Echo Isle is a pint-sized adventure inspired by classic Zelda

《Echo Isle》：一款致敬经典《塞尔达》的微型冒险游戏

Echo Isle is heavily inspired by The Legend of Zelda, and it’s not afraid to show it: The retro graphics bear a striking resemblance to Link’s Awakening, the main character wears a blue tunic and wields a sword, and he navigates dungeons to collect items and keys to fight bosses and gather magical MacGuffins. But where Echo Isle shines is how it takes the best parts of a Zelda adventure and shrinks them down to their essence — I finished the game in a little more than an hour.

《Echo Isle》深受《塞尔达传说》系列的启发，且毫不掩饰这一点：其复古的画面与《织梦岛》（Link’s Awakening）有着惊人的相似之处；主角身穿蓝色束腰外衣，手持宝剑，在地下城中穿梭，收集道具和钥匙以击败首领并获取魔法圣物。但《Echo Isle》的闪光点在于，它提取了塞尔达式冒险的精髓并将其浓缩——我仅用了一个多小时就通关了这款游戏。

The game starts with the main character falling from the sky onto Echo Isle, an island protected by a magical lighthouse that has mysteriously gone dark. While you don’t have any equipment to start, within a matter of minutes, you’ll find a sword, and from there, you’re off to the familiar Zelda loop: exploring the world, finding a dungeon, finishing the dungeon, and using whatever new items you have to get to the next one.

游戏开场，主角从天而降落到了回声岛（Echo Isle）上。这座岛屿原本由一座魔法灯塔守护，但灯塔却神秘地熄灭了。虽然开局时你没有任何装备，但在几分钟内你就能找到一把剑，随后便进入了熟悉的塞尔达式循环：探索世界、寻找地下城、通关地下城，并利用获得的新道具前往下一个区域。

To replicate the retro feeling, each screen in Echo Isle is a square, which isn’t just a charming tribute to the classics: It helps each screen feel focused and approachable as you traverse the island and delve into dungeons. It also means that text boxes are small, so text and dialogue have to be snappy to fit, something more games should emulate.

为了重现复古感，《Echo Isle》的每个画面都呈正方形。这不仅是对经典的迷人致敬，还让你在穿越岛屿和深入地下城时，能感受到每个场景的聚焦感与亲和力。这也意味着文本框很小，因此文字和对话必须简洁明快才能容纳，这一点值得更多游戏效仿。

That dedication to smallness applies to just about everything in the game. The overworld map is just 25 tiles, meaning there’s only one village full of characters to see, and only four dungeons to explore (with a final tower that’s more of a good old-fashioned boss rush). There’s no fast travel, but you don’t really need it because you can walk from one side of the map to the other in just a few minutes.

这种对“小而精”的追求贯穿了游戏的方方面面。大地图仅由 25 个方块组成，这意味着只有一个充满角色的村庄可供探索，地下城也只有四个（外加一座更像是传统 Boss 连战的最终塔楼）。游戏中没有快速旅行功能，但你根本不需要它，因为只需几分钟，你就能从地图的一端走到另一端。

There are four additional pieces of equipment, and they take obvious inspiration from Link’s Awakening, too. I was delighted to find the game’s equivalent of Roc’s Feather in the first dungeon, and for the rest of the game, I was hopping all over the place just like I used to while playing the Game Boy Zelda games as a kid. Yes, there are bombs, but because Echo Isle streamlines resource management, there’s no ammo or even money to worry about. The only thing you need to keep an eye on is your health bar, and thankfully, there are pots everywhere that you can smash for hearts.

游戏中还有四件额外的装备，它们显然也受到了《织梦岛》的启发。我很惊喜地在第一个地下城中找到了类似“洛克鸟之羽”的道具，在接下来的游戏过程中，我像小时候玩 Game Boy 版《塞尔达》时那样四处跳跃。没错，游戏里也有炸弹，但由于《Echo Isle》简化了资源管理，你无需担心弹药或金钱问题。你唯一需要关注的就是血条，好在到处都有可以砸碎来获取爱心的罐子。

In reducing everything down, Echo Isle pays homage to the best of a Zelda game instead of feeling like a poor imitation. With so many games nowadays focused on sprawling worlds that are often clogged with boring filler, it was refreshing to dive into Echo Isle’s little, polished world. And perhaps best of all, I finished most of it over my morning coffee.

通过精简一切，《Echo Isle》向塞尔达游戏的精髓致敬，而非沦为拙劣的模仿。如今许多游戏热衷于打造充斥着无聊填充内容的庞大世界，而沉浸在《Echo Isle》这个小巧且精致的世界中，让人感到耳目一新。最棒的是，我在喝早咖啡的间隙就完成了大部分游戏内容。

Echo Isle is now available on PC.

《Echo Isle》现已登陆 PC 平台。