If you’ve ever wondered what classic game art might look like brought to life, here’s a great example. American animator Parker Simmons transformed parts of The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past SNES manual and other materials into living, breathing animations.
The results are absolutely stunning – with the artwork of the 1991 Super Nintendo action adventure brought to life. Many Zelda fans on social media are clamoring for an official cartoon in this style, not the one we actually got.
Simmons reveals that the ‘Link vs Stalfos’ battle was animated in Adobe Animate, had around 110 symbols, 70 frames, and the music was taken from the Zelda CD “Sound and Drama” from the 90s. Perhaps most surprisingly, the SFX is taken from Dragon Quest VIII, but it fits! Note: This original art appears to have been taken from The Legend of Zelda: Art and Artifacts
In addition to the beautifully animated ‘Link vs Stalfos’ battle, Simmons showed Link exploring the dungeon and talking to the Sage:
Parker Simmons is best known as the creator of the Cartoon Network animated series, Mao Mao: Heroes with a pure heart. It was also being worked on OK WHO! as a writer and in various other roles including voice work.
If you want to see some of the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past artwork in its original state, there is actually an original PDF manual that you can access at Official Nintendo website. And remember, you can also play the SNES classic A Link to the Past via Switch Online. Of course, you’ll need a subscription.
As for whether or not we’ll ever see something like this, who knows? With Mario now making his way to the big screen this April, there may be an opportunity for Link to leave the late 90s television cartoon series behind and write a new chapter in his film history.
