Well this is unexpected.
http://www.polygon.com/2013/4/17/423439 … ntendo-3ds

Would you series faithfuls say Nintendo is treading on hallowed ground here?

Okay, I will admit...Lttp has lots and lots of nostalgia on its side. If I played it for the first time nowadays, I probably wouldn't be as enthusiastic about it as I am with it now. That said, the game is a longtime favorite and classic, and they don't have to do much to make a good sequel to it. Good dungeons, decent aesthetics, fun gameplay. If they try to reinvent the wheel (if they implement touchscreen controls or try to send Link into space, or something stupid like that or retcon Tingle into the thing) this game will deservedly fail.

So my advice to Nintendo...Keep it simple stupid. The recent NSMB games are a good example of taking what was good about a classic and updating it, do the same with Lttp and everyone goes home happy.

Miyamoto said a year or two ago that he wanted to make a game similar in style to LTTP on the 3DS. I've been waiting for this ever since. I think they were playing with the idea in their Super Mario 3D Land Zelda-themed levels, too.

I've been thinking of replaying LttP for a while now, but I haven't got round to it yet (mostly waiting for it to be released on Wii U VC). I expect it to still be brilliant though.
It always amazed me that no other games ever stole its brilliant Light World and Dark World mechanic.
I don't think I've ever seen any other game where you can freely warp between 2 worlds ON THE SPOT.

If they get that mechanic back for the sequel and handle it properly, I will love it with all my heart.

Where is Link's pink hair? Looks nothing like the Link from LttP.

Other than that, sure, why not? LttP, though clearly a classic, is quite far down the list of favourite Zeldas for me. But still this will have a huge amount to live up to and will of course invite direct comparisons. They would want to be pretty sure about what they are doing (and yet I'm not entirely convinced by the vertical mechanic). The chances of me not getting this are pretty non-existent though.

I'm not put off by the vertical mechanic. Really, LttP had a primitive form of it, leaping from one floor above to land on certain spots below. Between that and the Light/Dark Worlds, spacial awareness was emphasized in LttP; now Nintendo has greater technical ability to build upon it.

With color limitations being a thing of the Past (see what I did there), blonde link is fine with me. I hope his model, and any 2D artwork to go along with the game, resemble that of the original game; that's always been the definitive Link for me.

The game looks much better in motion, but I agree that it still looks a little on the bland side.  I'll still take it, though, as it's the first overhead Zelda game since Minish Cap that I won't have to control with a stylus, so I'm totally on board.

Also, man I hope the music is good.  I miss Zelda games with consistently amazing OSTs (for all its other faults, at least Spirit Tracks did that pretty well).

Yeah, tons of games have ripped off the two world mechanic, but it's hard to think of anything that let you do it ON THE SPOT as you say. Did Oracle of Ages or Seasons allow you to do it on the spot later in each game? I don't remember.

As far as dark worlds go, I'm cool with it as long as they take a page from LttP and NOT from Metroid Prime 2, which I absolutely loathed for its dark world mechanic.  Ugh.

i think you could warp however you liked near the end of the game in Ages, in Seasons, you had to find those stumps to change the seasons. don't quote me on that tho it's been ages since i've played those games...

Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams.

But you can't in LTTP....you can't go from the light to the dark all the time.

Soul Reaver.

I think Quantum Conundrum also kind of offers this gameplay mechanics.

Official title is now "A Link Between Worlds".

I take back what I said about the 3D graphics being ugly, it really does look pretty good in motion.  I especially like the 3D effect of the multi-tiered areas.  The 2D wall-sticking mechanic looks silly though.

http://www.joystiq.com/video/c051aaa4

With the new game hitting this week, I just finished my replay of "A Link to the Past" in preparation. Good gravy, does the game hold up well; immeasurable, I daresay, to anything that's ever come before or after it in its class. (Link's Awakening and Minish Cap came close in parts, though not nearly enough to be the complete package.) Which is why the prospect of a title that's directly serving as both a remake *and* sequel of what I'm reminded as one of my favorite games of all-time is something I'm genuinely excited for. Reviews are painting A Link Between Worlds in a tremendously favorable light; none of the bullshit padding, incessant hand-holding, excessive backtracking, or gimmicky play mechanics that's marred recent titles in the series -- just pure, unadulterated top down traditional Zelda, sharply focused in its intended pacing, yet open-ended enough for exploration and bonus gathering without feeling vacant or meaningless.

I got to spend some time with the game at NYCC, and let me tell you: you have NO IDEA how well it looks and plays until you're experiencing it live on an actual 3DS. The 60fps is almost unreal in its fluidity, translating into a control scheme that feels almost TOO perfect in its tactility. (I suspect a lot of folks, myself included, are going to have to adjust to the new 8-way directional attacking.) The 3D, from what I saw, was peppered liberally and used to great effect; zero hits to the framerate means this may be the second 3DS title after Dual Destinies where I play with the slider up the entire time. I can't wait to see how item renting affects the flow of the quest, and I can imagine plenty of 'think outside the box' puzzle opportunities revolving around the new wall merging concept.

