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.

Remaking The Minish Cap

If you're asking fans what (handheld) Zelda game should be remade next, you will often see The Minish Cap as an answer. This is curious, because – unlike the Oracle games and the Nintendo DS games – it doesn't seem like the Game Boy Advance title really needs one. Its 2D sprite graphics are the best looking in the series and have aged gracefully. It also doesn't have some hook, where addressing that alone would already make the game better for most people. There is no convoluted password system and it doesn't have touchscreen or microphone controls.

You can play The Minish Cap just fine in 2024 via Nintendo Switch Online, given that you're willing to pay for the overpriced Expansion Pack. The game is not flawless, but compared to the other handheld Zeldas it still looks and plays quite nicely, so it's not in immediate need of a remake. But this doesn't mean that it won't ever get one...

There is even a big hook here, it's just not as obvious at first, because it's mainly about the graphics. Yes, the 2D pixel visuals of The Minish Cap are the best in the series, as the last game that made use of them. And yes, the game still looks pretty. Nevertheless, 3D graphics would offer a whole new perspective, one that really let's you dive into the world of the Picori.

In The Minish Cap the shrinking was displayed in one of two ways. Either you were a small dot within the environment, similar to the Gnat Hat from Four Swords, or you've entered special zoomed-in screens, like the "Minish Roads", the homes of the Picori, or even entire dungeons. In those you appear normal-sized relative to your screen, but the environments are heavily enlarged.

With 3D graphics you could handle this a lot more dynamically and offer whole new perspectives. Imagine running through Hyrule Castle Town as a Minish, but it's actually zoomed in and you can see details like grass and tiny rocks, while the people around you became huge. It would be breath-taking and a completely new experience. Of course, this could potentially go more in the direction of a re-imagining, instead of a faithful remake, but either way it would be an incredibly charming incentive to re-explore the world this game.

With that in mind, it's easy to understand why people want a remake of The Minish Cap, other than the fact that's probably the most well-rounded out of the Capcom titles. It still has some rough edges, however, and the rest of this article will talk about those.

Controls & Hints

With the Nintendo Switch you get twice as many face buttons and twice as many shoulder buttons than what you had on the Game Boy Advance. This alone can already provide much more comfort, as demonstrated by the Link's Awakening remake, which didn't even make use of everything. In the very least, sword and shield should get their dedicated buttons. Pegasus Boots and the Roc's Cape are good candidates for this as well, while you still have the X and Y buttons for the remaining items.

Map and inventory should now be separate, with the inventory screen on ⊕ and the map on ⊖. The inventory can also display the main items, all your gear, and the status items at once, so there won't be any need to switch pages via L and R any longer.

As for Ezlo, the Select button was originally dedicated to getting advice from him, where this can move to some direction on the D-pad, together with the Kinstone fusion. Nintendo probably won't support the D-pad for movement anyway, since neither Link's Awakening nor Echoes of Wisdom did so. Plus, the remake will probably become more three-dimensional, where you'd want to use a stick.

Ezlo should also get the Fi treatment from Skyward Sword HD, meaning that he will only make some sound when he wants to give you a hint, instead of popping up and interrupting the game. If the player wants the advice, they can press his button at the moment.

Kinstones

In concept the Kinstone system was pretty neat, but its execution is quite flawed. Some characters won't fuse Kinstones with you until you've reached a certain point in the game, without giving you any real hints about that. And with certain characters, like Epona, you won't ever have the pleasure of fusing Kinstones, because they are part of the random pool that will run out quickly. Finally, finding Kinstones in treasure chests, sometimes even as a reward from other Kinstone fusions, rarely ever feels exciting, because you're getting so many duplicates.

There is a simple solution to all of these problems: make all Kinstone Pieces behave like the golden ones, meaning that there is a fixed number of each shape in the game and that every fusion is assigned to a specific character. There should be more shapes and colors, like purple and orange, where many pieces will be entirely unique. Let's say the remake will have 128 different fusions, because they've added some more stuff, then there will be exactly 128 Kinstone pieces hidden in the world. No more and no less.

Characters should always be ready for fusing Kinstones. If you don't have the matching piece yet, it will leave a marker on your map with the other side displayed. This even let's you open your Kinstone Bag to compare, just to be safe that you have obtained the right piece before revisiting the character in question.

If you're not meant to activate the fusion until a certain point in the game, then the required Kinstone piece will be hidden accordingly. For example, there is the Minish who lives in the northeast corner of the Minish Village and who gives you access to the final Heart Container at Lake Hylia. In this case the Kinstone piece should be found behind the 4x4 rock on the schoolyard, ensuring that you already have the Four Sword.

There also shouldn't be a shared pool of fusions any longer, giving you a reason to fuse with everyone, even that Cucco on Anju's house, where reaching it was usually pointless so late in the game. But the remake then also needs to make sure that every character still can be found at the end of the game somewhere.

Speaking of pointless things, you should be able to obtain the Mirror Shield right after summoning Biggoron via Kinstones, which doesn't happen until very late in the game anyway.

Figurine Gallery

A simple fix for the Figurine Gallery would be to increase the maximum of Mysterious Shells from 999 to 9999. This way you can simply collect as many of them as you want and then tend to this minigame whenever you're ready, even if that's at the very end of the game. The main issue here always was that reaching the maximum effectively forced you to stop whatever you're doing and go invest your Mysterious Shells, or else any more you find will go to waste.

The same goes for Rupees, of course, where the individual wallet sizes should probably be closer to what we have in Twilight Princess HD, also with a maximum of 9999.

As for the figurine game itself, there are a number of ways to improve this and speed things up. Like, it could allow you to make multiple draws at once, instead of always ever going for a single figurine. Or maybe it let's you choose between different eggs, so that you can target a specific color, similar to other common Gacha games.

Finally, there shouldn't be a Piece of Heart locked behind collecting 130 figurines. For those who want to have all hearts, but don't care about the figurines, this is just a painful requirement, no matter how much you improve it.

