Nintendo says a Zelda 3DS game is playable via Switch Online, prompting hopes for ports

An official The Legend of Zelda website has listed the 3DS title A Link Between Worlds as available on Nintendo Switch Online, leading to speculation that the handheld's library could be coming to the service.

The Legend of Zelda fans are in a pretty good place when it comes to the series on Switch. If you have a Switch 2, you have access to every mainline entry in the series barring Four Swords Adventures, Twilight Princess, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, A Link Between Worlds, and the somehow considered mainline Tri Force Heroes. And while Four Swords Adventures and Twilight Princess are on the cards thanks to the GameCube Nintendo Switch Online app, the handheld titles are generally seen as unlikely due to their dual screens.

However, on the Zelda Game History page on the Nintendo website, some have noticed an interesting disclaimer. You can click on each game to see a blurb about it, and with the games that are available to play on Nintendo Switch Online, there's a little mark showing this. Naturally this is present on the original NES game, Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker and the like, however, it's also present on The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds for the 3DS.

Obviously, there currently isn't a 3DS app available on Switch or Switch 2, and in theory, next in line would be the Wii, DS, and 3DS before we reach the Wii U – which already has all of its major titles on Switch – and then the Switch era itself. Theoretically, A Link Between Worlds would be easier to make work than the DS duology due to the second screen effectively being a menu screen.

However, I'm not sure I'd get my hopes up. Firstly, if the Game Boy Advance is exclusive to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack users, there's no way that the 3DS would be on the regular Nintendo Switch Online subscription. And as a user on Reddit points out, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages – which is already on Switch Online and specifically as part of the non-Expansion Pack subscription – is missing its "Playable with Nintendo Switch Online" label, so it's likely somehow been mixed up with A Link Between Worlds.

That being said, it does hammer home that Nintendo is currently letting one of the best Legend of Zelda games of all-time remain unplayable on modern hardware since the 3DS store was discontinued, so a 3DS Nintendo Switch Online would be appreciated, as many of the other comments on Reddit prove.

Check out our The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time review.