Majora's Mask HD and the Oracles?

Last week two curious entries appeared on IMDB, for unannounced Zelda remakes:

• The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask HD
• The Legend of Zelda: Oracles

They are featuring different voice actors for Link: Mitsuki Saiga, who has voiced Link in the more recent top-down Zelda games and Hyrule Warriors, as well as Nobuyuki Hiyama, whose voice was used for adult Link in the Nintendo 64 era. It also lists Hidemaro Fujibayashi (the current director of the Zelda series) as doing mocap for Din, which is hilarious and teaches you all you need to know about the credibility of this information. I can only imagine him performing all those gracious dance moves.

Of course, anyone with the necessary rights can edit IMDB and add whatever they want, so this shouldn't classify as a meaningful leak in any book, unlike a certain Metroid game that has appeared in the news earlier this month... It's still weird how no one has bothered with removing this yet, or with checking any sources. Still, I appreciate the idea of this hoax, because Majora's Mask and the Oracle games are the exact remakes that I would love to see happen next, after Ocarina of Time.

"Majora's Mask HD" is a strange title, however, because the HD suffix implies that this is not a remake like Ocarina of Time, but an HD remaster of either the Nintendo 64 original, Majora's Mask 3D, or a mix of both. Maybe even still coming to the Nintendo Switch, because on the Nintendo Switch 2 this should be called "Majora's Mask 4K".

And that's not what I would want. I would want Nintendo to follow up on the Ocarina of Time remake and take their time with this. The Nintendo 64 Zelda games are siblings and always deserve to receive the same treatment in the same quality. Also, Majora's Mask has re-used a lot of the assets from Ocarina of Time and it makes all the sense in the world for a remake to do the same.

It's the same reason why I still want remakes of Oracle of Ages & Seasons to happen. It simply makes too much sense to recreate them in the same style as Link's Awakening, because they have borrowed so much from the original. Period.

At least, the IMDB entry got the right idea in this case. I like the simplicity of the title "Oracles", where this would be the first time for a Zelda game to receive a one-word subtitle. But it implies that this is going to unite the two Game Boy Color games into one experience, which is how it should be and refreshing to see.

Often you just find pure pessimism about such a potential remake amongst the Nintendo and Zelda community: some believe that this will never happen, because they were originally made by Capcom. And if they were to happen still, then Nintendo would never release them as one, because they are too greedy for that.

But Nintendo owns all the scenario rights for the four Zelda games developed by Flagship. Only the music rights could pose a problem. It's the main reason why you can find Stickers and Spirits based on these games in the Super Smash Bros. series, but no music. However, the music shouldn't be a major hurdle, because they can just compose new tracks...

And splitting Oracle of Seasons and Ages into two games again would defeat the entire purpose of such a remake. Sure, you wouldn't need to use passwords any longer, because they could just read each other's save files, but you would still need to connect these save files manually, making things needlessly complicated, whereas this could and should become a completely seamless experience. (See my Oracle of Worlds article for how this would work in greater detail.)

Plus, when they are effectively offering two Zelda adventures as one, then the full price that Nintendo is definitely going to charge won't feel as unreasonable. At least to some people.

In any case, I personally hope that the "Oracles" is GREZZO's current project, where this might even get released next year. A proper Majora's Mask remake on the other hand may take a couple of years to appear.

id Software Got Butchered

You've probably heard the news already, but this needs to be talked about. Microsoft has announced heavy layoffs in the video game branch earlier this week: 1600 people got fired immediately and 1600 are to leave later. They've tried to make it sound reasonable by talking about trimming down management, which is usually a good thing, but these changes also hit where it hurts.

One developer was hit particularly hard: id Software, the studio behind classics like Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake. An article from Kotaku shares insights into the extent of the cuts: 136 of 185 employees got fired, more than two thirds of the staff. This happened right after the launch of DOOM: Revelation, an expansion for DOOM: The Dark Ages, leaving the studio now crippled.

One of the affected people is Adam "SyncError" Pyle, who has been keeping their free-to-play multiplayer shooter Quake Champions alive for the last couple of years, with new maps, weapon skins, features, and lots of fixes. On his own admission, he did a lot of that in his free time, not because he had to, but because he deeply cared about the game and the franchise. He worked together closely with the community, who tested upcoming features and gave feedback.

