Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda Reviews

Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda is ranked in the 96th percentile of games scored on OpenCritic.
Jun 16, 2019

The Legend of Zelda series has one of the most beloved video game scores, and for a good reason. From the sweeping melodies that play as your enter Hyrule field, the rhythmic beat of drums on death mountain, the relaxing twang of Romani Ranch, and everything in between, the music is an integral part of what makes going on an adventure in Hyrule so wonderful. Cadence of Hyrule aims to take those familiar songs and remix them into something familiar, but new and capable of delivering the signature Crypt of the NecroDancer gameplay. Does Cadence of Hyrule succeed at this? Or does it have two left feet? Read on in this Rapid Review to find out.

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9 / 10.0
Jun 24, 2019

Borrowing from Crypt of the Necromancer's DNA, Cadence of Hyrule is a fantastic fusion between roguelike and rhythm with beautiful visuals, sharp gameplay, and a soundtrack fans the world over will love.

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90%
Aug 1, 2019

Cadence of Hyrule is a fantastic mix of two great series: The Legend Of Zelda and Crypt of The NecroDancer. It takes the best elements of both properties and marries them perfectly into what I’d consider an instant classic.

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9 / 10.0
Jun 17, 2019

So here we are at the conclusion. Is Cadence of Hyrule a great game? Hell yes. Is it a good ZELDA game? HELL. YES. Is it the best Zelda spin-off game? I don’t think you could ever top it, to be completely honest.

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Mike Epstein
Top Critic
8.8 / 10.0
Jun 18, 2019

Cadence of Hyrule takes the ideas of Crypt of the Necrodancer and the Legend of Zelda and mashes them up to find a distinctively fun gameplay groove.

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8.8 / 10.0
Jun 20, 2019

A quirky roguelike adventure surprisingly built around the mechanics of a rhythm game: the result is a Zelda that's surely different from the norm, yet one that has little to envy to all the other chapters (even from the most acclaimed).

Review in Italian | Read full review

8.8 / 10.0
Jun 14, 2019

Thanks to his brilliant gameplay, the catchy soundtrack and the lovely presentation, Cadence of Hyrule is not just a great spin-off to the legend of zelda series, it shows in an impressive way the abilities of indipendent developers, when big publishers give them their trust. An absolute must-buy for fans of zelda, roguelike and rhytmgames and everything, which it needs for.

Review in German | Read full review

88%
Jul 11, 2019

Brace Yourself Games, creators of the rhythm-based dungeon crawler Crypt of the NecroDancer, have been given the keys to the kingdom of Hyrule, imbuing the signature gameplay of the original while mixing in all the characters, locations and melodies you love from the Zelda universe. What results is a clever blend of action and music that might be the best Zelda spinoff in history.

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XGN.nl
Top Critic
8.8 / 10.0
Jun 21, 2019

Cadence of Hyrule is one of the best Zelda spin-offs to ever appear on a console. Brace Yourself Games can be proud on this achievement as it manages to combine the music elements of Crypt of the Necrodancer with Zelda.

Review in Dutch | Read full review

8.7 / 10.0
Jun 19, 2019

Cadence of Hyrule is a fresh take on the the Legend of Zelda series: visuals are great as the Baranowsky's soundtrack and it feels like a proper Zelda game, but indie. It's a win-win situation.

Review in Italian | Read full review

Dave Aubrey
Top Critic
8.6 / 10.0
Jun 19, 2019

Cadence of Hyrule ends up being a shocking blend of a rhythm game, action game, puzzle game, dungeon crawler, and roguelike, all in one. It's actually pretty stunning how well the developers have managed to blend all of these elements together and still come out with a cohesive and refined experience. The game looks amazing, plays marvelously, and the music is not only the most important part, but it's the part that delivers the best. The Crypt of the NecroDancer formula isn't for everyone, but this game is borderline unmissable.

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8.5 / 10.0
Jun 14, 2019

Crypt of the Necrodancer and The Legend of Zelda come together in a wonderful crossover. Both essences mix very well in a video game that is fun, addictive and challenging. Once you pick up the rhythm you can't stop.

Review in Spanish | Read full review

85 / 100
Jun 20, 2019

Cadence of Hyrule is a perfect blend of classic Legend of Zelda adventure with roguelite rhythm gameplay. It's a short adventure that can sometimes feel too difficult and chaotic for its own good, but it's worth sticking through to the end. Not only is it a tremendously fun game, its new take on Hyrule is a joy to explore.

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85 / 100
Jun 22, 2019

Vibrant Zelda spin-off, which weaves the two templates together congenially and offers an unused, new Zelda feel.

Review in German | Read full review

8.5 / 10.0
Jun 22, 2019

Cadence of Hyrule is a lovingly crafted, challenging, but rewarding ode to 30 years of music.

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8.5 / 10.0
Jun 16, 2019

Learning an enemies movement pattern has always been a part of Zelda and in Cadence of Hyrule it's no different, if not more important.

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Spaziogames
Top Critic
8.2 / 10.0
Jun 16, 2019

Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer featuring The Legend of Zelda is the perfect example of how to mix wonderfully two distant worlds.

Review in Italian | Read full review

8.2 / 10.0
Nov 25, 2020

SNES flair and a really good soundtrack are a good basis for a video game. All in all, the difficulty level of Cadence of Hyrule - Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda is noticeably lower than NecroDancer, but for the target group it is certainly still relatively high. If this is not enough, simply activate permanent death in the settings. Personally, the game demanded a lot of patience from me, especially in the beginning. It wasn't until I finished Cadence of Hyrule that I got a taste of NecroDancer, which I found to be much harder. Nevertheless, I describe the gameplay as easy to learn, but difficult to master. Mistakes are severely punished and often result in a loading screen and the loss of all rubies. A run-through of the story doesn't take that long, but the randomly generated map offers a certain amount of replayability, although exactly this can lead to frustration under certain circumstances. A vicious circle! 🙂 For me personally, the difference between Link and Zelda was/is not big enough. The characters are quite similar, but all in all, Cadence of Hyrule - Crypt of the NecroDancer Featuring The Legend of Zelda can definitely be recommended, especially since it's not really expensive with an RRP of 24.99€.

Review in German | Read full review

Metro GameCentral
Top Critic
8 / 10
Jun 19, 2019

A clever mash-up of two very different games that perfectly evokes the best of 2D Zelda while integrating the surprisingly tactical rhythm action combat of Crypt Of The NecroDancer.

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8 / 10
Jun 24, 2019

The mash-up of Zelda's style and structure with Crypt of the NecroDancer's gameplay go together like peanut butter and chocolate.

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