Daily Debate: Does the Rewind Feature Make Playing Older Zelda Games More Desirable to Play?

I’m currently playing through A Link to the Past for the first time. I realize that this is probably a major sin among the Zelda community but I tried playing it on our SNES and I was terrible at it, and I’ve also watched my husband play it and wished that I was even remotely as good as he is at the game. I’m playing it now though, thanks to the SNES Virtual Console and friends, the rewind button is my best friend. 

I gave the original non digital version of A Link to the Past its fair shot, I really think that I did. I think I got through the first dungeon or two and then quit for a few years. A year ago I picked the game up again on the Virtual Console, and then put it down again – reason was I was pregnant and quite sick, and never really picked it back up again. Now that I have no more excuses I’m playing it again and sticking with it this time. I’m enjoying the game a lot, a lot more than I did a year ago. The game is still rather stress inducing, but it’s fun. It is now the oldest Zelda game that I have ever played. I think the rewind button has made playing an older Zelda game so much more enjoyable. The rewind feature makes me want to play more of the older Zelda games, that I have also not played yet. Having a rewind button makes my accident prone self happy that I can battle the third Dark World boss with three hearts and hit rewind every time I walk in to a spike. I’m sure a lot of people will say that I’m taking away from such a great game, maybe I am, maybe I’m not. I do find that the rewind feature on the Virtual Console has made playing A Link to the Past far easier, and for me that has made the game more enjoyable. I don’t always have a great time when a game is just outright hard. A Link to the Past is probably not all that hard, but I’d rather play with a handicap since it is available to me to use. Thanks Virtual Console! Since this is my very first play through I have been relying on the rewind button a lot… I do intend to play it again once I’ve gotten through it once and maybe not spam rewind all the time.

What do you think? Does the Rewind Feature on the Virtual Console make older Zelda games more fun to play? Let us know in the comments below!

Heather Beard

Hi I’m Heather! I’m Senior Editor and Art Director at Zelda Dungeon and I’ve been a member of the ZD team since 2019. I am a graphic designer, artist, and nerdy mom to an awesome little boy. When my nose isn’t in a book, working on my novel or watching anime you can find me curled up with my cats Mandy-Lynn and Daisy Mae.