I was doing it. After so many years of listening to people talk about what a great game A Link to the Past is, I was finally taking the time and opportunity to play it on my Switch. I couldn’t wait to reach the Dark World and hear the theme music start playing, because it might just be one of the best tracks in the entire series. But of course, it would take some time to get there. Before I could continue with anything else, I had to complete my very first mission: rescuing Princess Zelda from the dungeons of Hyrule Castle.
The beginning was all very exciting. Rain and thunder, dramatic music, a secret entry to the dungeons — this game couldn’t have started any better! Well, okay, the tragic death of Link’s uncle (who we can assume is the only relative he has in this game) wasn’t so nice to watch, but I have to admit that it did help set the mood. Everything told me that A Link to the Past was going to be an adventure.
I made my way through the dungeon corridors, trying to focus on enjoying Hyrule Castle’s pretty interior and constantly getting distracted by enemies crossing my path. I knew I had to hurry because Princess Zelda had told me so, but as I accidentally walked into a literal wall, I just had to stop everything that I was doing. Zelda would have to wait a little longer, because I was suddenly preoccupied with something very important: staring at Link’s face.
Now, as we all know, A Link to the Past is a pixel-based game, so the characters are all portrayed as little sprites consisting of just a few pixels. Because of this, Link’s model isn’t very detailed and doesn’t take up too much space on the screen. I wasn’t staring at pixel sprite Link because I thought he had a handsome face (maybe he does, but it’s really difficult to tell, so don’t judge me), but because the face he made just looked so funny.
I mean, just look at it! His face is red, and he’s concentrating so hard that he looks like a little gremlin. And his animation makes it look like he’s doing push-ups against the wall. I hadn’t had this much fun staring at Link’s face since I saw all his goofy expressions in The Wind Waker when I was just a kid.
I know the beginning of the game is supposed to be dramatic with Hyrule falling apart, but I couldn’t help but walk into walls whenever possible just to giggle at this little animation. Sometimes you gotta forget about your heroic obligations and de-stress by just wandering around, you know? Even if it’s at the very beginning of your adventure and Princess Zelda is anxiously waiting for Link in the dungeons. I guess my version of Link wasn’t quite the hero she was expecting, but rest assured, I did rescue her in the end.
