Zelda HD Collection?

This idea has been on the mind of many Zelda fans ever since the Nintendo Switch became a thing: a collection of Zelda HD remasters, which ports both The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD over from the Wii U and adds more to the list.

Ever since the rumors in March that Super Mario could be getting a similar collection this year for its 35th Anniversary, I've been considering the same for Zelda and putting some more thoughts into this. Such a "The Legend of Zelda HD Collection" could come to Switch next year and potentially include the following four titles:

• The Wind Waker HD
• Twilight Princess HD
• Link's Crossbow Training HD
• Skyward Sword HD

As for The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD, it's only a matter of time before these two HD remasters will be ported to the Switch, just like the rest of the Wii U library. Enough time has passed to not make it feel completely ridiculous for every Wii U owner. And for Nintendo it's easy money, but it also makes sense to bundle them somehow, because we would steep into ports of ports with these titles. There has to be a limit of what Nintendo can sell as a standalone full price title and putting them together wouldn't feel like the cheapest effort of making good money with video games ever, even though they probably would sell just fine on their own...

Additionally, both games made good use of the Wii U GamePad for maps and alike, which would all be lost in the Nintendo Switch versions. So, they might even end up as inferior versions when compared to their Wii U counterparts. But if you put them together on one cartridge, no one can really complain about the value.

And Link's Crossbow Training HD would be a fun bonus for the whole package. It's not a game that you would ever expect to return on its own, where even on the Wii it was just meant as an addition for the Zapper. Here half of the work was already done by Tantalus with the remaster of Twilight Princess, where its assets for the updated graphics could be used to remaster Link's Crossbow Training as well, since the game was pretty much just a mini-game add-on for Twilight Princess, re-using its environments, enemies and so on.

Finally, there's Skyward Sword HD, which always felt like the natural choice for an HD remaster on the Switch with its Joy-Cons and all. In the past I was convinced that this would be released as a standalone title, simply because that's how it was for The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD. But there are three good reasons here, why this might change with Skyward Sword...

1) The game is pretty much the anti-thesis to Breath of the Wild, which has become by far the most successful entry in the series. Aonuma even admitted that the starting point for the development were the shortcomings of Skyward Sword with its restricted world and lack of exploration. So, to put focus on such a different 3D Zelda game, which does the complete opposite of the Zelda game that made many people buy a Switch in the first place, might not be the best idea at the moment. But putting this in a collection of various older Zelda titles would easily prevent any wrong impressions.

2) Even if you try to reduce the motion controls of Skyward Sword as much as possible, getting the sword combat to work without the Joy-cons would probably be very difficult or unsatisfying. As a result the game would only be playable with Joy-cons and not in handheld mode, which could be a big reason for people to not buy the game, especially for owners of a Nintendo Switch Lite. But bundled with The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, which both work with traditional controls, these people would still have something to play.

3) The Zelda series has gotten a new brand styling with Breath of the Wild, where everything is made in a flat design. The logos of both Breath of the Wild and Link's Awakening are in plain white against a background, for example. However, for an HD remaster of Skyward Sword this would probably feel odd and not like a good fit. It should keep the logo and menu design of the original, similar to The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD, since it's really just supposed to be a remaster and not a new thing.

A "Zelda HD Collection" could be sold in the new brand styling, however, where the cover and the main menu are in the same style as Breath of the Wild and Link's Awakening, while it keeps the logos and everything else of the HD remasters the way it was. Problem solved.

With all of this in mind, it really feels like a good idea to put these three or four titles all together in one package. It would be an amazing way of celebrating the 35th Anniversary of Zelda, while dodging any complaints that would come with re-releasing these titles on their own for the Nintendo Switch.

No Ocarina of Time & Majora's Mask HD?

Well, some fans would probably want the two Nintendo 64 titles as well and you can't blame them, but this would really be too good to be true all at once, which is why they weren't considered for this list.

For making the above collection Nintendo could hire Tantalus again, the studio responsible for remastering Twilight Princess on the Wii U. They could apply their expertise on both Link's Crossbow Training and Skyward Sword, where the latter would already generate enough efforts for this project, and then put everything together.

Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask on the other hand would need full-fledged remakes, something done from scratch again, where this would increase the effort for such a collection significantly. Probably even to the point where Nintendo would need to hire another studio in addition. But GREZZO was already busy with remaking Link's Awakening, where the Oracle games should come next and not the N64 games again.

Remakes of the N64 titles were already done for the Nintendo 3DS by GREZZO in the last decade and doing this yet again might be a little bit too early, both for the developers and for the customers. Nintendo is even still selling New Nintendo 2DS systems and both of the previous remakes. And if Nintendo 64 games get added to Nintendo Switch Online eventually, you will be able to play Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask on the Switch anyway...

