Will update as much as I can.
Game Informer: 10/10
GameSided: 10/10
Nintendolife: 10/10
GameXplain: 5/5
Joystick: 5/5
CVG: 10/10
Digital Spy: 10/10
Eurogamer Italy: 10/10
EGM: 10/10
GameTrailer: 9.8
Polygon: 9.5
Nintendo World Report: 9.5
4Gamers: 9.5/10
IGN: 9.4
4players: 92%
Gamereactor: 9/10
SixthAxis: 9/10
ShackNews: 9/10
GamesRadar: 4.5/5
GameRevolution: 4.5/5
Metro: 9/10
GameSpot: 9/10
Trusted Reviews: 9/10
Spieletipps: 88/100
JeuxVideo.Com: 17/20
Assosciated Press: 3.5/4
EDGE: 8/10
Eurogamer: 8/10
Gamekult: 8/10
PocketGamer: 8/10
USGamer: 8/10
Destructoid: 6.5
VG24/7: No score
Game Informer: 10/10
I want to let the experience roll around in my brain for a while before I decide where it ranks among the best entries in the franchise, but I can say with confidence that it should be spoken in the same breath as A Link to the Past. In every way, A Link Between Worlds is exactly what you want out of a Zelda game.
GameSided: 10/10
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is a charming refresher to a series that lives, in a way, on nostalgia while also looking to improve for the future. The visuals, gameplay mechanics (both new and old), music and overall presentation and structure make this a game that could very well be the best in the franchise’s history.
Nintendolife: 10/10
Without a doubt, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is currently the greatest game you can experience on the 3DS. Much like the legendary Master Sword that features throughout the series, this game is beautifully crafted and offers a superbly streamlined and timeless gameplay experience. Through Link’s new transformation ability Nintendo has instilled a magical amount of innovation into the dungeons, boss battles and even the wider exploration of both Hyrule and Lorule; it’s a small feature which makes a world of difference and continuously wows you throughout the entirety of your playthrough. In other areas, Nintendo has made all the right changes to the gameplay formula, resulting in a game that is always incredibly good fun to play. Long-time fans will certainly get a kick out of its nostalgic presentation, while all players will appreciate its impeccable design and superb usage of the 3DS's touch screen.
GameXplain: 5/5
Joystick: 5/5
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is a perfect handheld Zelda experience, offering the classic gameplay you cherish at a snappier pace. Link's new 2D ability, combined with the nonlinear progression, provide a flexibility that makes exploring the land – both Hy and Lo – exciting all over again.
CVG: 10/10
Nintendo has embraced Zelda's heritage but doesn't fear change, resulting in the series' best handheld game yet
+ Nostalgic overworld with a new perspective
+ Among 2D Zelda's best dungeons & bosses
+ Brilliant use of 3D
+ Incredible soundtrack & presentation
Digital Spy: 10/10
Painting over any cracks that were starting to appear in the Zelda series, A Link Between Worlds is a refreshing experience and another Nintendo 3DS masterpiece.
Eurogamer Italy: 10/10
EGM: 10/10
For 26 years, I’ve been waiting for a true follow-up to the first Legend of Zelda, a game that captured my imagination and catapulted me into becoming a lifelong fan of action-adventures and role-playing games. A Link Between Worlds recognizes that it’s not tacked-on stealth segments or waggling a controller to roll bombs that makes Zelda tick—it’s the unbounded exploration and freedom found in the NES original, and it’s finally back in full force here. Every Zelda fan needs to play this game.
The Good Dispenses with tutorial nonsense and gets right into the action; gives players the freedom to explore Hyrule the way they want.
The Bad No option to turn off dungeon locations on the map; Normal mode might be a little easy for Zelda veterans.
The Ugly The insults leveled at the game’s visuals from some corners of the Internet. Don’t believe these lies—A Link Between Worlds looks spectacular in motion.
GameTrailer: 9.8
Polygon: 9.5
But these moments pale in comparison to the elegant combination of simple mechanics and incredible design sophistication that Nintendo layers on top of them. A Link Between Worlds is at once accessible and incredibly deep. It displays a stunning fearlessness. Tweaking and completely redefining the basic concepts of the series might have been risk enough. But Nintendo has been shockingly cavalier with one of the most beloved games ever. The result is the sequel I never knew I wanted — and one of my favorite games of 2013.
