Reviewing Monsters: The Legend of Zelda - A Link to the Past, Part 2

Part two of my coverage of A Link to the Past monsters. In the first part we covered all the Light-world or regular Hyrule monsters. This time, we cover the Dark World monsters! Link's became a badass, claimed the sacred Master Sword and fought the evil dark wizard Aghanim, but ends up realizing that he's too late and the princess Zelda is sealed in... not another castle, in another world! And it's the Dark World, a parallel, evil form of Hyrule where all evil congregates! Oh no! And all the monsters are twisted versions of the original Hyrule monsters! Oh no!

As a person who's played nearly all the Zelda games, this concept honestly feels quaint and even expected. An alternate dark dimension, and even the 'switching' between worlds to bypass puzzling areas and access blocked-off places... it's became so commonplace, I feel, that I think Breath of the Wild was refreshing because it didn't have any such mechanics, like the time-travel or a time loop or transformations or the twilight realm or Lorule. Still, back in the day I bet it was revolutionary, and I was certainly delighted to see that the game has so much weirdness to offer in its... I don't even want to say 'second half', because the Dark World segment took nearly three times the time I needed to finish the Light World version.

Anyway, monsters!

Chasupa

Essentially replacing Keese in the Dark World are the Chasupa, where are glorious giant eyeballs with itty-bitty bat wings. There isn't a clean one-to-one enemy swaps for each Hyrule-vs-Dark-World creature, but there are some that are pretty obviously filling a niche in the original Hyrule! I do like just how overly large the Chasupa's eyeballs are compared to its wings. But hey, this is a magic monster eyeball bat, it doesn't need to follow logical physics!

Moblin

Pig-men enemies! These replace the spear-throwing soldiers, and they just sort of run around being angry pig-men. Prior to Ocarina of Time Ganon was always associated with pig-men, so of course his minions are going to be pig-men, too. 

Taros

Meanwhile, the melee fighters are the Taros, who replace the sword soldiers. They're bull-men! Or hippo-men with horny helmets! Either way, the Dark World has a lot of beast-men running around. The red ones carry around tridents (that look like forks) but I'm not sure what the weapons of the purple ones are supposed to be. Weird maces?

Dacto

I'm not going in any specific order here, just going through a lot of the 'overworld' monsters first. And the Dacto replaces the Crow, posing and behaving more or less similarly, just a bit more aggressively. I like the Dacto, it's got a fun little squashed pteranodon head, a little cute horn and little vampire fangs. 

Ku

Evil Dark World Zoras! ...I think they could've done more, to be honest. They behave exactly the same as Zoras, they just have one creepy eye and a weirdly shaped head with what's either a huge red mustache or a weird-looking spiky mouth. Their appearance in the 3DS game Link Between Worlds show their anatomy in a bit more detail since those Ku can climb out of water, that red bit is a huge lip and he's got a huge bucktooth, and the Ku's anatomy is sort of similar to the popular culture depiction of a kappa. 

Ropa

The Ropa doesn't actually replace any specific monster, it just sort of exists and wanders around the overworld! It does look like a twisted version of a Leever, or, well, like a Leever and a Popo fused together. And despite looking pretty weak and formless, the Ropa actually takes multiple hits to bring down and can severely damage Link with their attacks during your first sojourn into the Dark World. 

Snapdragon

The plants of the Dark World also look pretty twisted (and purple) compared to their Hyrulean counterparts,  but some of them move around! I guess if we're reaching these might be the equivalent to something like the Spiny Beetles? They're clearly their own thing, though, little plant monsters with a huge Audrey II fang and two stubby reptilian legs that aren't the most apparent on this shot of the sprite. They're fragile speedsters, being easy to kill but they damage a lot and run diagonally across the screen, something that most non-flying enemies don't do before this. 

Stal

Speaking of the landscape being changed, there's a lot of skulls in the Dark World! Some of them actually will come alive and jump towards Link. They're mostly harmless, but I absolutely love the flavour that randomly part of the creepy environment will jump at you with clattering teeth. 

Hinox

Most of you that know of more modern Zelda games know of the Hinox from their status as overworld bosses in Breath of the Wild. They are giant cyclopes that many people have pointed out also share a bit of nods to Japanese oni with the upturned fangs and the loincloth. And one thing that all Hinoxes have in common in the 2D Zelda games is that they really really like bombs. They can just pull bombs out of nowhere and lob them at Link, and they're just huge damage sponges that you kind of have to run and avoid until you have better equipment. I felt like the simple fact of giving them a proclivity towards using bombs gives them a bizarre yet unique little thing that sets them apart from most other cyclops monsters out there. 

