Hyrule Warriors is coming to 3DS with Wind Wakers Tetra and Daphnes as stowaways

Get ready for mobs of moblins and legions of lizalfos to come at you in 3D, because Hyrule Warriors is headed to 3DS. Koei Tecmo announced a handheld port of last year's Wii U exclusive with a since-pulled Japanese video showing off the 3DS version's new look and characters.

The basic game structure seems to be the same (slightly simplified Dynasty Warriors with tons of Zelda fan service), with the battle map and easy-switch character portraits on the lower screen instead of the GamePad. The visuals are a bit simplified, and all the characters now have slight Super Smash Bros. for 3DS-style black outlines to set them off from lower-res backgrounds.

Judging by the box art, it doesn't seem that Hyrule Warriors for 3DS will be exclusive to the New 3DS models, which makes me wonder how the game will perform on older hardware, since even the Wii U wheezed a bit in big co-op battles. The Wii U version also gave out in-game items for scanning amiibo, which is natively supported on New 3DS but requires a not-yet-released NFC adapter for old systems.

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Either way, the 3DS version will also come with two exclusive characters straight from Wind Waker: Tetra and King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule. Their cartoonish proportions are a bit unnerving next to the semi-realistic regular cast, but Tetra blasts fools with a flintlock pistol and Daphnes can turn into a boat, so… worth it.

It looks like you'll be able to unlock Tetra and King Hyrule for the Wii U version through some kind of 3DS / Wii U cross-link, too. Koei Tecmo dubbed the trailer an "E3 announcement," so we should find out more about Hyrule Warriors on 3DS next week.

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