Parent's Guide: The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - Age rating, mature content and difficulty

Much like other games in The Legend of Zelda series, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds sends the eternal green-garbed hero Link out on another adventure to save the world from destruction. When art-obsessed bad guy Yuga creates a rift to pass into Link's home of Hyrule, rounds up the descendants of the Seven Sages and turns them into paintings, before legging it back through the portal to his home world of Lorule, things aren't looking too great for the once green and pleasant land. Things quickly get worse when the dastardly Yuga uses the power of the Seven Sages to awaken the series' ultimate bad guy Ganon - and it's up to Link to round up the paintings, save the princess and save the world all over again.

Essentially an adventure game, the bulk of your time is spent exploring the lands of Hyrule and Lorule, working your way through their multi-floor dungeons, each packed full of puzzles, enemies and locked doors - here your brain is as big an asset as your brawn, as you work your way to the boss on the final floor. Each dungeon tends to be themed around a single piece of equipment, such as a wind-summoning tornado rod, a heavy hammer or bombs to blast through fragile walls, which you'll need to reach the end - helpfully marked out by the stone pedestals at each dungeons' entrance. Unlike previous Zelda games, A Link Between Worlds lets you rent whichever piece of equipment you like from the outset, and as such, leaves you to complete the game's dungeons in whichever order you see fit - the only catch being that if you fall in battle, you lose your rented equipment and need to re-buy it at Ravio's store. Such open-ended-ness may pose a problem for younger kids, however, particularly when they re-enter a level after having died and wonder where their bow and arrow went.

It's also worth bearing in mind that once you cross over into Lorule (as well as in some of the more remote areas of Hyrule), the enemies you encounter get a lot harder - it's not uncommon to have a single fire-breathing minotaur sap 90% of your health with a single blow. Generally speaking, you can work out a way round via clever use of your equipment, but it could be frustrating for those who lack the co-ordination or fast reactions required. Another issue is that A Link Between Worlds is not voiced, and instead relies entirely on text to convey the story and tell you where to head next - so a decent reading ability is a must.

While little Link may spend most of his time trudging through dungeons armed with swords, bombs and bows, running into plenty of enemies along the way, what violence there is is rather cartoon-y. Fighting against skeletons, caterpillar-like monsters and cyclopses, enemies simply get bumped away when hit before disappearing in a puff of smoke or stars once defeated.

Age Ratings

Format Reviewed: Nintendo 3DS