The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Controls

Per the game's own control scheme: the D-pad moves Link and navigates menus. The B button is the primary attack button and swings Link's sword; holding B charges a spin attack. The A button is a general interact button — it lifts and pulls objects, dashes when the Pegasus Boots are equipped, opens chests, and talks to NPCs. The Y button uses whichever secondary item is currently equipped (bow, boomerang, bombs, etc.). The X button opens the current map. Start opens the item/equipment select screen. Link's primary weapons — sword and shield — are acquired early in the game and can each be upgraded multiple times over the course of play. Additional items such as the Lantern consume magic points when used.

Regions and Dungeons

The Light World contains three dungeons Link must clear before obtaining the Master Sword: Eastern Palace, Desert Palace, and Tower of Hera. Each houses one of the three Pendants of Virtue. After collecting all three pendants, Link retrieves the Master Sword from its pedestal in the Lost Woods, then uses it to break Agahnim's barrier and enters Hyrule Castle Tower (Agahnim's Tower) to confront Agahnim. Defeating Agahnim triggers Link's forced transport into the Dark World. The Dark World contains seven main dungeons, each holding one of the Seven Maidens sealed in crystal: Palace of Darkness, Swamp Palace, Skull Woods, Thieves' Town, Ice Palace, Misery Mire, and Turtle Rock. The final dungeon, Ganon's Tower, opens only after all seven maidens/crystals have been freed. Because Misery Mire and Turtle Rock require the Dark World's Medallion-based access requirements (Ether and Quake medallions, respectively, per general series design and the walkthrough ordering used by Thonky's guide) and other Dark World dungeons gate progressively on items found in earlier dungeons (hookshot, hammer, flippers, etc.), the seven Dark World dungeons are usually tackled in roughly the order listed above, though the game does not force a single strict sequence for all seven the way the three Light World pendant dungeons are sequenced.

Progression / Required Objectives

The overall required path is: (1) rescue Zelda from Hyrule Castle at the start of the game; (2) collect the three Pendants of Virtue from the three Light World dungeons; (3) pull the Master Sword and defeat Agahnim in Hyrule Castle Tower; (4) collect all seven Crystals from the Dark World dungeons, freeing the Seven Maidens; (5) enter Ganon's Tower, which unseals once all crystals are collected; (6) descend to the Pyramid of Power and defeat Ganon.

Bosses

Wikipedia identifies Agahnim as the mid-game boss (defeated twice — once in Hyrule Castle Tower, and again partway through Ganon's Tower per series-standard structure) and confirms that upon Agahnim's final defeat, "Ganon appears from Agahnim's corpse and flies to the Pyramid of Power," where the final battle occurs. Each of the ten main dungeons (3 Light World, 7 Dark World) is understood, consistent with the series' established structure, to end in a unique boss fight tied to that dungeon's rewarded item, though this pass did not independently verify each individual dungeon-boss name against a citable source.

Completion Path

• Rescue Zelda → Sanctuary.
• Clear Eastern Palace, Desert Palace, Tower of Hera → obtain three Pendants of Virtue.
• Retrieve Master Sword in the Lost Woods.
• Defeat Agahnim in Hyrule Castle Tower → forced transport to Dark World.
• Clear the seven Dark World dungeons in roughly the order dictated by which traversal items (hookshot, Titan's Mitt, flippers, hammer, medallions) each subsequent dungeon requires.
• Collect all seven Crystals → seal on Ganon's Tower breaks.
• Clear Ganon's Tower, defeat Agahnim's second form, then Ganon at the Pyramid of Power to complete the game.