One of Link’s new abilities in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is actually a reference to a very dark part of Nintendo’s history.
As revealed during the Tears of the Kingdom gameplay demo, Link will gain a number of new abilities in the Breath of the Wild sequel, including Fuse, Ultrahand, and Ascend. It turns out that one of these new abilities is a very obvious reference to an older Nintendo product. If you didn’t already know, the ability we’re talking about is Ultrahand, which bears the same name as a toy produced by Nintendo in 1966.
To play with the toy, its users had to hold the two handles on the end of the plastic rod which, when pulled apart and brought together at the correct angle, allowed players to control one set of grippers to the other. end of the bar. the toy. The object of the game was to catch and collect balls with that big claw set which, now that we’re used to things like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, seems to be getting old pretty quickly.
Regardless of its simplicity, the Ultra Hand would have worked pretty well in the ’60s, cementing it firmly as part of Nintendo’s long history. Since then, it has appeared in subsequent Nintendo products, such as various WarioWare titles, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and even Mario Kart 8.
Going back to Tears of the Kingdom, as we saw in the new gameplay trailer, Link’s new Ultrahand ability allows him to pick up objects and move them where he wants while keeping his distance from the world. ‘object. See where the idea came from to call this ability Ultrahand. He came from? It looks like Link will be able to use this ability to craft things like rafts, flying machines, and even the makeshift car we saw him driving in a previous trailer.
Many exciting things were announced during the 10-minute presentation, but perhaps the most exciting was the reveal of the Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Nintendo Switch OLED console and corresponding Tears of the Kingdom Pro controller. .
If you’re desperate to get your hands on the console, take a look at our where to pre-order the Legend of Zelda Nintendo Switch OLED guide.