Nintendo World Report: 9.5
Pros
Awesome music
Excellent puzzles and controls
Fun new gameplay concepts
Great sense of exploration
Just as good as Link to the Past
Cons
Hews too closely to Link to the Past's world and structure
4Gamers: 9.5/10
The development of this game sure was a bold move, but we're happy Nintendo did it. To break with a modern tradition in order to honor an old formula was daring, but much afforded. To veterans A Link Between Worlds is a succesful ode to the Hyrule from a bygone era and to newcomers it's a beautiful introduction. It's everything a Zelda game should be and a more than worthy successor to A Link to the Past.
IGN: 9.4
What could have been an easy sequel that traded on past glories is instead a compelling argument for digging up the foundations of Zelda and seeing what happens - rather like Wind Waker did 10 years ago. A Link Between Words is not a total revolution, but it may very well be the start of one. I haven’t been so challenged by a Zelda since Ocarina of Time, and rarely have I been so consistently surprised by one.
Between Worlds recaptures the spirit of adventure that gave the early games Zelda their potency, and lays out a vision for Zelda games still to come. It invites them - and us, the long-term fans - to let go of conventions that may have been comforting, but were ultimately holding us back. It’s at once intensely nostalgic and powerfully novel, unpatronising and cerebral. As a Zelda fan, I couldn’t wish for much more.
4players: 92%
Gamereactor: 9/10
SixthAxis: 9/10
A Link Between Worlds is perhaps the greatest handheld adventure that the series has offered. It really shows what the system can do, and it’s as if the 3DS was building up to this moment, only now realising its true potential with 3D playing a big part in the level design, and 2D wall-walking playing a huge part in the gameplay.
It’s true that the new item system might be seen as too much of a deviation, but it really opens up the potential of the two worlds and makes each adventure more unique. It’s a tougher experience, and clearly built for fans, though with a curve suitable enough for newcomers too. You should know what The Legend of Zelda offers by now – unparalleled level design, excellent music, an intriguing story and a core mechanic that feels completely natural and necessary.
And you shouldn’t expect anything less than that from A Link Between Worlds.
ShackNews: 9/10
Quite honestly, I didn't realize Nintendo still knew how to make a Zelda game at this level of sheer quality. Though A Link Between Worlds may not become an enduring classic through the decades like A Link to the Past, it stands as a worthwhile successor and a modern masterpiece in its own right.
GamesRadar: 4.5/5
Zelda: A Link Between Worlds brings the outstanding gameplay of the SNES prequel to the 3DS in a well-crafted adventure that will give you a rush of nostalgia. With interesting new characters, atypical series gameplay elements, and fantastic 3D visuals, Link's next adventure is a must play.
GameRevolution: 4.5/5
A Link Between Worlds gets fearless and distinguishes itself from the franchise’s history. On top of that, Link, Zelda, Rovio, and some of the best bosses Zelda fans will ever fight turn that history on its head, both narratively and mechanically. This is another must-play 3DS game and a compelling adventure for anyone traveling this holiday season or curling up with a good game at home.
Metro: 9/10
In Short: One of the best Zelda games of all time and one which manages to quietly rewrite the series’ usual formula in some surprising, and surprisingly successful, ways.
Pros: Some of the very best dungeons in the whole series and two overworlds teeming with secrets and extras. New rental system for items and non-linear exploration works very well.
Cons: The game’s a little too easy, which slightly undermines some of the new ideas. Unashamedly rubbish graphics and unremarkable bosses.
GameSpot: 9/10
THE GOOD
Some of the best Zelda dungeons in years
Item renting gives you more control
Difficult enough to provide a challenge
Plenty of secrets and collectibles waiting to be unearthed
THE BAD
Can sometimes feel a little too familiar
Trusted Reviews: 9/10
Pros
Classic Zelda gameplay with some bold new twists
Excellent use of 3D
Big, brilliant and immersive
Cons
Not as charming or stylish as The Wind Waker and its off-shoots
Occasionally frustrating
A Link Between Worlds has one foot embedded in the series’ past and one foot firmly in its future, and the result is another classic Legend of Zelda. It doesn’t have the visual flair of The Wind Waker and its DS progeny, but it makes up for it with fresher gameplay, some brilliant new ideas and a more freewheeling style of epic adventure. Handheld games don’t get any better.
