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1For examples related to the 1992 comic adaptation, go [[YMMV/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast1992 here]]
2
3!!The Game
4* AccidentalInnuendo:
5** When you upgrade the Tempered Sword to the Golden Sword: "Your sword is stronger! You can feel its power throbbing in your hand!"
6** The Desert area features an enemy called the "Geldman."[[note]]"Geld" means "castrate", for those unaware.[[/note]] The romaji of said enemy is "Gerudoman", suggesting that "Gerudo-" was meant to be a prefix for sand enemies in ''Zelda'' considering the enemy in ''Zelda II'' called the "Geldarm" and the name being applied for the Gerudo race in later games.
7* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The relationship between Agahnim and [[spoiler:Ganon]] isn't fully clear. [[spoiler:Is he merely some alternate form of Ganon, a mortal who works for Ganon, or a mortal who is possessed by Ganon? Ganon refers to Agahnim as his "alter-ego" in the game (the Japanese game uses the term ''bushin'', "split soul"), but the three major manga/comic adaptations of the game depict Agahnim and Ganon as separate beings, and one of them even gives him a backstory that tells how he came into contact with Ganon and became his servant.]]
8* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
9** ''The'' awesome music, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sslj06K-Nlw Dark World]].
10** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_uR7doemZD0 Hyrule Castle]], one of the first songs you hear, is also pretty great.
11** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNZb2VmN7Lk Dark World Dungeon]], which takes high-tempo PsychoStrings and adds in some ominous and foreboding cello bass to create a tune that can constantly make you feel on edge about what's in the next room.
12* BreatherBoss:
13** Arrghus is not only a ''much'' easier boss than the Helmasaur King, but arguably even the easiest boss in the game overall. All he does is slowly move toward you and occasionally stop and make the Arrgi surrounding him spread out and spin around, which isn't hard to avoid. Then once all the Arrgi are dead, Arrghus' attack is to try and drop on you and bounce around the room, which is still pretty easy to avoid. If you get the tempered sword before fighting Arrghus, he becomes even easier, as the Arrgi only take one hit to kill that way.
14** Blind. Each head will go down with three hits from any attack that is capable of damaging them, and it takes nine hits total to kill. His only attacks are a laser that he stops to fire so you know it's coming and it isn't hard to dodge anyway, and otherwise his defeated heads spin around the room spitting fireballs, but they don't move very quickly. If you have an upgraded shield (which isn't a problem, there's several easy ways to get one) to block the fireballs, you can keep to the opposite end of the room firing sword beams at Blind while easily evading his other attacks.
15* BreatherLevel:
16** The Tower of Hera does have six floors, but floors 2, 4, and 5 all have one room apiece (and the top floor is the boss), the other 2 floors have only a few rooms, and the enemies are fairly easy to defeat. This means the dungeon layout is extremely simple and it's impossible to get lost, so you just go to the basement to get the Big Key and then climb up to the boss. On the other hand, that boss is [[GoddamnedBoss Moldorm]].
17** Thieves' Town (Blind's Hideout). It's smaller and shorter than all of the other Dark World dungeons, it's a simple and fairly linear path through the dungeon, the Map, Compass and Big Key are in the open in the first rooms, and there are really no puzzles you need to worry about other than how to make the boss appear (which is not at all difficult). Speaking of the boss, that would be Blind, who's listed above under BreatherBoss. All in all you can be in and out of Thieves' Town in about five minutes.
18* BrokenBase: Much like with ''Ocarina of Time'', there are debates in the fandom about whether ''[=ALttP=]'' continues to be one of the greatest games in the series, or whether it's outdated and is mostly notable for its place in gaming and ''Zelda'' history. Compared to its successor, ''[=ALttP=]'' is lesser known and less infamous for HypeBacklash (though it's still very much present) and its sprite graphics are generally agreed to have aged better.
