My largest takeaway from final yr’s Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. was that Nintendo may have, and ought to have, included extra video games. It was a grievance the corporate has kind of addressed with the brand new Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda, leading to a greater handheld for informal play. It’s arguably essential for Zelda followers diving again into the sequence’ origins.

It was assumed that the Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. was a one-off creation timed to coincide with the NES sport’s thirty fifth anniversary, however when the brand new Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda was introduced again in June, it was clear that Nintendo had different plans. More Game & Watch handhelds are in all probability en route for different fashionable Nintendo franchises like Metroid and (dare we dream?) Pokémon, and I’m now OK with that. I nonetheless suppose Nintendo could possibly be doing extra with these gadgets (because it did with the NES and SNES Classic Edition consoles), however the Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda delivers a extra satisfying expertise than its predecessor—assuming you’re in love with The Legend of Zelda franchise.

Very Necessary Hardware Upgrades

Although each Nintendo console from the NES on contains some type of Select and Start buttons on the controller or gamepad, these had been omitted on the Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros., each to raised match the unique design of the retro handhelds, but in addition as a result of the included video games didn’t want them. With the Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo added a set of Select and Start buttons as a result of they’re truly essential to gameplay for stock administration and navigation, not simply pausing the sport.

But except for a pair extra buttons on the entrance and a inexperienced plastic housing as a substitute of crimson, Nintendo hasn’t modified a lot between its Game & Watch revivals. The new handheld nonetheless features a pretty 2.36-inch full coloration LCD display screen with adjustable brightness ranges, controls which can be barely smaller than what the Game Boy included however nonetheless very playable, and an influence button on the aspect subsequent to a USB-C port for charging.

Nintendo additionally added a enjoyable Easter Egg to the Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda handheld: a refined glowing Triforce on the again. I’m not saying you need to run out and drop $50 on the hand-held due to this enjoyable accent, however I’m not not saying that both.

More Games

The video games lineup on the Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. handheld wasn’t precisely nice. Yes, Super Mario Bros. is a traditional and iconic title within the historical past of gaming, however the Japanese sequel, Super Mario Bros. 2, could be impossibly exhausting and irritating at occasions, and the juggling Ball throwback sport was only a reminder of how unhealthy handheld gaming gadgets as soon as had been.

For the Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda, Nintendo has included three full video games as a substitute, in addition to one other primary G&W throwback title known as Vermin now starring Link because the vermin-bashing hero. There’s the unique NES The Legend of Zelda that began all of it again in 1986 and spawned the “it’s dangerous to go alone” meme, the 1988 sequel Zelda II: The Adventure of Link that curiously added numerous side-scrolling components to the sport, and the 1993 The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, which is the primary Game Boy sport to reach on the brand new Game & Watch gadgets.

The NES video games are legitimately enjoyable throwbacks, and whereas the graphics on every now really feel horribly dated, each are literally stable pick-up-and-play titles as you slowly chip away on the bigger quests you’re on. There’s additionally the added bonus that the Game & Watch saves your progress precisely the place you left off, so in case you can’t end a dungeon in time, you received’t end up reset again to the doorway the subsequent time you hop again in. All of the included Zelda video games truly play higher on the Game & Watch.

This time round Nintendo has additionally made the Game & Watch clock mode playable. On the Super Mario Bros. model all you possibly can do was watch Mario autonomously run and bounce throughout every degree, however on the Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda, you’ll be able to take management of Link at any level and struggle baddies in one of many many self-contained ranges that randomly seem with the time show built-in into its design. There’s no rating preserving, and also you don’t advance anyplace in case you slay all of the baddies—all of them simply respawn—however it makes for a pleasant fidget toy in case you’re not within the temper to hop again into any of the complete video games.

The Best Zelda and Game Boy Game of All Time

Please be at liberty to tear me aside within the feedback, however I used to be launched to The Legend of Zelda sequence by way of Link’s Awakening on the Game Boy, and it was simply in regards to the closest factor I’ve ever needed to a gaming epiphany. I performed by way of the sport throughout a two-week household highway journey (I skipped souvenirs for an infinite provide of AAs), and it’s one of many few video games I’m nonetheless prepared to return and play by way of time and again. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is an incredible sport, and Ocarina of Time confirmed us that Zelda in 3D could possibly be nice, however the allure and ease of Link’s Awakening continues to be only a unbelievable expertise.

It’s additionally the very best Game Boy sport of all time so far as I’m involved, with depth and graphics that made the hand-held system really feel extra succesful than I assumed was even doable. There’s a very good motive Nintendo gave Link’s Awakening a large facelift and re-released it on the Switch—it’s nonetheless an excellent sport.

For retro gaming purists, Nintendo has included the choice to vary the display screen dimension of Link’s Awakening so it matches the extra boxy facet ratio of the unique Game Boy, however when stretched out to fill the brand new Game & Watch’s display screen it nonetheless seems nice, and performs simply nearly as good as the unique. However, I’m not totally positive why Nintendo didn’t embrace The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX—the Game Boy Color model of the sport—as a substitute to benefit from the brand new G&W’s full coloration display screen.

The Perfect Stocking Stuffer

If you’re a die-hard Zelda fan, there’s a very good probability you pre-ordered the Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda as quickly because it was introduced, and for $50 it’s a stable technique to not solely discover the sequence’ origins, but in addition play by way of the most effective Zelda video games once more. It’s not the most cost effective stocking stuffer, however it’s exhausting to think about any Nintendo fan feeling upset about being gifted one through the holidays.

At the identical time, it’s additionally proof that Nintendo could possibly be doing a lot extra with these Game & Watch revivals. Thanks to some intelligent hackers we all know these gadgets depend on emulators that merely load domestically saved ROM information, and whereas we already knew the hand-held may deal with Game Boy titles, we now have official proof of that. With the Switch with the ability to play SNES and N64 video games, we additionally know Nintendo has emulators for these consoles too. A Game & Watch: Metroid can be nice, however there’s actually no motive Nintendo couldn’t pack one among these with a roster of video games that rivals its Classic Edition consoles.