The early '90s get represented in entries four and three.
#4 - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
Platform: Game Boy, Game Boy Color, 3DS
Release Date: August 1993 (GB), December 1, 1998 (GBC), June 7, 2011 (3DS)
Link’s Awakening takes everything you loved about Link to the Past, trimmed the fat, and told a thought-provoking story that ends up being just as, if not more, emotionally powerful than its SNES cousin. The game is billed as a sequel (of sorts) to Link’s SNES adventure, as our hero goes off in search of distant lands to explore via rickety ship. The vessel passes through a storm and is subsequently turned to kindling, and Link washes up on mysterious Koholint Island. In his attempts to leave the island, Link is forced to consider the existential question “what is reality?” as he collects magical instruments to wake up the Wind Fish (which is, in fact, a whale).
They packed a lot into this little Game Boy cart, as Link’s Awakening has eight dungeons, several sidequests, familiar items and weapons, and (in the DX rerelease) brilliant, eye-popping Technicolor. This is a 2D Zelda game boiled down to its essential elements: exploration, dungeon-crawling, solving some minor puzzles, and defeating epic bosses. It’s still ridiculous, too, with a village full of talking animals, the triumphant return of Wart (from Super Mario Bros. 2), and a zombie rooster. It sounds funny later, but while playing the game, it all makes sense, somehow.
Aside from adding color, the DX re-release (available on 3DS Virtual Console) adds a fun photography sidequest and Game Boy Printer functionality. There’s a new dungeon, too, that relies on your newfound ability to see in color. If you have a choice, the DX version is the one to beat. Link’s Awakening is an incredible game that should be near the top of every Zelda fan’s list of favorites.
#3 - The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Platform: SNES, Game Boy Advance, Wii
Release Date: April 13, 1992 (SNES), December 2, 2002 (GBA), January 22, 2007 (Wii)
You know how Metroid is more ambitious than the technology that existed at the time? Well, in that light, Super Metroid is the game Metroid tried to be. In the same way, A Link to the Past is the game The Legend of Zelda was trying to be. “LttP,” as Zelda aficionados call it, was an absolute revelation in 1992. Everything about this game is epic, from the epic opening sequence in the rain to the epic confrontation with Aghanim (and its unfortunate result) to the epic acquisition of the Master Sword and the subsequent epic treks through epic dungeons. The overworld is enormous, filled to the brim with variety and secrets. Even the story is epic, filled with colorful characters and nefarious villains. I would suggest that even the 3D Zelda games that would follow LttP don’t measure up to this game’s dungeon design and gigantic, screen-filling boss monsters.
Link to the Past would also introduce core concepts to the series. First and foremost, Link must find three orbs in order to prove himself worthy of wielding the Master Sword and facing the game’s next, more purpose-driven dungeons. Many of the game’s items would go on to be series staples: the Fairy Bow, Hookshot, Ocarina, Flippers, Mirror Shield, and Light Arrows being the most significant. The Ice and Fire Rods were replaced, in later games, by Ice and Fire Arrows. The series’ usual “dual-world” mechanic originated here, and navigating between those worlds to solve puzzles laid the groundwork for similar mechanics in later entries.
For all these reasons and more, Link to the Past is one of the truly great Zelda games, despite it’s age. And let’s not forget the mind-blowing polygonal Triforce coming together at the title screen. In 1992 (and even today), that was just the bee’s knees.