19* CommonKnowledge:
20** Link and Zelda are not siblings. This misconception was born out of a line of dialogue at the beginning, in which Link's uncle final words before dying are the unfinished sentence: "Zelda is your...". In the early 2000s, many fans jumped to the conclusion that he meant to say "sister". The reason for this leap in logic was that, when the first details about the story of ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker'' started to come out, Nintendo stated that Link's mission would be to rescue his sister, but without mentioning who that sister was. Since Nintendo still took a bit of time in revealing this sister character, fans took the aforementioned line from [=ALTTP=] as a hint that Zelda was supposed to fill that role (partly because the Game Boy Advance version of [=ALTTP=] had already been announced too, putting the game back into everyone's minds). However, even after Aryll was presented as said sister character, who would be completely separate from Zelda, and despite the fact that Nintendo, seemingly picking up this development in the fan base, completely removed the line in the Game Boy Advance version, the rumor still persisted in some corners of the Zelda fan base. Even 20 years later, there are still some fans, and even professional commentators, who believe the speculation is 100% true. However, this has been debunked multiple times, since the statement doesn't hold any water under scrutiny, even in ''A Link to the Past'' alone[[note]]The original line in Japanese, translated more literally, would be more akin to "You are Zelda's...", and although it's not impossible to finish that sentence with "brother", it would be a ''really awkward'' way to phrase it in that context. A more likely end to that sentence would be something akin to "You're Zelda's final hope". But more than that, there are absolutely no other hints whatsoever to Link and Zelda being siblings at all. Neither in-game nor in out-of-game material, whether released when the game first came out, or later on.[[/note]].
21** There is no time travel in the game. The Dark World is a parallel, corrupted realm, not the past. The title ''A Link to the Past'' refers to the fact that, in its original English release, the game was marketed as a prequel to the first two games.
22* DemonicSpiders:
23** The Beamos. Not only are they unkillable, but their beams are stupidly fast, unblockable (even with the Mirror Shield), and also pack a lot of punch.
24** The Lynels of Death Mountain can only be hurt by a few select weapons, have a particularly nasty fireball that cannot be blocked without the Mirror Shield, and are often fought in a very narrow mountainside. Thankfully, there are only three in the entire game, and you can avoid them entirely until you have the Mirror Shield.
25* DifficultySpike: The dungeons in the Light World aren't too difficult; they have simple layouts, manageable puzzles, weak enemies, and aren't especially big, making them easy to explore and complete in relatively little time. Then you get to the Dark Palace, the very first Dark World dungeon. Not only is it much bigger than any of the Light Word dungeons, but it also has a more complex, maze-like layout with a higher hazard density that makes traversing it much more difficult and time-consuming. It also contains harder puzzles that require some lateral thinking, and stronger enemies with abilities that can catch you off guard. To top it off, there's the dungeon boss, the [[WakeUpCallBoss Helmasaur King]]. He takes up half the room, and his attacks are difficult to avoid if you don't know how. The Dark Palace shows first-time players that dungeons in the Dark World will be ''much'' harder than what they've experienced so far.
26* EnsembleDarkhorse: Link's uncle, for being one of the few relatives of a Link.
27* EpilepticTrees:
28** This was the very first prequel game, and for a time was the earliest in the series. However, as the series grew, it developed a debated place in the timeline like all the other games. The reason for the confusion came from the final line of the game: "The Master Sword sleeps again... forever!" ...which made no sense ten years later when the Master Sword made another appearance in the ''Oracle'' games, and then appeared yet again in ''Wind Waker'' and ''Twilight Princess''. ''Hyrule Historia'' confirmed that ''[=ALttP=]'' is a prequel to the very first two ''Zelda'' games as was originally stated, and the Master Sword being taken out of its "retirement" for ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkBetweenWorlds A Link Between Worlds]]'' makes the line a case of EarlyInstallmentWeirdness.
