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.

Nintendo Direct June 2026 Predictions

This blog awakens from a week-long slumber. But starting tomorrow, there will be a lot more to talk about, because Nintendo has announced a Nintendo Direct and a Treehouse Live for June 9th. This was once more predicted by NateTheHate, who has been quite certain about there being an Ocarina of Time remake, coming to Nintendo Switch 2 this Christmas.

In any case, the Nintendo Switch 2 is one year old now and in desperate need for some news, where it's likely that Nintendo has waited for this particular anniversary to make further announcements. We will be getting the Star Fox remake later this month, which likely will be showcased in the Treehouse Live session. And there is one title from the last Nintendo Direct left, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, which is probably going to be the Direct's opener. Luigi's Mansion 4 could be another big title for this fall, but the biggest topic of the Nintendo Direct will be...

The 40th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda

It is now time. The 40th Super Mario Bros. anniversary is fading out and the Super Mario Galaxy Movie was a big hit, where Nintendo will shift their attention towards Zelda for the rest of the year and the first half of 2027, until the launch of the Zelda movie. "Same thing in green," as we like to say in German.

They have wrapped up filming and even moved the movie's launch date one week ahead, to April 30th. So, they might show us a first teaser trailer, like they did for the Super Mario Galaxy Movie in the last Direct. In the very least, Miyamoto will remind us that this movie is coming and that we can look forward to it.

With that in mind, I wouldn't expect any news about a new 3D Zelda for now. Aonuma will likely mention that one is in development and that they are working very hard on it, but they probably want to transition from the movie into the new, big Zelda game in one year, in the June 2027 Direct.

This doesn't mean that we won't be getting anything else, but for the 40th Anniversary we will be looking at remakes and other side projects. And there are a couple possibilities, all coming from different development studios:

• Ocarina of Time Remake / Re-Imagining (Monolith Soft)
• The Legend of Zelda (NES) Remake (GREZZO)
• Shrine Maker (Nintendo EPD)
• Age of Imprisonment Expansion (Koei Tecmo)

The Ocarina of Time remake, as already mentioned, is looking to be the hottest candidate for tomorrow, based on all the recent rumors. This would certainly make some waves, because you have all those middle-aged people out there, who used to love Ocarina of Time in their childhoods, but who have lost interest in Nintendo or gaming due to different reasons. Such a remake, in combination with the Zelda movie, could rekindle that interest. No other Zelda game holds this much power in nostalgia, not even A Link to the Past.

It's also possible that the movie will be somewhat based on Ocarina of Time, because that's where Miyamoto was still heavily involved with the series and he is calling the shots for the movie. And if it's true that Monolith Soft has been developing this remake (or re-imagining), then we could be getting something truly special here, not just some warmed up Ocarina of Time 3D for the sake of it.

As for Grezzo, they are certainly working on another top-down Zelda game, where this still a lot of juice left with their current toy-like style. This could lead into a new coop title, following Echoes of Wisdom, or a remake of the Oracle games. In either of these cases, I wouldn't expect this to be revealed and released before 2027, maybe even 2028, but there is one possibility where they could have cooked up something for this year: a remake of the first Zelda game, also in the Link's Awakening style.

If all those Ocarina of Time rumors turn out to be a bust after all, then I will put my money on this idea, because this is the best fit for the 40th Anniversary. Of course, both these remakes can co-exist, especially if they are made by completely different teams and if Ocarina of Time is more of a re-imagining.

A remake of the first game could even be shadow-dropped right after the Nintendo Direct, similar to Metroid Prime Remastered, so we already have something to play until Ocarina of Time comes out later this year. It could also still be available on the Nintendo Switch, with a prettier version for the Nintendo Switch 2, so that the Zelda fans who haven't migrated yet aren't left out entirely during the anniversary.

It could also be a free download, as a gift for the anniversary (Nintendo could still make money from selling physical copies via the Nintendo Store). A remake of the first Zelda game makes a lot of sense for this occasion and in the current top-down style, but it's not exactly a crowd-pleaser, unlike Ocarina of Time.

Now, the modern Breath of the Wild brand also wants to be served as a slice in the 40th Anniversary birthday cake, where this could go into different routes. The Super Mario Maker was originally made for 30th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., where now it could be Zelda's turn with an equivalent in 3D.

Alternatively, Age of Imprisonment could be getting some paid DLC. Keep in mind, though, that the free updates have made the game very much definitive, where there is even a special reward for clearing every mission in the Forbidden difficulty mode (see here). So, the probability that Koei Tecmo will expand the base game even further goes towards zero. However, they could add a whole new game mode for a Ganondorf campaign, where playing as Ganondorf has been a very common request from fans (and they listen). Call it "Rise of the Demon King", or something like that, which would be entirely separate from the main game.

Finally, the 40th Anniversary itself may come with some other goodies and events. They could revive the Zelda concerts, release more amiibo, reveal some new merchandise, or even a special-themed Nintendo Switch 2. And the anniversary itself should get a fancy logo, which is something they had skipped with the 35.

 

Better on Nintendo Switch 2 

In other news, an ever-green topic are always free updates of Nintendo Switch games and Nintendo Switch 2 Editions. There could even be some ties to the 40th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, where Skyward Sword HD hasn't gotten an update yet. But similar to Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, they could drop this at any time, so I wouldn't necessarily expect any news tomorrow.

Age of Calamity is left as well, where Koei Tecmo may have been working on a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of the game, instead of an Expansion for Age of Imprisonment. Or maybe we will be getting both...

But as for other Nintendo franchises, the biggest candidate is easily Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Sakurai's team at Bandai Namco has finished working on Kirby Air Riders last year and is likely working on a new Smash Bros. game next, but it will take years for this one to come out. And a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Ultimate could keep things afloat until then, which is a similar situation to Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Don't expect any major new contents with that one, however, because they will need to keep the online multiplayer backwards compatible with the Nintendo Switch playerbase. Maybe they will add some more stages and/or Echo Fighters, but those should be part of a free update. A Switch 2 Edition on the other hand could add a new game mode exclusive to the new hardware.