The Minish Cap Referencing Previous Zelda Games

Recently, I saw someone make the claim that Twilight Princess is the "quintessential Zelda game",  because – on top of using the foundations laid out by A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time – it's "full with cameos and references to past games". I can't say that I agree with any of that, because it became too linear to truly respect those foundations. And while it certainly has some references to past games, it's mainly A Link to the Past and the other 3D Zelda games. As for cameos, I can really only think of the Skull Kid and the Postman...

However, there is one game from that era that truly was filled with references and cameos to ALL past Zelda games and that's The Minish Cap, where I was reminded of that while replaying the game once more on the Nintendo Switch. So, I thought that I should make a list of how every Zelda game before The Minish Cap gets represented. This list is not meant to be comprehensive, only to give examples to proof this point. But if you can think of anything important that I should have mentioned, feel free to leave a comment.

The Legend of Zelda

Royal Crypt. Period. This mini-dungeon is a callback to the labyrinths of the NES classic. You can hear a rendition of the music, and you can hear the secret item melody when you make keys appear, which are also just put on the ground, instead of inside a treasure chest. Gibdos can also be seen carrying items, which they otherwise don't. It's a shame that this wasn't turned into a full dungeon...

In addition, the Ocarina of Wind plays the same little tune as the Flute / Recorder.

Zelda II - The Adventure of Link

Well, Zelda II is probably the one game that has very little to go with, but in the very least The Minish Cap featured a series of learnable sword techniques, as it was first done in The Adventure of Link. And one of those techniques is even the Down Thrust, though you don't get to use it in a side-scrolling perspective here.

A Link to the Past

Mostly, A Link to the Past is represented via different music pieces. Of course there is the usual stuff, like Zelda's theme and Hyrule Castle, which are also featured in many other Zelda games. But there is more than that, like the unique callback to the beginning of A Link to the Past during the rainy part on Mount Crenel.

Also, you get to hear the cave theme when you're inside the secret passage that leads back into Hyrule Castle. And if you have unlocked the sound test, then you can listen to a rendition of the title screen theme from A Link to the Past. This one doesn't play anywhere else in the game, though, so it's really just a hidden feature.

The Four Sword's curse-breaking magic looks like the sword beam of the Master Sword from A Link to the Past. And while the Ocarina of Wind plays a different tune, the way you call a bird to travel over Hyrule is very similar to the Flute (which was also an Ocarina) from the SNES. The witch Syrup also returns, who had been present in all handheld Zelda games til this point, except for Four Swords.

As an environmental reference, you get the same prison cells in the basement of Dark Hyrule Castle as the ones in the beginning of A Link to the Past. Instead of Zelda, the king of Hyrule is imprisoned here, but overall it's quite similar in how this area is structured.

 

Link's Awakening

Naturally, the first handheld Zelda game had to be referenced in several ways. The Mysterious Shells are a nod to the Secret Seashells, even though they work differently. Simon's Simulations are reminiscent of the Dream Shrine. And your normal sword beams make the same sound as those from the L-2 sword.

This might be a minor detail, but the room with the two Sparks before the boss chamber in the Fortress of Winds is a callback to a similar room at the end of the Face Shrine, Level 6. More importantly, The Minish Cap is one of the few Zelda games other than Link's Awakening to feature enemies from the Super Mario series, like the Bob-ombs and Lakitus.

Ocarina of Time

Mainly, Ocarina of Time gets represented with a variety of recurring characters. Malon, Talon, and Epona make an appearance – there is even a whole Lon Lon Farm and you can get Lon Lon Milk for your bottles. Then we also have Biggoron, the carpenters, Anju (as the Cucco lady), Dampé, and more. The Hyrule Castle Town music is also a remix of the Kokiri Forest theme.

Majora's Mask

Similar to Ocarina of Time, the other N64 classic gets multiple character cameos, including Tingle, Gorman, and the Postman, but also characters that are present in both N64 games, like Dampé and Anju. Well, technically Gorman and the Postman also exist in Ocarina of Time, but here they are based on their iterations from Majora's Mask. Otherwise, Major Hagen's obsession with masks can be seen as a reference to Majora's Mask overall.

And let's not forget one of the most impressive boss fights in the game: the Gyorg Pair. Though, why they are called "Gyorgs", we will never know...

Oracle of Ages & Seasons

Din, Nayru, and Farore make an appearance. Also, each of them are looking for a new home, but you can only give two of them a house, which happen to have a red and a blue roof. This can be interpreted as a callback to how they were only able to make two of three planned games in the "Mystical Seed" series, though you don't have to go specifically with Din and Nayru.

There are even more characters from the Oracle games to be found, like Stockwell and Dr. Left (who was a reference to Mr. Write from Link's Awakening). And the Roc's Cape returns as an item from Four Swords, which originated in Oracle of Seasons as an upgrade to the Roc's Feather.

The Wind Waker

This is probably one of the most obvious examples, given that both Four Swords and The Minish Cap translated the toon style of The Wind Waker into 2D sprites, which can be seen in certain enemies, like the Moblins. However, The Minish Cap went a step further by also bringing many of its characters into 2D. We have Tingle's siblings, Beedle, Carlov, Sturgeon, Zill, or the Goron Merchants. And King Daltus greatly resembles the King of Red Lions, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule.

Also, the Mirror Shield looks exactly like the one from The Wind Waker. And one of the bosses, Mazaal, is clearly based on Gohdan. In German they even share the same name: Quartoxuma.

Four Swords

In this case it's probably easier to list what didn't make it into The Minish Cap, since the game uses the same engine and assets as Four Swords. They essentially took the multiplayer Game Boy Advance title and used it to make a new singleplayer experience.

Major story aspects, like Vaati and the Four Sword, made a return here. Even the Minish Cap itself is based on one of the items from Four Swords, the Gnat Hat.

Four Swords Adventures

The Minish Cap and Four Swords Adventures were developed in parallel, so it's far-fetched to claim that there are any intentional references between the two games. Still, since both are based on Four Swords, they share many similarities, other than featuring Vaati and the Four Sword. For example, both games use the four stones from the Four Sword Sanctuary as key items: in The Minish Cap they became the four elements, while in Four Swords Adventures they are the four "Royal Jewels".