29** [[KilledMidSentence "Zelda is your..."]], courtesy of Link's Uncle, got tons of fans WildMassGuessing about what his last word was going to be, the most popular one being [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi "sister"]]. No wonder it was {{Orwellian Retcon}}ned from the GBA version outside of a MythologyGag from one of the {{Optional Boss}}es.
30* EvenBetterSequel: It's widely considered one of if not ''the'' best 2D entry (both classic and modern), and a contender for best game in the series overall.
31* EvilIsCool: ''A Link to the Past'' was the first game to establish Ganon as a compelling [[TheChessmaster mastermind]] who utilizes his [[ManipulativeBastard cunning]] and overwhelming power in equal measure. ''Ocarina of Time'' would further build on this portrayal and cement Ganon as one of the gaming's most iconic villains.
32* FanNickname:
33** "Plaid World" -- named so for the extreme graphical glitch (most commonly seen during Reverse Boss Order runs, but can be executed by any player that knows about the glitch) that happens once Link walks out of bounds enough and into parts of the memory the game doesn't expect you to be and therefore renders plaid-like garbage graphics onto the screen.
34** The Golden Sword is affectionately called "the Butter Sword".
35* {{Fanon}}: While Link in the game has yellow hair canonically, as shown in the game's promotional art, it's not uncommon for fans to depict him in fan art as having pink hair like his sprite does.
36* GameBreaker: [[GameBreaker/TheLegendOfZelda Has its own entry in the series page.]]
37* GoddamnedBats:
38** Flying enemies that home on you. Crows, Vultures, Dactos... you name it. They're often quick and awkward to hit. The bees count as well, especially if you get an entire swarm after you.
39** This is also the case of enemies that move quick and have erratic movement patterns, such as Octoroks, Sand Crabs, and Deadrocks (the little rock dinosaurs from Death Mountain who are also unkillable,[[note]]They can, however, be transformed by the Quake Medallion or Magic Powder and then killed.[[/note]] but can be stunned for a short while).
40** The falling boulders from Death Mountain. They're large, fast, can hit while you're climbing up ladders and deal decent damage (one heart per hit). Link will probably be at the 5-7 range at the point when they are first encountered.
41** Medusas are fireball-spitting statues that are also a big annoyance, especially when paired with other enemies. They're unkillable, so you can't do anything to them. In Misery Mire, they're all over the place.
42** The Thieves from the Lost Woods and the Pikkus (the fox-like enemies) from the Village of Outcasts are ''unkillable'' and will steal your belongings if you bump into them. Avoiding them, especially in a narrow space, can be very tricky. The positive side is that they don't cause damage.
43** Hardhat Beetles are often found near chasms. Hitting them with your sword causes a lot of knockback to Link himself, who might end up falling down a nearby hole. In a way, they end up being the enemy equivalent of the Moldorm boss fight, as seen below. Additionally, they can only be damaged with the sword and the hammer, so taking them out from a distance is only possible with the sword beam (only available at full health, and not available ''at all'' when Hardhat Beetles are first encountered).
44* GoddamnedBoss:
45** Moldorm might not be the toughest boss in the game, but it's easily the most frustrating one, simply because it has a completely unpredictable pattern and can knock you off the edge of its platform, forcing you to restart the battle. Falling through the hole in the middle of the platform is even worse, as you will end up falling through a second hole in the floor underneath, and have to climb up two stories to fight Moldorm again. Worse still, if you attack it but fail to hit its weak spot, that also sends you flying backwards. It's even worse when this rule still applies outside the boss battle. You can beat Moldorm, but the moment that you fall through the hole in the ground, you have to beat this boss again. One rather fitting FanNickname for it is {{Troll}}dorm. He even provides the page image.
46** The first Agahnim fight isn't too difficult, but he can be a bane for speedrunners. He can only be harmed [[TennisBoss by deflecting his magic attacks back at him]], except sometimes instead of the red orb you can hit back, he'll shoot a blue orb that splits into a spread of smaller orbs when hit. It's ''entirely random'' which one he fires. Not to mention every fifth attack he throws out a lightning blast instead of the orbs. This makes what would otherwise be a fairly easy boss into an exercise in frustration.
