Uncanny for its time was the sheer vastness of the realm: it takes a few minutes to traverse from one end to the other (unaided), and often about half an hour to hit all the large landmarks in the land. Yet this is only the singular realm of Hyrule - after you battle Agahnim, you are sent to Hyrule's parallel, simply known as the Dark World. The contours and landmarks are essentially the same, but the feel is entirely different: while in Hyrule, you wander a friendly, green landscape, constantly oppressed by the soldiers' omnipresence, in the Dark World you find yourself surrounded by depressing shades of brown, or menacing red and black areas (as well as the occasional white or blue that sticks out like a sore thumb), and are constantly threatened by those that were foolish enough to pursue the Golden Power and are now stuck in their hideous, evil forms.
Gameplay capitalizes on traveling between these two worlds: if the player exploits such transport to the fullest, s/he will find that their heart container (the ingame life meter) is always full, that their equipment is always in top condition, and that treasures await around every corner. The most rewarding part of exploration for many players is the discovery of heart pieces, which are treasures that, when collected in groups of four, increase your heart count (health). These eventually prove essential, as enemies become more deadly and bosses more challenging.
The actual game leads you through the three dungeons in the light realm of Hyrule, and then through the seven temples scattered throughout the Dark Realm. In each dungeon/temple, the formula is relatively simple: find the Big Key (which is usually possible through a little bit of thought-out puzzle solving), get the dungeon's item, and use it to defeat the boss, thereby earning whatever reward (be it pendant or crystallized descendant) afterwords. Though the formula itself is relatively simple, it is made much more entertaining by the fact that there are so many intricate puzzles in each dungeon that one might spend an hour or three in each simply figuring out what's going on, and the satisfaction of finally acquiring that big dungeon item. I remember, just the other day, I was spelunking through a dungeon and dying over and over because of a few obnoxious jellyfish enemies - pathetic, I know, but they're always in the way - until I got the Hookshot. After that, I could fly around wherever I wanted with no fear - the jellies were killed instantly when I shot them. It leads to a small (yet still satisfying) sense of triumph, as the land becomes less and less dangerous as you brave its perils.
All in all, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is a game definitely worth playing through at least once, if not multiple times, to discover its multitude of secrets and experience the sense of triumph after getting all the items.
Have fun, good gaming, and remember - don't feed the trolls.
-Toast
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