What you need to know: The latest video game in the popular Legend of Zelda puzzle game series is released in the UK this week. The Legend of Zelda: Link Between Worlds is a single-player, role-playing game for Nintendo's 3DS consoles based on the 1991 game Zelda: A Link to the Past. Link Between Worlds is set in the fantasy world of Hyrule, ruled by Princess Zelda, and a dark mirror world called Lorule, which is ruled by Princess Hilda. The game's protagonist, boy-hero Link, must travel between the two worlds, exploring dungeons, acquiring gadgets and fighting evil forces threatening the princesses. The game follows the same top-down two-dimensional gameplay of previous Zelda games, but allows protagonist Link to transform into a 2D picture that can travel along flat surfaces. When this happens, the camera zooms in to reveal secrets that are invisible in the top-down perspective. What the critics like: This is "one of the best Zelda games of all time" and one which manages to quietly rewrite the formula in surprisingly successful ways, says David Jenkins in Metro. Exploring worlds teeming with secrets and some of the very best dungeons in the whole series is a joy. Between Worlds "recaptures the spirit of adventure that gave the early Zelda games their potency, and lays out a vision for Zelda games still to come", says Keza MacDonald on IGN. It's at once intensely nostalgic and powerfully novel, unpatronising and cerebral. A Link Between Worlds does what Zelda has always done best – "it revisits a familiar location and make it feel fresh and new", says Andy Robertson in Forbes. Not only is this a fully realised Zelda experience for 3DS, it is also one of the most endearing and compelling games to play for some time. What they don't like: This Zelda presents a magical place to escape to, and looks glorious in 3D, but remains very much a creature of its forebear's gene pool, says Will Freeman in The Observer. "It is a fantastic game, but one many will feel they have played before." For further concise, balanced comment and analysis on the week's news, try The Week magazine. Subscribe today and get 6 issues completely free. Source: The Week UK, Image: flickr.com
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