 

Metroid?

Let's not forget that Metroid will be getting 40 later this year as well. However, Nintendo has yet to celebrate an anniversary of this franchise, so I wouldn't hold my breath, especially when they are busy with Zelda. It's also too early for Metroid Prime 5, though I'm sure the rumors about it being in development are true, despite the lack of success of Metroid Prime 4.

But MercurySteam may have been cooking in the meantime. They are not doing so well, with lay-offs announced just some weeks ago (see LinkedIn), where they could certainly use another hit. And Metroid Dread was one of their biggest hits. We could be looking at a Super Metroid remake, where this would be a lot of remakes in 2026, or potentially even Metroid 6. Even an HD remaster of Metroid: Samus Returns would be fine at the moment.

 

Retro Challenges 

Instead of releasing another "Nintendo World Championships" title, it looks like Nintendo will update the Nintendo Switch Online apps to include similar, NES Remix-style challenges (source). Select titles in the NES, Super Nintendo, and Game Boy collections will receive such challenges, which already got installed with the latest update of these apps. And this will probably unlock tomorrow, after the Nintendo Direct.

 

Conclusion

There have been boring Nintendo Directs in the past, but this won't be one of them. I haven't been as excited about a Nintendo Direct in years and I'm 100% positive that Zelda fans will be feasting good tomorrow. Stay tuned for a busy month on Hyrule Blog.

Remaking The Legend of Zelda

A week ago the original The Legend of Zelda has entered its 40th year of existence, and maybe Nintendo is about to give fans a whole new way of experiencing the classic to celebrate this special anniversary. So, let's take a deeper look of how this could look like.

Of course, a remake always has been a possibility, but one that got dismissed by this blog several times. And there have been good reasons... The NES classics are rather bare-bones and if you start infusing elements from later Zelda games, you will eventually end up with a re-imagining, instead of a remake. And then this may as well become a whole new game of its own.

That's exactly what has happened with Oracle of Seasons. When Capcom was working on Zelda projects for the Game Boy Color, they first had pitched a remake of the first game in the style of Link's Awakening. But before you knew it, you were able to ride on a Dodongo and the project evolved into something else.

Source: VGMaps.com

You can even see where the idea of changing the seasons may have come from, by looking at the game's world. There is this Akkala-like area of autumn trees to the southwest, while the graveyard to its north is surrounded by white trees and rocks, almost like it has been snowing there. And this sudden change of scenery could have been an inspiration for the game's core mechanic.

Anyway, this perspective has changed with the Link's Awakening remake, which is currently leading to whole bubble of potential follow-ups. There are even rumors that GREZZO has been busy with a third game already for a while now, a project called "Bernard", following "Richard" (the Link's Awakening remake) and "Edward" (Echoes of Wisdom). But we have no idea what "Bernard" actually is, where there are a number of possibilities, like a new coop Zelda game or even a dungeon maker.

But on top of the list is certainly a remake of the two Oracle games, which turned 25 years old just yesterday. However, Echoes of Wisdom came out only one and a half years ago and remaking two whole Zelda games since then is rather ambitious. Maybe a little too ambitious to make it in time for the 40th Anniversary. And that's why they could have considered something simpler: the original The Legend of Zelda.

Now, remaking the first Zelda in the new Link's Awakening style makes sense for a number of reasons. There is the aforementioned history of how Capcom was trying to achieve the same on the Game Boy Color, where this could be finally be realized. It could even serve as an interim step for remakes of Oracle of Ages & Season, since they could re-use new enemies (like the Bubble) and all of the bosses, where Aquamentus, Gleeok and co. were featured in the Oracle games as well.

It also makes sense in the context of Link's Awakening alone. While the Game Boy classic was originally meant to bring A Link to the Past to the handheld, it also looked back at the NES original to make it happen. You have the same screen-transitioning system, and as a result dungeons were constructed in a pattern of square rooms, which ultimately led to the Color Dungeon in the DX version as a homage and the whole Chamber Dungeon feature in the remake. Certain enemies, like the Pols Voice, Vire or even Gohma, also returned for the first time since the original.

And by re-using the assets of the Link's Awakening remake, as well as Echoes of Wisdom, they could actually cover quite a lot already. Most of the normal enemies would already have models. Items like Bombs, Boomerang and Bow have already been implemented before. And they could even re-use the meat echo for the bait item... The more you think about it, the more it feels like the game is halfway remade already.

Keep in mind, though, that such a remake would mainly be about modernizing the visuals and the combat in the current top-down Zelda style. But this alone would already make it much more accessible and fun. Some enemies, like Darknuts or the Wizzrobes, could become less aggravating, while others may even become more challenging, first and foremost the Lynels.

The world and the dungeons should stay the same, however, as it was intended. The overworld would become seamless, just like with Link's Awakening, and they may add some visual clues as to what trees you can burn and what rock walls can be blown up, because nobody got time for that nonsense today. But there is no reason to fill it with stuff that wasn't there before, unless they want to go down the same route as Oracle of Seasons.

You would also now be able to assign items to both the X and Y buttons, while the letter and potions may even work fully automatically, so you don't have to put them on a button at all. And for the remaining seven items the game could make use of the Breath of the Wild quick select, without it being a pain, since there are only so few.

One of those items could even get a dedicated button, where the best candidate is probably the Candle. You needed it all the time in dungeons to light up the dark rooms and this could get annoying very quickly, because it forced you to swap items every so often. Also, the screen-based usage of the Blue Candle won't make any sense when there are no transitioning screens any longer, so it may simply have a cooldown, which gets shortened by the Red Candle. And it should create a sphere of light around you inside dark rooms when you haven't used its fire yet, so you can still see a little bit.