If you have someone as passionate and talented as Adam Pyle working for your company, you don't let such people go. But Bethesda under ZeniMax Media under Microsoft apparently doesn't care about such talent – they only care about margin. And classic gaming franchises like Doom and Quake seemingly don't create enough of that these days, where it looks like their fate is sealed, unless Bethesda is planning to outsource them to other studios...

Of course, these aren't the first major layoffs in the industry in the recent years. There's a whole Wikipedia article about the topic, which lists pretty much every major publisher except one: Nintendo. The worst you hear about them lately is that they are killing one of their few mobile games...

I wouldn't even be surprised if some of the people who have worked for id Software now found their way to Retro Studios, helping out with the development of Metroid Prime 5. Both are located in Texas, in Richardson and Austin to be exact, which aren't that far from each other...

And just like Retro Studios spawned from Iguana Entertainment back in the day (the creators of the classic Turok games for the Nintendo 64), all this talent from id Software may open their own studio. If that happens, then that new studio will certainly have my interest, unlike Microsoft going forward.

Mario Kart Tour Ends

Nintendo has announced today that Mario Kart Tour will cease to exist at the end of September. And this time there won't be a way of playing the game offline, like there is with the Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp - Complete Edition. It doesn't really affect me, because I have only tried the game once and didn't like it, but it's an interesting view into the nature of such service games.

First of all, this sucks for everyone who has invested in the game somehow. But let that be a lesson learned to not invest into this form of gaming, where your ability to play the game depends on some online service that is likely to shut down once the game stops being profitable. You want to stay as far away from it as possible.

(And I perfectly know it's not easy to resist. If Nintendo were to release a Zelda mobile game with micro transactions, I would still play it. And as a fan of classic Arena Shooters, I'm also still playing Quake Champions, where I had recently praised Bethesda for keeping it alive, as the franchises has reached its 30th anniversary. But with this week's lay-offs from Microsoft, things are looking very bad for the game. More on that later.)

Free-to-play became a new standard for multiplayer games, because everyone is doing it and a price tag is therefore creating a barrier. But I can still play those Arena Shooters from the old days, because the community is keeping them alive. And I can still play Mario Kart Wii whenever I want, with community mods even online.

Anyway, the silver lining is that a lot of the contents from Mario Kart Tour found their way into either Mario Kart 8 Deluxe via the Booster Course Pass, or into Mario Kart World. The latter mainly got the characters and costumes, where hopefully they will add more of them in the future. It would be nice to finally have Dixie Kong playable in a console Mario Kart game. And all-but-one of the exclusive courses made it into Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, where they are preserved. Only the Piranha Plant Pipeline (also known as Pipe Canyon) will be fully lost.

Well, three years ago I was an advocate of a second Booster Course Pass to truly preserve as much as possible, but what we got was already quite good. And the lost course will eventually return in the future, maybe already as DLC for Mario Kart World. It is even in the current rotation of Mario Kart Tour, where it may be the last chance to play the Piranha Plant Pipeline in the game. But best not to start now...

Wario Land Week

Yesterday Nintendo has added the Free Roam playlists for all three Super Mario Land games in Mario Kart World to Nintendo Music. I still remember hearing them for the first time while playing the new Mario Kart and getting really pumped, because the Game Boy was my first own video game system and these three titles were my entry into gaming, followed by Link's Awakening.

They have a special place in my heart, but are often overshadowed by the Super Mario Bros. trilogy and Super Mario World, where it's nice to even get a reference here and there. Well, I've already sung my hymn of praise about these Game Boy classics some years ago, so I won't repeat that. But today they are finally reunited on Nintendo Switch Online with the addition of Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3.

It's easily one of the best looking and sounding, if not the best looking and sounding title made for the original Game Boy, so you should definitely check it out if you have never played it before.

Some rumors were floating around about a new Wario Land coming to the Switch 2. I certainly hope that it will be more like this one, because I never really liked the direction the series took with Wario Land II and those transformations. By the way, the sequel is still missing on NSO as well... They are certainly taking their sweet time.

Metroid Ravenous Leaked

One of my overblown expectations for the June Nintendo Direct included the announcement of a new Metroid project by MercurySteam, which didn't happen. But it looks like we might be still getting one in the near future.