Replaying The Minish Cap on the Switch

While waiting for the next sessions of Four Swords via Nintendo Switch Online to happen, I felt like playing the Zelda game once more that was made out of the same assets: The Minish Cap. Back when the Game Boy Advance was new and I had no one to play Four Swords with, The Minish Cap was a real treat, because it let me experience something in the same style all by myself. And I suppose this feeling never went away, even after twenty years...

There was an additional incentive, however, because with Nintendo Switch Online you get access to both the US and the European versions. Normally, this isn't all too interesting, since the differences between these two regions are usually minor. But The Minish Cap was one of the exceptions and a special one, because this game was released in Europe before North America, over two months even, very shortly after the Japanese release on November 4th 2004.

Today you have simultaneous worldwide releases for every new game, which is fantastic, but this wasn't always the case and 20 years ago Europe usually was the last in line, because the games had to be translated into multiple languages first, which took time. So, usually Nintendo games came out in Japan first, then in North America, and finally in Europe (I'm ignoring poor Australia here, sorry).

To get the game so soon was truly special, but it came at a price: the European version was based on an older build of the game. You can read all about it on TCRF, but the biggest issue was a bug that makes you unable to fuse Kinstones with Eenie, which ultimately prevents you from getting the last Empty Bottle, Biggoron and the Mirror Shield, as well as the Tingle Trophy. Imagine you reach the end of the game and then have all those missing...

In addition, there was a third Bomb Bag upgrade added to Stockwell's Shop, which wasn't available in the European version, so you could only have 50 bombs at max. It's not that you really need the 99, but it nevertheless felt like something was missing, because both your wallet and your quiver can be enhanced three times in total:

• once from Stockwell's Shop
• once from the Great Fairies
• once from fusing red Kinstones

There is a pattern here and with that there was clearly something absent in the European version, making this a bigger deal than you may think. (I still remember how some North American fans were disappointed that all they got was a bigger Bomb Bag, despite waiting two months.)

The most important part are a number of quality of life updates, however, where my favorite is that all the Kinstone markers on your map will go away once you've collected the corresponding treasures. In the European version opened doorways and similar remained forever, cluttering your map, where this also meant that you didn't have an overview of what you've already obtained.

So, overall you want to be playing the US version, unless you don't understand English (in which case you probably won't be reading this blog anyway). And thanks to Nintendo Switch Online, I can finally enjoy that version on official hardware, so this was also a big part of my motivation to play this over what I already have on Game Boy Advance and Wii U, other than the fact that using my Switch is the most convenient way of playing games for me right now.

Anyway, so much for the history lesson. While it was great to play the US version again, the rewind feature of the Nintendo Switch Online emulators also improved the experience quite a bit. I've already talked about how it helped tremendously with the figurine collecting, where for the first time all the shells that you obtain from treasure chests were more than enough for getting everything. You can read all about that here.

In addition, it also helped quite a bit with the annoying Cucco minigame, because you can quickly undo mistakes and try again, without the need to repeat the entire round. I've always hated this minigame, because it's a perversion of the fun Cucco search from Kakariko in Ocarina of Time and completely overstays its non-existent welcome. But at least the rewind made it somewhat bearable to do it all over again...

Though, its most potent usability comes with the last minigame in Hyrule Castle Town: the Chest Mini-Game Shop. Unlike in A Link to the Past, it's completely predetermined what chest contains what before you open it. So, all you have to do is rewind and pick the right chest. The "triple or nothing" variant let's you turn 10 Rupees into 999 Rupees in less than a minute, so money won't ever be an issue again. Even if I had to grind for Mysterious Shells, which I didn't, I could have simply bought them from the shop, and then "gamble" to refill my Rupees.

What the rewind won't help you with is Ezlo. He's still annoying me greatly, telling you the most obvious and mundane things, interrupting you in the middle of your actions. He even tells you the solution to puzzles while you're already solving them, which might even cancel what you've been doing, like creating clones. Ezlo comes straight out of handholding hell, where he's making babies with Fi. And this makes me actually worried about Tri... Maybe it's their offspring...?!!

Begone, talking hat! May the Minish Door never open again!

It also didn't help that I've been playing TUNIC recently, a game that does not spell things out for you (quite literally) and challenges your intelligence, instead of insulting it. More on that later, but it makes it so much more painful that there was this phase for Zelda, where Nintendo simply was too afraid that the players wouldn't understand things. And I'm glad that's history.

Another thing I ended up disliking is something that I've always been praising about this game in the past: the Kinstones. Well, I still enjoy this idea of making things appear all over Hyrule, adding to the environment, opening new ways, and so on. But the execution is quite flawed...

The main problem is with characters who refuse to fuse Kinstones until some arbitrary point in the game. So, you go and explore, find some Minish living in a small hole somewhere, but all you can do is talk to him. He may give you a hint that he is up to something, but you don't know when this is going to happen...

A prime example is the Minish who lives at the "lake" in the northeast corner of the Minish Village. He will open the way to the final Heart Container, but not until you've obtained the completed Four Sword. How are you supposed to know this? Well, apparently you aren't supposed to know. All you can do is revisit everything and everyone once you've reached the end of the game, just in case you're now allowed to fuse all of sudden.

I personally keep forgetting about the Deku in the Minish Woods, but at least it's easy enough to remember that you have to go back to the Deku in the Castor Wilds for this. And my last fusion this time was the second fusion with the Smith. It's stupid how a variety of characters have two fixed fusions, while others are part of the random pool and may get cut short, where then there is no reason to ever visit them (like the Cucco on Anju's house).

Another thing I will never understand is why the Mirror Shield is exclusive to the post-game only. It makes sense for the additional figurines, because otherwise they would spoil the final bosses for you, but there was no need to make Biggoron do absolutely nothing until after you've beaten the game. This is yet another character who you can visit, but where you can't do anything at first, except for taking a mental note to come back again later. And that's not fun.

Well, I've put some thoughts into how to improve the game for a potential remake, especially with the Kinstone system, but those will go into a follow-up post, coming in the next days!