The Bow could also be overhauled to use actual arrows as ammunition. And the shops that offered you an arrow now simply sell bundles of them for a refill. However, to still offer the classic functionality, the Magic Book now also upgrades the Bow (in addition to the Magical Rod), so that it still uses up Rupees when you're out of arrows. Kind of like how the Magic Armor in various Zelda games lets you deplete your Rupees instead of your health.

On the overworld the Clock power-up would probably freeze all enemies in sight or within a certain radius, like it does in Hyrule Warriors on the Master Quest map. And with the Bait it would be nice if you could carry more than just one at a time, so you're not just keeping it to bribe certain Goriyas.

Finally, the Compass would be another good candidate for a revision, because all it did in the original was showing you the location of the Triforce in a dungeon. It should still do that, of course, but it could also give you a signal in dungeon rooms that have a key, just like in Link's Awakening. Or it may even give a general signal whenever there is a secret related to defeating all enemies in a room.

And that's pretty much it. No fuzz, no nonsense, just the original game modernized. However, to make this a bit more interesting and to offer something new for most fans, this should also come with the maps and dungeons of the first BS-X Zelda game, released in the 90s for the Satellaview peripheral for the Super Nintendo. It was essentially a 16-Bit remake of the original, but it got broadcasted like a TV show with time-based events, where in each episode you were playing two dungeons.

Because of their unusual nature, these games have never been re-released by Nintendo in any way or form, but they still could remake the two maps and their unique dungeons without any of the event stuff. Fans have done it before, so it's entirely possible. In the remake it could look like this:

When you start the game you get a choice between four different quests. The "Classic Quest" is the game as you know it. The "Second Quest" lets you play the devious altered version of the original, without naming yourself "Zelda" or beating the normal game first. And the "Lost Quest", which comes in two variants, would bring you to the maps from the BS-X Zelda.

This could even be seen as difficulty modes. The Classic Quest would be the normal difficult, the 2nd Quest hard, while the Lost Quests would be a lot easier, because their overworlds are only half the size and the dungeons were meant to be cleared within a short time. 

Of course, GREZZO could also add the usual Hero Mode option for those who are looking for a bigger challenge. But this probably should be implemented in the same way as in Echoes of Wisdom, meaning that you can just turn it on and off at any time.

Also like in Echoes of Wisdom, outfits could give Link a different appearance, to add some variety and novelty without altering the gameplay. This is where amiibo could come into the equation. For example, the 8-Bit Link could give you something like the Timeless Tunic from Tri Force Heroes, so that Link appears in a retro voxel style (and the music changes to the classic chiptunes from the NES). Or there could be a variant based on A Link Between Worlds, so he looks more like the classic Link, in case you don't like the toy style.

They should call this remake "The Legend of Zelda: The Hyrule Fantasy" to distinguish from the original – at least in the west, since this has been the subtitle of the Famicom Disk game in Japan. It should be available on the Nintendo Switch, but with a free upgrade for the Switch 2. And maybe this could even be something that they will simply shadow-drop at the end of a Nintendo Direct, where they will offer a physical release later on, similar to Metroid Prime Remastered. You know, as a surprise for the 40th Anniversary...

Replaying The Legend of Zelda via NSO

Last weekend was the beginning of the 40th Anniversary of The Legend of Zelda and that's a great reason to revisit the NES classic. Last time I played through the entire game was over nine years ago, on the Wii U, where I had made it my mission to play through most Zelda games again during the 30th Anniversary and before Breath of the Wild came out, starting a new era for the series.

Of course, it's not like I have had no contact with the game since then. I played a bit on the Game & Watch system that was released for the 35th Anniversary. And it was my favorite part of the Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition. But this was really about going through everything from start to finish again, both in the 1st and the 2nd Quest.

For this I was using the Nintendo Switch Online version, which brings one major novelty with it: you can now rewind at any time. Well, this has been a thing for many years now, so I'm a little late to the party, but it makes replaying the NES games a lot more forgiving and fun.

I wasn't using any guide maps at first, so I was simply guessing from my memory where I could bomb walls and burn trees, but my memories were a bit hazy. Luckily, you can just quickly rewind to not having wasted your bombs or having to go back and forth between screens to reload the candle.

The best usage in the early game turned out to be the money-making game, however. Make a pick and rewind whenever it was the wrong one. It is predetermined when you enter the cave, so you can just look at the result, rewind one step and then pick the positive value. This completely erases the need to farm Rupees in this game, making items like the Blue Ring quickly accessible.

Technically, all of this was already possible with Restore Points on the Virtual Console, but it was much more of a manual effort, because you needed to create a new save state every single time. Rewinding is so much more convenient that it makes me want to re-explore some other Zelda classics later this year, just to see what can be done with it.

Most importantly, it lets you quickly undo mistakes. You need to defeat a Dodongo, but only have exactly two bombs left? Not a problem any longer... Or in the 2nd Quest you will often go through one-way doors, where the other side is basically a trap that forces you to backtrack through the whole dungeon. Again, this isn't a problem any longer...

Speaking of the the 2nd Quest, here I was mostly following my "guide" from when I had played the game on the Nintendo 3DS right for the 30th Anniversary. The main difference was that I went through all of Level 8 right away, making it the second dungeon to complete.

Thanks to the rewind feature, all those triple Dodongos became rather trivial. And getting the Magical Key early was also a relief, because the keys are not evenly distributed throughout the 2nd Quest dungeons, where this can create annoying dead-ends, unless you have purchased keys in advance.

The 2nd Quest's Level 8 doesn't have any Blue Darknuts or Wizzrobes in it, making it easier in comparison to Levels 6 and 7. And I also often used the rewind when fighting those annoyances to minimize damage.

