Leftwich's Top 100 Games of All Time

[Swarley]

I have something special planned for tomorrow for it.

[Leftwich]

guys know me. Gotta delay everything to the last minute.

[CrimsonGhost56]

Why hold out until tomorrow? We all know The Berenstain Bears' and the Spooky Old Tree is number 1.

[Leftwich]

1

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past



Platform: SNES

Alright this is it, my number one game of all time. Originally I planned to put Mass Effect 3 is 1a and Zelda as 1b but I decided that I don’t know what kind of lasting effect Mass Effect 3 would have on me but I do know for a fact the impact on me as a gamer The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past has had on me. This is far and beyond my favorite game and I may have said it was close with Super Mario 3 but when I really sit down and think about it, A Link to the Past has taken so much time from me as a gamer that I can’t even imagine putting another game here. To me this game was the absolute perfect one. I honestly couldn’t think of anything wrong with it, it’s a fairly long game, the difficulty is perfect and most importantly, is so much damn fun. So instead of going into a long diatribe to open this thing up, I’m going to go ahead and get down to it. For your reading pleasure, My number one game of all time, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.



The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is the third game in the Zelda series. In Zelda 2 the game had left the overhead perspective that was popular in Zelda and went for a side scrolling RPG type game. Zelda 2 was received well but critics and fans alike wanted a game more like the first. A Link to the Past did just that and returned to the roots but doing just that wouldn’t be enough would it? The developers wanted to give us more so instead of just one world to explore, they gave us two. The Light World is an area that more resembles the land of Hyrule that we all know and love. The Dark World is just some alternate version of Hyrule but with a dark twist. Kind of redundant, no? The beauty of this was that after you are able to get to the Dark World, as long as you have the mirror you can travel between the two. I’ll get into more about that later. But for now I’ll talk a little about the Gameplay. Like I said before, A Link to the Past ditched the side scrolling element from Zelda 2 and went back to the top down perspective that is very prevalent in RPG games. Also another thing that didn’t carry over was the leveling from Zelda 2. Instead of the leveling you would just have to find heart containers to fill your health, rupees to buy weapons and magic by converting a mushroom into it. I’ll admit that I am a big fan of Zelda 2 but I thoroughly enjoyed collecting over leveling. The leveling felt weird to me. Yet another element they brought back was assigning a weapon or item to your B button. It made using things like hookshots, wands and butterfly nets much easier to use. Something new to the series that is a mainstay now was the ability to talk to non-playable characters easier and better than ever before. Sometimes they’ll offer you items, information for your adventure or just a random comment. It was always a goal of mine to talk to as many as possible to do as much of the game as possible. No Zelda does not have a bunch of random quests to do like Skyrim but it does have a lot of things to collect. As expected Zelda has numerous dungeons to explore. Just like in all the Zelda games, you must complete the dungeons to continue in the game. Sure you can do some of them out of order if you want but its going to make it a lot more difficult to play the game. Each dungeron is chock full of enemies, puzzles and keys. The enemies progressively get harder as you continue through each dungeon and some of them just aren’t fair. The puzzles as well get a lot harder and at a time when the internet wasn’t that big, I had to solve these puzzles by myself or by word of mouth. Keys are scattered all over the place and a required to open doors in each dungeon. It helps if you can find the map so you can see the dungeon layout and it helps to get the compass as well. The compass will tell you where the boss and the treasures of the dungeon are. Each Dungeon contains 3 major things, A master key, An Item and a Boss. The master key is required for 2 things, opening the door to the Boss and opening the chest that has an item for your quest. Sometimes the item is required to defeat the boss and sometimes its something that helps you on your quest, sometimes its both. The bosses are cake to begin the game but as you continue through the story they get noticeably harder. Turtle rock is one of the hardest bosses in the game but I’ll go into that later.



The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was the first Zelda game to feature two different worlds, again The Light World and Dark World. Why was this such a huge gameplay mechanic? It gave the gamer a whole new way to play the game. When you first pop in this game you only have access to the Light World but as you complete the beginning of the story you will have to take the journey to the Dark World. If anyone has ever played the game before you know that Link is in no way ready for the Dark World. Not only does it give you more of the quest to accomplish by going there it helps with finding secret between the two worlds. Link has one of two ways to go back and forth. Uncovering warp tiles strewn across the world and using a mirror that he gets in one of the dungeons. If you use the mirror on an area anywhere in the world you will warp to the opposite world. Done in some of the right spots and you will access secret areas and have access to new items. Not only is it used to obtain loot, it is also used to gain access to dungeons that needed to be completed to continue the game. The beauty of the two worlds is the fact that the worlds look similar but different. I mean in the light world you might be next to a beautiful tree but if you warp to the dark world it is a dying tree with enemy birds in it. The worlds contrast very well and gives you a sense of where evil lurks. You spend all of the beginning of your quest in the Light World but the second leg is spent mostly in the Dark World but occasionally transitioning between the two. I was a huge fan of the two worlds and think it was the best gameplay mechanic in the entire series. Sure it was somewhat redone with Oracle of the Ages and Seasons but that was so damn monotonous.



