As a result of a prestigious award for the title, Nintendo is offering The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition for free to 3DS owners, but only for a limited time.
Update: It appears that only those in North America can access this free download.
After winning GameStop’s 2013 game of the year, Nintendo decided to celebrate with giving away free copies of The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition to all 3DS owners with Internet access.
According to Nintendo, the way to download The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition is fairly simple: “Just go to Nintendo eShop on your Nintendo 3DS or 2DS from Thursday, Jan 30, at 9am (PST) until Sunday, Feb 2, at 11:59pm (PST) to download the game for free!”
Nintendo has gone to great lengths to give away this game in the past, including releasing a cheeky commercial where Robin Williams plays it with his daughter Zelda.
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition originally released for the Nintendo DSi eShop in 2011. The Anniversary Edition of the Game Boy Advance classic added plenty of neat new features, including the ability to play in single player mode, and new upgrade moves for Link. It was similarly offered for free then, but for a more extended period of time of five months.
The official website for the Anniversary version of the game reads, “The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition is a special commemorative version of the 2003 Game Boy Advance release, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past & Four Swords. In it, you’ll embark on an exciting multiplayer adventure filled with action and puzzles as you work to save Princess Zelda from the evil Vaati.”
A small technical note of the multiplayer feature in The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition reads, “You can play with up to four friends at once, as long as each player has a copy of the game installed on their Nintendo 3DS system.”
It might be a good idea to take advantage of this free game before the gift period ends, warns Nintendo’s site: “Grab it while you can: when the offer ends, it might be a while before you see the game again in Nintendo eShop.”