By the way, you can save your game (without it counting as a death) by activating a second controller and then pressing Up + Select on the second controller in the item menu. This works just fine with the Nintendo Switch Online version. I've only used this once, right at the very end of the 2nd Quest, because the Restore Points are more convenient for saving, but I wanted to have actual save data present to get a sense of completion.

40th Anniversary of Zelda

On February 21st 1986, ゼルダの伝説 (The Legend of Zelda): THE HYRULE FANTASY was released for the Famicom Disk System in Japan. 40 years later the game has left a legacy like rarely any other, with a succession of 20 more titles, half of them remastered or remade, a rich variety of different art styles and gameplay ideas, and even an ongoing spin-off series with Hyrule Warriors.

The Legend of Zelda is the reason why this blog exists, though I was still in the making myself when the original came out. But Europe had to wait until November 1987 anyway to get their NES version.

When you first played the game you were presented with a choice: will you go left, right, up, or down into that cave? Well, you won't get very far if you don't go into the cave first, but that's a lesson for you to learn and it's really up to you. It is your adventure. And it's this level of freedom that later inspired Breath of the Wild to go in a bold new direction, where even the rocky walls aren't an obstacle any longer, bringing the series to a whole new level of popularity and success.

Despite that, Nintendo had decided to skip over celebrating the 35th Anniversary in 2021, save for a Game & Watch system. And to be fair, 35 years are an odd anniversary, where it doesn't necessarily scream for attention, but that's different in the case of four whole decades. Nintendo won't let this opportunity for marketing slip away, especially when they have a whole Legend of Zelda movie coming out next year (even though the series will be 41 years old by then).

But don't hold your breath just yet. They are still in the middle of advertising the 40th Anniversary of Super Mario Bros., where Mar10 day is coming up, the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Super Mario Bros. Wonder and of course the Super Mario Galaxy Movie on April 1st. We shouldn't expect to hear about the Zelda anniversary from its creators before that's all behind us. And this also has been true in the past, where they have waited until June to announce something for 25th and 35th Anniversaries and even until September in case of the 30th.

So, at this point we can only speculate and here it's easy to bring up a number of ideas from the past, like those for the 35th Anniversary that weren't meant to be at the time:

• A game collection
• Special-themed hardware
• A dungeon / shrine maker 

Giving us The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD in a collection is still on top of many fan wishlists, where similar to Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2 this could run on both the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, offering something for the fans who have yet to migrate to the new system. However... it's probably more in Nintendo's interest for those people to move on and also to subscribe to the Expansion Pack of the Nintendo Switch Online service, which gives you access to GameCube games on the Switch 2, including The Wind Waker. They will certainly also add Twilight Princess at some point, maybe even this year, and an HD collection would only make such offerings less interesting.

By the way, it will also be the 20th Anniversary of Twilight Princess, sitting right in the middle of the franchise's history. There won't be any better timing to bring this game back, but this may come down to releasing Twilight Princess as part of the NSO GameCube library and finally adding its soundtrack to Nintendo Music. We can anticipate this to happen in the very least.

As for Special Editions of the latest hardware, that's a strong possibility, since the Nintendo Switch 2 doesn't have much to offer yet. Resident Evil Re9uiem will be the first game to come with a themed Pro Controller and that's really it. We could also see a Pro Controller for the 40th Anniversary, or some Joy-Cons, or maybe even a whole Nintendo Switch 2.

But Zelda-themed hardware usually launched alongside a new game, like Tears of the Kingdom and Echoes of Wisdom in the more recent years. It's a bit early for a brandnew Zelda game, though. If we're getting some release in 2026, then it will likely be a side project.

One such side project could be the equivalent to the Super Mario Maker, which became a thing during the 30th Anniversary of Super Mario Bros., more than ten years ago. And it's time that Zelda gets something of its own here. This could be a top-down dungeon maker experience, or a Shrine Maker based on Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. Both could have realistically been in development at Nintendo / GREZZO for many years now, in parallel to the latest games.

Something simpler would be the Zelda World Championships, which is like the Nintendo World Championships, where you play short slices of the games and try to solve tasks as quickly as possible. But instead of different games from one system, this would be focused solely on the history of the Zelda series, featuring the two NES classics, A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening DX, Ocarina of Time and more.

Alternatively, we could be looking at a remake. The internet is currently obsessed with the idea of remaking Ocarina of Time again, which will happen eventually, but it needs the right studio for the job. And GREZZO, the developers behind Ocarina of Time 3D, effectively became the top-down Zelda team over the last decade. Speaking of, a remake of Oracle of Ages & Seasons may actually be the more likely candidate.

Of course, it hasn't even been two years since the release of Echoes of Wisdom, so this is a bit too hopeful, but they can re-use a lot of assets from both the Link's Awakening remake and Echoes of Wisdom, which could have sped up the development significantly. They also wouldn't have to create new environments and scenarios, just recreate old ones and mash them together in a more satisfying package.

Well, such a remake doesn't necessarily have to do anything with the ongoing anniversary. In fact, they rarely ever do. Ocarina of Time 3D was tied into the 25th, but this happened retroactively. Meanwhile, both Twilight Princess HD and Skyward Sword HD came out in the year of an anniversary, but weren't marketed as such.

Yet, the Oracle games are in a more unique position, because their development started out as a remake itself – a remake of the very first Zelda game, the one we're all celebrating today. As a result, nearly all of the game's enemies and bosses can be encountered in the GBC classics, which are also seeing their own major anniversary in less than a week: it has been 25 years since their launch on February 27th, 2001.

If they were to remake Oracle of Ages & Seasons, then those assets could theoretically be even used for a remake of The Legend of Zelda. Nothing too crazy, just the original game in the Link's Awakening style, as it was once intended by Capcom. This would be a throwback to a throwback and the ultimate deal for the anniversary, which also could be released for both the Switch and the Switch 2. Maybe they will even have focused on such a project first, because it doesn't require as much development effort, before moving on to the Oracle games in the next step.

