A Precursor to Greatness - The Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past Review

Not many games can boast a legacy anywhere near as legendary as A Link to the Past can, and for good reason. Without it, the Zelda series, and perhaps the game industry as a whole, would be very different, as it was the first game in the series to establish the "Zelda formula," a term used to refer to the similar gameplay and story structures seen throughout the Zelda series and beyond. In spite of this fact, I wish only to judge this game based on its own merits, just as I do with all games in the Zelda series and beyond. Will it hold up? Or will I piss off a sizable portion of my subscriber base by saying mean things about it? Better grab some popcorn, because it's going to be a long video, baby.
Miyamoto Interview Source: shmuplations.com/zeldalttp/
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction: A Natural Step Up
02:31 The Tutorial: Assault on Hyrule Castle
09:00 The Overworld, Part 1: a Brave New Hyrule to Explore
15:27 Aside: Introductory Dungeons
16:28 Introductory Dungeon 1: Thesis
18:25 Aside: Dungeon Bosses
20:11 Introductory Dungeon 2: Antithesis
22:02 Introductory Dungeon 3: Synthesis
25:26 Intermission: A Shift in Tone
26:45 Story and Characters: The First, and Probably the Worst
34:55 The Overworld, Part 2: Progression Gates
38:06 Dungeon 1: a Rough Start
41:51 Dungeon 2: Swamped with Poor Design Choices
45:11 Dungeon 3: This Dungeon is Pretty Fire (Get it?)
48:36 Dungeon 4: Robbed Blind of any Good Game Design
53:06 Dungeon 5: a Pretty Ice Dungeon (Sorry)
1:03:40 Aside: Either and Quake Spells
1:05:17 Dungeon 6: Miserable Dungeon Design
1:12:28 Dungeon 7: Rock Solid Game Design
1:20:49 Final Dungeon: A Towering Achievement
1:29:01 Final Boss: The Prince of Darkness
1:32:10 Aside: Zelda Staff Roles
1:33:09 Conclusion: Good, but Not Quite Great