Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is set in the same world, and with much of the same characters as A Link To The Past (LttP) of SNES fame. As my favourite Zelda game of all time, it’s no surprise that I was excited to see Nintendo finally make a proper sequel.
LttP captured my heart as a young kid of probably only 12 years old, and is one of the two or three games that I gravitate back to about once every few years to play again. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve completed it, but I can say that I did it as recent as a few weeks ago, and was without knowledge of the new game to provoke me.
"It’s a blast to the past in 3D, and everything feels tight, well thought out and thoroughly fun."
It’s hard to describe exactly what that magic combination was, perhaps it’s just a perfect mix of action, puzzle solving, story line and exploration. Very few games capture me the way it did, but this new game has it in spades! They drop you right back into your house that you’re familiar with, and send you out to recognizable places to get the action flowing. Within a few minutes you’ve got a sword and you’re fighting glorious 3D versions of all the amazing enemies you remember. It’s a blast to the past in 3D, and everything feels tight, well thought out and thoroughly fun.
You get a bunch of your old tools, converse with some old friends, and fight familiar enemies.. but the gameplay is much different. There are new tricks up it’s sleeve, new puzzles, and new dungeons. It’s amazing fun, and doesn’t feel like a rehash at all.
I get to find the Master Sword again, I get to explore Hyrule again, I get to find all those sweet-ass tools again, and I get to do it in kick-ass 3D! I’m pumped!
Whether that means this is a biased impression of a long sought after sequel, or if it means that I’m more qualified than anyone to make these claims is up for debate, but I have a feeling I’ll be replaying this title many times. I think you should buy it. If that means you have to go buy a 3DS XL just for this game (like I did), I say it’s worth it.
