As an avid gamer, the Legend of Zelda series has always held a special place in my heart. From exploring caves to sailing across the vast ocean (on a talking boat no less), I’ve always had a blast playing the games, and the newest one for hand held is no exception.

“Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds” is not only visually pleasing, it might just be one of the best games overall for the 3DS. Sure, it’s not a console powered, graphically exaggerated, multiplayer team death match, but it is an incredible joy to play. It takes the Zelda series back to the original top down third person that made it famous and fun to play, all while keeping it easy to know where to go.

The player plays in the land of Hyrule as a young man named Link, who is the reincarnated hero from the other games in the series. Link must conquer trials and challenges using a multitude of magical items at his disposal to save the princess Zelda who was captured by the evil wizard Ganondorf. While the story line for every game in the series is basically the same, anyone who has played these games can attest that every single game unique in its own way.

Being a direct sequel to Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, possibly the greatest Legend of Zelda game made, it uses the same world design as the first as it’s home world. While it can be said that this might take away from gameplay, the home world still has a huge plethora of secrets, challenges, and dungeons for the player to explore. It even has a form of player versus player combat, which can be a refreshing break from battling the many dangers of the land of Hyrule.

Since the famous Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the following Zelda games in the series often have a central “hook” if you would; something that the games centers around and the player will always use. This game is nothing different when it comes to that. This time Link gains the ability to turn into a painting and move along walls. This adds an entire new depth to the puzzles that the player will encounter in the game.

The game in streamlined in the sense that dialogue boxes are all fast moving and the player doesn’t need wait through those small cut scenes when opening a chest or finding an item. It’s faster and less frustrating in comparison to Ocarina of Time, where the player could get stuck in an infinite text sequence if they mashed the talk button too fast. Rupees, the game’s currency, are more important now than they were in the other games. You need them to buy the items that Link uses to conquer the dungeons. While some players may say that this concept takes away from the whole “dungeon spelunking experience”, I think that it is one of the more fun parts of the game. It makes the world exploration easier; you don’t need to wait to defeat a certain part to move around freely.

Overall, the game was fantastic. It’s better than more recent titles of the series (I’m looking at you, Skyward Sword). The only thing that I could find wrong with it is that by 6 hours of gameplay, you’re already halfway done with the game. It’s on the shorter side, but it’s a must have if you consider yourself a Legend of Zelda game.

8/10 would play again.