By Steven Kent
THE FUTURE OF ZELDA IS UP IN THE AIR
Nintendo has always been tight-lipped about its Legend of Zelda games.
All we know about The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Nintendo for Switch) is that it is coming out in May.
Previews show Link, the elfin-hero of the Legend of Zelda games, standing on impossibly high ledges, hang gliding and battling a giant creature using a flame-shooting shield.
As the sequel of 2017’s Breath of the Wild, Tears takes place in the recently rescued kingdom of Hyrule. Link and Princess Zelda have presumably banished Calamity Ganon, the evil sorcerer who captured the kingdom, but something has clearly gone wrong.
Tears will give you a huge world to explore, armies of enemies to defeat, magic to learn, weapons to master and puzzles to solve. If this sounds like every other adventure game, it’s because The Legend of Zelda defined the adventure game genre.
Look for Tears of the Kingdom to be a top pick for best game of the year.
FORZA MOTORSPORT
The Forza Motorsports series includes enormous lists of cars, and the Forza 7 had 700 cars and 32 tracks. Microsoft isn’t releasing many details about the Forza 8 (Xbox Game Studios for Xbox Series XJS, PC), scheduled for release this spring.
The only thing we know is that it will have 4K resolution running at 60 frames per second. In other words, you’ll need to stare hard to know it’s not real.
Gamers can also expect hundreds of cars, dozens of tracks and changeable weather.
SHUMI COME HOME
(Mooneye Studios for Switch, PC)
Shumi is an adorable 2-inch-tall mushroom that gets lost in the woods. Help the little spore find its way home. Also help Shumi climb obstacles with a fishing hook, hang glide on a leaf and gather crystals. Along the way, meet forest-friendly creatures, go on quests and keep a journal of the different varieties of mushrooms encountered — kind of like a family photo album.
KIRBY’S RETURN TO DREAM LAND DELUXE
(Nintendo for Switch)
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land is making its debut on Switch as a four-player adventure. You can copy enemies’ abilities and use their powers against them. There’s also the Mecha Copy Ability, which lets gamers use laser blast. The best part is that everyone can play as Kirby at the same time! You can also take a break from your adventure and play any of the three subgames.
FUN FACT
When he first swung into action in a videogame, Spider-Man looked like the image on the left. This is Spider-Man for the Atari 2600, a second-generation videogame console with a 128-color palette. Now on the ninth-generation PlayStation 5, Spider-Man looks like the image on the right.
Be the first to comment