The Minish Cap: Figurine Gallery Probabilities

Currently, I'm replaying The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap on the Nintendo Switch and one of the worst parts of the game always has been the Figurine Gallery, at least if you are looking to fully complete everything, to get that Carlov Medal and the last Piece of Heart. Now, with the rewind feature of the Nintendo Switch Online libraries I thought that I could easily cheese this minigame – bet a single Mysterious Shell and if I don't get a new figurine, I will simply rewind. Sounds good, right?

Especially in the higher percentages this should work like a charm, but to my surprise it didn't. No matter how many times I went back, I kept getting the same figurine. So, I did some experimentation and noticed that three things are predetermined right after your previous pull or when you enter the room:

• What duplicate figurine you will get on a failure.
  
• What new figurine you will get on a success.
• The minimum percentage required for a success.
  

At the time you're placing your bet all of this is already set. So, either you pay the right amount to get the new figurine or you don't. You could compare this to the bargaining system in Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland, where you have to guess how many Rupees someone might want, but the difference here is that the required amount changes after each bet.

As an example, in one case the game wanted me to reach 75% in order to obtain Nayru and anything below would score me Din, who I already had. In this scenario, no matter how many times I rewind, unless I pay enough shells for the 75%, I will always get Din. The only way to reset this is to rewind back before you start making the trade and then leave the room. You can also just take the loss and bet a single shell, which earns you five Rupees.

There also seem to be these wildcard moments every so often, where the required minimum is at 0% and you will get a new figurine from a single shell, no matter how low this places your bet. That's why you can still commonly get new figurines even with only 1% at the end.

So, what's the best strategy knowing all this? Actually... nothing much changes. The best strategy always has been to only ever bet a single Mysterious Shell until you drop to the lower percentages (below 15% or so), where you want to start to bet a few more.

But what the rewind feature and Suspend Points allow you here is testing for the required amount, at least approximately. First you should test if a single shell is enough, in which case you don't have to rewind at all. If it's not enough, next you should test for the highest amount you want to spend on a new figurine, e.g. 50 shells. If it costs more than that, then you want to reset (or trade a single shell for five Rupees).

If it's below your maximum, you can still check for lower amounts to see what's possible. You don't have to find the exact minimum, but you also don't want to be too wasteful. This way you can optimize your spendings and get the most out of the shells that you have.

In fact, for the first time ever (on official hardware at least) I was able to obtain all figurines without the need to grind for Mysterious Shells. What you get from treasure chests was enough for the 130 figurines. I even have so many shells left that I can go with full 100% for each of the six post-game figurines and then still have leftovers. It's completely different from my experiences in the past, where I always ran out of shells to burn eventually.

The rewind feature also helps with treasure chests full of Mysterious Shells. If you don't need them yet and the chest is found at an accessible location (ideally marked after a Kinstone fusion), you can simply rewind and leave the chest for later, so you don't hit that 999 shell limit just yet. That's especially a good idea whenever you get 200 shells at once. (However, those will be replaced with 50 Rupees, should you already have the Carlov Medal, so you also don't want to let them rot.)

Game Boy and Game Boy Advance on Nintendo Switch Online

Starting today, you are able to play Game Boy games via a Nintendo Switch Online membership. And with the Expansion Pack you are getting Game Boy Advance games on top. With this we're one big step closer to the Virtual Console library of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, where only the Nintendo DS is missing now. The latter may be a bit tricky, because touchscreen controls are limited to handheld mode, but it's not impossible. Potentially, we may also see GameCube and Wii games in the future, as proven by the Super Mario 3D-Allstars collection, but this may also be something that Nintendo is saving for the next system.

Anyway, this adds Link's Awakening DX and The Minish Cap to the list of Zelda games that can be played on the Nintendo Switch. Of course there is the remake of Link's Awakening already, where this here is basically now the discount version. But there is some different content in there with the photo quest, where you may want to experience this as well. They also could have added both versions of Link's Awakening, but at least the original one can still be played via the Game & Watch.

Oracle of Ages & Seasons will also be added in the future, where this doesn't bode well for a remake, at least not anytime soon. Obviously, Nintendo isn't too concerned about these competing with each other or else we wouldn't have gotten Link's Awakening in three different variants during the last years, but they started things with the remake and not the other way around. People might just play the NSO version and then don't care anymore. But let's see...

The Minish Cap is always nice to have in any case. It has aged quite well, where it's not in immediate need of a remake or something. What makes this very valuable compared to Wii U is that you can select between the different European and North American versions. This is special for Europe, because the European version was based on an earlier build, which had a nasty bug related to the Kinstone quest and was missing the Bomb Bag upgrade from Stockwell's shop (see TCRF). Finally, we get to enjoy the improved version officially.

It's also always nice just to try some games for fun, without the need of purchasing them, where I will look into the GameBoy Advance Fire Emblem games at some point.

I won't be getting the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack just for that, however, but what will make me upgrade is A Link to the Past & Four Swords. If you can play this online with friends, this will be a huge deal. I never had the chance to play the full four-player version of the game, which makes a difference, since the levels get changed based on the player count.

Anyway, with this the list of Zelda games that can be played on Nintendo Switch is steadily growing:

• The Legend of Zelda (NES)
• Zelda II - The Adventure of Link (NES)
• A Link to the Past (SNES)
• Link's Awakening (Remake)
• Link's Awakening DX (GBC)
• Ocarina of Time (N64)
• Majora's Mask (N64)
• Oracle of Ages (GBC)
• Oracle of Seasons (GBC)
• The Minish Cap
• Skyward Sword HD
• Breath of the Wild
• Tears of the Kingdom
  

That's 12 out of 20. What will be missing are the following:

• A Link to the Past & Four Swords
• The Wind Waker (HD)
• Four Swords Adventures
  
• Twilight Princess (HD)
• Phantom Hourglass
• Spirit Tracks
• A Link Between Worlds
• Tri Force Heroes
  

It's possible that Four Swords will return via the GBA service and it's likely that they will bring back The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD at some point as well. And everything save for the two Nintendo 3DS games could potentially also be included in future Nintendo Switch Online collections.

