Super Mario 3D Land inspires A Link Between Worlds

In a recent interview from WIRED, Eiji Aonuma admits that the “top-down 3D” feature in Super Mario 3D Land was indeed the inspiration for the layout of A Link Between Worlds during production. As many have already speculated, a link between worlds appeared to resemble the 3D theme that is often compared to with games featuring similarly applied 3D effects as seen in Super Mario 3D Land and even Mario Kart if looked at closely.

Hit the jump for Aonuma’s reason of inspiration!

Wired begins the noted speculation of of the introduced top-down style in A Link Between Worlds.

Wired: I think people are ready for this because of that one level in Super Mario 3D Land where it looked like a top-down Zelda-style game, but in 3-D. It looked pretty cool, that type of top-down gameplay with a 3-D display. I’m assuming you were already well into production on this game before that level came out, but I’m wondering if the reception to that level made you more confident.

Aonuma: That was all Mr. Miyamoto (laughs). Those are Miyamoto’s ideas; he came up with the top-down 3-D in Super Mario 3D Land, and he actually gave me a mission: To work on a 3-D Link to the Past. But I didn’t want to make a remake. I wanted to make a new title but I wasn’t exactly sure how I could incorporate this world into my new project. One of my designers was working on this concept of having Link go into the walls, and being able to access places that he couldn’t get past. If you think about this idea of top down, walking around on the ground and all of a sudden merging with the wall and then the camera angle kind of shifts into this 3-D perspective — if you think about it, maybe Mario Kart is doing something kind of similar to that — but the 3-D representation really matches when you think about shifting between those two perspectives. So that’s when it kind of clicked. And when I looked at how Super Mario 3D Land was also doing the same thing, and the positive reaction it was getting from the users, it did, it reinforced what I was doing and it told me I was on the right track.

Do any of you like the idea of A Link Between Worlds being inspired by Super Mario 3D Land? Or is it about time for a new visual perspective in the new Link Between Worlds or in future Zelda titles? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

Source: WIRED