The Ministry of Justice and Public Safety in Brazil temporarily listed a rating for an upcoming Nintendo title, called Metroid Ravenous. This was obviously by mistake and has been removed already, but the internet sees everything and never forgets, so you can find some screenshots of the matter, originating from UniversoNintendo.com.

Well, this is certainly exciting. MercurySteam could have been working on a Super Metroid remake and that would have been awesome as well, but amidst the current wave of remakes of beloved classics from the 90s, it's probably best to follow up directly on Metroid Dread, which came out in 2021 and was absolutely fantastic. After having waited 19 years between Metroid 4 and 5, shortening that wait to five years would certainly be a refreshing change of pace for the franchise, right in time for its 40th Anniversary.

The title "Ravenous" indicates that Samus is not yet done facing her dark Chozo connections, as revealed by the antagonist Raven Beak. Sorry, English is not my first language and I interpreted the word as "raven-like", but it actually means "voracious". My bad. But in that case...

It probably refers to how far Samus's Metroid DNA has evolved. The game may even focus on her Metroid siphoning abilities, where this could go into a similar direction as the Hypermode in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and let you temporarily turn into your Metroid form / change into the Metroid Suit.

Anyway, the cat is out of the bag and the bag is out of the river, so Nintendo might as well release a trailer for the game as soon as they have one ready. Show us what this is about. I'd also love to see a Nintendo Switch 2 upgrade for Metroid Dread, while they are at it.

Mario Kart World: Drill and Boomerang Rally Added

After the addition of Bob-omb Blast back in March, the latest update for Mario Kart World adds some new features as well, and promises a series of similar free content updates for the future. With version 1.7.0 they have added two new rallies for the Knockout Tour: the Drill and the Boomerang Rally.

It's probably the easiest way to expand the game, without actually adding anything. Out of the 202 routes, which are connecting the different courses, only 62 were used in the Grand Prix mode and the Knockout Tour. The rest has been exclusive to the VS Races and Free Roam mode. So, it makes a lot of sense to utilize them for additional Knockout Tours.

Ideally, there would be custom or random rallies for the Knockout Tour, but having more dedicated rallies certainly is more convenient when playing online. Custom rallies would require the players to vote for six courses one after another, instead of just a single rally. And nobody has the patience for that.

You can access these new rallies in a similar way to the Booster Course Pass cups in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, where you now flip between two rows via the L and R buttons. Next to the two new rallies, there are open slots for six more, which they are going to add in future updates.

In addition, you can now use your sticker collection in the Photo Mode. It's almost strange that this wasn't in the game already, especially since Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury had a similar feature to reuse the Miiverse stamps. And this is finally adding a little more value to collecting all these stickers.

The update even got its own trailer. And you can find the full patch notes on Nintendo's website, where there have been a number of tweaks. For example, they have raised the acceleration of characters and vehicles with low acceleration.

If they add two more rallies per update, then this means that we will be getting three more of these updates, hopefully each of them also coming with their own additions. These could include 200cc, more outfits, and potentially even new drivers. (See here for more ideas.)

And it doesn't look like they are interested in adding more Knockout Tour rallies via paid DLC, if there's going to be any. However, this fits the general idea that paid DLC would probably expand the world with new islands around it, e.g. DK Island. And these islands wouldn't connect as nicely to the rest of the world, so they may not contribute to the Knockout Tour in any case. Each island could serve as an individual Grand Prix cup, however, with four new courses per island.

Hopefully, they will release new magnets on the Nintendo Store once all rallies and eventual DLC cup have been released. I need my fridge trophies.

Ocarina of Time Remake Suggestions

Back in May I talked about how a full re-imagining of Ocarina of Time could look like. Well, from the little footage we've got, it's too early to tell whether the upcoming Ocarina of Time for Nintendo Switch 2 will be like that, or more of a faithful remake, where they reuse the game's code and simply wrap a modern graphics engine and some shiny new cutscenes around it (like they did with the new Star Fox).

Whatever might be the case, I took some notes while replaying the Nintendo 64 classic for things that they should improve either way, going beyond what they already have done with the Nintendo 3DS version. This will be a long list, so you have to hit the "read more" button.