47* GoodBadBugs:
48** The Hookshot renders you invincible while it's extended. Attacks either pass through you or hit with no effect. Very useful against those pesky Beamos.
49** This game has EdgeGravity in the form of a (very short) window in which Link can run back to safe ground if he ventures over a BottomlessPit. However, with fast enough ButtonMashing, Link can "hover-dash" over a pit instead; the "reverse boss order" SelfImposedChallenge takes advantage of this bug to beat several dungeons without relying on the Hookshot.
50** Through the use of a simple screen-wrapping glitch to place a Magic Mirror portal in the right spot, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHTbwkmBxjY you can get the Silver Arrows without the Super Bomb]]. This can be done as soon as you complete the Dark Palace, giving you a powerful weapon that can kill most anything in one hit throughout the Dark World, and letting you skip the mildly frustrating EscortMission with the Super Bomb.
51** By carefully positioning Link over and over as he warps between worlds, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYJxo5un0G0 you can rescue the Smith in the Dark World without the Titan's Mitts]], letting you get the Tempered Sword immediately after the Dark Palace. Then you can combine it with the above Silver Arrows glitch to grab the Golden Sword.
52** "Bomb jumping", using the explosion of a bomb to push Link across pits, allows for lots of {{Sequence Breaking}}, and in dungeons like Palace of Darkness or ''especially'' Ice Palace, lets you skip parts of the dungeon or avoid backtracking. This makes the technique very exploitable, especially for speedrunners and randomizer players.
53** The Japanese cart of the game has two glitches that allow for faster speedruns - "fake flippers", the ability to swim if Link jumps into water at a screen transition, and "zipping", the ability to run in all directions if a certain set of commands are executed after Link leaves any set of stairs.
54** It's possible to clip yourself into cliffs so the game thinks Link is on a ledge and will let him "jump" off it, which actually means Link is now on top of the cliff. It happens that Link can walk on top of many of the cliffs sectioning off the world and then jump down them at any edge. This allows such fun as getting into Aghanim's tower without the Master Sword, accessing the bulk of the Dark World without defeating Aghanim or needing the Hammer, and getting the Silver Arrows without needing the Super Bomb.
55** All of the dungeon rooms in the game are actually in one giant map sheet, relying on the game's programming to prevent Link from going somewhere he shouldn't. But if you know what you're doing with clipping, and know the positions of the rooms relative to each other, you can glitch your way between them, such as warping from a cave on Death Mountain into the Palace of Darkness, or from the Tower of Hera to Swamp Palace.
56** The final boss battle has the "Torch Glitch". If you use the Lantern or Fire Rod on one of the torches as soon as it goes out, the other torch stays lit for the rest of the fight, allowing you to only have to worry about keeping one torch on as opposed to both.
57** The "Spooky Glitch" manipulates a variable in the game's code to trick the Fire Rod's splash damage into appearing a long distance away from where it's supposed to. The most popular application of this bug is to hit crystal switches in Misery Mire in such a way as to skip a couple screen transitions, saving valuable time in a speedrun (and also looking really cool).
58** The "Sword Wall" glitch which allows you to beat the game in ''under a minute''. Once you start the game and acquire your sword, head to the palace and jump off one of the gaps, save in midair, then reset to the title screen. The game will spawn you where you acquired your sword, and then return to the throne room and head to the room on the left to use your sword to poke the wall, and a mook will hit you, which will cause you to clip ''into'' the wall. This will allow you to bypass a few rooms, and once you head straight and hear Ganon's music sting, just keep heading straight while he fruitlessly attacks you and you gain the Triforce! The downside to the glitch however is that the rain will continue nonstop.
59* GrowingTheBeard: It was the first to set the series' formula into gear and introduce more intricate characters and deeper lore for the series. This was expanded on to a much greater extend in ''Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening'', but started here all the same.
