keep, the main tower of a castle which formed the final defensive position the garrison could retreat to when outer... Secret passages are sometimes concealed using large items of furniture, such as this reconstruction of the bookcase that covered the entrance to Anne Franks secret room. ... The Master Sword in its Lost Woods pedestal The Master Sword is a fictional sword from Nintendos epic Legend of Zelda video game series. ...

Link retrieves the Master Sword only to learn that Zelda has been taken to the castle by Agahnim. Link goes to the castle to rescue her but arrives too late; she is the seventh girl Agahnim needed to break the seal. Zelda disappears into the Dark World and Link and Agahnim do battle. Agahnim falls but sends Link into the Dark World. Image File history File links Zelda_16-bit_End_X2. ... Image File history File links Zelda_16-bit_End_X2. ... Princess Zelda, in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. ... Hyrule Castle in The Wind Waker. ... The Master Sword in its Lost Woods pedestal The Master Sword is a fictional sword from Nintendos epic Legend of Zelda video game series. ...

Once in the Dark World, Link finds himself standing atop a Great Pyramid where the castle stood in the Light World. The only way to destroy Ganon's Dark World (and subsequently save the once-peaceful Light World) is to defeat Ganon and take the Triforce from his clutches. In order to do that, Link must first rescue the maidens (including Zelda) from seven dungeons within the Dark World.

Once the girls have been freed, Link fights Agahnim one more time before confronting Ganon inside the Great Pyramid. As in the first Legend of Zelda game, Ganon can only be slain with the Silver Arrows. When Link touches the Triforce, his wishes cause the Dark World to disappear and peace returns to the Light World. His quest completed, Link returns the Master Sword to its resting place.

Gameplay

A Link to the Past featured gameplay much closer to the original The Legend of Zelda than its immediate sequel Zelda II: Adventure of Link. Though not completely ignoring the changes made to the gameplay in Zelda II, A Link to the Past was largely a throwback to the original Zelda. Instead of building on Zelda II's overhead/sidescrolling hybrid system, A Link to the Past returned to the original's formula of both exploration and combat taking place in the same environment, with an overhead perspective. A Link to the Past also did away with the RPG-style leveling system implemented in Zelda II, and although the concept of a magic system was retained, it was closer in nature to the items system of the original Zelda than the magic spell system of the sequel.

Despite the return to an earlier style of gameplay, A Link to the Past continued to move the series forward. Many new items and techniques were created for this game, most of which would continue to appear in later incarnations of the series. Some new items in A Link to the Past that would continue to appear in the series include the Hook Shot, the Master Sword, and the Pegasus Boots. The Hearts that increased the player's maximum life points in the earlier two games were split into pieces of heart, four of which make an extra life point. Most of them are hidden, allowing for replay value to players who want to collect all of them. Another innovation was the multi-level dungeon, which allowed for Link to climb stairs to traverse floors, and even fall through holes in the floor and land in lower levels. The Master Sword in its Lost Woods pedestal The Master Sword is a fictional sword from Nintendos epic Legend of Zelda video game series. ...

A Link to the Past was also the first appearance of what would later become a major Zelda trademark: the existence of two parallel worlds that the player could travel between. The first, called the Light World, is the ordinary Hyrule where Link grew up with his uncle. The second was once the Golden Land, a place of light and purity and home of the sacred Triforce, until Ganon corrupted it with his evil power and changed it into a world of darkness and despair: the Dark World. Everything in the Light World looks fairly normal, while the Dark World is true to its name by being dark and depressing; the water is a dull shade, the grass is dead, there are skulls everywhere, and the trees have distorted faces. Even people change forms when entering the dark world. Each location in the Light World corresponds to a similar location in the Dark World, generally either with much of the same physical structure, or its exact opposite (e.g. a desert in the Light World corresponds to a Dark World swamp). Spoiler warning: The Golden Land (A Link to the Past, Kodai no Sekiban) or, by later translations, the Sacred Realm (Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker) is one of the more fantastical locations in the fictional Zelda world. ... The Legendary Triforce In the fictional world of the Legend of Zelda series of video games, the Triforce (sometimes called The Golden Power or The Golden Triforce) is a holy relic created by three goddesses. ... Ganon, King of Evil Ganon (also known as Ganondorf) is the final boss and primary antagonist of several games in Nintendos Legend of Zelda series. ... ...