Otherwise, Nintendo could also repeat some of things they had done for past anniversaries:

• Start a new symphony orchestra tour
• Launch some more Zelda amiibo
• Release a new book 

The simplest option are amiibo, where they already have been some trustworthy rumors earlier this year that Nintendo will be breathing them in 2026. We're still waiting for the amiibo of Mineru's Construct, but that one will be entirely separate. (Or maybe it launches alongside that Shrine Maker?) For the 40th Anniversary they could just go over the entire series and fill some gaps: Zelda from Ocarina of Time and Echoes of Wisdom, or Din, Nayru and Farore as the Oracles, or Twili Midna, Fi, Linebeck, Ravio...

But it wouldn't be Nintendo if they didn't come up with something special, something that no one is expecting or even talking about. It could be a new cooperation with another video game franchise, some unique merchandise or events, or introducing Rupees as an actual currency in Japan. Let's wait and find out, though the Nintendo of late has been playing it quite safe and by the numbers. However, after the two lackluster anniversaries in 2016 and 2021, which paled in comparison to their Super Mario counterparts, it would be nice to see some more attention on our favorite franchise.

 

Happy 40th Anniversary, The Legend of Zelda! 

Nintendo Music: The Legend of Zelda Added

If they keep adding Zelda titles to Nintendo Music at this rate, then we may see a complete collection at some point in 2026, during the 40th Anniversary. They could even use the anniversary as an excuse to add things like the 25th Anniversary Orchestral CD that came with Skyward Sword. I also expect the Tears of the Kingdom soundtrack to arrive in June, when they are releasing the Switch 2 update for the game and new amiibo.

Anyway, the original Hyrule Fantasy was just added with 12 tracks. It's very basic, where they probably should have added The Adventure of Link along with it, but still nice to have. And they have also added the Famicom version, which has some differences here and there, most notably the title theme, because the Famicon had a wavetable sound channel.

Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition (Review)

Are you a true American, who was born in the 70s or 80s and thinks that the classic Nintendo Entertainment System is the best video game console ever made? And do you still love to compete in who can do things quickest? Well, then Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition was made for you, congratulations!

If not, then you might be wondering whether this game is really worth it or not... And to be upfront, this really should have been part of the Nintendo Switch Online service's offerings, alongside Tetris 99 and F-Zero 99. Instead, it costs 30 bucks, or twice as much if you're going for the Deluxe Set physical edition.

Under the hood you will get what's effectively a reskin of NES Remix, with a couple of main differences. There are only individual challenges, so no stages where you do a series of tasks. There are also no remixed levels or special conditions, it's all about doing a certain task or reaching a certain goal as fast as possible. You also don't have any lives or tries, instead it will rewind whenever you potentially screw up or do things that you're not supposed to, like a majority of possible glitches.

The rewind functionality is rarely ever useful, however. The timer will keep running, so there is a huge penalty attached to it. With shorter challenges you're always better off to reset. In addition, you don't have any control about how far it rewinds, where it might set you back into a situation where you just fall into your death again, potentially even keeping you in a loop... So, you have to reset anyway.

And when you reset, the three second countdown at the beginning can get a bit annoying, especially since the this may take longer than some of the challenge themselves... It's still good to have, because you want to be ready and already started with the right button(s) pressed, but it could be shorter.

Also, what could be better is the button layout, where NES Remix gave you Y as a second Select button, which is very useful and more comfortable for a variety of games, e.g. Metroid and Zelda II. At least, you can use X as an alternative to B, so that's something... But there are no control options of any kind, which is always a negative and a general problem with Nintendo.

As for the emulation itself, it feels similar to the Nintendo Switch Online offerings, meaning that you will experience the games in all their messy glory. There will be significant slowdowns whenever there are too many enemies on screen in Metroid, for example. The timer won't slow down for you, though, so you will have to take this into account.

For each challenge they've created a specific RAM save state (essentially a Suspend / Restore Point), so you should get the same RNG on each try, to make things as consistent as it gets. In practice this means that you can predict enemy movements in certain challenges, because they always will be the same, which then enables you to become even faster.

That's it for the basics, in total there are over 150 challenges to play, spread over 13 different NES titles, which is far less than what the NES Remix games had to offer, but it aims to be a bit more of a quality selection. Here is a list of the games in question:

• Ballon Fight
• Donkey Kong
• Excitebike
• Ice Climbers
  
• Kid Icarus
• Kirby's Adventure
  
• The Legend of Zelda
• Metroid
• Super Mario Bros.
• Super Mario Bros. - The Lost Levels
• Super Mario Bros. 2
• Super Mario Bros. 3
  
• Zelda II - The Adventure of Link
  

This should cover most of the fan favorites and focuses on the early Nintendo games that have aged best, though none of them have aged particularly well, except maybe Super Mario Bros. 3. You will still get some stiff and clunky stuff in there, like Donkey Kong, Ice Climbers, or even Kid Icarus and Metroid. And your enjoyment of the Nintendo World Championships will heavily depend on the enjoyment of these games.

At least the challenges weren't spread out equally, so the more popular games get more challenges than something like Excitebike. Also, you don't have to play other games first in order to get to the good stuff. You can just focus on whatever game(s) you like best, because everything you do is rewarded with coins, based on your score and the difficulty. Those coins then can be used to unlock challenges and purchase player icons based on the 13 games. So, you can technically play the same challenge over and over again to unlock everything in the game, even though you probably don't want to do it that way.

The score is determined by eight different ranks: C, B, B+, B++, A, A+, A++, and S. For the S-rank you usually have to get close to perfection, with a little leeway. So, getting those can be quite challenging, especially if this is your first contact with speedrunning. But it also heavily depends on the challenge in question and the required times, where some will give you an easier time than others.