Metroid is also looking very good all of sudden, where the total number of playable Metroid games on the Nintendo Switch has doubled:

• Metroid (NES)
• Metroid II - Return of Samus (GB)
  
• Super Metroid (SNES)
• Metroid Fusion (GBA)
• Metroid Prime Remastered
• Metroid Dread
  

There are still many Metroid games left, where this isn't even half of it, but we're getting there and in the least we will be also seeing Metroid: Zero Mission at some point.

By the way, it's weird how they started things with Wario Land 3 on the Game Boy Color, but Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 and Wario Land II are still missing. Even the original Super Mario Land is not there yet, which is a bit odd, but these games will slowly, but certainly pour in over the next months and years.

Breath of the Wild: Kinstone Concept

Kinstones! This was arguably one of the most charming side quests in the series, which was featured in The Minish Cap, where fusing Kinstones with people (and even certain objects in the environment) would lead to something lucky. It might open the door to a cave, it might drop a treasure chest in the environment or spawn a golden enemy, which drops many Rupees.

Overall this is something that would have been an interesting addition to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. At this point we shouldn't expect any more updates or DLC for the game, but in five to ten years they might re-release Breath of the Wild on the next system, where it receives some "Deluxe" or "Definitive Edition" version with all the DLC already included from start and several improvements on top.

One of these improvements could be "Kinstones", which probably wouldn't be actual Kinstones, because this was a product of the Minish, but something as part of the Sheikah technology. These "Sheikah Kinstones" could be broken data chips, where assembling the two pieces would have a positive effect somewhere on the map, like special treasure chests appearing or even new Sheikah Shrines. This should be marked on your map right when you fused the Kinstones, so you know where to look immediately.

They could even use the golden enemies for this, where fusing Kinstones would spawn them somewhere on the map and they drop many Rupees, minerals and Star Fragments (they probably should do this anyway). This could even work in Normal Mode, though this would technically create more chances to miss photos for Hyrule Compendium...

The Kinstones themselves could come in several types again and would be stored in either the materials or the key items inventory tabs, probably the latter. They could also have an inventory tab on their own. You would find them in treasure chests, but they would also be dropped by defeating the various types of Guardian enemies.

And overall this would solve several issues with the game:

• There's no real incentive to talk to many of the NPCs in the overworld.
• Treasure chests often contain weapons or materials that you don't really need to a point, where opening treasure chests feels like a chore and isn't really rewarding.
• All the DLC EX chests with the new armor pieces just got hidden in the world out of nowhere with lots of "EX Side Quests" being spammed into your Adventure Log all at once.

A new version of Breath of the Wild could tie most of the DLC armor pieces into the Kinstone quests. So, only after fusing Kinstones with certain people, the treasure chests with the new armor pieces would appear in the world.

When standing next to any NPC in the game, you would get the option to fuse Kinstones by pressing X or Y instead of A for the talking. This would open a small menu like in The Minish Cap, where you see the Kinstone half of the NPC and your Kinstone collection to chose the right one for a fusion.

There are many NPCs in the game, where you never really have to talk to them, e.g. Benny on a rock at the east border of Hyrule Field. Many of them are adventurers, so it's likely that they might have found some Sheikah artifacts on their way. And adding Kinstone fusions to these characters would turn all these characters into actual points of interest, where it's worthwhile to check everyone out, as Manny would say.

Breath of the Wild: Golden Enemies?

With the upcoming DLC of Breath of the Wild Nintendo will introduce a "Hard Mode", where all enemies move up one tier by default. This raises the question, what will happen to the different silver enemies, which are currently the top tier? In their press release Nintendo talks about "higher-ranking enemies players wouldn’t find through normal play", so apparently there will be a new level for enemies. And you don't have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure out that this will probably lead to the return of Golden Monsters:

Golden Monsters were first seen in Oracle of Seasons, where there was a Golden Moblin, a Golden Octorok, a Golden Darknut and a Golden Lynel found in certain spots in the overworld only during specific seasons. They had a lot more health than their normal red and blue counterparts and some of them would also attack a lot faster.

Golden Monster returned later in The Minish Cap with Golden Octoroks, Golden Tektites and Golden Ropes that get spawned after certain Kinstone fusions. They also have a lot more health than usual enemies and attack with excessive speed. (Other than that golden enemies were also a thing in Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland.)

Much like Breath of the Wild, both of these Zelda games were directed by Hidemaro Fujibayashi, so it shouldn't come as a big surprise, when certain features of these game see a return. Breath of the Wild makes much greater use of enemy tiers than any other Zelda game in the past. There are the traditional red and blue tiers, as well as the black tier, which has been quite rare in the series. The game also introduced the silver tier as enemies, which are a lot more resilient.

It seemed like a weird choice to use "silver" for the strongest enemies in the game, but it appears that Nintendo simply reserved the gold tier for the DLC. At first these silver enemies can be quite annoying, especially since during the midgame they start appearing everywhere, even when you're not prepared for their strength at all. But when you reach an endgame status, it becomes much and much easier to defeat them quickly. So easy in fact that golden enemies would be a welcome challenge later in the game.

Only Lynels might be a little more interesting, because the silver variants didn't gain any health over the White-Maned Lynels, they have the exact same stats.

And to be honest, they didn't have to, because they still are furious tanks and the toughest enemy in the entire game. Golden Lynels with even more health certainly would become a big challenge, even with endgame gear.

Of course all the golden enemies should be worth the trouble. Ideally all golden enemies would have a high chance of dropping Diamonds and Star Fragments, especially since you need so many of the latter to upgrade all armor available in the game.

Replaying The Minish Cap on the Wii U

Another chapter in my quest of replaying the Zelda games during the 30th Anniversary has completed. I'm continuing to browse through the Wii U Virtual Console library and there gave The Minish Cap another go, after already completing it back when it released for the service in May/June 2014. This was the eight time that I've beaten (and completed) the game. I've did so four times on the GameBoy Advance SP, twice on emulator playing the improved US version, and now twice on Wii U Virtual Console.

