That's a good insight. I don't think Skyward Sword lacked the classical Zelda feel, but the lack of exploration was definitely felt. If anything, Skyward Sword is the epitome of what Zelda became starting with Ocarina of Time; Zelda as heroic myth and legend. If you look at the narrative, themes, music and Skyward Sword as the genesis story for the cycle of rebirth of Zelda, Link and Evil/Ganon, Skyward Sword, more so than any other game in the series, is The Legend of Zelda. It's so concerned with the themes and tropes that pervade the series that it sets out to establish them.

That said, the critique of motion control coming at the expense of non-linearity is spot on. I don't think it's relevant as a criticism of Skyward Sword, which I believe is an excellent game regardless of what it doesn't do, but it is an apt and insightful observation of the direction the series needs to take. As much as I love Skyward Sword, I don't want another Zelda game like it. Let's return to taking the sword because it's dangerous to go alone.

Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons to be released on Virtual Console (only Japan confirmed) for 3DS!

Available February 27.

I'd like to play Ages. Too bad is only 3DS and Japan :(

It looks like Aonuma confirmed it will arrive in other territories. Eventually.

Well yes, but I don't have a 3DS... Guess I need one.

At least GBA will come to Wii U, which means Minish Cap!

Zelda Oracle of Ages is the best top-down Zelda of all time to me. This is amazing.

I finally got myself Hyrule Historia and I love it. The first thing I did was to go to the Wind Waker art page.

I hope that the Oracle Duo will release soon in the west. I love Oracle of Seasons.

Neat! I might play these games on the 3DS later on then :D

Check out this opinion piece from Zelda Informer. I copied the final few paragraphs below.

Zelda 3DS Should be in Top-Down 2D Perspective

"Either Nintendo can go all out for an immersive 3D landscape, and this will take much longer and incur many more costs in development. Alternatively, they can decide to make handheld Zelda retain the top-down perspective to keep that classic A Link to the Past feel alive, as well as making things easier and cheaper for themselves.

Looking into Nintendo’s past, if they were to make the decision to keep handheld Zelda 2D it would be no surprise. Four Swords Adventures was a 2D perspective game released onto the Nintendo GameCube between the 3D titles The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. Nintendo knew in that instance that gameplay style through perspective was more important than a 3D world.

Nintendo revived sidescrolling platformers to great success, but the 2D action-adventure game is not quite dead yet. Either it can go to its grave or Nintendo can keep it alive and popular. Nintendo must prove that 2D titles are as viable as ever on the 3DS. They remain their own genre and style, and making Zelda 3DS a top-down adventure is the very way to keep that style alive."

Full article here: http://www.zeldainformer.com/articles/zelda-3ds-should-be-in-top-down-2d-perspective

What do you think? Is top-down 2D the way to go? I added a poll, as well.

What do you want to see?