Also, keep in mind that we're talking about games here, where each remaster and remake so far has gotten a dedicated standalone release with years of development. Even if the Super Mario HD collection turns out to be true, this still might be a little much to ask from Nintendo's forces. The above vision is already optimistic as it is, so it's best not to expect anything more than that.

And new remakes of the Nintendo 64 games shouldn't be something that's done on the sidelines. They deserve releases on their own, starting with Ocarina of Time, with gorgeous graphics, new features and alike. This is something that I can see happening in the future, but not necessarily on the Switch where such remakes for the GameBoy Color Zelda games should have priority.

Global Collectible?

Let's say such a collection happens, it would be nice if all these games were to offer a collectible that spans all titles. Something to unlock artwork and additional goodies in the main menu, similar to the Credits in the Metroid Prime Trilogy.

This would go hand in hand with the fact that both The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD had special Miiverse features that would be in need of replacement on the Nintendo Switch, since the Miiverse is history now. In case of The Wind Waker HD these were the Tingle Bottles, while Twilight Princess HD had the stamp collection.

It would be a shame, if Tingle wasn't to get something new to replace the Tingle Tuner a second time and if all those chests in Twilight Princess contained a ton of useless Rupees again... So, an idea would be to have something here that lets you unlock things globally in the HD collection.

This could be something simple as scrolls, like "Ocean Scrolls", "Twilight Scrolls" and "Sky Scrolls". They could contain a bit of lore as an extra and would give you access to artworks and other goodies. Maybe additional scrolls could be unlocked via amiibo to also give you stuff from other Zelda games.

With Skyward Sword HD they could even tie this into new features. For example they could expand the sky world a little bit and add more to its islands. Or they could let you go on a full night-time exploration later in the game, where you're hunting for Poes or special Goddess Cubes or something similar, which in return rewards you with the new global collectible.

And in Link's Crossbow Training HD they could add new secret targets throughout all the levels, maybe one per level, which will score you with these scrolls.

In any case it would be nice to have something that spans all games in the collection, as an incentive to play them all.

Link's Crossbow Training HD Hoax

I made this for an April Fools' Day prank on both ZeldaEurope.de and ntower.de:

I also wrote a German press release with the following details:

• HD remaster in the style of Twilight Princess HD.
• Uses the gyro aiming of the Wii U GamePad.
• Two new stages with three new levels each. New settings in Forest Temple, Goron Mines and Lakebed Temple. New Armogohma boss fight.
• Comes with a Linkle amiibo.
• The Linkle amiibo unlocks "Linkle's Crossbow Training". Because she dual-wields two crossbows, a second player can join this mode with a Wii Remote on the TV.
• You can play the Linkle mode alone as well. Levels will be mirrored an highscores put on the Linkle amiibo.
• Classic multiplayer is still there. Players simply make turns with the GamePad.
• Linke amiibo gets both supported by Hyrule Warriors: Legends and The Legend of Zelda for Wii U.
• Released on June 3rd, limited amiibo bundle available.

This was supposed to be a more "realistic" hoax with some knocks against Nintendo's recent overabundance of remasters, remakes and amiibo baits. However, on April 1st no one will believe you anything and for good reason. I had actually more success last year, when I announced some swimwear costume sets for Hyrule Warriors with things like a "Triforce Trikini" for Zelda. It's still fun to do and if someone gets a laugh out of these jokes, it's worth the effort.

Replaying Twilight Princess and Link's Crossbow Training

As I announced I was going to replay both Twilight Princess and Link's Crossbow Training and I'm now finished with that, so it's time to share some thouhgts.

Twilight Princess isn't really the ideal game to be replayed. A problem, which it shares with the NDS Zelda games, and a problem, which was recently acknowledged by Nintendo and which they want to fix with Skyward Sword. The game is lengthy, the 100% took me about 30 hours, which isn't bad, but it's also a very linear and stiff game, which doesn't add to the replay value. Especially combined with the amount of time required to play through the game. Unlike older Zelda games it doesn't encourage you to break from the normal game course and explore things on your own, in fact at most times you can't even do that. Also, it's very story-heavy, but if you already know the story, it's not so exciting anymore, you will probably even skip some of the cutscenes. So, why even replay the game? I finished the game twice on the GameCube and once on the Wii, so why go through it a fourth time? Well, it's not a bad game after all, I enjoy the style as well as some of the fighting, especially the Darknut fights in the Cave of Ordeals. I also wanted to play with its controls again, say as preparation for Skyward Sword. And I was still curios about the mirroring, I wanted to see if it's still as confusing as the first time.