And each single time was sweet. Sure, the game isn't perfect and I wouldn't rank it among my all-time favorite Zelda games. It's quite linear and way too easy, has some glaring issues for completionists like me, but it still offers a very nice experience. It's really Capcom's love letter to the series, where all their efforts from the Oracle games and Four Swords were coming to together for one final (normal) Zelda game.

The Virtual Console version is also pretty nice. It looks and plays great, where the Wii U GamePad feels like a big GameBoy Advance. It has all the good Virtual Console features, though I didn't find any good usages for Restore Points other than the figurine drawings, and even lets you view the original manual. The only downside is there for Europeans with the fact that it employs the inferior European version of the game. How is it inferior? Let's see...

• You can't buy the 3rd Bomb Bag Upgrade from the shop.
• There is a glitch with not correctly fusing with Eeenie, where you can't complete the Goron sidequest and this miss an Empty Bottle and the Mirror Shield.
• Kinstone portals and helpings stay permanently on the Map and don't disappear, once you've visited these places / got the treasures.
• You can't warp on top of the Wind Tribe's tower.

It's mostly the missing Bomb Bag Upgrade that's nagging me, but overall the other points are good reasons as well. It would be nice to have them release the U.S. version of the game on the New Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console like they did with A Link to the Past.

Anyway, my main motivation to replay the game other than the 30th Anniversary of EVERYTHING was to fill the Oracle houses with other occupants this time. In my first Wii U savegame I went for the classic Nayru in blue house and Din in red house combination. This time I had Din in the blue house and Farore in the red house. And if I ever decide to play it on Wii U again, Farore will go in the blue house and Nayru in the red house, so that every Oracle got placed in each house at least once. Let's all be salty that there never has been a third Oracle game, because if there was, we probably wouldn't have to make this choice.

Overall it's always surprising how chock-full this game is with sidequests. With a town in the center of its world, it almost reminds you of Majora's Mask, just as a rainbow-happy-shiny 2D version. There are also quite some main quests that really feel like sidequests, e.g. when getting the Pegasus Boots or the Flippers, because both have you explore nooks around the town and collect contextual items. Or some quests even have you fuse Kinstones.

Apropos, that's easily the best feature of the game. Kinstone fusions! It just always feels so rewarding, even if you're just getting "rarer" Kinstones or some Rupees out of it... But how it spawns a treasure chest in the environment or opens a new passage way, is always exciting. Such a great feature! I still remember the E3 2004 demo (playable at the Games Convention in Leipzig), where one demo level let you explore South Hyrule Field and do a lot of Kinstone Fusions. It was very different from the final product, even Malon and Epona were there. But this already had me sold on the final game!

What drags the whole sidequest sections down is the Minitendo figurine collecting, because it essentially has you pause the action for a while to play a boring lottery. It's necessary to do this ever so often, because you don't to waste any of the bigger Mysterious Shell caches after hitting the 999 shell maximum. So, you have to keep spending, if you don't want to lose in the end and do a lot of grinding. In the past I would go for the extremes, either spend only one shell (which makes a lot of sense early on, as long as you stay above 50%) or maximum. This time I usually tried to stay between 20% and 25% for very good results. I only had to do little grinding in the end, so little that I "completed" the collection and got the final Heart Piece for the first time before beating Vaati. Herb, the figurine enthusiast, only checks if you have the 130 original figurines without the six extra ones, so he lets you in his house already at this point. He then even does mention the Carlov Medal despite you not having the thing already, which is a little oversight by the developers.

What also annoyed me a lot this time was Ezlo. People say that Navi is annoying, but he can be a real deal breaker. The problem with him is that he disrupts you in your actions. For example there is a puzzle that requires the power of the Four Sword, so I start loading it, but then he pops up to tell me the solution and I have to start all over again. Ugh!!! He already has the entire SELECT button dedicated exclusively to his unnecessary guidance, which means there's no reason for him to pop up at all, unless it's story-related... Easily the worst sidekick after Fi.

I also usually enjoy replaying the dungeons, despite them being quite linear. The only real exception here is the Fortress of Winds, but that's probably my least favorite dungeon in this game. The others all have a nice flow to them and I especially like, how they tried to mix things up with the sequence of the dungeon items later on:

• Deepwood Shrine: Map, Compass, Item, Big Key
• Cave of Flames: Compass, Map, Item, Big Krey
• Fortress of Winds: Compass / Map, Item, Big Key
• Temple of Droplets: Big Key, Map, Compass, Item
• Palace of Winds: Item, Big Key, Compass, Map
• Dark Hyrule Castle: Map, Compass, Big Key

Getting the Big Key first in the Temple of Droplets or starting with the item in the Palace of Winds felt like quite fresh ideas. It's something that Zelda dungeons usually don't do, so this is definitely noteworthy.

That's it for my thoughts while replaying this game. If you want to read more, you can check out a similar post, where I've replayed the game for the 25th Anniversary, five years ago.

"Thus did Touri's quest come to an end.
But surely this is not the end of Zelda and Touri's adventures in Hyrule.
The legend will continue as long as the power of the light force echoes throughout the ages."

Blocks of Choice

While replaying the Minish Cap on the Wii U Virtual Console, an odd detail about both the Minish Cap and Oracle of Ages came back to mind. With the exception of Four Swords, all Zelda games directed by Hidemaro Fujibayashi present the player with various choices during sidequests that affect the gameworld and its characters permanently in various ways. This includes the animal buddies or the son of Bipin and Blossom in the Oracle games, the Oracle housings in the Minish Cap, as well as Peatrice's affections and Cawlin's letter in Skyward Sword.

If you want to experience the different results with all of these interesting choices, you have to replay the games. But there's also another choice found in two of these games that can only be labeled as "minor". There are blocks that can be moved in either direction that will stay in their new position for the rest of the game. One is the barrier rock found at the beginning of Oracle of Ages:

You can move to the left or the right. And it will stay in that position indefinitely. Moving it to the left is preferable, because it never gets in the way there. But with the nature of having various savegames in the Oracle saga to experience it all, you might want to have at least one savegame, where the rock is moved to the right. For the sake of completion, basically.