Unlike The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, where there is only one location at which Link can travel back and forth in time, A Link to the Past allows Link to travel from the Dark World to the Light World at almost any outside location by using the Magic Mirror item, thus creating a "portal" to the Dark World. Once in the Light World, the player can only return to the Dark World by stepping into that portal (which will then disappear) or by using one of the eight warp tiles hidden around the world. Walking through the gateway of Hyrule Castle after having defeated Agahnim will also send the player back to the Dark World. This flexibility enabled a variety of puzzles that exploited slight differences between the Light and Dark Worlds. Hyrule Castle in The Wind Waker. ... Agahnim is a fictional character from the Legend of Zelda videogame series. ...

The Game Boy game 'Oracle of Ages', makes use of parallel worlds as well, one being the present and the other being 400 years in the past. Much like the Magic Mirror, Link can use the Harp of Ages to travel between the two. The Harp either generates power to create time portals, warps Link from the past to the present, or simply from whatever age he is currently in to the other. The latter two are adaptations of the Magic Mirror and portals.

Characters

Regional variations

The English language localization includes a number of changes to the original Japanese game. The most common type of change was the removal of religious references to conform with Nintendo of America's content guidelines. The most obvious change was made to the subtitle of the game, which was changed from Triforce of the Gods to A Link to the Past. The font used in the game to represent an unreadable language, Hylian, originally had designs of a vulture and an ankh (

). These designs were based on Egyptian hieroglyphs which carry religious meanings, and were altered in the English version. The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Software localization is a process of translating software user interfaces from one language to another and adapting it to suit a foreign culture. ... It has been suggested that Hieroglyph (French Wiki article) be merged into this article or section. ... [1] Ankh The ankh (pronounced ahnk, symbol ) was the Egyptian hieroglyphic character that stood for the word , which means life. ... Download high resolution version (500x878, 30 KB)The original image was created by Ihcoyc who said: An ankh. ... It has been suggested that Hieroglyph (French Wiki article) be merged into this article or section. ...

The localization also made changes to plot included in the manual. The priest Agahnim became a wizard, and his background, which originally implied that he was sent by the gods, was altered to remove any celestial origin. Look up manual in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Roman Catholic priests in traditional clerical clothing. ... It has been suggested that Mageborn be merged into this article or section. ...

Music

The music was composed by Koji Kondo. The overworld theme of the original Legend of Zelda, or "Hyrule Overture" theme, was carried over to A Link to the Past and played in the Light World, redone in SPC700 style. Many tracks from A Link to the Past resurfaced in later Zelda titles, especially Ocarina of Time. The original soundtrack for A Link to the Past is entitled "Sound and Drama", all A Link to the Past songs are featured, and a bonus track is also included. The soundtrack has 2 disks, disk one has about 44 minutes of playtime, and disk two plays for about 54 minutes. Koji Kondo Koji Kondo (è¿‘è—¤æµ©æ²» KondÅ KÅji b. ... The SONY SPC700 is the 8-bit sound chip used in the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console together with a DSP. The SPC700 chip was very advanced for its time (1991) and may in some ways be said to rival todays wavetable synthesizer sound cards. ...

A Link to the Past introduces a lot of famous sub-themes to the series, such as the lovely Theme of Princess Zelda (Zelda's Lullaby), the pompous Royal Family Theme (Hyrule Castle), peaceful Kakariko Village and the soothing Select Screen / Fairy Cave. Nearly every one of these tunes were reused in many later games of the series.

Technical notes

At the time, most SNES game cartridges had 4 Mbit (512 KB) of memory. This game broke the trend by using 8 Mbit (1 MB), allowing the Nintendo development team to create a remarkably expansive world for Link to inhabit. The European SNES design is identical to the Super Famicom. ...

A Link to the Past features two fully-explorable worlds; in addition to the overworlds, the Light World has five dungeons and Dark World has eight. Each palace has from two to eight floors, and most floors have several rooms. Moreover, many entrances on the overworld lead to more places to explore; cave mouths (sometimes needing to be bombed to open) lead to caves, all houses with doorways can be entered and explored, and sometimes bushes or gravestones conceal a hole that leads to secret places. In short, the game's world was very large and intricate for a game of this time (and in fact, was larger than the worlds of several subsequent Zelda games). In computer and video games, the overworld generally refers to an out-door or world map section of the game, as opposed to a dungeon or level. In a typical RPGs, the player can usually save their game whenever they like, and will usually have a different appearance (to reflect...