Zirro

I swear this is a Mario enemy, but nope, Link's Awakening is the one with all the Mario enemies. This fucker just looks like a Goomba and Toad fused together, is all. They're like, weird floating mushrooms with eyes, two stubby limbs and bird wings. They sort of take the place of vultures, being flying enemies, and I absolutely love that! The green version drops bombs on Link, which is not something I expected from a mushroom man with angel wings... but I don't know what I expected from a mushroom man with angel wings. Not the most memorable enemy, perhaps, but I like this!

Pikit

This guy is actually called the Like Like in the Japanese version, and specifically as a 'subspecies'. And everyone who's played more than one Zelda game knows what terrors the Like Likes are! These guys aren't quite as amorphous as the regular portrayal of the Like Like, and looks more like a weird plant monster. It's got a cute little bug-face beneath it, though, and moves around with... roots? Octopus tentacles? It's hard to tell. But that giant weird pumpkin bulb can actually split apart and a thorny vine-tongue shoots out to steal Link's shield, and Link needs to kill the Pikit quick enough to recover it before the Pikit digests it entirely. A very fun, if admittedly frustrating, enemy!

Like Like

The reason why the Pikit is identified as a 'subspecies' is because regular pulsating-drum Like Likes show up in this game too, and of course they are exclusively found in the Dark World. They will also jump and nom on Link's weapon! These guys actually set up shop near a shield shop, so I'm going to assume that the shield shop vendor actually bred and placed these guys near his shop to promote business. Are these guys why the Moblins and Taros don't carry shields?

Slarok

Oh, this one, I like! It's a bit hard to see until they move in motion, but the Slarok really reminds me of some sort of bizarre monster inspired by the nudibranch, or at least some sort of slug or something. Bright purple and orange work well together, and the way this thing goops around with its two eyestalks at the rear end of its body is pretty neat! It's also got little tentacle-feet and a huge mouthpart at its front end, because this thing is the Dark World counterpart of the Octorok, shooting out rocks from its front part. I don't think this one is a particularly deadly variant, but I liked it for its design. 

Pikku

As in "Pick", as in "pickpocket". These literal rat-men (without hollow eyes!) are the replacements for the Thieves, hanging out in a Village of Outcasts. Like the thieves, Link can't kill them, and several show up as NPC's. I guess Link's not as bloodthirsty as I thought, and he doesn't kill thieves and pickpockets!

Dark World Cuccoo

Haha, the chicken in the couple of settlements that remain in the Dark World are all turned into skeletons. I love that. They will still summon the Revenge Squad if you bother them.  One thing is a constant in both sides of the mirror, it seems. 

Hyu

Hyus are the Dark World variants of the Poes, hanging out in the graveyard. They have actual :o faces, which are adorable! Interestingly, while they are more numerous than the Poes, they're far less hostile to Link than the Poes. Huh! They just sort of float around. 

Helmasaur

I guess we're going to the dungeons, and I'm going to go in the order that I tend to do them in. The Helmasaur! They show up in a bunch of dungeons, but are the most associated with the Dark Palace due to the boss in that palace being, well, a giant Helmasaur. I do like the simplicity of the idea, where it's just a squad reptile-dinosaur with a metallic mask that vaguely resembles like an axolotl head or a diplocaulus. They run and charge at Link, and he must sidestep them and stab them in their butt. Eventually Link gets access to the Hookshot, although unlike subsequent appearances of the creature, the Hookshot merely stuns the Helmasaur. 

The Helmasaur and the next couple of monsters are technically ones I associate more with the Dark Palace, but they also show up in various other dark world dungeons, too. Most of the unifying gimmick are the puzzles and not the monsters anyway. 

Bari & Biri

Oh, hey, Zelda's resident angry floating electrical jellyfishes make their debut in this game! Bari and their smaller cousins, the Biri (both onomatopoeia equivalent to something like 'zap'), just look at how adorably angry they are! I do like the idea that they basically translated the 'stinging' sensation from a jellyfish sting into electrical powers. Two variants exist, although the difference is very much notable -- the Blue Bari just dies after beating it up (or Hookshotting it), but the red Bari explodes and separates into two smaller Biri! It sure is an 'Asteroids monster', to borrow a TVTropes term! Again, it's such a simple idea, but one that I like so mcuh. 