Spieletipps: 88/100
JeuxVideo.Com: 17/20
Assosciated Press: 3.5/4
"A Link Between Worlds" is exactly what anyone could want out of a hand-held "Zelda" adventure. That's also its greatest deficiency. The game's open 3-D world is a welcome — and much needed — change to the been-there-grabbed-that formula of past "Zelda" titles. There's nothing all that unexpected about "A Link Between Worlds." Three-and-a-half stars out of four.
EDGE: 8/10
Nintendo’s nervousness around punishment, for fear of putting off newcomers, continues to undermine ALBW’s attempts at novelty. Why scavenge for potion ingredients or upgrade weapons with Maiamai babies when the quest is perfectly suited to a base-level Link? Redundant ideas don’t spoil the journey, but they do cloud Nintendo’s true achievement: balancing a playerled adventure and building obstacles to satisfy an infinite variety of Links. The inability to predict what gadgets we’ll bring into every dungeon proves to be a boon, forcing their architects to drop well-rehearsed routines in favour of genuine surprises. Even the trusty old hookshot has something new to say.
But it is one voice in a game of many, an adventure that simultaneously channels nostalgia for a certain place, a taste for a perspective and an eye for harnessing Nintendo’s idiosyncratic platforms. Are there too many variables to draw valid conclusions from the game’s experiments with Zelda’s form? Perhaps not – at least the Hyrule of old acts as a safety net while Nintendo performs its fan-defying acts above.
Eurogamer: 8/10
It's often been said that A Link to the Past is a game set inside a puzzle. That means A Link Between Worlds is buried at least two layers deep, as it's a game set within A Link to the Past. But that's both the pleasure and the pain of Zelda, isn't it? A tale endlessly retold, wrongs endlessly righted, a map endlessly tweaked and embellished and folded back on itself. If, heaven forbid, this was the last Zelda ever, I couldn't think of a more fitting tribute to the series' strange ritualistic preoccupations than this cheerful, slight, and ultimately rather strange game. It won't be, of course - and that's more than fine, too.
Gamekult: 8/10
PocketGamer: 8/10
A Link Between Worlds will be remembered for its radical sequence-breaking shift to the formula. But its unremarkable dungeons, overly familiar world, and straightforward design will make this more of a footnote in the Zelda saga.
USGamer: 8/10
A Link Between Worlds impressed me. It's probably up there with my favorite Zelda games, Ocarina of Time and Link's Awakening. It may even be better, but nostalgia is the fog that clouds up my view into the past, so I can't be certain without returning to those titles. Either way, it's a big improvement on the Zelda presented in Skyward Sword, and I hope Nintendo takes some of the mechanics from here into the console versions.
Destructoid: 6.5
A Link Between World's main problem at the end of the day is a complete lack of heart. There's no defining moment, no memorable villains or characters, and no truly "new" items that make their mark on the series. It's certainly playable in every sense of the word, but I didn't feel the magic I had felt so many times before.
In fact, the only real legacy it leaves behind beyond being a serviceable Zelda game is its welcome streamlining, which I hope is carried over to future iterations. It's a great way to return to the world of Link to the Past, but outside of some welcome streamlining, it doesn't surpass it, or even meet it.
VG24/7: No score
In many ways, this adventure around Hyrule lives up to its title. It feels like a link between the world of Nintendo’s usually impeccable design and that of less capable designers who often seek out shortcuts. Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma has admitted that he’s wanted to try something new with A Link Between Worlds but that something has resulted in a coarse mix of old and new. Its brilliance is all too fleeting and so instead of evoking appreciative wonder while it lasts it simply makes me sad for all the places it hasn’t gone.
It’s tough for Nintendo, because in many ways it has a design standard to measure up to that is not always applied with the same vigour to other developers. But it’s a standard of its own making and while it has moments of greatness A Link Between Worlds often feels like it’s standing on the shoulders of giants. Sadly, it’s not the link to my past that I was hoping for.
