New Fan Project Recreates The Legend of Zelda (NES) in 3D

This year marks the 35th anniversary of everyone’s favorite franchise about an elf-eared boy and his adventures involving princesses, golden triangles, and a really annoying porcine villain. However, save for the announcement of Skyward Sword HD releasing this July, we haven’t gotten much in regard to celebratory releases. I’m sure they’ll come in time, as Zelda is one of Nintendo’s flagship franchises and acknowledgment of its longevity is obviously due. The Legend of Zelda after all is one of, if not the earliest form of sandbox RPG, pre-dating titles like The Elder Scrolls by seven or eight years depending on your region. Surely Nintendo has something planned to celebrate?

While we wait, YouTube’s CodyCantEatThis has picked up the slack, by recreating many aspects of the original title in 3D. In this detailed video, they explain how the transition from the original flat, isometric adventure progressed and how mechanically the game had to change as a result. It’s a very interesting video to be sure, and while I’ve always known that there’s a fundamental difference between “classic” 2D Zelda and the 3D entries that began with Ocarina of Time, I hadn’t truly fleshed the differences out in my mind. Seeing how simple areas in the original release had to be adjusted to avoid claustrophobic mountain passes, or how to adjust animations to make movement in 3D space feel natural through additional frames is fascinating, and I applaud Cody for his hard work in making this happen. Hopefully, we can get some kind of an official release or something akin to it to help ring in 35 years of Zelda.

If you want to see more, be sure to check out this supplementary gameplay video to check out more of the game in action, as well as Cody’s YouTube channel for more amazing content.

So what did you think? Would you play a version of the original The Legend of Zelda in 3D? Let us know in the comments below!

Source: CodyCantEatThis