Controls

The Wii powered controls are pretty gimmicky, but can be fun. There's actually not much motion involved, most items just require the pointer, wiggling the Wiimote replaces the sword button and the Nunchuk is used for Shield and Spin Attacks. The latter one can be somehow unreliable, but it's still very satisfying to cause a Spin Attack by shaking your wrist. After playing A Link to the Past, wiggling the Wiimote to swing the sword felt really strange and inconvenient, actually at first I used Jump Attacks triggered by simply pressing A to fight the enemies, because this felt more familiar. But you get used to the controls and later they can be so much fun that you're really into the fights. In the moments where the bosses are on the ground and the music changes, I usually stand up and swing the sword in exaggerated movements, even though it's not necessary. Well, I guess I'm prepared for the MotionPlus powered Zelda game.

MirrorrorriM

The mirroring of the game is still an issue. It's not like in Mario Kart, where the courses are pretty straight-forward and you just have to adept. And even there the Mirror Mode can be sometimes confusing. But in Twilight Princess this is a completely different level. It feels like totally different but yet familiar places. You know what is there and what you can do there, but it's just not the same place. Basically it would be as simple as "what's left is right and vice versa", but it can be so confusing, that I fully lost orientation here and there. And I normally don't have any problems with orientating through video games, it's just that you know the original places so well, that their maps are still in your head. For example if I want to go to Kakariko, I'm thinking about going to the east, even after finishing the Wii version two times, where the village is located in the west. It's really weird and you have to experience this for yourself by playing both games.

Sidequest Overload

If you're into sidequests, you will notice while replaying, that the sidequests are not too well apportioned. There's a huge sidequest overload after the point, where you got the Master Sword and where you're finally able to freely switch between human and wolf form. 36 Poe Souls can be collected at this point, as well as the last bugs except for one, lots of hidden grottos wait for you to be discovered, there are two more complex caverns, there is the Malo Mart Quest and the Magic Armor, you can get a Quiver upgrade, as well as some Heart Pieces and TONS of rupees. And if you went straight for the Lakebed Temple instead of inconveniently navigating Hyrule without warping to do some sidequests early, you also have some more bugs left, even more rupees, two additional Bomb Bags, the Bomb Bag upgrade, and nearly all fishing related sidequests including the infamous, feared and hated Roll Goal. It's lots and lots of stuff to do and all at once. You can spent multiple hours at this point in the game just completing side quests before you continue into Arbiter's Grounds. It's crazy actually. And after such a side quest raid there won't be much left, the new items from the later dungeons don't offer many uses elsewhere. However, this part of the game was the most fun for me, because it offers a lot of freedom, unlike the rest of the game, and I see remembering all of the stuff, which can be done at that point, as a good challenge.

Rupee Overload

Did I mention the Rupees? The TONS of Rupees? I don't know what this game wants me to buy and the "it won't fit into your wallet, so let's put it back" message gets annoying easily. There are two major donations in this game, the 598 Rupee Magic Armor and a cannon repair for 300 Rupees. That's it. The only other use for money is running around in the Magic Armor, which you will have to do in order to open all the treasure chests containing hundreds and thousands of Rupees. Here we see, that the treasure system introduced in the Nintendo DS Zelda games isn't that bad at all. It simply offers more variety and you basically can't get enough of one treasure. If they don't screw up the probabilities, like they did in Spirit Tracks, or if they simply offer fixed places for all treasures, this system could be very successful in later Zelda games. Of course a good collecting quest would be also great. You need a collectible item, that can be potentially found anywhere. In treasure chests, in the ground, in shops, in minigames, in the grass, in the water, anywhere. Like the Secret Seashells in Link's Awakening or the Spirit Gems in Phantom Hourglass for example, these were great collectible items. The Poe Souls or the Golden Bugs have a too obvious and limited pattern, while everywhere else in the game the only hidden thing are just Rupees, Rupees, Rupees...

Rollgoal

However, there's another way to easily waste lots of Rupees in Twilight Princess: Rollgoal. Probably the most hated and most annoying minigame in all of the Zelda games and you need to beat it at least once to get the Frog Lure. A real replay killer, because this game is one of these things, which you simply don't want to do ever again. And there's just no excuse why this is actually part of a Zelda game and not just some cheap Wiiware title, that no one wants to download. It's actually not that much of a deal, with enough practice you can do anything. But you'll need patience and to stay calm. In case you wonder, how I managed to beat this game on the Wii even for a second time, I'll tell you. The trick is only to tilt the Wiimote sideways, never tilt it back and forth, which lacks the accuracy. Simply adjust the camera after each move and continue. Support your forearm on an armrest or your legs, so you won't accidently lose stability. If you follow these rules, you can do it. But it's still annoying as hell.

