- author, Tom Richardson
- Role, BBC Newsbeat
Nintendo has announced that Princess Zelda will star in her own game.
Over the past 40 years, it has lent its name to one of the most popular Japanese gaming giant series.
But the Legend of Zelda series has thrown players into the role of Hylian hero Link.
That’s all about to change with Echoes of Wisdom, the new title revealed in the company’s Nintendo Direct preview stream.
During a short trailer, fans watched Link get swallowed by a supernatural portal, leaving the princess behind.
The game uses the same top-down perspective and cartoon-style graphics seen in the 2019 remake of the Game Boy classic Link’s Awakening.
In the trailer, Zelda is seen conjuring replicas of items and enemies found in the world in order to solve puzzles and fight enemies.
Perhaps the biggest reveal of the 40-minute trailer for players was the grand finale – a long-awaited look at Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
First announced in 2017, it is the long-awaited sequel to the critically acclaimed first-person adventure series that launched on the Nintendo Gamecube.
In a brief preview, fans watched bounty hunter Samus Aran navigate an alien planet and use her famous shape-ball ability to traverse the world.
Nintendo CEO Shinya Takahashi, who presented the event, warned fans that they would have to “wait a little longer” for the game’s 2025 release.
And no Nintendo Direct event would be complete without a certain plumber.
The latest opened with footage from Mario & Luigi: Brothership – a colorful RPG starring the duo.
Along with a host of third-party titles and updates in the rest of the show, there was also another glimpse at Lego Horizon Adventures.
Sony’s beloved brick-and-mortar platforming mix and futuristic open-world adventure is being released under the PlayStation Publishing label.
This follows in the footsteps of Microsoft, which announced it would bring Xbox exclusive games to competing platforms earlier this year.
Nintendo previously made it clear that it would not be revealing any details about the successor to the Nintendo Switch at its latest live presentation.
But the reveal of Metroid in particular has fans wondering if any of the titles they’ve just watched will appear on it.
Some big Nintendo games are released when a new console goes on sale, such as Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which is available on two consoles.
With a successor to the Switch on the horizon, most were expecting a fairly quiet 2024 for Nintendo.
However, it is worth noting that the original version has sold more than 130 million units since its release in 2017.
And while the upcoming Mario and Zelda games may not be major sequels, they have shown that the company can always rely on two of its most popular series to keep fans excited.
Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays – or listen back here.
More Stories
Nintendo is launching a music app with themes from Mario and Zelda, and more importantly, a Wii Shop channel
The Google Pixel Tablet 3 will take another step towards replacing your laptop
Apple still excels at building the best computers