60%%* HilariousInHindsight: A meta example: In the backstory of the instruction manual, it is said that there were multiple rumors about the sacred realm's entrance, specifically in the context of how to obtain the Triforce, with most of these rumors being false. Six years later, the backstory is [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime fully explored]], and [[PopCultureUrbanLegends guess what kind of rumors the fans start throwing around?]]
61* ItWasHisSled: While not as well-known as [[spoiler:Sheik and Tetra being Zelda, Agahnim being Ganon still commonly comes up in discussions to the point that it's fairly common knowledge in the fandom. It helps that Agahnim always being accompanied by Ganon's {{Leitmotif}} essentially [[MusicalSpoiler gives the surprise away]] to newer players,]] though at the time of the game's release that was not a clue at all.
62* MagnificentBastard: [[Characters/TheLegendOfZeldaGanonGanondorf Ganon]], the King of Darkness, was once [[WasOnceAMan Ganondorf Dragmire]], a thief who discovered the Triforce and attempted to conquer Hyrule, only to be defeated and sealed within the Dark World. Sending [[spoiler:a weaker extension of himself named]] [[RemoteBody Agahnim]] to the Light World many years later, Ganon gains the King of Hyrule's trust before [[TheUsurper overthrowing him]] and capturing the Seven Maidens, casting them into the Dark World to absorb their power and allow him to escape before doing the same to Link when the hero gets in his way. Upon Agahnim's defeat, the fully-powered Ganon prepares to invade Hyrule and confronts Link himself in a final duel, viewing him as a WorthyOpponent and even [[AffablyEvil complimenting his skill]] in the heat of battle.
63* MemeticMutation:
64** I love the Power Glove, it's so bad.[[labelnote:Explanation]]A joint meme with, and referencing Film/TheWizard, with an item that happens to share its name with the NES accessory made by Creator/{{Mattel}} (Link later finds an upgraded version called the Titan's Mitt).[[/labelnote]]
65** Players, especially in the [[VideoGame/ALinkToThePastRandomizer randomizer community]], will often refer to Sahasrahla by anything other than his actual name. Any long word or string of gibberish, as long as it starts with S, is acceptable.
66* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound:
67** [[https://youtu.be/juA0Q1NDuWQ?t=316 The dimensional shift sound upon entering and exiting the Dark World]].
68** That [=OOOOOoooooOOOOOoooooOOOOOH=] sound the bosses make right when you hit them that one last time ...especially if you're close to getting beaten yourself. The explosion sounds that accompany every boss defeat aside from the Armos Knights and Agahnim also qualify.
69* {{Narm}}:
70** The scene where [[spoiler:Link returns to the Sanctuary to find Zelda kidnapped and the Old Man near death]] might have been more of a TearJerker if the [[spoiler:Old Man's body]] didn't have a typical old-school video game death animation, complete with blinking followed by disappearing, as well as sound effects.
71** This was the first ''Zelda'' game with extensive dialogue; as such, it can come across as simplistic, stilted and harder to take seriously compared to the dialogue in later games, especially since the characters aren't nearly as fleshed out as in the [[Videogame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening next game]] or the 3D games following that (to the point that the maidens have near-identical appearances and personalities, and share several lines of dialogue between them).
72** Sahasrahla refers to the Master Sword as "The blade that makes evil retreat," vs. the more well-known and more-awesome, "Blade of evil's bane" as it would be described in future games.
73** ''Agahnim's sprite.'' He's supposed to look intimidating, but compare his [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda_gamepedia_en/images/c/cc/ALttP%26FS_Agahnim_Artwork.png/revision/latest?cb=20140125032941 official artwork]] to [[https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda_gamepedia_en/images/1/1e/ALttP_Agahnim_Sprite.png/revision/latest?cb=20111107195544 how he looks in-game]]. It didn't stop other people from [[https://www.deviantart.com/the-blue-pirate/art/The-Legend-of-Zelda-A-Link-to-the-Past-Agahnim-371132565 seeing]] [[https://www.deviantart.com/spacepig22/art/Agahnim-362363356 him]] [[https://www.reddit.com/r/MisreadSprites/comments/8ct8e5/the_sprites/ like this]], almost making it look a bit OffModel.