This same behavior has been copied in the Minish Cap by the statue of Minister Potho that can be found inside the Funday School:

Again, you can move this to either side and it will stay there for the rest of the game. Now, if you're replaying the game to have different Oracles inside the houses, you might also want to consider to change things with the statue, just so that your different savegames cover all possibilities. It's a minor thing, really, but that's what makes it so noteworthy. It's odd, how such an unimportant choice can leave a mark on your savegame.

Also, I think, the same applies to the one throne in Dark Hyrule Castle, where you fight the first Darknut. You can also pull the throne either to the left or the right and it will stay there.

Well, Hidemaro Fujibayashi will be back to directing Zelda with Breath of the Wild... Let's see, what weird choices we will have to make then.

The Minish Cap (Wii U VC Review)

This review was originally published on ZeldaChronicles (formerly known as ZeldaEurope) and got translated for this blog in 2021 by the same author. Nintendo had provided a download code.

A week ago last Thursday the GameBoy Advance classic The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap was made available as a download for the Wii U Virtual Console. So, let's examine how the title does on the new home console and how GameBoy Advance games fare in general on the Virtual Console.

The Minish Cap uses up 61MB on the hard drive, even though the download was about 35MB larger (probably for the emulator), and costs 6,99€ in the eShop. That's one Euro cheaper than Super Nintendo titles, but that doesn't mean that GameBoy Advance titles are worse by any means. In fact, this might be the new flagship for emulation on a Nintendo system.

It's not obvious at first why Nintendo went with the Wii U, instead of the Nintendo 3DS, but the Wii U GamePad feels like a big GameBoy Advance and plays like one. The upscaled graphics of the GBA titles are razor-sharp and The Minish Cap never looked better than on the Wii U GamePad (at least officially). There are black bars to the left and right on the GamePad, as well as all around the screen on the TV, but those shouldn't really bother anyone.

It's of note that the gamma values were adjusted to make the game look more natural and not as jazzy. Games on the GameBoy Advance were originally very bright to compensate for the screens without any illumination. But of course this isn't necessary any longer on the Wii U.

You can also activate screen smoothing for GBA games, which is a new Virtual Console feature and makes the upscaled graphics look less pixelated. You can change this in the options or even comfortably switch between both modes by pressing down the right analog stick. On the Wii U GamePad things look better without the screen smoothing, however.

Sound and visuals get transmitted to both the TV and the GamePad at the same time. If you don't want to play with the GamePad, you can also use a Pro Controller, a Wii Remote, or a Classic Controller. For each controller you can freely change the bindings for the buttons (unlike on the Nintendo 3DS), which gets memorized on a per-game basis. So, for example, if you want to use ZL and ZR in The Minish Cap instead of L and R, then this is entirely possible.

And of course you can also create and load a Restore Point, where you can save and load the game at any time (e.g. right before a boss), which makes things certainly easier. In the Virtual Console menu you get a small preview picture for both the last Restore Point and for creating a new Restore Point, which feels a lot more intuitive here.

Opening the Virtual Console menu can be freely assigned to any of the buttons as well. This is ideal for those who don't want to use the touchscreen with their fingers (with Virtual Console titles on the Nintendo 3DS it was necessary to use the touchscreen for all these things).

But most of this isn't really new, because it uses the same basics as the Virtual Console for Nintendo Entertainment System and Super NES titles on the Wii U. However, other than the screen smoothing, there is another novelty that comes with the GameBoy Advance titles: you get to view the original manual of the game. You can open it via a small question mark icon in the lower left border of the touchscreen, then scroll through the pages and even zoom in.

This is a lot more charming than the usual manuals for Virtual Console games, where this has a lot more value, since you get a little bit more than what's effectively just the download of a ROM. So, overall the GameBoy Advance Virtual Console is really good. It's of note that Nintendo had the help of M2 here – this is another studio, which worked on the 3D SEGA Classics for the Nintendo 3DS before and therefore had already some experience with enhanced emulation.

The Minish Cap itself didn't get enhanced during all of this, however. For customers in North America this shouldn't be of any concern, but in Europe we're still dealing with the same old game, which sadly was based on a unfinished version. Compared to the versions from North America and Japan this one has a couple of downsides:

• Stockwell's Shop doesn't have the Bomb Bag upgrade, which normally is available for purchase after the Boomerang. So, you can only carry 50 Bombs at max in the European version, instead of 99.
• There is a bug that prevents you from fusing Kinstones with Eenie under certain circumstances. As a result you can't summon all the Gorons, so you won't be able to get one of the Bottles, Biggoron, and the Mirror Shield at the end.
• Places where you have opened doors or helped people via Kinstones are permanently marked on the map, even if you already have visited them.
• You can't use the Ocarina of Wind at the portal to the Palace of Winds, which means you have to climb down the entire home of the Wind Tribe before you can leave the place.

These are all good reasons for European Zelda fans to play the North American edition instead. And it would have been very desirable to get that upgraded version on the Virtual Console, which could have been even a reason to buy the game (again) for some. Of course this probably wasn't easily done with the translations, which are missing in the other versions, but as a result you're still looking at an empty shelf slot at Stockwell's or risk to miss a lot of items (make sure that you have the blue Kinstone piece with the angular shape on the crack before you fuse Kinstone with Eenie, one of the farmers).

Otherwise there isn't much to say about The Minish Cap itself, other than that the game has aged remarkably well. After Oracle of Ages & Seasons and Four Swords, Capcom delivered their swan song – their final masterpiece – with this game, where it's okay to be sad that Flagship, the studio behind these games, was dissolved afterwards. The 2D graphics were painted with a lot of attention to detail and feel sort of timeless, especially when compared to the top-down Zelda titles on the Nintendo DS. And this really shows on the Wii U GamePad.

If you're unfamiliar with The Minish Cap, you'll get a carefully crafted Zelda adventure with a total of six dungeons and a lot of side-quests. Based on the idea for the Gnat Hat from Four Swords, Link can shrink himself and dive into miniature worlds. The game is quite linear and more on the easy side, but it's overall so charming that it's hard to say anything bad about it. And on the Wii U Virtual Console it plays better than ever.