Graphically I think this is the best looking game for the SNES. I know this game came out shortly after the SNES did but when I look at this game and even the later SNES games I see little to no difference in graphics. The reason I really loved the graphics of this game is because before this all we had was Zelda 1 and 2. Those games looks ages behind this game in comparison. The blocky look of the previous Zelda gives way for a very smooth and fluid look in A Link to the Past. The developers did a damn good job of paying attention to detail and making the world look as real as they could. Walk into the Lost woods and you get this look of depth with the leaves high in the trees casting shadows. Walk into the desert and you’ll see sand being blown across the landscape. Some dungeons even had a misty haze to them that looked fantastic. Those little details go a long way in making an enjoyable gaming experience. The Dungeons looked fantastic, let me tell you. They all looked so diverse and gave you the illusion that they were very large. Enemies looked fantastic and unique. Main characters such as Link and Zelda look incredible as well. Like I’ve stated numerous times before the Light and Dark world transitions are very well done and give the gamer a nice palette of colors and setting. The sound in this game is top notch. The classic Zelda theme that we all know and love is back and sounds better than ever. The dungeon themes and overworld themes sound great and instantly bring back a feeling of nostalgia when I play or even hear them. The Zelda developers wee always very talented at making the audio very immersive and an integral part of the game. Even outside of the songs and themes the game sounds great. The pitter patter of Link walking through water or jumping off a cliff sounds damn good. I always hated the noise Link makes when he gets hit but at least he makes some sort of noise. There really are so many sound effects in this game and you rarely ever here reused audio while playing. As a closing statement I want to say that this game probably has the most diverse soundtracks in any Zelda game I’ve ever played.



Finally I’ll tell you about the story of this game because this write up just wouldn’t be complete without it. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past takes place in Hyrule, the setting in most all Zelda games. Hyrule gets a face lift this go around but a lot of familiar places from previous Zelda games return such as The Lost Woods, Death Mountain and Hyrule Castle. But as you should know by now, the Dark World has the exact opposite. New areas are introduced as well that are featured in the newer Zelda games as well. As far as where this game comes in place on the timeline of Zelda is fucking confusing. Apparently this is a prequel to the first two Zelda games but is off a timeline that Link was defeated in Ocarina of Time. See this shit is too confusing for me. Ok before you ever play the game there is a back story. There is a land far off in an alternate realm called the Sacred Realm and it is a very historic place with a utopia look to it. One day a band of thieves enters it in an attempt to capture the Tri-Force. When they find it one of the thieves known as Gannondorf kills the other thieves and claims the Tri-Force. Gannondorf is in full control of the Sacred Realm and draws people in to fight along side him as his army. The King of Hyrule doesn’t like this and has the seven sages seal the realm/ They are successful in doing so and seal Gannon for eternity. Years pass with no conflict to speak of. Weird things begin to happen and famine streaks across Hyrule and The King hires Agahnim to investigate the occurrences and stopped the problems with magic. Agahnim let corruption get the best of him and laid a mighty hand across Hyrule. It got so bad that he kidnapped the children of the seven sages in an attempt to break the seal to the Sacred Realm, now known as The Dark World. This the point in the game that it all starts. While Link is sleeping he is awakened by Zelda and her telepathic powers that she magically has. She tells him she is being held prisoner in the castle and he better get his ass down there to help him. Link sees his uncle leave the house to help her. His uncle tells Link to stay put and wait for him. Of course you leave, this is not Legend of Zelda: A Link’s Uncle to the Past. Link makes his way through a rainy Hyrule to the castle. Link meets his uncle in the castle, wounded, and he gives him his sword and shield and tells Link to free the princess. As you make your way through the castle and fight your first boss fight you finally rescue Zelda. She is enlightened to see you and you two make your way through the sewers until you reach the Church. When you are in the Church the priest tells you that you must take down Agahnim and keep him from opening the portal to the Dark World. He tells you to head out East to meet Sahasrahla and learn more about Master Sword. Sahasrahla tells Link that he must prove himself worthy of the Master Sword by collecting the three pennants of virtue. The Elders will only think Link is worthy if he can pass those three tests. You get to play your first three dungeons at this point. They are pretty simple and shouldn’t take you too long. The first two dungeons don’t require you to travel to the dark world but you must fro the third. The funny thing about this is if you use a warp area on the mountain you turn into a rabbit. Because you don’t have the third pennant you can’t make the transfer from the worlds as Link. Once you collect the third pennant you will be able to do so. After you collect it you must head to the Lost Woods and take the Master Sword from it’s stone. Almost instantly after you withdraw the Master Sword Zelda calls Link telepathically and tells him that Agahnim’s soldiers have come to the Church looking for Zelda. Link hurry’s to the Church and realizes he is too late. The Priest is laid out on the floor after apparently getting roughed up. Link must rush to the Castle and save Princess Zelda. As fate would have it, Link is too late. Agahnim has transferred Zelda to the Dark World and in effect breaking the seal. Link must now defeat Agahnim. This battle can be done two ways. You can swing the sword at Agahnim’s powers to send them back at him or use your butterfly net. I prefer the net because it’s funnier. He isn’t too hard so the battle should be over quickly. After Agahnim is defeated Link goes to the Dark World to save Zelda.



