Nintendo is celebrating The Legend of Zelda’s 40th anniversary in many different ways, but one detail on the company’s official website raised confusion–and curiosity– about a classic 3DS Zelda game.
A “History” page on Nintendo’s website lists every mainline Zelda game in release order, including the release date and which platforms you can play for each entry. The site marks every game that’s playable for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers–and the 2013 3DS game The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds was marked as such. The NSO icon has since been removed from the site.
Currently, the Nintendo Classics library allows NSO subscribers to play select NES, SNES, and Game Boy games, while the Expansion Pack subscription includes access to Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, and Virtual Boy games. There’s currently no way to play 3DS games on Nintendo Switch, prompting the question of whether this was an error on Nintendo’s website or an accidental leak that A Link Between Worlds will somehow be playable on Switch. GameSpot has reached out to Nintendo for clarification on the matter.
The site appropriately labels the Zelda games featured on Nintendo Classics if they are only playable with the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack subscription, which applies to Ocarina of Time (the original), Majora’s Mask, A Link to the Past/Four Swords on GBA, The Wind Waker, and The Minish Cap.
If this labeling for A Link Between Worlds were true, it would be surprising if the Expansion Pack were not required to play it. Nintendo Classics also lacks any Wii or DS games, so jumping straight to 3DS would be a bizarre move for the service.
Whatever the case, A Link Between Worlds is a magnificent entry in the Zelda series that deserves to be experienced. GameSpot’s 9/10 review of the game called it an “absolute treat to play” with some of the “best Zelda dungeons in years.”
