A Link to the Past 2: Link Harder

There is a simple beauty to A Link Between Worlds, and it's a direct result of the game's intimate relationship with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past -- first, because so many of its mechanics and designs hearken back to those halcyon days of simpler games; and second, because anyone who played Link to the Past obsessively in its day (as we all did, right?) can naturally intuit much about this game's world.

While A Link Between Worlds is sometimes striking in its familiarity - in the general plot line, the locations, even the music and sound effects - none of it feels unwelcome. The game goes far beyond the realm of "remake," with not only analog motion and up-to-date visuals, but remixed content (such as returning bosses with dramatically different behaviors), and whole new items. This game has four magic rods! That's a 100% improvement.

While the general themes are similar, the dungeon designs themselves are completely new. And aside from a few fairly short ones (mostly in the "light world"), they all provide a highly satisfying challenge, and a surprising breadth of puzzles. It's been a long time since a dungeon obstacle genuinely stumped me, but it happened more than once, here. This is some of the best Zelda design yet.

The star of the show is Link's new 2D power, which flattens him into a wall to traverse cliffs and sneak through cracks. It takes a bit of getting used to, because it totally upends the movement mechanics you'd expect from a Zelda game; now, a pit isn't a roadblock, but an opportunity to follow its perimeter and see what platforms are out there. This mechanic is certainly one of the most compelling in recent Zelda memory.

And the icing on this cake is the item-renting system, which opens access to most of the game's inventory from very early on. (If you die, you'll lose your rentals, but there's rarely a threat of this.) As a consequence, mechanics like hookshot targets and bombable walls are all open for business as soon as you scrounge up a few measely rupees. Zelda games have never had quite this level of freedom in exploring the world, and it's an extremely welcome change from the strict hand-holding linearity of Link's past few adventures.

My biggest complaint about A Link Between Worlds is that it doesn't take this idea quite far enough. Some items, specifically the Pegasus Boots and Titan Mitts, still have to be unlocked in the traditional way, and this blocks some paths until you've performed the right sequence of steps. If not for these quirks, A Link Between Worlds could be fairly retitled Grand Theft Zelda.

Unfortunately, the game's replay value is a bit wanting. After buying all the items, and collecting the dungeons' extra upgrades (like stronger tunics and materials for sword forging), there's little reason to return to Hyrule or its dark twin Lorule; there are only 28 heart pieces, most of which are easy to stumble across in a normal playthrough, and the game's other primary collectible - octopus babies - are just used for item upgrades, which are almost universally unhelpful. There are a couple more optional extras, like StreetPass challenges and a gauntlet dungeon, but these are similarly uncompelling.

All in all, A Link Between Worlds could be rightly, though foolishly, accused of being somewhat derivative. In fact, much of the game's strength is specifically because it inherits from A Link to the Past's proven formulae -- and the game's new features complement the old ones perfectly.

This Zelda doesn't have an epic story or an awe-inspiring world design, but it is old-fashioned, tightly-crafted fun, with enough twists to keep Zelda veterans on their toes.

Better than: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
Not as good as: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D
Still not sure what to expect? Here's a hint: imagine a combination of Link to the Past's Palace of Darkness (with the Helmasaur King), and Wind Waker's Earth Temple. Yeah, that's the gist of what we're talking about.

Progress: Saved the world(s), incomplete heart piece and octopus collections.