Throwback Thursday - The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Welcome to another Throwback Thursday, our weekly look into my Top 100 games and general nostalgia.  For the better part of the 80 past weeks, you've enjoyed in-depth looks at many a great game, all of which I would highly recommend playing.  But starting today, we'll now be diving into some of my absolute favorite games as we step into the remaining top tier that is the Top 20 games.  And what better game to begin with than the hero that fights for two kingdoms in The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

Released in the US on November 22nd, 2013, for the Nintendo 3DS, A Link Between Worlds began as a spiritual successor to the highly beloved and acclaimed Link to the Past back on the SNES.  And while it does bear many direct similarities to its prestigious predecessor, such as with the overworld layout and themes of parallel worlds, it manages to stand apart with unique mechanics, a memorable story, and enough other notable differences to make this a step above most other Zelda adventures.  In this adventure, a sinister sorcerer by the name of Yuga begins transforming the sages of Hyrule into paintings for certain evil schemes.  In pursuit to stop these wicked deeds, Link himself gets turned into a painting, but as a fate would fortune him, this curse instead becomes a most useful ability, allowing Link to merge to and from surfaces at will.  With such, players can now circumnavigate otherwise impassible terrains, narrow passages, or after a certain climatic juncture in the game, travel between the parallel kingdoms of Hyrule and Lorule (yes, a beautifully bad, but endearing pun).  This clever gameplay mechanic really puts a refreshing twist to the Zelda series, often requiring the player to reconsider their approaches to typical puzzles and really think outside the box.

Reexamining the typical conventions of the series, this game also experiments by allowing players more freedom in tackling dungeons in whatever order they should please / discover them.  This is achieved by a new system in which items are obtained.  Rather than acquiring these pivotal tools from dungeons, players can now rent or buy all items at any time from a conniving shopkeeper by the name of Ravio.  As such, each dungeon is now marked with the required item to access such so as to prevent players from getting stuck from lack of the needed tool.  While this offers a liberating sense of freedom to more naturally discover and progress through the game, it does have the unfortunate effect of simplifying the puzzles at times, not allowing more intricate scenarios to consider all your tools at your disposal.  Still, this is mostly forgiven as it was a refreshing take on the Zelda series and even simple as the dungeons / puzzles were at times, the dungeon design in this game was still quite exceptional.  The aesthetic themes of each dungeon and boss design was wonderfully engrossing, encompassed only further by an incredible accompanying soundtrack.  All in all, it offered the perfect blend of new takes on all the right nostalgic notes.











Much like Link to the Past, there is a perfect balance of exploration, action, and puzzle solving to be found in this game.  Moving about the world is so fast and fluid, and the world is just filled to the brims with interesting bits of interactivity and secrets to uncover.  Cutting down rows of grass and evil knights.  Looping around mountain-side walls to reach hidden caves.  Deciphering a puzzle in a treasure-filled vault.  This particular world of Hyrule stands as an esteemed example of impeccable game design and how to create a fun, engaging, and timeless experience.  Even though the Nintendo Switch has dimmed the lights for the proud 3DS, don't let this incredible feat of a game pass you by if you should have missed it.

The design for Zelda in the upcoming Super Smash Bros Ultimate is based upon Zelda's design from Link Between Worlds (and subsequently A Link to the Past).......If there's a new Amiibo for this updated design, sign me up!

Fun Fact: The theme of Hyrule Castle and Lorule Castle are in fact composed of the same melody, except played backwards for Lorule.  How fitting for a parallel, opposite sort-of realm.  And how amazing it manages to sound so good still!