Crossbow Training

After lots of hours the credits roll for another time. At the end of the credits Link gets on his horse and leaves Ordon to... test his newly aquired Phantom Crossbow of course. I thought after playing Twilight Princess I should also play another round of Link's Crossbow Training, since there most of the first game's content got reused to create some sort of epic version of Duck Hunt. Actually it's not even worth mentioning, the game is so short, it's practically negligible compared to the amount of time needed for replaying Twilight Princess. It takes maybe an hour and getting all Platinum Medals isn't hard, if you concentrate on consecutive hits. They could have easily set the limits for the medals higher. And I wish the game had some more levels, there are even quite some areas from Twilight Princess that weren't used as a stage, for example the Forest Temple, Goron Mines, Lakebed Temple, Lake Hylia or the Fishing Pond could all have been reused for some target shooting. And a simultaneously played multiplayer mode would have made this small but nice Zelda spin off game perfect. But it's still fun and I enjoy going through this game again from time to time.

Conclusion

Well, I'm done with replaying for now. In the last two months I replayed Spirit Tracks, A Link to the Past, Ancient Stone Tablets, Twilight Princess and Link's Crossbow Training, which was quite the mixed bag. Replaying is always very different from playing a game for the first time. You already know what to do, when to do it and how to do it. For me personally it's more a memory game, it's about memorizing and remembering all the ways and possibilities. You'll internalize the game. I try to play faster and more efficiently and I'll always try to finish the game's sidequests as early as possible - of course for that you need to know exactly what can be done at what time. This is the kind of challenge I seek from replaying.

Zelda and Multiplayer: Link's Crossbow Training

The history of Zelda's multiplayer is a history of failure. By now six games in the series already tried to implement a multiplayer mode, but still the Zelda series isn't known for its multiplayer experience. Let's take a closer look, how multiplayer was incorporated into Zelda and what went wrong.

Fourth part:
Link's Crossbow Training



Before talking about the Battle Modes of the Nintendo DS installments, we should take a small look at Link's Crossbow Training, a spin-off title to the Zelda series. After Twilight Princess the Zelda team experimented a lot with the first person perspective and even made a first person demo of Twilight Princess. What later came out of it was Link's Crossbow Training, which was bundled with the Wii Zapper and was supposed to be an introduction this piece of plastic. Much like WiiPlay came bundled with a second Wiimote. It's similar to games like Duck Hunt with the big difference, that it uses most of the environments and enemies from Twilight Princess and really looks good that way. It's surprisingly entertaining and fun, but only lasts for two or three hours and that only if you go for all platinum medals.

But it could have lasted much longer with an appropriate multiplayer mode. There is a multiplayer mode, where players take turns and compete for the highscore. But that's boring, because it's not much fun waiting for the other player(s). It's okay, if you only have one Wiimote, but otherwise it would have been much more fun, if the players could play simultaneously. Much like in the Shooting Gallery in WiiPlay. It would be much more chaotic, of course, but that's the point. Trying to break other players' streaks by shooting targets before they do and so on. It probably would only work with two players, because it would get too much with three or four, but that's still better than just playing alternately. This and a couple more levels (like Forest Temple, Goron Mines and Lakebed Temple) would have worked wonders on this game. It probably could have been a Wii title, which I would play regulary with my friends.

Well, Aonuma said recently, that he wanted to make a "Link's Crossbow Training 2/Plus", that does exactly that. But Nintendo ordered him to focus on Zelda Wii right now and considering, that they want to release the game this year, that's the right thing to do. They can still make a better Crossbow Training in 2011. And to be totally honest, they should have already done a real multiplayer mode in the original and there's no excuse, why they didn't.

Aonuma and Link's Crossbow Training 2

This is old news, but I've been offline over the holidays, sorry. In the current Games Magazine issue Aonuma told us the following:

"To tell you the truth, I actually wanted to create Link's Crossbow Training 2, I thought that we should do something more and better in the field of the first person shooter, based on our experience of the first game."

"For example, I was thinking that maybe we could intensify the multiplayer mode. The original game was really just a solo game but I thought that we could add a true multiplayer mode with multiple users playing together, from remote areas, over the Wi-Fi Connection."

"The fact of the matter is that a lot of people inside Nintendo insisted that I should work on a new Legend Of Zelda title rather than working on more Crossbow Training."

Well, thank Din that someone over there at Nintendo's still has brains. No would want Nintendo to waste more time on this, while they should put all energy in Zelda Wii. They can still do this later. Well, I see Aonuma's intentions here, but the problem more or less is, that the first game simply was rushed. A multiplayer, that could be played simultanously (like the target shooting in Wii Play), and some more levels (Forest Temple, Goron Mines or Lakebed Temple for example) would have worked wonders. Which is why I would have expected a "Link's Crossbow Training 2" to be more like a "Link's Crossbow Training Plus", an expansion that includes all the levels from the first game and which makes the first game obsolete.

Also, when Aonuma says that he wanted to make another first person (shooter) game, then you can be sure, that Zelda Wii probably won't end up being a first person adventure game. Because otherwise he already would do enough in the field of first person gameplay. So, everyone who is still scared about a possible first person Zelda, might have another reason to relax here.

Source: ZeldaInformer