Terrorpin

Basically Hardhat Beetles on crack, Terrorpins actually actively try to make the game into a pinball or a billiard game. I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a reference to those turtle shells you can kick around in Mario, but they sure are annoying! The Terrorpin are always hiding under their red-black turtle shells.I mean, I guess we assume it's a turtle since the name's a pun on terrapin, but it could just be a weird beetle for all I know. Link can't damage the Terrorpin at all until he gets the hammer to bonk the ground, flip the Terrorpin around and slash their belly. They sure are annoying, I'll give you that. 

 

Goriya / Copy

Oh, these guys! While the English versions gave them the moniker 'Goriya' after the dog-men in the first two Zelda games, their original Japanese names make a very explicit distinction. These guys are Koppi, as in "Copy", because the gimmick is that these rat-headed, hollow-eyed dudes will mirror how Link moves, making it an interesting challenge to make it maneuver them in front of Link. It gets a bit more annoying if multiple Copies are in a room, or, well, the Red ones, which will fire projectiles at Link if they face him. It's easily one of the simplest yet most fun ways to have an enemy in a video game!

Zol

Zols sure do show up in these dungeons, and they're simple enemies, just blobs of slime with eyes. They basically only rely on surprising and jumping out of the ground (other than the Yellow Zol, who drops from the ceiling). The different colours only denote the different locations that they show up. Unlike other Zols, they don't actually split apart into smaller versions of themselves upon death. Nothing much else to say here. 

Hover

Also known as Water Tektite in older versions, newer ones tend to just use their Japanese name, "Hover". We're moving into the Swamp Palace, the water-themed dungeon! They do look like a believable bug, albeit with the wrong abdomen and too huge of eyeballs for an actual water strider. They are clearly meant to evoke them, though!

Kyameron

Another Swamp Palace enemy, the Kyameron is just a mass of bubbles that manifests as a huge central bubble (or slime?) with six smaller ones conjoined together, and they just bounce around the room to try and attack Link. They're made of water, though, so Link can Ice Rod them and freeze them solid before smashing them. Kinda neat, I do like that some of the enemies look more like just regular traps or hazards. 

Pirogusu

One of the weirder enemies, the Pirogusu just drops out of openings on the walls of the Swamp Palace, which I think are meant to be sewers or waterways, poking their weird bug-like head out before plopping into the water and charging around in a straight line. It's such a weird enemy that really doesn't serve much other than just adding to the weirdness around the Swamp Temple. And I approve! Whether it's some sort of bug, amphibian or (as its name implies) mutant rat, I do like how they are incorporated into the game.     

Gibdo

Another Zelda classic, the Gibdos are in this game, too. They're mummies! I do like just how haphazard the wrappings around the head is. It's another one that's very, very tough and nigh-indestructible until you get the right items (the Fire Rod or the Bombos spell in this case). Not a whole ton to really say here, they sure are spooky mummies that hang around the Skull Woods.

Wallmaster

Another Zelda staple, the Wallmaster (a.k.a. Floormaster) hang out in the Skull Woods, one of the creepier areas in the Dark World because, y'know, skulls. Honestly, a lot of what madee the Wallmasters so creepy and effective as a video game enemy has been remarkably consistent. They show up with a creepy scare chord from above, they're a creepy disembodied hand that defies the game's physics and they give you a suitably irritating punishment by forcing you to repeat the past couple minutes of exploration. You can still kill the Wallmaster if you know how to dodge it and slash repeatedly, but it can respawn. 

Zazak

Oh, these guys! Another generic resident of some of the dungeons which I personally first encountered in the Thieves' Town dungeon, the Zazaks are meant to be lizard-men? Or crocodile-men? They're some sort of reptile with fangs, anyway. And mohawks for some reason! They are basically stronger Moblins or Taroses but with a cooler look (reptile fantasy beast-men are inherently creepier and cooler than most mammal-based fantasy beast-men). The red ones breathe fire! I really like that these guys exist, a lazier development team would've just repainted the Moblins or Goriyas and called it a day, but no, let's make sure the audience gets to fight a different sort of humanoid enemy. 

Gibo

Another one that mostly appears in the Thieves' Town dungeon, the Gibo is sort of a red-goop Kyameron, but not really? These guys actually have two parts, a main body and a nucleus, and they basically separate when they move around, but the nucleus is otherwise invulnerable when the entire organism stays still. Not particularly hard once you figure out what's going on, but the Gibos can and will spawn in rooms filled with enemies, and it's a bitch trying to fight a bunch of other enemies while there's this nucleus-and-cytoplasm thing floating around. 