As for the challenges themselves, they range from "short and sweet" to "speedrun the entire game, please". In case of Super Mario Bros., for example, you start with picking up the first mushroom and collecting some coins. This goes over into entire levels, until finally you have to beat the entire game. To be fair, this is the exception and it can be achieved within a couple of minutes thanks to the warp zones.

That is the game's "Legend" difficulty challenge, where each title gets one such lengthier task, some more than others. In case of the two Zelda games you will have to speedrun the entire first dungeon. Meanwhile, in Metroid you only have to do the final escape sequence, where the developers were merciful enough to leave out the atrocious Mother Brain fight before it.

For those Legendary Challenges you can read hints, called "Classified Information", where it shows you the intended route for the S-rank or other useful tips, so you don't have to look at online maps or guides of these games to figure it out yourself. These hints look like pages from classic manuals or strategy guides from that era, which is really awesome and something that more games should do.

The manuals used to be a fantastic source of information and beautiful artworks back in the day, where Nintendo slowly economized this to a point where modern games don't came with any manual at all. It's understandable, but games like TUNIC and now Nintendo World Championships show how you can bring these back within the game itself. It's very lovely!

This is entirely subjective, but you may find the shorter challenges to be more fun and addicting. In those you really focus on one task to get it done just right. Fight that one Lynel at the cave to the White Sword as quickly as possible. Again, again, and again until you get that one near-perfect try. It gets you into the "zone".

The longer the challenges become, however, the more it goes into conventional speedrunning territory, where you have to put everything together and optimize both in large and small scale. In some cases, like Super Mario Bros., it even feels like all the challenges before are just there to teach you how to speedrun the game in its entirety. And that might not be to everyone's taste.

But these longer challenges also often have more leeway for the S-rank, where you can afford to make some mistakes and potentially still get it. The Parapa Palace from Zelda II - The Adventure of Link is a great example of this, luckily.

However, this wouldn't be the "Nintendo World Championships" if this was just about personal highscores. There needs to be some competition and the game let's you go at it in three different ways: Party Mode, World Championships, and Survival Mode.

Party Mode let's you compete locally with up to eight players. Here you get different themed sets of challenges, or you can just create your own. You then score points based on your placement and the winner gets it all... This is entirely separate from the rest of the game (the one player mode), so none of your highscores here will have any effect. And this can run out of steam quickly, so don't bank on it for this to become your next party game.

Otherwise, you have the two "online" modes, Wold Championships and Survival. For both you get the same set of five challenges, which are going to change every Monday. In World Championships you get to play these challenges individually and you can try to achieve a highscore. New highscores will be transferred into the singleplayer Speedrun Mode, even if you haven't unlocked the given challenges yet. But this won't work the other way around, so you have to make a good score for the running competition.

You won't see your standings until that competition is over, however, so there are no real leaderboards to follow until then. That's probably not to demotivate players from trying their best, because seeing the highscores on online leaderboards can be daunting. And there is a sense of wonder of how well you did in the end... But for those who really want to compete for the top this is a questionable decision at best.

In Survival you will play three challenges back-to-back against the ghost data of seven other players. Each round the bottom half gets disqualified and you goal is to make it to the end. This is divided into Silver and Gold levels, where for the former you get generally more easier opponents, while in the Gold Division you're often up against people's best attempts, making this fairly challenging.

Winning here will earn you some pins, where there's 183 to unlock in total, most of them from scoring an A-rank in all the individual challenges. These pins are like little trophies (and also what the physical pins in the Deluxe Set are based upon), where you can show off one of them in pride next to your username.

The other customization a statement, like "Game Boy Generation", your favorite NES game from a comprehensive list, as well the aforementioned player icons. The latter are unlocked via coins and can get rather expensive, e.g. the awoken princess from Zelda II costs 1000. The hardest challenges only cost 300 to unlock, in comparison, so this may keep you busy for a while, grinding all that virtual money.

Finally, if you're super crazy about all of this and can't get enough, there is the "Legendary Trial" to unlock, where you will have to clear all 13 Legendary Challenges one after another, which can take half an hour. Good luck with that!

Conclusion

All in all, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is another take on NES Remix, with a bit of competition sprinkled on top. If you enjoy speedrunning and mastering individually segments in video games, then you should have a good time with this, given that you don't mind the age of the games in question. Otherwise this title won't have much to offer...

Hopefully, Nintendo will move on from the NES with this concept and offer something for Game Boy and SNES generation in the future, or potentially even something based on individual franchises with a mix of different platforms.

Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition Impressions

Well, this is essentially NES Remix again... just with less games and less challenges per game and without any remix, but with online competition... without any leaderboards. The focus is a lot more on speedrunning individual chunks, where they've put quality over quantity with the selection of challenges.

And it can be quite addicting to the get one single thing just right for the S-rank, where I personally do enjoy these smaller tasks more than the longer ones. It can even ruin a potentially fun challenge if there's more to it than necessary, where the best example is probably the Ridley fight from Metroid. For some reason they thought it to be a good idea to include the room before in all its laggy glory.

To make things worse they let the game rewind whenever you might fall into lava, but you can't really set where you get back into the game, so it might just place you above the lava once more... The rewind is truly useless, especially if you're going for the S-ranks, because the timer keeps running, even as it rewinds. So, you're always better off just resetting.

Controls could also be better. Like in NES Remix, you still have X as an alternative to B, but Y isn't any longer a second Select button, which would especially be useful in Metroid for the missile switch. There are options for some things, e.g. how it displays the screen(s), but overall it's lacking.

My main problem with this game is similar to NES Remix, however: the only two NES games that I've ever played on the original hardware are The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II - The Adventure of Link. Those are the two NES games that I care about and not much else... I've also played and beaten Metroid, of course, but that's actually my least favorite game in the series. It's a bit too archaic for my taste, as are most NES games.

