10/03/2020 (2 of 2 found this helpful)

Too Little, Too Late

Back in 2013, Nintendo found itself upon the horns of a dilemma. The company, which had always found success in both the home console and handheld console markets, suddenly found itself with a struggling 3DS, which failed to set the world on fire as the successor to the DS, and a struggling WiiU, which failed to set the world on fire as the successor to the Wii. Both preceding consoles had set records in sales and popularity, while their successors floundered, with no killer selling points to make customers drop their older systems for the newer ones. Placed in this difficult position, Nintendo played the role of a Biblical patriarch and sacrificed the WiiU in order to devote more time, energy, and resources to the prodigal 3DS. And while the 3DS stopped bleeding to death under its father...

Rating of
4/5 

02/05/2014 (2 of 2 found this helpful)

Taking a Step Forward by Going Backwards

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is designed perfectly for a handheld and takes many of the best attributes from the series to make this a sequel that's better than the original SNES title.

I'm going to assume the vast majority of the people reading this review have either played a previous Zelda game or at least are familiar with the series, so I'm not going to spend much time describing the basics of the series. In fact, I bet the majority of you reading this are familiar with the SNES game, A Link to the Past. So, to begin, A Link Between Worlds is a direct sequel to A Link to the Past on the Super Nintendo, not a remake. Let's be clear about that. The story references the SNES title and the layout of the Light and Dark World are very similar. But, there are significa...

Rating of
5/5 

01/07/2014 (2 of 2 found this helpful)

Yeah, I said it: Episode XII

Man, do you remember A Link to the Past? That game was soooo good. It just managed to capture everything Zelda games need and none of the filler we all have grown to resent from many modern entries in the franchise.

And man, do you remember those other DS Zelda games? The ones with the PLAY-USING-JUST-THE-STYLUS-OR-TAKE-A-HIKE-DICKWEED control scheme? I mean... yeah, it "worked fine" but if anyone ever said to my face they thought it was actually better I think I would spit on them. Not on purpose, mind you. I think just like... as a reflex.

Well, if you find yourself even halfheartedly nodding along with those first two paragraphs then you may be the sort of person to play The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. The game is up to its neck in elements from A Link to the P...

Rating of
4.5/5