The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is an adventure game in a long "Zelda" series. Like the other games, you play Link, who must defeat an evil force in the land of Hyrule. You do this by exploring the world, killing spawning enemies and finding a series of dungeons each of which pose a challenge and a puzzle solved the use of a specific new item of equipment (hook shot, boomerang, bow and arrow).

Being one of the earlier Zelda games, A Link to the Past has relatively simple top-down visuals. It was a landmark game for Nintendo and is considered to be a significant video game with more than four million copies sold. It has been re-released on a number of modern Nintendo consoles. It is also available on the Super NES Mini console.

The game has an additional puzzle as you can switch between the Light World and Dark World, which mirror each other. Each location in the Light World corresponds to a similar location in the Dark World, usually with a similar physical structure but an opposite nature. Travel between worlds allows for Link to access new areas.

There are many games in the Zelda series, each received long and focused development from Nintendo:

• The Legend of Zelda (1986) on NES
• The Adventure of Link (1987) on NES
• A Link to the Past (1991) on Super NES and Gameboy Advance, then ported to Wii, Wii U and Switch (as part of Nintendo Online).
• Link's Awakening (1993) on Gameboy then updated for Switch
• Ocarina of Time (1998) on Nintendo 64 then updated for 3D on Nintendo 3DS
• Link’s Awakening DX (1998) on Gameboy Colour
• Majora's Mask (2000) on Nintendo 64 then updated to 3D on Nintendo 3DS
• Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages (2001) on Gameboy Colour
• Four Swords (2002) on Gamecube
• The Wind Waker (2002) on Gamecube then updated in HD on Wii U
• Four Swords Adventures (2004) on Gamecube
• The Minish Cap (2004) on Gameboy Advance
• Twilight Princess (2006) on Wii then in HD on Wii U
• Phantom Hourglass (2007) on Nintendo DS
• Spirit Tracks (2009) on Nintendo DS
• Skyward Sword (2011) on Wii
• A Link Between Worlds (2013) on Nintendo 3DS
• Tri Force Heroes (2015) on Nintendo 3DS
• Breath of the Wild (2017) on Switch
• Breath of the Wild Sequel (TBA) on Switch