1991 - A Link to the Past
Listen, I’ve said it before, but I grew up in the 90s, so that means that as a kid, the best gaming system ever was the super nintendo. I don’t quite feel that way now, but it was key to my life when i was in middle school, i think (I went a private school from K-8, so idk where those divisions are). Anyways, Link to the Past was one of the best games of the time. It still holds up in terms of visual style and energy. But, it actually has a special place in my heart for a different reason.
When I was a kid, one of my best friends lived two doors away. His name was Frank and he was a little bit older than me, but he was probably the nerdiest kid on the block, in retrospect. Like, lanky, big glasses, high waisted pants, the whole deal. Hell if I know how we became friends, but we spent a lot of time playing video games together. When I was a kid, my brother actually got Nintendo Power, ya know, the old Nintendo magazine. And they would publish walkthroughs for different games over a series of issues. So, Frank and I would look at a game my dad rented over the weekend and pore over old Nintendo Power issues to see if there was a guide we could follow. A Link to the Past was one of those games. So, to as with any game on SNES, it’s one of my favorite games less because of how much I enjoyed it (I did and kind of still do), but more because I played it with one of my best friends at a time in life where eveyrthing was much easier.
I never beat it because when I was a kid, I didn’t own it and didn’t have the focus. As an adult, I got literally like 99% there and never beat Ganon. I think I got pissed after losing a fight with him and I just needed one more shot. Something dumb. I think one thing about the game that really sits poorly now is that damage scaling is WILD. Enemies take so many hits late game and do so much damage, it becomes frustrating. Regardless, the game is peak for pink-haired Link and Bunny!Link.