After Link is transported to the Dark World, Sahasrahla makes contact with Link telepathically. Everyone in this fucking game has telepathy. He tells Link that he is in what used to be known as the Sacred Realm but has turned into a dark, terrible place by Gannon and his army. He also tells Link the only way he can get to Gannon is by freeing the seven maidens that Agahnim has imprisoned. This is where the real long part of the game comes into play. You have seven dungeons to explore before you can ever take on Gannon’s tower. Some of these dungeons can get pretty damn difficult. The few ones in the beginning can be pretty easy but as you go to Dungeons like the Ice Palace and Skeleton Forest can get pretty long and arduous. But they all seem like a cakewalk in comparison to Turtle Rock. Turtle fucking Rock drove me crazy. Just for the dungeon you have to come prepared. You need magic out the ass. Your best bet before coming in here is to be maxes out on magic and have the jars full of Magic Potion before you ever come in here. Even the boss requires you to use magic. The two headed dragon requires you to use the ice wand and fire wand on each different head. It can get frustrating trying to avoid getting hit, watching your magic and remembering which head to use what wand on. If it weren’t for the final battle, this one would be the hardest in the game. After you successfully make it through all seven dungeons and freeing all seven maidens, you can finally take on Gannon’s tower. The seven maidens break the seal on Gannon’s tower and Link embarks on the end of his quest. This dungeon in my opinion is nowhere near as difficult as Turtle Rock but it still tests your might and patience. As you traverse the dungeon you will finally have the battle you’re waiting for, Agahnim? Yes you have to fight him again and he is a little more difficult this time. He shouldn’t give you too much trouble as long as you can figure out his patterns. After you beat him the spirit of Gannon flies out of his body, turns to a bat, flies off and crashes through the top of the Pyramid of Power. Link has to quickly make it down there and defeat Gannon once and for all. Gannon and Link face off in a great battle. I have to admit the first few times I played this battle I got my ass kicked. After I took the time to figure it out and use my Master Sword and Silver Arrows, I finally took Gannon down. After Gannon dies Link recovers the triforce. Upon capturing it he makes a wish to turn The Sacred Realm back to it’s former glory. The game then ends. This is far and beyond my favorite story in a video game. The real sense of good vs evil is evident in this game. It feels good to go from not having the strength to pick up a boulder to defeating Gannon that makes you feel like you’ve really accomplished something.



There you have it guys. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is my all time favorite game. It’s just one of those games that if I had to choose one game to play for the rest of my life, it would be this one. It is in my opinion the absolute pinnacle of perfection in a video game. Over twenty years old and is still my favorite game. It was just one of those games that I knew was my favorite from the first time I beat it. Personally I don’t ever see a game beating this for number one of all time. Mass Effect 3 is close behind it and if I ever do another revised list then hell it could untop it but I’m really not counting on it. For the final time, watch the video below and see my favorite game of all time in action.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snrHDTdqjdU"]A Link to the Past gameplay - YouTube[/ame]

[Bomberooski]

Awesome job with the top 100 Leftwich.

Loved "Link To The Past"

[Leftwich]

After 62,000 words I'm done with my top 100 games of all time. I'd like to thank each and every one of you guys for reading this. It was a lot of work for me to do this and instead of a lot of failed lists here, i've completed one.

I know there was a lot of you walk away dissapointed that game a was ranked over game b or game c wasn't included but it's just how i feel i rank my games.

I do want to tell you i've already started working on another list. It's not a top 100 games of all time but it is a top list and i am aiming to take a few weeks off of writing this shit so i'm gonna aim for June 1st to be the day i start my next list. At some point i'll let you guys know what the list is but until then just enjoy reading through all of these games.

Once again, Thank You.

