It may be a little late in arriving there for some fans, but Nintendo's 1992 SNES masterpiece The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is finally coming to the Wii U eShop this week on December 12. (In Europe, at least. No word yet on a North American release date, though it's safe to assume that the wait won't be long in the States either.)

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The recently released The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds for Nintendo's 3DS serves as a direct sequel to A Link to the Past, featuring a remarkably similar overworld map and a tale that takes place a few generations after the 16-bit game's story. (A Link Between Worlds is even numbered as a "2" sequel to A Link to the Past in Japan.) Because of the two games' close connections, many Nintendo fans thought the company would bring the original adventure to Wii U before the 3DS game launched.Well, that didn't happen. But at least we haven't had to wait long after the 3DS game's debut to have the opportunity to revisit its inspiration, as A Link Between Worlds only just went on sale for 3DS a couple of weeks ago.If you've previously downloaded A Link to the Past as a Virtual Console title on your Wii system, you'll be able to upgrade to the new Wii U version for just $1.50. In North America, Club Nintendo is currently offering download codes for the Wii VC version for 150 coins. So you could spend 150 coins and $1.50 combined to play ALTTP on your Wii U soon, rather than paying the full $7.99 that it will run as its normal price in the Wii U eShop.If you'd like to read more about A Link to the Past, check out my review of the Wii Virtual Console version from roughly seven years ago . It was one of my earliest IGN reviews and a bit controversial at the time, so I might just be inviting a new wave of criticism by linking to that article from the past – but hey, it's the Internet! Controversy is its fuel.

Lucas M. Thomas has been writing for IGN since Nintendo's active console was still the GameCube. You can follow him on Twitter, @lucasmthomas