74** Related, some actually see Link as having ''pink hair''.
75* NarmCharm: Some find that the game's simplistic presentation and awkward dialogue give it a sort of nostalgic charm; it helps that [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory the game has a greater focus on gameplay than story]] compared to modern ''Zelda'' games.
76* OlderThanTheyThink: This is not the first time Link has been depicted with pink hair. A manga adaptation of ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'' from 1987 also [[https://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/images/4/4f/Manga-Adventure-of-Link-Volume-Ran-Maru-Vol-1.jpg depicts Link with pink hair on the covers]], and a year prior in 1986, some artwork from a guide of the original NES game would also [[https://zeldauniverse.net/2022/05/20/missing-female-link-art-from-1986-resurfaces/ depict Link with pink hair]] (and oddly enough, it also depicted him as a [[GenderFlip woman]], despite the original game not presenting him as one).
77* OnceOriginalNowCommon: ''A Link to the Past'' was a revolutionary game which greatly expanded the ''Zelda'' formula, gameplay and lore. Nonetheless, because its innovations became the standard for the franchise, and its "First Act - Master Sword - Plot Twist - Second Act" plot structure has been repeated time and again for later games, newcomers may have a hard time understanding why [=ALTTP=] was a big deal.
78* PolishedPort: The Platform/GameBoyAdvance release. While it does have the usual drawbacks that come from most [=GBA=] ports/remakes of [=SNES=] games (such as inferior audio and screen crunch) and has some quirks [[TheyChangedItNowItSucks that are not popular amongst fans]], it is still an incredibly faithful and solid conversion that contains an updated localization that is closer to the Japanese script, fixes numerous glitches from the original game and adds some new bonus content and even a new ''Zelda'' game entirely, ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords'' on top. It is also portable to boot.
79* SacredCow: The game is considered a pinnacle of the series and immune to criticism by many ''Zelda'' fans if not a firm majority.
80* ScrappyMechanic: The fact that you need to play through ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwords'' in order to unlock the bonus content added to the GBA version of ''[=ALttP=]'', due to ''Four Swords'' being multiplayer-only. For introverted players or people who just don't have any friends with Game Boy Advances, playing the game is impossible, and even if you forked over enough money for three more [=GBAs=] and four wireless adapters, trying to play the same game on four controllers at once isn't exactly a manageable task. The fact that the Game Boy line's been discontinued for several years only adds to the problem nowadays.
81* SequelDifficultyDrop: While not an easy game,[[note]]It starts out rather hard, what with the large number of enemies capable of dealing a full heart of damage at a point your health capacity is still low.[[/note]] it's still easier than the first two, a trend which has stayed so far.
82* SequelDisplacement: While again a lower-profile case than ''Ocarina of Time'', because ''A Link to the Past'' introduced [[TropeCodifier many of the elements and tropes]] that the series is known for, it's not uncommon for people to consider this the "first" real Zelda game. Or, at the very least, have played this game but not the first two.
83* SignatureScene: The first battle with Agahnim is a "Signature Boss fight". Since this game, multiple Zelda games since (as well as plenty of action-adventure games) have featured some form of TennisBoss.
84* SpecialEffectFailure: Maple in the GBA version just looks... off compared to everything else. This is partly because Maple's sprite was redrawn from a GBC sprite from the Oracle games then upscaled with more colour. This results in her having a big head and her eyes look strange (as opposed to the BlankWhiteEyes her SNES counterpart had)
85* SuspiciouslySimilarSong:
86** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw1O6-LjfeA Kakariko Village theme]] seems to be lifted from the end of Music/{{Genesis|Band}}'s [[https://youtu.be/BNKDXs5P08Q?t=413 "Stagnation"]].
87** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdZT8A9tS8Q theme]] that plays when a soldier attacks you in Kakariko Village sounds like the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo4bfzbay1Y boss theme]] from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros2'' (both composed by Creator/KojiKondo).
88** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ql0Dco6Pnfs theme]] from the fairy fountain is similar to the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C382wc4StOw Water Land theme]] from ''VideoGame/SuperMarioBros3'' (both by Kondo again).
89** The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-k2SPiGAs5A theme of the Dark World's Death Mountain and Skeleton Forest]] is very similar to the "Imperial March" of ''Franchise/StarWars'' fame.
90** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnDyWP-jSok The ending theme, "Beautiful Hyrule"]], sounds like a mash-up of [[https://youtu.be/4K1q9Ntcr5g?t=28 "La Marseillaise"]] and the [[https://youtu.be/kCTrNb4uC-Y?t=10 Soviet national anthem]].
91** The song used in the infamous [[https://youtu.be/cjpHzLYHkwA Super Famicom commercial]] sounds nearly identical to Music/VanillaIce's "Ice Ice Baby", just with the addition of the series' trademark overworld {{leitmotif}}.
92* ThatOneAttack: When going to the Dark World for the first time, be very careful of approaching regular enemies like Hinox, Dacto, and Snap Dragon. They can deal 3 hearts worth of damage. At a time where you go to the Dark World that early in the game, you will have between 7-9 hearts and no armor tunics at that point. The Dacto following you relentlessly means it can kill you quickly if not dealt with.
93* ThatOneBoss:
94** The Helmasaur King is very frustrating, mostly because you face him at a point in the game where you have relatively few upgrades, and between seven to ten heart containers. The latter becomes an even bigger problem when you take into account the fact that he has an attack which drains two full heart containers, and can be difficult to dodge, especially if he uses it and his other attack at the same time (he often does).
95** Mothula: Not only is its movement pattern random and diagonal, but the floor keeps moving to send you into spikes. While the boss spits fireballs at you. Worse, the way Mothula's immunity to the spikes' damage is coded makes it immune to ''all'' damage while it's over a spike, meaning it can spend long stretches of the fight functionally invincible and there's nothing the player can do about it.
96** Kholdstare. If you haven't gotten half magic upgrade and/or the Bombos medallion, melting the ice alone will drain you of all your magic, and that's just the beginning. Once you've done that, it separates into three eyes that deal a colossal amount of damage (three hearts with the blue mail) and that each take several hits to defeat. Throughout the fight, ice falls from the ceiling at constant intervals, each dealing a heart's worth of damage. Given that this comes at the end of one of the most difficult levels in the game, after which you're likely to have used up some of your potions, it's a challenging fight.
97* ThatOneLevel:
98** Skull Woods. It is full of Gibdos that take forever to die from normal attacks until you get the Fire Rod from the dungeon or went and got Bombos, and they will always chase you around any room they're in. The dungeon also has Wallmasters, a new enemy you haven't seen before, so when their shadow appears over you you'll have no idea what's happening... then they grab you and drag you back to where you entered the dungeon, resetting everything inside too. Finally, because of the way the dungeon is structured (several entrances that you must go outside to traverse), if you die while outside, you die in the overworld and respawn at the Dark Pyramid, forcing you to walk ''all'' the way back.
99** Ice Palace, which is full of some of the game's strongest enemies, has a ton of rooms filled with slippery floors, drains your magic meter quicker than any other dungeon bar Turtle Rock,[[note]]You'll use the Fire Rod ''a lot'', and some enemies can only be killed with it.[[/note]] and requires you to double back on yourself ''twice'' in order to defeat the infamous "Block-Switch" puzzle.