The game also premiered a simple graphic compression method on the SNES by limiting the color depth of many (but not all) tiles to 8 colors instead of the SNES's native 16-color tiles. The tiles were decompressed at runtime by simply adding a leading zero bit to each pixel's color index. In computer science and information theory, data compression or source coding is the process of encoding information using fewer bits (or other information-bearing units) than an unencoded representation would use through use of specific encoding schemes. ... The European SNES design is identical to the Super Famicom. ...

But the most technical advance was to save memory by duplicate elimination. The Light World and the Dark World are almost identical and only the differences were saved, any way else they would have needed to wait for a 16 Mbit ROM.

Ports

A Link to the Past was also made available for the Satellaview, the Japanese add-on for the Super Famicom. The game was completely unchanged, except for being converted into a downloadable format. A Satellaview-exclusive sequel, Kodai no Sekiban, was released in 1997. Satellaview base unit by itself Satellaview base unit docked with a Super Famicom with the recordable BS-X cartridge in the top slot Closeup of the flash-cart and its holster. ... The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, also known as Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Brazil, Europe, and Australia. ... BS Zelda Screenshot BS Zelda was an expanded version of The Legend of Zelda that was released for the Satellaview attachment of the Super Famicom in Japan. ... See also: 1996 in video gaming, other events of 1997, 1998 in video gaming, history of video games Events 3rd annual E³ (Electronic Entertainment Expo) October 4 - Gunpei Yokoi (1941-1997) dies after a double car accident. ...

In 2002, Capcom ported A Link to the Past to the Game Boy Advance. The Game Boy Advance version was released in North America on 2 December 2002 and in Japan on 13 March 2003. This port was packaged with a Capcom-developed multiplayer Zelda game called Four Swords. The two games worked together; extra features could be unlocked in one game by completing tasks in the other. Additions to A Link to the Past include voice clips, an additional dungeon, an additional end sequence for clearing the new dungeon, and the ability to unlock a continuous spin slash attack. Other changes include an easier puzzle in the fifth dungeon of the Dark World and a text overhaul. Capcom (ã‚«ãƒ—ã‚³ãƒ³ in Japanese) TYO: 9697 is a leading Japanese developer and publisher of computer and video games. ... In computer science, porting is the adaptation of a piece of software so that it will function in a different computing environment to that for which it was originally written. ... The Game Boy Advance (often shortened to GBA) is a handheld video game console developed, manufactured and marketed by Nintendo. ... December 2 is the 336th day (337th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2002 2002 in games 2001 in video gaming 2003 in video gaming Notable events of 2002 in computer and video games. ... March 13 is the 72nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (73rd in leap years). ... 2003 2003 in games 2002 in video gaming 2004 in video gaming Notable events of 2003 in computer and video games. ...

Comic

A comicbook miniseries based on Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past by Shotaro Ishinomori appeared in Nintendo Power magazine beginning in January 1992 and ran for 12 issues. Due to the series' short run, many portions of the game were omitted, and several new story segments were added. A comic book is a magazine or book containing the art form of comics. ... Shotaro Ishinomori (çŸ³ãƒŽæ£®ç« å¤ªéƒŽ Ishinomori ShÃ´tarÃ´), (January 25, 1938- January 28, 1998) was an influential figure in manga, anime and tokusatsu who created several long-running series such as Cyborg 009 and Kamen Rider (Japans answer to Spider-Man). ... The first cover of Nintendo Power featured a clay sculpture of Mario from . ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

A new character, Roam, was introduced, a knight with the ability to take on an avian form, growing wings and feathers. While at first meeting Link as an enemy, the two quickly became allies and joined forces to help take down Ganon. The word Avian can refer to different things: .. Most commonly it is used referring to the class of animals named birds. Avians are a fantasy race in several fantasy settings. ...

Trivia

Mario is the current Good Article Collaboration of the week! Please help to improve this article to the highest of standards. ... This Chain Chomp, from Super Mario Brothers 3, is lunging at Mario, who is safely out of range The Chain Chomp is a video game character from Nintendos Mario series of games. ...

References

Contents

Storyline

Gameplay

Characters

Regional variations

Music

Technical notes

Ports

Comic

Trivia

References

See also

External links

Contents

Storyline GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Gameplay

Characters

Regional variations

Music

Technical notes

Ports

Comic

Trivia

References

See also

External links

Storyline