And then there are complete remakes that completely revamp and reimagine the game. They tend to deviate more obviously from the source material, and with something as sacred as Resident Evil 4, that’s something I naturally hold back considering how amazing the GameCube original is.
But I also accept that for new players who haven’t experienced it in the 2000s, OG RE4 can feel a bit clunky. Capcom has led the way in demonstrating how to reimagine a classic in an exciting way that pays homage to the source without being hampered by decades-old design limitations.
Which, finally, brings us to Zelda. Specifically, Zelda 1, The Legend of Zelda. This is a game I haven’t played anywhere near release (I actually finished it the first time on the 3DS, same with the sequel) and despite its brilliance, I can definitely see how it could be difficult for new players to enjoy in the same way. Feel free to fire it up via Nintendo Switch Online and let me know if I’m wrong in the comments, but despite its openness and brilliant design, I think the vast majority of new players today would bounce away from the original Zelda.
Which is heartbreaking to me. I, too, have a soft spot for Zelda II, and the thought of those games becoming more impenetrable and not speaking to entire generations of players is sobering for anyone who loves the medium. Looking at our list of the best Zelda games of all time as ranked by readers, LOZ is ranked 19th at the time of writing. Number 19 for the game that gave birth to this series!
This isn’t even like the Street Fighter series, where it was other the game that laid the foundation for the others. The Legend of Zelda delivered the series template incredibly fully formed on the Famicom.
Looking at another formative title, Super Mario Bros. for NES currently sits at #11 on our Mario game equivalent rankings. That hugely enjoyable, accessible, evergreen game, which shaped the industry and defined an entire genre, is apparently only the 11th best entry in the series.
And you know what? I disagree. Perhaps it is the fate of all classics to be pushed into oblivion. It is certainly wrong to equate importance and significance with quality, and nostalgia is always tricky. As I said, the pace of progress and near-constant improvement in gaming as a medium is rapid. SMB is probably only the 11th best Mario game and LOZ the 19th best Zelda.
AND It is why it’s time to give The Legend of Zelda the remake treatment. It’s a game that deserves to be shown and played. People who aren’t familiar with it, especially younger players who love Breath of the Wild and are losing their minds with excitement for Tears of the Kingdom, should be able to look back and easily trace the lineage from 1986 to the present, in a form that’s accessible and attractive . to them.
This could include Grezzo’s reconsideration of Link’s Awakening engine or a completely new top-down system – I’m all for it. I might even go for a Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap style remaster/reskin loving draped over the original code. The game is certainly robust enough to shine without a complete overhaul. Can you imagine The Legend of Zelda but it looks like the key art from the original NES manual? Tunic is a more recent game that has traded on nostalgia for that handcraft in particular, and has beautifully and mysteriously integrated it into its gameplay. I’d play a game that looked like that and play like OG Zelda in no time.
While movies aren’t a good point of comparison when it comes to reimagining classic texts, the world of literature might be, if you go back far enough. There is no reason to overwrite Farewell to arms still, but the language of centuries-old novels and other written texts can be a stumbling block for modern readers; Shakespeare’s lines can be difficult to grasp without sitting down and really dissecting the meaning and researching footnote references.
Translation grow old however, it works into something digestible and nowadays it seems to me more similar to localization. The source is naturally obscured in some way and elements will inevitably be lost. But, if it is a good adaptation, the urge and the spirit i flavor will transfer. Perhaps that’s a better analogy for video game remakes; these are ‘temporal’ localizations for players who cannot parse the text in its original form.
It’s easy to be cynical about remasters and remakes and decry the lack of imagination among some of the biggest players in the gaming industry, but Zelda’s 40th anniversary will be upon us in just three years, and it seems like a no-brainer to cook up something special for the milestone — specifically something that looks to the past as well as the future. Nintendo famously avoids the obvious as they aim to ‘surprise and delight’ us all, yet we’ve seen many younger games in the series revamped and enjoyed anew. It’s time to go back to the source.
You know, we once had a few months with Tears of the Kingdom.
