Nintendo Announces A Link to the Past 2

Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 2 may be gracing the 3DS by the end of the year.

Rejoice, ye Zelda faithful! The second-best Zelda game is getting a long-overdue, handheld sequel. Nintendo announced The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 2 during today’s Nintendo Direct event. The game is a direct sequel to the SNES original, and despite Nintendo’s promise that it features a new storyline and new dungeons, it appears to use the same overworld layout.

“What we want to achieve with this new Zelda game is to reinvigorate the flat 2D world of A Link To The Past with the sense of height and volume using the three-dimensional display of Nintendo 3DS,” explains Reggie Fils-Aime. “With it, it’s easier to differentiate levels in the environment and we can truly utilize height differences in dungeons as a puzzle-solving mechanic. While this game is set in the game world of A Link To The Past it features entirely new dungeons and an original story arc.”

New additions to the now-traditional Zelda formula include a giant hammer our silent protagonist can use to crush platforms/enemies and a rather interesting mechanic that lets Link transform himself into a two dimensional wall painting. Nintendo hasn’t released any details about the game’s controls, but the presence of an on-screen “A button” prompt might indicate it’ll use the traditional D-pad control scheme, rather than the rather unwieldy stylus controls the last two handheld Zelda efforts have been saddled with.

If you want to see what the game will look like in eye-searing 3D, you can download a 3D-enabled version of the debut trailer from the Nintendo eShop right now.