If you played the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, you owe it to yourself to experience Nintendo’s latest masterpiece in the Zelda franchise, the Nintendo 3DS’ A Link Between Worlds. Rife with SNES throwbacks and nostalgia, A Link Between Worlds also features the kinds of quality in execution, art, music, sound, and general direction that the gaming world has come to expect from Nintendo.

Even if you have never played a Zelda game before, this 3DS game is a good place to start the series and, likely, your love of one of video gaming’s most hallowed franchises. We’re in awe so far at how awesome the game is and, really, didn’t expect to be as in love with it because it was a “remake” of sorts and not, as hoped, something new and exciting. While it isn’t a remake in the full sense, it is new and exciting – the gameplay is so updated and fresh that A Link Between Worlds comfortably stands on its own and is distinct enough to be considered as its own entity entirely.

That said, either there is a formula for this level of quality or Nintendo has happened upon it by chance again because it is AMAZING to encounter a game that not only rivals the Super Nintendo’s A Link to the Past but also, in many ways, surpasses it. A tall order for a game that revisit’s a world that is almost twenty years old, and emblematic of Nintendo’s ability to spin new meaning and nuance into familiar game settings. We’ll be back with a full review as soon as we get through more of the game but, as you can tell, we highly recommend its purchase without reservation.