A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is the Super Nintendo game. Japan: 21 November 1991. North America: 13 April 1992. Europe: 24 September 1992. Nintendo EAD developed it. It is also the start of the downfall branch on the timeline this site follows.
Last checked:
Light world, dark world
The structure people still copy is a light world and a dark world sharing one map. That idea returns, changed, in A Link Between Worlds on 3DS, which is why those two pages link to each other and do not pretend to be the same cart. The 1991 game also sets up the master sword, the maidens, and a Hyrule that later 2D games keep quoting.
Four Swords was added when the game returned on Game Boy Advance, in a cart that reached North America on 3 December 2002. Four Swords is its own mainline game in my count of 21. It is not a mode I fold back into 1991.
The 95 is not an SNES score
The 95 in this archive is the Game Boy Advance version’s Metacritic figure. I will not paint it onto the Super Nintendo box. Sales are cited as 6.5 million across the SNES and GBA releases combined, which is already a blended line. I label it as combined instead of inventing a split.
Today the Super Nintendo version is on the base Nintendo Switch Online SNES library. The GBA cart, Four Swords included, is on the Expansion Pack. If you only want the 1991 game, the base plan is the one that matches. The SNES page is the short version of that shelf.
FAQ
Is this the first Zelda game?
No. The 1986 game is first on the shelf. This one is first on the downfall branch of the story chart, which is a different kind of “first.”
Does Nintendo Switch Online include the GBA extra?
Not in the SNES app. Four Swords rides with the Expansion Pack’s GBA release.
Related
Sources
| Claim | Status | Cross-check |
|---|---|---|
| Historical dates, platforms and background | 1 source: Wikipedia | Read the linked game or series entry; multiple Wikipedia pages count as one publisher. |
| Mainline release sequence and original consoles | 2 sources | Nintendo game history compared with Wikipedia. Remakes and spin-offs use the linked individual entries. |
- Nintendo, official Zelda game history — checked 2026-11-10
- Wikipedia, A Link to the Past — checked 2026-11-10
- Nintendo Switch Online — checked 2026-11-10
- Wikipedia media list — checked 2026-11-10
Page updated 2026-11-10. Site check date 2026-11-10.