The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, known in Japan as Zeruda no Densetsu: Kamigami No Toraifōsu (ゼルダの伝説 神々のトライフォース, lit. "The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods"), is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console, and the third installment in The Legend of Zelda series. It was first released in Japan in 1991, and was later released in North America and Europe in 1992. Shigeru Miyamoto and his team were solely responsible for this game's development.

A Link to the Past's plot focuses on Link as he travels on a journey to save Hyrule, defeat Ganon and rescue the seven descendants of the Sages. A Link to the Past uses a top-down perspective similar to that of the original The Legend of Zelda. It added mechanics and concepts to the series that have become commonplace, including multi-level dungeons and new equipment (such as the hookshot and the Pegasus Boots), as well as establishing the concept of an alternate, parallel (and sometimes far more dangerous) world. It was well-received since its release, and has been listed by GameSpot as one of the best installments of the series, as well as one of the greatest games of all time. To date, A Link to the Past has sold more than four million copies, and has been re-released for the Game Boy Advance and the Wii's Virtual Console. The GBA remake was released together with the other Zelda game The 4 swords.

Source: Wikipedia, "The_Legend_of_Zelda:_A_Link_to_the_Past," available under the CC-BY-SA License.

Individual credits:
Koji Kondo: Music

Chris Houlihan Room

Nintendo Power held a contest which selected a winner at random to appear in this game. A room in A Link to the Past contained a number of Rupees and a note bearing a greeting from Chris Houlihan, the winner of the contest. The room has been found through five different methods, and was intended as a crash prevention measure; the game would send players to this room if it couldn't determine where Link was going when he goes to another area. The message reads: "My name is Chris Houlihan. This is my top secret room. Keep it between us, okay?" There was not widespread awareness of the room until more than a decade after the release of A Link to the Past after the increased popularity of the Internet and Super NES emulators. The Game Boy Advance re-release of A Link to the Past titled The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords removed the ability to access the room, though it could still be found in the game's code. The Virtual Console re-releases on the Wii and Wii U of A Link to the Past however allowed players to access the room.

GamesRadar included it in its lists of the greatest video game Easter eggs and the nine "video game secrets that were almost never found." GamesRadar's Jason Fanelli called it "one of the Zelda franchise's biggest mysteries." GamesRadar's Justin Towell included it in his list of the top seven secret rooms in video games at number two. He felt that the contest prize was exciting, and called it "one of the coolest and most exclusive secrets in the Zelda universe." 1UP.com featured it in its list of "25 things you didn't know about The Legend of Zelda." American Broadcasting Company's Good Game, The Escapist, IGN, GameSpy, G4TV, PALGN, and Nintendo Life referenced it in articles which discuss video game Easter eggs and secrets.

Source: Wikipedia, "The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past", available under the CC-BY-SA License.

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