Skullrope

Also called "Stalrope" in some localizations, the Skullrope is entirely identical to the regular Rope other than its skull helmet. Or is its head just an entire skull? Either way, they're basically a bit of a fun Easter Egg to an earlier Rope trap in the game. 

Buzz

No real relation to the Buzz Blob, the Buzz is just some sort of weird katydid or grasshopper like enemy that just patrol the corridors as a generic crawling enemy. There's really no reason why they couldn't substitute like, a Snapdragon or a Hyu or something, but it's this commitment to just add in just a slightly different looking weird teardrop-bug enemy that I really do like about these older games, making the bestiary just feel so much richer. 

Freezor

Freezors are the Ice Ruins' equivalent to the Geldman, being humanoid elemental enemies. They are a lot more spooky, though, because a lot of the walls of the Ice Ruins' statues actually look like Freezors, so you can't tell which wall is actually going to have the creepy moaning statue actually crack open and actually be a Freezor. They're basically the opposite version of the Sand Crabs, interestingly enough, being super-duper fast vertically but slow horizontally. Naturally, they melt to the Fire Rod. 

Pengator

Also known by the equally bad-pun "Fangin" in the original Japanese version, I'm not quite sure what the genesis of this is. I guess they wanted another ice enemy but didn't want anything that's too obvious... but the penguin's not threatening enough, so they have it horns, angry eyes and (although you can't see it clearly here) alligator teeth. Yeah, predator dinosaur penguins! And they're green for some reason! Like real penguins, they are slow when waddling, but they will jump and flop on their belly to slide on icy floors to chase Link around. Fun!

Stalfos Knight

Also known as "Stalfon" in the Japanese version, these are what eventually the franchise associates with the name "Stalfos", particularly post-Ocarina. They sure are skeletons with armour! Similar to the Stalfos in Twilight Princess (or more accurately, those Stalfos are similar to this one), the Stalfos Knight will continually reform after you beat them into a pile of bombs unless you use a bomb to blow the bombs to smithereens. Neat!

Babusu

One that's unique to the Ice Palace, these guys are sort of the shadowy version of the Pirogusu up above. They are these little wraith-like shadows that crawl quickly out of cracks in the dungeon walls and dart rapidly in a single direction. I don't have much to say, it's a simple but effectively creepy enemy. 

Swamola

Also known as "Moldarm" in the Japanese version, these guys inhabit the Swamp of Evil. They're essentially behaving identically to the Lanmola, bursting in and out of the swamp waters and try to chomp you with those huge centipede pincers. Not a whole ton to say, it's just neat that what's basically a boss in the Light World is just a random respawning common enemy in the Dark World. 

Zoro

The Misery Mire is the name of the swamp temple, and one of the enemies there are these Zoro, which aren't pirate-samurais with three swords but rather just little black blobs of shadow that spawn endlessly and have two glowing (?) eyes. 

Wizzrobe

Oh, hey, it's a Final Fantasy Black Mage! Er, I mean, Wizzrobes! I think the ALTTP sprite is the first one to try to make the Wizzrobe look really adorable, with those eyes and that lumpy robed body and that hat. These Wizzrobes don't actually teleport around the room like future incarnations of the enemy would, they just phase in and out of existence while shooting crescent laser magic beams at Link. In Ganon's Castle, all the Wizzrobes wear skull masks! Or they just have skulls for heads. Is that what's under those shadows all these while? The Wizzrobes are just skeleton people all along? Huh. 

Sluggula

Another Misery Mire enemy, the Sluggula is just a cute, S-shaped fat slug. It's just a straight-up slug, and comparing it to something like the Slarok or Snapdragon, it looks rather mundane. It does go around laying bombs on the ground, which is unexpected, but it's otherwise a bit too mundane for a Dark World enemy, methinks. 

Laser Eye

One that's a trap, this is the other exception that I'll make because I really like how stretched-out and how unsettling this eye looks on the walls of the dungeons. They're essentially the same as a Beamos, just static and take up more space, but I just want to acknowledge and appreciate that the walls of the Dark World dungeons have huge laser eyeballs. 

Hokkubokku

This is a weirdo! It's just a giant totem-like tower that bounces around, with the head of a rodent. One of the enemies that you first encounter in Turtle Rock, it just jumps around and Link needs to keep beating it until it loses the segment to its body. Nothing too interesting as a video game enemy, but it's one of those that will make you scratch your head if you try to think too much about how this thing actually works as a living organism.