Now, there are 15 challenges for each Zelda game and I quickly got S-ranks in all of them. The only ones that gave me some trouble were "Labyrinth Champion" and "Rebonack Attack". The latter always was a painful bossfight for me, where here I really had to master it for the first time. And as for the Level 1 dungeon, I simply took a suboptimal route, because I've collected both keys in the rooms next to the entrance, where this isn't necessary. I should have looked at the "Classified Information" sooner, which are super awesome in this old strategy guide style, where being able to look at those is essentially a reward for itself.

Anyway, now I'm left with little motivation to go on. I'm giving some other games and challenges a try, also in combination with the "online" modes, but it just doesn't have the same spark. And while I am more interested in a potential SNES or Game Boy Edition, those still would come with many games and challenges I don't particularly enjoy playing, e.g. F-Zero.

What I'm trying to say here is that I personally would prefer something like "Nintendo World Championships: The Legend of Zelda Edition", where they focus on one franchise and include all games that are currently part of the Nintendo Switch Online emulation, so you would have up to ten Zelda games in total. This would really get me excited to complete everything and to compete in those weekly online tournaments.

It's understandable that they are doing this on a console basis, because otherwise many Nintendo games would never be featured at all. And hopefully these types of games are not stuck with the NES for all eternity, where a Game Boy Edition would probably be so much more fun for me. But they could also do these franchise editions in addition, at least for the most popular ones, like Super Mario and Zelda. Maybe as a free offering for the 40th anniversaries?

Got Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition Deluxe Set

Well, I already got this yesterday, because for some reason Nintendo decided with this fiscal year that their new games should launch on a Thursday... But this was on a Thursday, so I couldn't even be bothered to unpack it. Anyway, it's finally here, the big summer release that we've been waiting for... Not really, but it could be a nice diversion for in-between, where I already got hooked with beating some Octoroks as fast as possible.

As for the Deluxe Set, this is the only way of getting a physical copy of the game. It costs it much as a normal Nintendo Switch game would, but you get a variety of goodies on top:

There is a replica of the golden NES cartridge for the Nintendo World Championships, though they felt the need to use this game's logo on a black background, so it isn't exactly the same. And of course it's not a real NES game, it's just plastic, but it comes with even more plastic in the form of a standee, so you can put it nicely into a display cabinet.

In addition, you get a pin set, which is surprisingly nice, because it feels like little trophies. I'm normally not a big fan of such pins and I don't get Nintendo's obsession with them, but in this case it seems like a very good fit.

 

Finally, there is a card set with the original covers of all 13 NES games featured in the game. It's actually a very good selection, they've went with the absolute best games here, unlike NES Remix and NES Remix 2, where they had one too many of Nintendo's old games in there. On the backside you get some pixel arts:

And that's it. Nothing too special, but still neat. My only real complaint is that the cover of the card case still has the huuuge age ratings on it. Why is that? One of the biggest selling points of these Special Editions, at least for me personally, is to get a clean cover. And they are not even selling this separately!

Though, maybe they had planned to... The pin box also comes with a plastic wrapping that's normally used for My Nintendo stuff, complete with a bar code sticker for the item. Maybe they first made the retail game and those pins separately, but then decided to create this Deluxe Set instead. Add some more cardboard and plastic, and then sell it for full price. Oh, well, it's obviously working...

Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition Announced

Well, Nintendo doesn't need a Nintendo Direct to announce new games, this one coming on July 18th. They've just posted a video, which is a bit cringe and dwells in the memories of past of Nintendo World Championships events. This never has been a thing in Europe, so other than the rare NES cartridge this isn't exactly some that you may have heard about outside of North America.

To me this looks a lot like NES Remix, which is one of the few Wii U titles that haven't made it onto the Nintendo Switch yet. The core idea is pretty much the same, where NES Remix 2 even had a remixed version of the original Nintendo World Championships. The main difference is that this is all about online leaderboards, because that's always fun, given that you love playing games to absolute perfection (I usually don't).

So, this is simply another title pushing the Nintendo Switch Online service, similar to Tetris 99 and alike, except that this one isn't for free. But it will still be eShop exclusive... unless you get physical "Deluxe Set". I will try to get my hands on the latter, but otherwise I probably won't bother with this.

The NES Remix games were diverting, however, some nice and casual fun, but I never found them all too engaging. I only ever cared about the Zelda and Metroid challenges, because those are the only NES games that I truly like.

It's also weird that they are calling this the "NES Edition", as if they are meaning to create a "SNES Edition" and potentially other editions later on. But there never has been a "SNES Remix" or a "Game Boy Remix", so this would be new territory. I would love something like this for Game Boy games, though.

Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda (Review)

 

Happy 35th Anniversary, The Legend of Zelda! To celebrate you got re-released together with your younger NES sibling for the seventh (or so) time, but this time on its very own video game system: Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda. Let's give this thing a look.

 

Hardware

The new Game & Watch system is quite small, where with 11cm x 6.5cm it almost rivals the GameBoy Micro (10cm x 5 cm). It's also very light and the buttons feel a bit mushy, so it overall has a low quality feel to it. The LCD screen is pretty good, however, with sharp visuals and vibrant colors.

On the left side you can find a USB-C port, but the system won't come with an AC adapter, only a short cable. If you own a Nintendo Switch (Pro Controller) or a modern Android phone, however, then chances are that you will have everything needed for charging ready anyway. But keep this in mind when purchasing.

On the other end rests the speaker and there doesn't seem to be a way of using headphones with the device, which is a shame, because the speaker also isn't the best. For the most part its fine, but some sound effects don't seem to be well balanced, where it can make some annoying louder noises here and then during the gameplay. Some things also just don't sound the same with these speakers, like for example moving rocks and blocks in Link's Awakening, which just doesn't have the same heavy tone to it.

As a nice detail, there is a Triforce on the backside of the device, which gets lit when the system is turned on. However, you won't really notice this while playing or while keeping it in the stand that comes with it. This stand is just made out of cardboard, so nothing special either. With the exception of the display it's all as cheap as it can get.

