We often remember video games from a few defining scenes or pictures. When I think of a video game, there are always one or two images that are first recalled that describe my feelings about that game. Those few fleeting images engrained in our heads basically sum up our view/meaning of the game to us, and often what helps define what types of games we play and our playing behavior. I figured a fun thing to do would be every so often post a screen shot from some of my favorite games describing why the screen shot posted means so much to me. So for the first entry in these screen shots I figured I would post a pretty well known, easy to describe example, and my favorite power up in A Link to the Past - the hook shot.


A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words - Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past – The Hook Shot



Like many, the Legend of Zelda series is one of my favorite video game series. Everyone has their own favorite moment in each game and that is often accompanied by a defining picture that they can remember. For me one of the most defining snapshots that I can remember is when I first obtained the hook shot in A Link to the Past, or what I like to call the “Harbinger of Doom.”

I enjoy all the various power ups in the Zelda series but the hook shot, in my eyes is the end all be all of power ups. It is basically the Swiss army knife of the game. For instance, if I did not already have a problem going around breaking every pot even when I am maxed out on hearts, rupees, bombs, etc. this just makes my destruction even more efficient. Instead of actually physically going up to the pot I can just sit back from a far and rain down unholy metal destruction. Got an enemy in your way you want to stun or damage? Done! Why use you sword when you got the hook shot, you can sit half way across the screen and attack. Why use the low tech boomerang to get you drop item? Use the hook shot! Need to go from one ledge to another but don’t know how to do it? Hook shot is there to save the day. If I was able to attach a bomb at the end of the hook shot, I think you could probably cover about one half to three fourths of all the obstacles in the game (just guessing).

The whole idea of using a hook shot in a Zelda game is ludicrous to me, and that is why I love it. Magic mirrors, bombs, arrows, ladders, potions, I can get reason that out from a fantasy perspective, but then the developers throw in a steam punk style of metal technology into the picture. Imagine if you were an NPC in the game of Zelda. Not only do you have this teenage elf running up and down town at incredible speeds, he then raids into you house destroying all your ceramic pots in which you hid your retirement funds, blows holes in the sides of mountains, snatches friendly fairies and stuffs them into oxygen deprived bottles, but then on top of it he can some how fire a metal bolt hundreds of feet directly at you chickens. The whole idea to me of the hook shot is over the top and I love it! The hook shot is the ultimate weapon of doom for any inanimate or animate object in the game.

Furthermore, obtaining the hook shot in A Link to the Past is one my favorite parts in the game too. In getting the hook shot you get you see first hand the effects of light and dark world interaction, the water dungeon has the perfect gaming atmosphere, and the boss battle is one of my favorites because you are required to use the hook shot. Typically water dungeons in any Zelda game are my favorite because they (A) are incredibly difficult and complex, (B) often contain the hook shot. One of my requirements for any Zelda game is to have torturous water dungeon, and it better have a hook shot for the reward. If there is a hook shot in a Zelda game, it is always placed in one of my item slots regardless if I need it or not, you never know when there is some pot to be broken, some enemy to be stun, or some person/chicken that needs to be terrorized. I remember Twilight Princess fondly because of dual hook shots. It is a shame that I could not use both regularly on enemies or pots though…that would have been awesome.

Well that is the end of my discussion on why when I think of A Link to the Past, the first thing I think of is the hook shot scene. I hope you enjoyed my little trip down memory lane and hopefully you remember fondly the hook shot like I do. If not, what is your favorite Zelda powerup? What is the first power up that comes to mind when you first think of any Zelda game? If you were somehow living under a rock all these years and never played a Zelda game, what is your favorite power up in any game? My absolute favorite power up in any game is obtaining the “Crissaegrim” sword in Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. It did not have the highest attack power but it did attack like ten times at once and had no cooldown timer. You could basically just walk through each area tapping the attack button and destroy everything. It should have been called the “I Win” button or the “TRUE POWER” button!

-Mike

Around 797 words, so yeah…not really a thousand words.