A Link Between Worlds is the latest offering from Nintendo in their long running Legend Of Zelda franchise. This is the first “new” game in the series to be released for the Nintendo 3DS. A Link Between Worlds is set in the same world that the 1991 Super Nintendo game A Link To The Past was.
Story & Presentation
A Link Between Worlds has a pretty interesting story. It tells a tale of a time of peace being destroyed by a dastardly evil. Yaga who is an evil sorcerer wants to attack the blood line of the seven sages and turn them into paintings. His reasons for doing this are that he wants to tear down the barrier that keeps Hyrule and The Dark World separate. The story has a character named Saharsahla who was in A Link To The Past. He informs Link that he needs to get the medallions so that he can wield the Master Sword and put a stop to Yaga.
The story is great one of the best I have experienced in a Zelda game it has a few twists and a really cool reveal as well (that we will not spoil) What is really good about the story is the way that if you have played A Link To The Past you will get a huge kick out of many of the throwbacks to that game. But if you have not played it then you really will not feel like you are missing out on anything.
As far as the graphics go this game is just gorgeous. It uses that same top down kind of view point that was in A Link To The Past, but it has been given a 2013 lick of HD paint. The game has a very similar art style to A Link To The Past it has a cartoon type style to it that works really well. The game makes use of the 3D capabilities of the 3DS in some of the dungeons. For example you will have a much easier time defeating some of the flying enemies when you have the 3D turned on as it is much easier to see where they are. As good as the game looks the soundtrack is even better. It features many of the classic Zelda tunes that you have come to know and love and it even introduces a few new catchy ones as well.
Gameplay
The game play here will be instantly familiar to anyone who has played a Legend Of Zelda game before. It does play very much like a Link To The Past which is certainly not a bad thing at all. You will explore the over world, head into dungeons and fight bosses as well. It is all classic Zelda stuff and if you are a fan of the series you will love this.
The game does have a few innovations though. One is how you acquire weapons. In past Zelda games it was a tradition to get enemies from a dungeon to help you beat a boss. Now though most of the weapons are available to you right from the start from a character called Ravio’s shop. He will rent you things like a bow and the boomerang pretty much right from the start. The twist here is that since you are renting them if you die while you have one selected you lose it and have to buy it again. Later in the game Ravio will sell you the same items, but at a higher price. Now though you can keep them forever. The game uses a rechargeable stamina meter when it comes to using you weapons. This is a change of pace from having to use magic or even collecting bows or bombs.
The big game play gimmick of course is Link’s new ability to turn into a 3D painting and go into walls. This is great and it allows you to tackle puzzles from a new perspective and it is a really fun game play mechanic to use as well. Nintendo do a good job of not over using this and it certainly will save your butt many times.
Final Thoughts
A Link Between Worlds is one of the best games in the entire Legend Of Zelda series. It had a very intriguing story, great graphics and it is a ton of fun to play as well. This is a game that all 3DS owners should have in their collection.