 

Software

There was already a Game & Watch: Zelda released back in 1989, but it's sadly not part of this system, which comes with a modified version of Vermin instead, where you play whack-a-mole with Link. But this is certainly not the main attraction of the new Game & Watch, which comes with a variety of five different games that you can select:

• The Legend of Zelda (English and Japanese)
• Zelda II - The Adventure of Link (English and Japanese)
• Link's Awakening (English, French, German and Japanese)
• Vermin
• Timer
  

Believe it or not, the Timer is probably one of the most interesting things here, because it's like a mini-game where you battle foes from The Adventure of Link within the set time limit. It saves a separate high score for every time limit that you can chose, which ranges from one to ten minutes.

These battles can even even have Dark Link in them, which is pretty badass. He falls in three hits, however, because otherwise this would be too brutal. And the corner trick doesn't work here, since the screen borders function like in Pac-Man, where you will appear at the right if you leave the screen to the left and vice versa. Should you camp in a corner, Dark Link will simply go to the other end and literally stab you in the back. This must be so satisfying for him after being cheesed for over 30 years.

This seems to be based on the Japanese version, however, so the sounds are slightly different from what you might been used to. And the combat isn't entirely the same either, where the Iron Knuckles seem to be a lot harder to hit. Luckily, the blue ones don't throw sword beams at you, but you don't get to throw any either.

Anyway, it's very interesting that you can play the games in the different language versions, where in case of The Adventure of Link there is actually a good number of changes in both visuals and sounds between the Japanese and English versions. Some enemies can be different as well. The original The Legend of Zelda mainly has differently sounding music, but it's still interesting to give this a try, since both games don't have that much text anyway.

It even treats each language version as its own game, so you can start playing Link's Awakening in both English and German for example, where it will create separate save states and you can keep playing these versions independently from another. A language switch probably would have been more intuitive, but since all of these versions are actually different in other aspects than just the texts, this does make sense from a technical point of view. And as already said, it can be interesting to try these different versions to experience the changes yourself.

For the German version of Link's Awakening they've actually altered some of the infamously lewd translations of Claude M. Moyse, however, where the Cukemen don't speak of condoms and sharing juices any longer. Some character names also got altered, just like in the Virtual Console release of Link's Awakening DX on the Nintendo 3DS. (BowWow used to be called "Struppi" originally, as a reference to Tim & Struppi  / The Adventures of Tintin, while Crazy Tracy was named "Geierwally", as a reference to The Vulture Wally. Those references got cut on the Virtual Console, which is the same for this new version, where now these characters are called "Komet" and "Trantrudi" respectively.)

Otherwise there don't seem to be any changes, however, so the mermaid will still look for her bikini top and get upset if you dive in front of her. And the hippo model has pixel breasts to cover when you enter the house of the crocodile artist, Schule Donavitch, where it implies that they are doing a nude portrait. All of this got censored in Link's Awakening DX for the German and French versions, where the mermaid has lost a pearl necklace instead and the hippo has lost her breasts entirely, where she simply sits down when you enter the room. For the English version this always used to be the case, even on the old GameBoy, while the Japanese versions both had the lewd jokes. Cultural differences and all that...

But if you're from Germany and you want to re-experience the game exactly like it used to be on the GameBoy, keep in mind that these texts were changed. The rest looks and feels pretty much like on the GameBoy, however, where it even emulates the green colors of the original display. You can also switch screen sizes between full width and original, just like on the GameBoy Advance. It's all pretty thoughtful and it's absolutely fantastic that Nintendo has finally preserved the original GameBoy title now in this form.

That being said, it still would have been nice to get Link's Awakening DX in addition, maybe even all GameBoy Color Zelda games, where they could have gone for a complete 8-bit Zelda collection. All these games can be played with only the A, B, Start and Select buttons, which is what the system has.

The emulators employs suspend points for everything, so you can leave a game at any time and then return to it exactly where you left off whenever you want, similar to suspended Virtual Console games, which is highly convenient. It doesn't offer restore points, however, so you can't make your own save states that you can create and load, which would have been very nice to have for the unforgiving Zelda II - The Adventure of Link.

Still, you might find a couple of secrets to make the games easier or harder, mostly by holding down the A button when selecting the game mode or save file. With Vermin you'll get the much harder "Game C" for example. In Zelda II you can get eight lives and everything maxed out right from the start, which makes the game a breeze. If you really want to give the Japanese version a try, then this might even be a good idea, because there it resets your levels to the lowest one on a Game Over, which can be quite demotivating.

However, this trick also unlocks all magic spells right from the beginning, which is a little bit too much and removes part of the fun of collecting everything. Same with the Life and Magic Containers. A middle ground, where you get the highest levels from the start, but still have to collect all the items, would have been great here.

Other than the playable timer, there is also the main clock, where it animates gameplay scenes from The Legend of Zelda and shows the current time on the background / underground. You can also take over and play Link yourself, but unlike in the timer there are no highscores here or anything. It's just for fun.

Conclusion

The Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda system does a good job at preserving the different language versions of three 8-bit Zelda classics, while offering some nice little mini-games as extras. But a couple more games would have been nice, like the original Game & Watch: Zelda or the GameBoy Color titles, where it's a shame that Nintendo didn't go the extra mile with this device, which also doesn't have a high quality to it.

The Good:

• Sharp and bright screen.
• Includes all the different language versions.
• Nice preservation of the original Link's Awakening.
• Suspend and switch between games quickly at any time.
  
• Playable timer with highscores.
  

The Bad:

• Feels cheap and too small.
• The speaker isn't very good and there's no support for headphones.
  
• Doesn't come with the actual Game & Watch: Zelda.
• Doesn't come with any of the GameBoy Color Zelda games.
• No manual restore points.