3D Dot Game Heroes

But there's a problem with riffing on the classics, even if you're doing it as openly, as guilelessly, as this: Zelda may have inspired 3D Dot Game Heroes, but, judging by the first few hours, 3D Dot Game Heroes struggles to be as inspired as Zelda. The first dungeon is a little too drab: move blocks, hit switches, bust up skeletons and - in a moment I genuinely don't know how I feel about - collect a boomerang, and the boss is serviceable rather than memorable.

These things are traditions that even Zelda itself is starting to choke on a little, and here the intricate deviousness of the most workmanlike of Hyrule's own temples is missing. That's a punishingly high standard to hold Silicon's designers to, obviously - but they're the ones inviting the comparison.

Reviewing the Japanese version, Keza MacDonald said that a knowing script would probably help things along if the game came to the UK, which it now is doing this May. It's a delicate balance, however: a script that's too knowing could turn 3D Dot Game Heroes into the RPG equivalent of one of those wretched LOLcats saying "I Can Haz Mastersord?"

The translation seems to be a goodie, thankfully: its understated wit is never too arch or too smug, but always manages to acknowledge that the game takes place in a bottled universe, and that the bottle bobs about on tides drawn this way and that by little more than nostalgia.

The announcement of "Life Up Get!" when you collect an extra piece of health is about as far as things slide towards the realms of the painfully trendy, and for most of the time the game prefers to mirror the tone of the original Zeldas - and throw in more than a few nods to other series too - rather than deconstruct the earlier titles or shatter them into memes.

It's likely that the game's air of innocence will see it through for most players: this is a fan or a groupie more than a thief, when you get down to motivation, and the fact that it's getting a worldwide release must indicate that Nintendo tacitly approves.

At times, however, that means 3D Dot Game Heroes gives way to that special kind of awkwardness you only get when watching a very good cover act: there's great technique and enthusiasm on display, but the brilliance of the mimicry can leave you feeling further removed from the genuine article than you were at the start. With so much talent, why are they playing somebody else's songs?

For the first few hours at least, this is a loving rerun of Zelda rather than a particularly artful re-imagining, and Silicon Studio adds little on the creative side beyond the new perspective and the editor. Without anything to call its own, it looks to be a pleasure, but a slightly guilty one. Chances are that you will love it; chances are that it will just about earn that love.