Music recordings have already begun to surface, and they look to be hitting the LttP nostalgia buttons something wonderful:

-Hyrule Castle Theme
-Overworld Theme
-Dark World.... I mean, Lorule Theme

I was just about to update this thread myself.  The reviews indeed are very favorable.  Between this and Super Mario 3D Land it's almost enough to make me want a 3DS.  Critics always gush over new Zelda releases, though, which makes me take those reviews with a grain of salt; I'll be more curious to hear what the people here who've played it have to say about it.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/3ds/the- … ic-reviews

Fixed. I stopped reading professional video game reviews a long time ago. When money is on the line, journalistic integrity has a right to be questioned.

That said, Angela's impressions have me pretty pumped for this one when I get a 3DS.

I want to nab this but I think I can wait until Christmas or afterwards. I swear I must be the only one with a Christmas list with thirty year old Nintendo games on it... which makes it hard for people to shop since I'm pretty anal about condition. I try to avoid getting some of the easier to find items later in the year so they have some options.

And yeah... I know it seems childish that we still exchange lists but otherwise no one would know what to get one another.

I've played through the majority of the series this year (well, all the 2D ones at least) and yes, LttP still holds up marvelously.
Minish Cap was also a LOT better than I remember, and I daresay it's the one that comes closest to matching LttP.

I'm still a bit on the fence about LBW (although it's obviously a day one pickup) but everyone does seem to love it.

I tried this back at PAX and can second Angela's hands on impressions. The 3D effect is really great. I can't wait to get my own copy on Friday and dig into this one.

I've put several hours into this one and it's great. It's nice to see a proper return to form for the handheld Zeldas. As much as I enjoyed Minish Cap and (to a lesser extent) Phantom Hourglass, A Link Between Worlds really brings it home. The sense of freedom and the feeling that secrets are everywhere is fantastic, and it all looks marvelous with the 3D effect on my brand new 3DS XL (I traded in my old 3DS to experience this game with a much nicer screen). The new painting gimmick (stolen from Sideways: New York) is cool, and really makes you think about spaces and puzzle solving in Zelda games in a new way. I'm also a fan of Ravio's shop and its giving you access to nearly every tool near the beginning to the game, so you can just go out and play. I only have two complaints so far: (1) the story and structure mirror A Link to the Past a little too closely, and (2) the dungeons seem very easy, although I've only finished 3.5 of them so far, so perhaps their challenge will increase as I go.

I have been playing this and so far I'm loving it. The world is so familiar and I know where everything is from having played LttP many times and yet that is in no way a negative. If anything, I love that I know where I'm going. This is like Insta-Gratification Zelda. It's all there, the playing area is small and very soon you have access to everything. It's weird and kind of goes against the whole nature of the Zelda games for me and yet, so far, it's working. I'm not feeling like I am missing out by having access to everything so early on.

That said, will I feel it later when there are fewer new tricks because I accessed them all so early? I don't know. Maybe. So far so good though. My only negatives are that, firstly, I feel it looks very plain. No strong design sense and it's lacking even some nice environmental lighting effects like the shadows in the forests and mist etc. that LttP and many others had (Minish Cap in particular had some lovely effects). And secondly, while it may be frowned upon to say it, I am really bored with the main Zelda overworld theme at this stage. One thing OoT got really right for me was not overdoing it with that theme.

Enjoying it all so far.

Finished it tonight with all the heart pieces, gear, and upgrades. Took about 26.5 hours total. Collected around 36,000 rupees and died once. All in all, one of the best handheld Zeldas, but Link's Awakening still holds the crown for best handheld Zelda in my opinion. The dungeons only get marginally more challenging as the game goes on which is unfortunate. Still, it's a great game, and incredibly refreshing after the two DS Zeldas.

Finished it today and I totally loved it. It's in my top Zeldas and, for me, easily the best post-N64 Zelda. My only complaints would be that the boss battles were way too easy and all pretty much the same and that some dungeons (Turtle Rock in particular) felt too small.

But the amount of stuff to find and rewards for exploration rival any previous Zelda and I love that. They lost that in WW and never got it back to the same degree but it's here. So much to find. And it's just a ton of fun, taking LttP and adding the charm that is found in other Zeldas and making it much more accessible and rewarding IMO. It's a game that wants you to complete it.

Really happy with it. A great Zelda game. With this, OoT and LA on the eShop (and the Oracle games and Minish Cap too), the 3DS is the best Zelda machine there is. Hoping for a 3D Majora's Mask next.