Nintendo HD Part 3 – Zelda, Always More Zelda

A few month ago, I looked at Rare developed titles that should be re-released. A few weeks after that, I examined two Mario titles I would like to see again with updated visuals. It has been a busy few months for Nintendo, and I’ve finally found the time to work on my Nintendo HD series once again. This week, its time to look at Nintendo’s second largest franchise: The Legend of Zelda

A Storied History

Zelda games have evolved over time, but that doesn’t mean that past titles don’t deserve a re-release. Nintendo has re-released a number of their older games. In fact, the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has technically received two further release. The first was a bonus disk packaged with specific copies of the Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker on GameCube. Then again, Nintendo released the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on the 3DS. Nintendo has also taken previous games and created spinoff adventures based on the same worlds. One of GamesReviews best reviewed 3DS games, the Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, was a new adventure set in the world first shown in the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

All these games, remakes and all, have sold well for Nintendo; for this reason, it is probably only a matter of time before a few more Zelda titles get remade. I’ll examine a few games: The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask and all of the handheld Zelda titles released before the DS Zelda games.

 The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask

While most people will argue that Ocarina of Time is the best Zelda game on the Nintendo 64, I always am up for challenging that. In my opinion, Majoras Mask took what was great from Ocarina of Time, and added some great features. Also, Ocarina of Time has already been updated on the 3DS, so I couldn’t write about that one anyways.

I’m torn on where I would like to see Majoras Mask. Part of me thinks it will be best released on 3DS, but another part of me wants to see it completely overhauled and released on the Wii U. Either way, I want it released again, and I truly believe it is only a matter of time before we see this happen.

Majora’s Mask did something that very few games at that time did well, and what almost every game does now: collectibles. Majora’s Mask had so many masks to collect, some integral to the story and some that were not. But there was something fun about wandering around Clock Town and the surrounding worlds completing quests, gathering masks, and seeing what magic each and every mask held. Also, I would love to see HD animations of Link changing into a Goron, Deku, or Zora!

Handheld Zelda’s Should ALL be Remade

I sat here for a long time trying to decide which other Zelda game should be remade, and I cannot pinpoint one. Personally, I’d love to see all the older Zelda titles get the Zelda: A Link Between Worlds treatment. Whether it is just a graphical enhancement or a spinoff game, I think any Zelda handheld title would work remade. 

Zelda could be a cow that Nintendo continues to milk, and I think very few people will ever disagree with that statement. It’s great to know that if Nintendo does ever hit a rut when it comes to new IP and new iterations of their popular franchises, they have so many great games to turn back to. And each and every title would be incredibly welcome, at least f