[FirstTimer]

It was a lot of work for me to do this and instead of a lot of failed lists here, i've completed one.

.

[Swarley]

I know there was a lot of you walk away dissapointed that game a was ranked over game b or game c wasn't included but it's just how i feel i rank my games.

I guess people just couldn't comprehend that it was your favorite games and not a best games list. Good work though.

[FirstTimer]

Games of the Top 100 I've played

#98- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
#93- Medal of Honor Frontline

#88- NBA 2k10

#81- Sim City 2000

#77- Contra
#76- Donkey Kong
#75- Doom
#74- Double Dragon
#73- Pacman
#72- Mega Man X
#71- MLB The Show 10

#68- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

#63- Star Fox (SNES)
#62- Excitebike

#58- Mortal Kombat
#57- Grand Theft Auto 4

#55- Super Metroid

#53- MegaMan

#50- GTA Vice City


#41- Sonic The Hedgehog

#37- Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
#36- Super Mario 64
#35- NBA Jam
#34- Mortal Kombat 2
#33- Street Fighter 2

#30- Super Mario Bros

#25- Donkey Kong Country
#24- Tetris

#18- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
#17- Tecmo Super Bowl
#16- Goldeneye 007

#12- Super Mario Kart
#11- NHL 94
#10- Madden 2005

#5- Grand Theft Auto 3


#2- Super Mario Bros 3

[Senser81]

Games of the Top 100 I've played

#98- Sonic the Hedgehog 2
#93- Medal of Honor Frontline

#88- NBA 2k10

#81- Sim City 2000

#77- Contra
#76- Donkey Kong
#75- Doom
#74- Double Dragon
#73- Pacman
#72- Mega Man X
#71- MLB The Show 10

#68- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

#63- Star Fox (SNES)
#62- Excitebike

#58- Mortal Kombat
#57- Grand Theft Auto 4

#55- Super Metroid

#53- MegaMan

#50- GTA Vice City


#41- Sonic The Hedgehog

#37- Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
#36- Super Mario 64
#35- NBA Jam
#34- Mortal Kombat 2
#33- Street Fighter 2

#30- Super Mario Bros

#25- Donkey Kong Country
#24- Tetris

#18- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2
#17- Tecmo Super Bowl
#16- Goldeneye 007

#12- Super Mario Kart
#11- NHL 94
#10- Madden 2005

#5- Grand Theft Auto 3


#2- Super Mario Bros 3

Interesting. I think a lot of these types of lists will depend on what gaming systems you had. I never really played Nintendo or Super Nintendo games...at that time I was still loading games on my Commodore 64 disk drive. My list of top 100 games played is probably miniscule:

#99- Gran Turismo
#87- Grand Theft Auto
#85- Pitfall
#83- Half Life
#81- Sim City 2000
#77- Contra
#76- Donkey Kong
#73- Pacman
#62- Excitebike
#58- Mortal Kombat
#47- Mike Tyson's Punch Out
#41- Sonic The Hedgehog
#35- NBA Jam
#24- Tetris
#17- Tecmo Super Bowl
#11- NHL 94
#10- Madden 2005
#7- Metal Gear Solid
#5- Grand Theft Auto 3

Maybe I'll make a list of top50 C64 games, and no one will comment on it.

[JBregz]

Leftwich's Top 100 Games of All Time

If it's a Zelda game like every other fucking list...

EDIT: Shocker

Sent from my BlackBerry 9300 using Tapatalk

[FirstTimer]

Interesting. I think a lot of these types of lists will depend on what gaming systems you had. .

My console ownership "evolution"

NES
SNES* Still own one
N64
Dreamcast ()
Playstation 1
Playstation 2
Playstation 3

I played some games on the PC but that was rare (Sim City mainly) and a few neighbors had SEGA's so I was able to play those as well.

[JBregz]

Great list nonetheless Lefty. I didn't get much time playing the nintendo consoles. I had the original but I was born in 93 so I grew up on the PS1, PS2, xbox, PC and now PS3.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9300 using Tapatalk

[leaffan]

Great list nonetheless Lefty. I didn't get much time playing the nintendo consoles. I had the original but I was born in 93 so I grew up on the PS1, PS2, xbox, PC and now PS3.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9300 using Tapatalk

[padman59]

If it's a Zelda game like every other fucking list...

EDIT: Shocker

Sent from my BlackBerry 9300 using Tapatalk

Great list nonetheless Lefty. I didn't get much time playing the nintendo consoles. I had the original but I was born in 93 so I grew up on the PS1, PS2, xbox, PC and now PS3.

Sent from my BlackBerry 9300 using Tapatalk

Given the second quote, I have to ask: Have you played A Link to the Past? I imagine most people who have won't complain about Leftwich putting it at the top of his list.