The Legend of Zelda: Anniversary Edition?

In the recent leak about the 40th Anniversary you can see how Nintendo made prominent use of the 8-Bit Link from the classic The Legend of Zelda, featuring the above the sprite art. Considering that Ocarina of Time will likely become their biggest hit for the later year, this is rather curious and has me thinking that they may also want to do something special with the first game.

Back in February, I discussed how a remake in the style of Link's Awakening could look like, but maybe they want something in the game's original 8-bit style. And one of the most interesting things would probably be the "2D Zelda prototype" that was made during the development for Breath of the Wild:

They could realize this as a full game or remake the original The Legend of Zelda with the same physics systems, where you can burn down entire forests or swim freely across the rivers with a self-made raft. Something like that.

Alternatively, they could take the NES classic and turn it into some kind of multiplayer experience. Nintendo loves doing quirky stuff for their Nintendo Switch Online service, sometimes even time-limited, like Super Mario Bros. 35.

Or we might be looking at a basic "Zelda Maker", which only supports the classic 8-bit style, but let's you freely make entire game worlds with a number of dungeons. You may even be able to recreate the BS-X Zelda maps in this one.

These are just some ideas, but I have the feeling that the 40th Anniversary will have one surprise in the stores for us, which the majority of the audience out there isn't expecting right now. Everyone has their eyes on the Ocarina of Time remake and the Zelda movie, where I have high hopes for both of these, but this leaves room for something unusual in the middle of all the hype.

The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Leak

There have been quite some worries all around the internet whether Nintendo has forgotten / skipped the 40th Anniversary of Zelda, despite the fact that the 30th Anniversary wasn't initiated until September 2016 either. Well, if you have followed this blog, then you will know that there never have been any doubts, especially with the remake of Ocarina of Time coming later this year.

However, just like with this remake, things got leaked in advance, before Nintendo could give us an official announcement. There are photos floating around of upcoming merchandise, which includes a logo for the anniversary on the package. This looks to be 100% legit with several sources confirming this. Apparently, there already have been leaks last month about this topic, which somehow eluded me... But it all lines up. Don't read the rest of the article if you still want to be surprised.

Zelda Movie: Casting Rumors

There have been some rumors from Deadline about the cast of the upcoming The Legend of Zelda movie and they are quite interesting. First of all, Dichen Lachman will indeed play Impa, where we already have seen leaked photos of her next to Bo Bragason, the actress of Zelda, during filming.

Uli Latukefu will apparently play Ganondorf. He is best known for Young Rock, but also starred in Alien: Covenant, or Black Adam.

Then we have Yvonne Strahovski in the role of some queen. Maybe it's the queen of Hyrule, where she has a similar role to Sonia, or possibly she could play the queen of the Zora. In any case, I'm a big fan of her, where I liked her in Chuck, Dexter, and The Handmaid's Tale. These would be exciting news if they were true.

Not as exciting as the biggest star in this list, however. According to the reports, Sam Neill will be in the movie, which would be tremendous in a sorrowful way. Sadly, he has passed away last month, on July 13th, which could make this his final role. He would probably play the king of Hyrule if these rumors were true. Alternatively, he could play an elder sage, like Rauru.

On a site note, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth can currently be seen in the third season of House of the Dragon. And his performance there really sold me on the idea of him playing Link. He is such a good casting choice that this already making me a lot more confident on the movie.

We will probably get a first trailer, where all of these casting rumors could be confirmed or debunked, next month in a September Nintendo Direct. It's likely going to be as with the September Direct from last year, where they have done the same for the Super Mario Galaxy Movie with the 40th Anniversary of Super Mario Bros.

40th Anniversary of Metroid

On August 6th 1986, メトロイド (Metroid) was released for the Famicom Disk System in Japan. Much like Mario and Zelda before it, this game has defined an entire gerne and spawned a major video game franchise, followed by seven more titles (including re-imaginings of the first two), a whole subseries with six games, and a single spin-off (Metroid Prime Pinball).

These numbers already give away, however, that this franchise has been living in the shadows of its slightly older siblings. Tears of the Kingdom alone has sold more than the entire Metroid series combined. It is more of a niche and Nintendo often treats it that way. While both Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda have seen multiple official anniversary celebrations over the last two decades, this has yet to happen for Metroid. But there is a first time for everything...

Given, it may have to share the spotlight with the 40th Anniversary of Zelda, where Nintendo has yet to initiate it, with the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake at the forefront. But Metroid could see some announcements of its own in the near future, whether they are tied to the anniversary or not. First and foremost, there has been a leak of a new Metroid game by MercurySteam, following Metroid Dread, which seems to be very much legit and would be exciting news.

And there also have been rumors that Super Metroid could see a remake in a pixel art style. Well, if Super Metroid ever were to get remade, it certainly would become much more faithful than Zero Mission and Samus Returns, but this sounds a little too faithful. Though, it also sounds like something special that could get released for an anniversary. And depending on how this is done and gets received, this could develop a new trend for remastering 2D games from Nintendo.

Otherwise, it would be nice if Metroid Dread got updated for the Nintendo Switch 2 or if Metroid: Samus Returns got remastered at some point, where such a remaster could be released for both the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. There are many possibilities to keep MercurySteam busy, though a new game is certainly the preferred choice.

We probably won't hear from Retro Studios during the 40th Anniversary, since Metroid Prime 4: Beyond isn't even one year old, but maybe we will get a remastered version of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes before Prime 5 comes out. Technically, the anniversary will last for one year from now on, so there would be still time to announce and release something in 2027.

 

Happy 40th Anniversary, Metroid!

The Future of Zelda: Leaving Hyrule

My first adventure with Link was on the island Koholint, which is a virtual world that I keep close to my heart. And after I had explored the different iterations of Hyrule from the NES classics and Ocarina of Time, Nintendo invited us to visit the strange lands of Termina, Labrynna, Holodrum and Subrosia. When the Zelda series first had gained traction in the early 2000s, half of the games took place in Hyrule and the other half someplace else.

As exciting as this was, Nintendo has not followed this trend. In fact, most of the games that came after featured some version of Hyrule, where lately they even have revisited the Hyrule from a previous title. Now, the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake certainly won't change any of that, but going forward it will be nice to breath some fresh air... And that's what this article will be about.

The Future of 2D Zelda

We are going to get a remake of Ocarina of Time later this year, while a new 3D Zelda game is presumably in development at Nintendo EPD3. So, the Zelda fans who prefer the big adventures from a 3rd person perspective already have a lot coming on the Nintendo Switch 2. But if you also enjoy following Link's and Zelda's journeys from a top-down or side-scrolling perspective, then you will have to wait and see for now.

To be fair, the latest installment in the series is still Echoes of Wisdom, which isn't even two years old yet. But presuming that GREZZO is not the studio behind the Ocarina of Time remake, it's likely that they are already working on the next 2D Zelda game, whether that's another remake or a new title. So, let's talk about how this could look like... and what may lie beyond.

Super Zeldathon

Zeldathon is running the whole week, collecting money for the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Check it out and maybe leave a donation. This time it's digging deep into the 90s nostalgia and they even have SuperMCGamer back on board, who started the whole thing, but stepped down from his leadership role after Zeldathon 1986 two years ago. And that's making me nostalgic as well.