8 games similar to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past — handpicked for fans of Action and Adventure games.
A Link to the Past perfected the top-down action-adventure formula: a sprawling overworld, labyrinthine dungeons, a growing arsenal of tools that reshape how you interact with the world, and a sense of mystery that rewards curiosity at every turn. Fans who fell in love with its blend of exploration, puzzle-solving, and satisfying combat will find kindred spirits in the games below.
SNES | 1994 Super Metroid shares A Link to the Past’s DNA at a fundamental level — both games are built around a vast, interconnected world that gradually unlocks as you acquire new abilities. The atmospheric isolation of Planet Zebes creates a sense of dread and wonder that rivals Hyrule’s dual-world mystery. If you loved backtracking through the Dark World with a newly found item and watching doors swing open, Super Metroid delivers that feeling in spades.
SNES | 1993 Secret of Mana trades dungeon keys for a weapon-upgrade system but keeps the real-time action-adventure soul that A Link to the Past defined on the SNES. Its lush, colorful world and sense of epic scale feel like a natural sibling to Link’s adventure, and the co-op mode adds a dimension of shared discovery. The ring-menu system and fluid sword combat will feel immediately familiar to anyone raised on the Master Sword.
SNES | 1994 Illusion of Gaia wraps Zelda-style combat and dungeon exploration inside a globe-trotting story with surprising emotional weight. Like A Link to the Past, it centers on a young hero uncovering a world-threatening darkness through a series of themed, puzzle-filled ruins. The tight action mechanics and carefully crafted rooms make every dungeon feel purposeful and rewarding to clear.
SNES | 1992 Soul Blazer is a hidden gem that channels A Link to the Past’s top-down perspective and action-RPG feel into a unique premise — defeating enemies in dungeons physically restores the overworld. It shares the same satisfying loop of clearing rooms, collecting tools, and watching your efforts reshape the world around you. For fans who loved the sense of meaningful progression in Hyrule, Soul Blazer scratches the exact same itch.
SNES | 1995 Terranigma is arguably the most ambitious action-adventure on the SNES never officially released in North America, featuring fluid combat, gorgeous sprite work, and a story that rivals A Link to the Past in scope and emotional resonance. Its dungeon design borrows heavily from the Zelda playbook — environmental puzzles, boss-gating items, and a sprawling world that evolves as you progress. This is essential playing for anyone who considers A Link to the Past a benchmark.
Game Boy | 1993 The most direct continuation of A Link to the Past’s design philosophy, Link’s Awakening transplants the same top-down dungeon structure and tool-based progression onto a compact, dreamlike island. Its smaller scale is deceptive — the world is dense with secrets, and the surreal story delivers one of the series’ most memorable endings. If you want more of exactly what A Link to the Past offered, this is the first place to look.
PlayStation | 1997 Symphony of the Night took the exploration-and-ability-gating formula that A Link to the Past helped define and ran it through a gothic RPG lens, creating what would later be called the “Metroidvania” genre. Its massive, interconnected castle rewards the same kind of curious backtracking and secret-hunting that defines A Link to the Past’s overworld. The moment a new ability opens a previously impassable door feels identical — just with a whip instead of a hookshot.
Game Boy Color | 2001 Oracle of Ages is a direct spiritual successor to A Link to the Past, designed by Capcom in close collaboration with Nintendo to replicate the SNES game’s dungeon density and puzzle depth. Its time-manipulation mechanic — switching between past and present to alter the world — is a direct echo of the Light World/Dark World duality that made A Link to the Past so compelling. Eight carefully crafted dungeons, each with a standout tool and boss, make this one of the purest expressions of the formula.
All of these games are built on the same core design philosophy: a world that is not simply explored but unlocked. Progress is gated not by level or raw power but by tools and knowledge — the right item opens new paths, and every acquisition fundamentally changes how you read the environment around you. The dungeons are not just obstacle courses but spatial puzzles where the layout itself is part of the challenge, and the overworld exists to be reread with fresh eyes after every major discovery.
Beyond mechanics, these games share a specific tonal quality: a sense that the world is larger and stranger than it first appears, and that heroism carries real weight. A Link to the Past’s shift from the bright safety of the Light World to the corrupted Dark World established a template for meaningful duality that resonates across Super Metroid’s isolated planetscape, Terranigma’s crumbling civilizations, and Symphony of the Night’s inverted castle. These are games where the act of exploration is itself the reward, and where the designers trusted players to be curious enough to find the secrets worth finding.
| Feature | Platform | Year | Score | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Super Metroid | SNES | 1994 | 9.8 | Action, Metroidvania, Adventure |
| Secret of Mana | SNES | 1993 | 9.3 | RPG, Action |
| Illusion of Gaia | SNES | 1993 | 8.8 | Action, RPG |
| Soul Blazer | SNES | 1992 | 8.6 | Action, RPG |
| Terranigma | SNES | 1995 | 9.5 | Action, RPG |
| The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening | GAME-BOY | 1993 | 9.4 | Action, Adventure |
.png)
Super Metroid is widely considered one of the greatest games ever made — a masterpiece of atmospheric exploration, environmental storytelling, and movement-based design that defined the Metroidvania genre.
.png)
The SNES action RPG masterpiece. Secret of Mana's real-time combat, gorgeous visuals, three-player simultaneous multiplayer, and Hiroki Kikuta's transcendent score created one of the genre's defining classics.
.png)
The middle entry in Quintet's Soul Blazer trilogy — a globe-trotting action RPG following Will's journey through historical wonders (Incan ruins, Great Wall, Nazca Lines) with transformations into two powerful alternate forms.
.png)
The first entry in Quintet's soul trilogy — Soul Blazer has the player acting as an angel defeating demons and restoring souls to a corrupted world, resurrecting villagers and NPCs as enemies are cleared.
.png)
The unreleased-in-North-America SNES masterpiece — Quintet's trilogy finale follows Ark restoring the world from darkness, with a philosophical narrative about creation, death, and humanity that exceeds any other game in the trilogy.
.png)
A deeply personal and surprisingly melancholic Zelda adventure that sees Link stranded on the mysterious Koholint Island. Link's Awakening transcends its Game Boy limitations with clever design, a memorable cast, and one of the most emotionally resonant endings in Nintendo history.
.png)
One of the most perfect games ever made, Symphony of the Night merged action platforming with deep RPG mechanics and a sprawling inverted castle to create the Castlevania series' masterpiece. It gave its name to a subgenre and remains the defining standard of exploration-based action games.
.png)
One half of Capcom's Zelda pair for Game Boy Color — Oracle of Ages focuses on puzzle-solving and time travel, sending Link between past and present Labrynna to restore peace and defeat Veran.