A Link to the Past was released 25 years ago today on the SNES

Video games always love to remind us how old we are getting. This year we are celebrating the 31st anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series. We received the 18th main series Zelda game last month, the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. But it has been 25 years since US gamers got their hands on the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, the 3rd Zelda game to come out on a Nintendo home console. You really begin to feel your age kicking in when you start to remember your first experiences blowing into cartridges and hoping they start up. For many of us, this was our first exposure to a really dark story in a video game. The game starts with the tragic death of your own uncle! I don't know about most people, but this was a drastically different vibe for me than a hedgehog saving animals from an overweight man or a plumber saving a princess from a fire breathing turtle. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is definitely a game that many Shackers look back at fondly.

One of the reasons I loved this game and Super Nintendo games in general is that you really got to see the imagination of developers pushed to the brims of hardware limitations. "How do I make this game run smoothly, look good, and not upset the hardware?" Once upon a time this game was considered the best looking Zelda game. While I personally still love the visual aesthetics of this game, it is amazing to me that this was once what Breath of the Wild is considered now.

Even Link almost says, "Do it for Shacknews!" Except there was a character limit for the name... the words are a bit rearranged... and he forgot to use the word "for." You get the idea! Today is the perfect day to revisit this classic. It is an experience you want to try for yourself if you have not had the chance to play it yet.

You can currently buy The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on the Nintendo eShop for New Nintendo 3DS or Nintendo Wii U for $7.99 (Note that your purchase will not carry over between consoles.)

A big shoutout to the incredibly talented DeviantArt artist loboborges for this phenomenal art piece of Link and Ganon's fight. Thanks for doing it for Shacknews!