100** Misery Mire lives up to its name very well, especially if you show up early to pick up the Cane of Somaria to skip ThatOnePuzzle in the Ice Palace; without the Blue Mail the Beamos and Wizzrobes inside deal a ton of damage (Wizzrobes deal ''four hearts''), and the boss Vitreous also deals a lot of damage. Even with a healthy supply of Heart Containers, an unarmored Link can be killed very easily in here.
101* ThatOnePuzzle: The Ice Palace's "Block-Switch" puzzle, which requires you to push a block down to a lower level in order to hold down the switch that grants access to Kholdstare's chamber. This might sound simple enough, but you have to backtrack on yourself ''twice'' in order to complete the puzzle, and it's very easy to screw things up and have to start over. It's not uncommon for players to RageQuit the Ice Palace and go on ahead to Misery Mire to get the Cane of Somaria -- and some will even go to Misery Mire ''first'', considering taking it on without the armor upgrade the lesser of two evils compared to dealing with the puzzle. Nintendo seem to have tacitly admitted that the puzzle was overly difficult, as the GBA version redesigns it to only require backtracking once.
102* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Although the GBA version is mostly considered a PolishedPort, it has some minor quirks that make the SNES version more playable to some. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7_1v2zG6G0 Just look at the comments]] on the Website/YouTube comparison videos!
103** The most complained-about is the music, which a lot of SNES-to-GBA ports and remakes seem to suffer from (such as ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' and ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld2YoshisIsland''). It's sometimes excused due to technical limitations.[[note]]The audio chip for the SNES was created by Sony, who by the time of the [=GBA's=] release had become Nintendo's biggest competitor thanks to the Platform/PlayStation. Because Sony owned the rights to the SNES's audio chip, Nintendo was unable to make an identical or even similar chip without facing the risk of being ScrewedByTheLawyers, so they were forced to give the GBA a technologically inferior audio chip. Because of this, GBA ports and remakes of SNES games had to have their audio compressed in order to work with the handheld's inferior audio output.[[/note]] However, detractors cite the ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' SNES music restoration patch, stating that it proves that it's possible to port SNES music to the GBA more accurately.
104** Like the ''Super Mario Advance'' series of games, some people dislike the addition of voice acting. Link's voice clips are recycled from Young Link's from ''Ocarina of Time'', and some people think a 9-year-old's voice [[VocalDissonance doesn't fit a teenager]].
105** The brightened palette was not well-received[[note]]Even though the original GBA lacks a backlight, some people think the developers overcompensated.[[/note]] but people found out [[AuthorsSavingThrow that you can change to the darker SNES palette in the options menu]].
106* UnderusedGameMechanic: In order to open access to Swamp Palace, you have to go into the Light World and open the floodgates in the shrine there, which will flood the first room in the Swamp Palace. This is the only instance of the player doing things in one world to change things in the other, despite all the potential puzzles it could allow.
107* TheWoobie: Prior to the story, the Triforce beckoned for people across the land to find it and harness its power. The young man known only as the Flute Boy was one of the people who set off, but he and his companion bird went missing in Death Mountain. Link finds him later in the Dark World, a twisted version of the regular Light World, where he's been transformed into a tapir and unable to leave. Saddened by his inability to return home, Flute Boy asks Link to find his flute for him. When he does, Flute Boy thanks him, but mourns that the Dark World's influence prevents him from playing anymore. Link instead plays for him one last time, and as the music sounds out across the forest, the boy is [[{{Transflormation}} slowly petrified into a tree]]. Afterward, Link uses the flute to free Flute Boy's companion bird from the weather vane it was trapped in and informs the boy's worried father that his son has passed away. Fortunately, he receives a happy ending; Link defeats Ganon and restores the land back to how it was before Flute Boy went missing, including reuniting Flute Boy with his father.
108* {{Woolseyism}}: The Book of Mudora in the Japanese version was treated more like an instruction booklet for what Link can do. The English version translated it in such a way that made it seem as though it contained various myths and prophecies, and worded the instructions in such a way that did seem somewhat prophetic.

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