Chain Chomp

Oh hey, an actual Mario enemy! Nevermind, those show up here, too! They show up only in Turtle Rock, and they are completely invulnerable, just moving around while tied to their chain. Pretty fun little easter egg! You're Link, not Mario, so you can't actually kill them. Not much to say, I always did like the Chain Chomps for being just goofy angry metal ball faces that want to chomp you. 

 

Lynel

Oh hey look at how goofy the Lynels look in this one. They're a bit more literal as lion-centaur people, huh? Even if I personally never quite thought that the 2D Lynels look particularly leonine, as a general angry fanged centaur-man they're still pretty neat. They're still dangerous as all hell, too, guarding the outside of Ganon's Tower as one of the most powerful overworld enemies... or at least until Link shows up with the fully-upgraded Master Sword, at which point they quite literally become trivialized. 

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BOSSES:

Helmasaur King

The bosses here are arranged in basically a bit of a random order, i.e. the order that I did in my last playthrough. The thing is that all the ALTTP dungeons except for the last two or three could be done in any order, although immediately gunning for some of the dungeons that carry the more useful items for Link is certainly what you want to do. The Helmasaur King is a far, far larger version of the Helmasaurs you fight in the Dark Palace, and really does look like some sort of over-the-top Ankylosaurid monster. With, of coures, the trademark horned mask. And unlike a real-life ankylosaur, that tail is raised up above its body like a scorpion's. A pretty fun 'giant monster' boss, and I remembered this thing being deceptively fast, sometimes charging forwards or swinging its tail in a pretty fast sequence. And it shoots fireballs, too. 

Not a whole ton to say, you need to bash that 'helmet' down with your hammer or bombs, then beat up the exposed jewel on its forehead. 

Arrghus

It's Arrghus, the classic 2D Zelda boss, in his very first appearance! I still love that the giant eyeball monster is such a terrible pun between Argus, the Greek giant with many eyes, and 'arrgh'. He's the final boss in the Swamp Temple, and he's a floating jellyfish with a single eye in the middle. Obvious weak point is obvious, but Arrghus is surrounded by a bunch of small, floating cloud-puffs called Arrghi (replaced by Bari in the GBA version) and the main body is pretty much invulnerable while its little buddies are still alive. Link needs to peel the little companions off of him one by one with the Hookshot and slash the buddies to deeath, all the while you have to avoid the giant Arrghus cluster as it moves around the room. I don't think ALTTP's Arrghus does eye lasers, and just floats and jumps around in the room. 

Again, it's always kind of interesting. Whether it's the polyp-cloud version of Arrghus or if it's the one with the Bari, what's the relationship between Arrghus and its little buddies? Is Arrghus the 'queen bee' equivalent of the swarm? Did Arrghus 'bud' off parts of itself? Is it a central body and those are limbs connected to it by telepathy? A symbiotic relationship between two organisms? Bizarre, and I really do like the look of this fun floating jellyfish.

Mothula

Called "Gamosu/Gamoth" in Japan, because "Mothula" is, well, very, very obviously just Mothra in katakana. It's just straight-up Mothra! And it's the boss of the Skull Woods, which I've always found to be pretty interesting that the boss of a wood of death and darkness is a giant moth. I suppose moths are pretty spooky! I like the simple but pretty colourful set of markings on good ol' Mothula here, and I've always got the feeling from the boss fight that Link just accidentally stumbles into Mothula's lair when she's taking a nap and she's not even involved in this whole 'kidnap the holy maidens' storyline. 

Mothula herself isn't that dangerous, mostly just flying around the room shooting ring-shaped beams (???) at Link, but the actual location of the room features moving floor panels and the walls are lined with spikes. It's a fight I remembered that ends up being pretty fast to finish, either you die or Mothula dies. 

Blind, the Thief

Blind, I think, is actually a dude from Kakariko Town who gets lured into the Dark World and got transformed into this monstrous demonic form and serves as the boss of Thieves' Town. I do really like that you actually 'meet' Blind as the maiden that you're sent to rescue from the dungeon, and I went 'oh, cool, this dungeon has a little NPC story to it' when it turns out that the nice, helpful maiden is Blind all along, and he transforms into this... sheet ghost demon? It sure is demonic, but between the goopy arms and the little sparkles around it, plus the bedsheet ghost body, there's a certain charm about him. 