GameBoy Advance Games on Wii U Virtual Console

So, GBA games are now available on the Wii U Virtual Console by now. At first I thought it was a weird decision to have these on the Wii U, instead of the 3DS, ambassador program aside. But on the other hand the Wii U GamePad looks and feels like a giant GBA, so it's not completely out of place. I guess in the future Nintendo should aim at a shared VC anyway. So, if I buy The Minish Cap, I should be able to play it both on Wii U and 3DS and maybe even share my savegames cloud-style.

Since A Link to the Past seems to be stuck with the SNES version and Four Swords already got its DSi makeover, the only interesting game for Zelda fans here is The Minish Cap. I hope, they actualy fix the European version, which lacked the third Bomb Bag upgrade and got a nasty bug, where you can screw up the Kinstone fusions with one of the scarecrows, which ultimately leads to one Goron missing for the Goron Cave, so that you can't get the last Bottle, Biggoron or the Mirror Shield. Bad stuff.

Normally Nintendo probably wouldn't bother with that, for example they let the GBA shop stay closed in the Oracle games on VC. But in case of the GBA games for Wii U, the company M2 is actually working on that (source), which seem to add more love into the emulation business. They even included scans of the original GBA game manuals! How awesome is that?

So, there is a small hope that they take care of the inferior European version of The Minish Cap. If not, I will just keep playing the US version on Visual Boy Advance...

Postbox: Minish Cap Quick Questions

Hi Tourian Tourist,

just two questions, you might be able to answer them from the top of your head:

1. In Minish Cap are there kingstone fusion points which are possible to miss due to advances in the story?

2. What is a good betting strategy for getting all the figurines? (I mean, if you can secure the shell supply you can always go for the 100% in betting for an individual piece and I don't think that is the case.)

Your answers will greatly define my enthusiasm in getting a 100% here.

Thanks.

1. None are missable. But you can miss the Light Arrows, which you can only get after fusing with the stranger in a house in northwestern Hyrule Town. This fusion creates a portal in South Hyrule Field (right above Link's house), which leads to a mysterious building of the Wind Tribe. In the upper floor you can find a sick, old man named Gregal, who is haunted by a ghost. Suck in the ghost with a Gust Jar. If you don't do that before reaching the building on the normal path later in the game, he will pass away and you can't get the Light Arrows from him. So, do this as early as possible.

Also, if you happen to play the European version, there's a glitch with one of the Scarecrows that prevents the fusion with him. This leads to missing one of the Gorons in the Goron cave, missing a bottle and ultimately the Mirror Shield. Very nasty. Just make sure that you have the blue Kinstone pieces (the squared off one) before attempting to fuse with him. If you're playing the North American version, don't worry, this got fixed.

2. It's best to only bet one shell at a time. The probability remains high enough and you will most likely get a new figurine per shell. Even probabilities of 30% to 50% are still good enough, so keep going with one shell. The amount of shells, which you need to get back to 100% is much higher than the amount of individual shells, which you will statistically waste on duplicate figurines. For example a chance of 33% means that you still get a new figurine about every third try. So, with 33% you would have to bet about 3 shells to get a new figurine, if you use one shell per bet. However, you would need to invest 67 shells to increase the probability back to 100%. It's always one additional percent per shell.

So, you see, the most cost-efficient strategy is to place one shell per bet, not more. You might get many duplicates, but you will save many more shells. But when the probability goes below 15% you might want to bet more shells to fasten the process. At this point it's unbearable to bet only one shell, because the chances are so slim.

To farm more shells, use the infinite Rupee trick at Link's house. Left to the door of his house on the outside you can dig up 20 Rupees. Go back inside and the 20 Rupees will be back again. Repeat this multiple times to get enough Rupees. You can buy 30 shells from the shop for 200 Rupees, but you can also get a Green Picolyte from Beedle for 100 Rupees, which is more efficient, if used right. Use the latter in the grassy areas of Trilby Highlands in combination with a Great Spin Attack to get many shells at once.


→

I got the light arrows by myself, so this means I can backtrack all the areas and get my 4 missing fuses? I might got to the wrong conclusion based on this:


"This guide aims to help people find all the remain Kinstone fusions, but since most aren't available at the end of the game and that some fusers disappear as part of the plot."

GameFAQs: Kinstone Fusion Guide


I'm also missing 5 hearts, 1 chicken game (argh), 1 for figurines and 3 I think I can get by backtracking.

Also, if I understand correctly, there is no special reward for killing the golden beasts, they're just part of the kingstone process.

If you got the Light Arrows, there's nothing you can miss. And yes, the guide is correct that there are many fusers, which will be gone at the end of the game (like the King of Hyrule). But... there are more fusers than fusions. A majority of Kinstone fusions get shared by many people all over Hyrule. So, you can get the same fusion result from two different people. There are people, which will be gone at the end of the game, but it doesn't matter, because you can get the fusions from someone else. You can potentially fuse with every single character in the game, but when the fusions run out, the people won't fuse with you anymore. For example you might never fuse with Epona, even though it's possible. But you still get all 100 fusions.

There are Kinstone fusions, which you can only get from a specific person (like the Ghost at the graveyard makes he ghost at town disappear), but none of these persons will disappear. So, there isn't a single Kinstone fusion, which you can miss. You can get them all at the end of the game.

And yes, killing the golden beasts only yields Rupees and no additional rewards.

The Minish Cap joins Ambassador Program

The full list of ambassador GBA games has been revealed and as expected The Minish Cap is among them. It's a very strong line-up of GBA games that also includes Metroid Fusion, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Yoshi's Island and Wario Land 4. But the Minish Cap is definitely the highlight of the list. If you bought a 3DS early, you can now get this game and enjoy it for free. It's also the fifth downloadable Zelda game available on the 3DS. Only the the Oracle games and the Game & Watch Zelda are still missing (and a potential 3D Classics version of A Link to the Past).

Well, so far there are no plans to make the GBA games available for purchase at a later date. But we all know that Nintendo will release them at some point.

Source