Once again with this series it feels very odd to be reviewing the Manga before the game given its rightful position as a bona-fide classic, but there you go. Obviously for a SNES game that isn’t an epic JRPG the original game was quite light on story so the manga is similarly light, even at only four chapters and having added an entirely original character. It’s not bad though! Let’s take a look…
The start of the manga is very faithful to the start of the game (beyond Link being a fun-loving farmer who dreams of his own apple orchard) as our hero has a dream of hearing Princess Zelda’s voice calling to him and then when he wakes he heads out in search of his uncle only to find the castle under siege and said uncle dying on the floor. His last living relative gives Link a sword and shield and tells him to save the Princess in the dungeons and he goes on to do just that, escorting her out through some hidden tunnels and taking her to safety. Zelda recognises the fact that Link heard her pleas through his dreams as meaning he’s someone special and sends Link off in search of Sahasrahla at a Sanctuary.
Simpler times…
On the way there though Link comes across a bandit called Ghanti who attacks him but leaves when he doesn’t have anything to steal, but they soon reunite when Link is ambushed by evil knights and the two travel to see Sahasrahla together. There they find out about Ganon, the Triforce and Link being a destined hero and ancestor of the famed Knights of Hyrule etc, before being told to track down the Master Sword to stop the wizard Agahnim, who had betrayed the King and set this whole thing in motion. Ghanti attacks Link as she later reveals Knights of Hyrule had killed her parents and leaves, though again a short while later she reappears and saves Link after he’s stung by a poisoned scorpion, though leaves yet again before he wakes. Link swiftly gathers all the pendants he needs to reach the Master Sword but during all of this Zelda is re-kidnapped by Agahnim and the evil wizard prepares to sacrifice her.
*Gasp!* She wasn’t in the original game! That’s it, I’m giving this a negative review for not being 100% faithful to the source material!!
Link arrives in time and uses the Master Sword to break through his evil spells but before he can slay Agahnim he’s thrown in the Dark World via a portal. Link begins fighting off monsters before reuniting with Ghanti, who has turned into a wolf-like creature due to her vices transforming her as a side-effect of the dimension. While travelling in the evil world Link finds out that his parents were sent to the Dark World and were killed (or transformed beyond recognition) and soon Link and Ghanti are told by a magical tree that they must rescue seven Maidens who have been kidnapped and brought to the dimension in order to stop Agahnim from resurrecting Ganon…
Like I said, Akira Himekawa didn’t have a lot to work with but he did a good job of adding just enough story to make the basic questline work. The art is once again great as well, which helps things!
Overall Thoughts:
“It would be a weird coincidence if I wasn’t and still asked anyway.” “Yes okay, no need to be a knob about it”.
A Link to the Past is an all-time classic game that makes for a pretty basic manga story. Luckily Himekawa allowed himself some creative freedom when it comes to backstories and an original bandit character called Ghanti who has several layers to her story to give the manga a bit more umph. A nice breezy story I can see flicking through again some day…
As Link and Ghanti travel the Dark World Link begins to turn into a beast himself apparently due to a sense of Greed but he manages to clear his conscience and continue the journey. They eventually reach Agahnim, who reveals he studied magic alongside Link’s father but when he discovered the Triforce and the Dark World he cursed both of Link’s parents, cast them to the Dark World and then began his plan. It all comes to naught though as Ganon is soon summoned and Agahnim is brushed aside.
Link figures out he needs a better sword… Yeah, I didn’t find any scans of later issues, in case you couldn’t tell!
Link struggles again the pig-like demon but is told by a nearby Zelda that Ghanti is a descendant of the Knights as well and that her earring is a Silver Arrow needed to defeat the demon lord. Ghanti summons the light bow, fires the Silver Arrow and together with Link’s Master Sword strike the big bad is defeated. Link wishes on the Triforce for himself and his friends to be sent back to the real world, where he offers Zelda an apple from his own personal Apple Farm…
Hogan Reviews 