Blind reveals his true form when you expose him to light, and I think he's the first boss in the Dark World that is actually challenging, mostly due to the damage from his magic ghost lasers. He's sort of like the Moldorm in that he's got a specific weak spot Link has to hit while he flies around the boss room, namely the head. But then hit Blink's head enough times and the body will crumple, while the head remains and continues to shoot fireballs at Link and is completely invulnerable. The detached pile of body grows a second head, and you have to beat up that complete body while the flying invulnerable Blink head flies around, and you have to repeat this again after the second head. It's such a fun take on what would otherwise be a boring "beat up a boss, it splits into two bosses" fight. 

Kholdstare

The boss of the Ice Palace is... a giant tumorous eyeball frozen in a giant wall of ice! It's probably the simplest boss in design, and while the spriting is cool, I did feel like Kholdstare is probably one of the more boring bosses in the Dark World. Link has to avoid the hail showers he summons while melting the ice around Kholdstare with bombs or the Fire Rod, at which point the eyeball splits into three eyeballs and bounces around the room, with the eyeballs only being vulnerable to the Fire Rod. I remembered that the only real challenge here is keeping your magic bar high enough to actually have enough ammo to take down Kholdstare. 

Vitreous

When I think of "this Zelda game has too many eyeball monsters", I immediately go to ALTTP. On the other hand, I do love eyeball monsters, so it doesn't really bother me that Misery Mire's boss is also an eyeball monster. Vitreous is named after the vitreous humor, the gel-like substance that fills up most of the mass in your eyeball. His Japanese name, Geldogger, is a reference to the TLOZ boss Digdogger. The fight against Vitreous is, I feel, one of the more atmospheric ones because of how memorable the boss fight is. Vitreous takes up half of the boss room with its mass of baby eyeballs and the green slime it sits in, and just like Arrghus, Link has to beat up the little eyeball buddies. He can't hookshot them away from Vitreous's main eyeball, though, and he has to slowly beat them up as they move away from the main body to attack Link. Not a whole ton to say here, other than the fact that Vitreous is the only one out of the three main eyeball bosses to actually use eye-lasers. 

Trinexx

The boss of the Turtle Rock dungeon is Trinexx, who guards Zelda herself. He's a giant snapping turtle with a shell made up of rock, and out of his shell, two snake-like extra heads with snapping claws grow out of it. Depicted as a three-headed dragon in the tie-in manga (yawn) I like it better when Trinexx is just a giant turtle kaiju monster that hangs out in lava. The red snake-head spits out fire, the blue snake-head spits out ice, and Link has to basically alternate between his Fire and Ice Rods to damage the opposite-element head. Oh, and the central head can extend out like a snapping turtle at intervals just to attack Link. 

Ultimately after dealing enough damage to the two heads, you get the second phase where it's just Trinexx's center body, which is... a giant snake? A tsuchinoko, perhaps? It's interesting that Trinexx doesn't just lose its rocky shell and its two elemental heads, but also those green-coloured turtle legs. This form is fast, damages Link quickly but dies quickly if you strike it in its center portion. A pretty fun boss!

 

Ganon

The final boss in Ganon's Tower is... Agahnim! You fight Agahnim, except now there are three of him. They are identical and behave identically, it's just that you have to pay attention to which the real Agahnim is so you can bounce the energy balls back at him easily. After killing Agahnim, his corpse dissolves, Ganon is summoned (or is he Agahnim all along? The dialogue was ambiguous) and you fight him atop the Pyramid of Power. 

And Ganon's still an angry demon pig-man like he always is in the 2D games, and it's a multi-phase battle! Again, the fun in Ganon fights in 2D games is more of the thrill of the multi-phase battle and how fast you can figure out his attack patterns and what to do with them, whereas Ganon's design and attacks are always more or less pretty samey. This Ganon is pretty fun, though, and I actually do like his initial first phase a lot where he throws his trident, then teleports immediately to where the trident lands. Ultimately he gets a couple of fun fire-based attacks, summons fiery chasupa, and even begins to break the stage that you're fighting on, very much potentially causing Link to fall down and have to climb back up and restart the fight. Then he puts the room into darkness and Link has to light up torches because Ganon's invulnerable in the dark. It's this phase that Link has the chance to stun Ganon and make him vulnerable to the Silver Arrows. 

And... and these Zelda monster reviews always end in Ganon and I always don't have much to say about ol' piggy! He sure is a cool giant demon pig man, but especially in the 2D games I've always felt like the journey to reach Ganon is always far, far more fun than ol' piggy himself. Anyway, that was ALTTP, one of my favourite 2D Zeldas! It's definitely a blast going through these guys once again.