Arguably one of the biggest gameplay changes in the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake is that you no longer will jump automatically, but instead do it manually with a dedicated button. It's an interesting development, because the automatic jumping was part of the many revolutionary things the original did for 3D gaming, amongst the Z-targeting. You didn't have to worry about timing your jumps, because Link would always do it perfectly. This system remained a staple in the 3D games up until Breath of the Wild, which re-introduced a jump button.
The added level of detail might be part of the reason why they did it for the remake, because you don't necessarily get the same sharp edges to jump off. And it will be interesting to see how this plays out. You get some control back and you can now also climb faster with the added jumps, while parts of the environment also became more jump-friendly, like the small stream near the entrance to Hyrule Field coming from the forest. There may even be new challenges where you have to time your jumps correctly.
Anyway, with this change in mind, it's fascinating to look back at each game in the Zelda and see how it implemented jumping. When you need to jump over a gap, there have been three different ways for you to do so: with a button, with an item (the Roc's Feather or Cape), or automatically. There are also games where you simply are unable to jump over gaps, so you will need other items to cross them, like the Hookshot. Here is how it's done in every Zelda game:
- The Legend of Zelda: -
- The Adventure of Link: button
- A Link to the Past: -
- Link's Awakening: item
- Ocarina of Time: auto
- Majora's Mask: auto
- Oracle of Ages & Seasons: item
- The Wind Waker: auto
- Four Swords: item
- Four Swords Adventures: item
- The Minish Cap: item
- Twilight Princess: auto
- Phantom Hourglass: auto
- Spirit Tracks: auto
- Skyward Sword: auto
- A Link Between Worlds: -
- Tri Force Heroes: -
- Breath of the Wild: button
- Tears of the Kingdom: button
- Echoes of Wisdom: button
In the original The Legend of Zelda it wasn't possible to jump in any way or form. You needed the Stepladder to cross gaps and rivers. And while many consider Zelda II - The Adventure of Link to be the black sheep, it did jumping with a button in the Zelda series before it was cool. It was a natural part of its side scrolling action, where you even had special sword techniques to go along with your jumps. The Downthrust eventually became an important inspiration for the very satisfying pogo-technique in the Hollow Knight games.
A Link to the Past was effectively the game to introduce auto-jumping in some form, but it was only there to leap down off a ledge to the lower level. This continued to be a thing in all top-down Zelda games going forward.
Link's Awakening then brought back side-scrolling sections and even added Goombas along with them, inviting you to jump on them. But since the Game Boy only had two buttons, they had to come up with a different solution: you would jump with an item, the Roc's Feather. This item can be assigned to either A or B, instead of your sword, shield, or other things. And this item or its stronger version, the Roc's Cape, returned in all Zelda games on the Game Boy line, as well as in Four Swords Adventures.
As already mentioned, Ocarina of Time then came up with automatic jumping whenever you walk off a ledge – not just to drop down, but also to cross gaps. You could jump from one side of the Zora River to the other... if you picked the right spot. And in all 3D Zelda games from Majora's Mask to Skyward Sword this system was implemented again.
Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks also featured this automatic crossing of gaps for the first time in a top-down scenario, with their touchscreen controls. You would just draw over the gap and Link would automatically leap across, even when there is ground below.
The two Nintendo 3DS titles, A Link Between Worlds and Tri Force Heroes, on the other hand went back to no jumping at all. Instead, they featured items that would lift you up, like the Tornado, Sand and Water Rods. But that doesn't really count.
Finally, Breath of the Wild completely revolutionized the Zelda series from the ground up with its free-climbing nature, where it became necessary for you to manually jump again. It's also there to initiate paragliding, which became an important part of the new 3D Zelda gameplay. And now this manual jump finds its way back into Ocarina of Time.
Ironically, in its early stages of development, Ocarina of Time used to still have a jump button. But they had removed it in favor of the auto-jumping to streamline the gameplay and shift the focus on other elements (see Iwata Asks). It's funny how things sometimes go... or in this case, how they jump.
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