Lizardcube's remake of Sega's sublime Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap was one of the very early eShop highlights on Switch. The work of programmer Omar Cornut and artist Ben Fiquet, this reimagining of an 8-bit classic took the Master System version and gave it gorgeous HD visuals while tinkering behind the scenes to make it play even better.
Eurogamer has been speaking to Cornut about his career and the creation of the Wonder Boy remake, and the interview is well worth a read. What's perhaps most interesting to Nintendo fans is that Cornut, when asked which title he'd like to tackle next, suggests one of the NES Zeldas:
The first one is a better game - everyone seems to agree - but the second, it's a game that could have been better. Which makes it a good candidate - we can take this game that was a bit flawed and actually improve it. It'd make sense... But the first Zelda, if you remade it, I don't think I'd change anything. And if you did change anything, people would riot. But anyway it's Nintendo, so...
Cornut seems to be suggesting that because it's a Nintendo brand, there's little chance of a remake happening at the hands of an indie - but lest we forget that Metroid II was recently made by an external company, so you never know...
[source eurogamer.net]
Comments 61
Yes, I agree. The Dragon's Trap remake was fantastic. Zelda 2 couldn't be in better hands. Too bad it's probably never going to happen.
Zelda 2 is a side-scrolling Zelda game. There's no saving that.
@jerichofr Link's Awakening and Link to Another World had some great side-scrolling sections.
Probably in the minority here but I found Zelda II great. Don't mess with it.
@jerichofr What if they remade the towns into top-down LttP-style affairs, but the temples / action scenes were redone with Samus Returns style combat and brooding labyrinthine atmosphere?
Zelda II is great, but also incredibly hard. It kinda kills the fun when you play it.
Honestly, I love Zelda II! It was my first Zelda experience, so I was actually let down when I played the first Zelda (I love it now).
I would love to see a remake, or even a straight sequel, to Zelda II!
@riChchestM A few here or there is fine, but to me... Zelda is a top-down adventure game. Not some side-scrolling hack-n-slash. Even Miyamoto didn't like Zelda 2. It and Majora's Mask were the two worst games (outside of the CDi) of the franchise, IMO. Though for different reasons. (And yes, I beat both.)
I would prefer a remake of Zelda 1, even if it's true that Zelda 2 needs one more than the original game.
Zelda 1 could be gorgeous with either a beautiful 2D or a 3D in the style of A Link's Between Worlds (but in HD and more detailed, on the Switch).
For a long time, I though Nintendo would do a remake of Zelda 1 on the 3DS... it was the 30th anniversary after all. It would've been so easy and cheap for them : the engine was ready (ALBW) and they've Grezzo who are familiar with it and with Zelda remakes on 3DS in general.
Of course, I want it even more on the Switch.
But... Zelda 2 deserves a remake too. I'm a huge Zelda fan, but Zelda 2 is the ONLY Zelda game I've never completed (Zelda CD-I are not included). I've completed all of them 100%, even the bad ones. But I don't like Zelda 2. It was ugly even when I was a child playing on my NES, the gameplay is frustrating, the progression is not clear... and it was hard (which is a good thing, but not when it's hard because the gameplay sucks).
@gaga64 Too much side-scrolling. If I want to play Zelda, I want a top-down adventure game, not a side-scrolling hack-n-slash game like Z2.
Adventure of Link is one of my favorite Zelda games and is tied with Mario Bros 3 as my favorite NES game. Meanwhile, I can't stand the original LoZ. Terrible game.
Oh well... Opinions.
Yes please
@XenoShaun It is a severely underrated entry to the series, and an incredibly hard one at that too, but I agree that its quirky gameplay has some nice features and pretty intuitive combat here and there, even though I'm not really into RPG based gameplay.
Due to how insanely difficult it was though, I've never pushed through to finish the game, though I definitely would love to somewhere down the line.
I think people who are spoiled by the patented Zelda formula will turn a blind eye to this one; a major reason as to why its so underrated.
@BanjoPickles Zelda 2 was also my first Zelda experience and I love it. I never did complete it when I was younger due to the difficulty but I liked the big over world with secrets. It was great to download it for the Wii years later and complete it. I think people are too harsh on it, although I understand as it was very difficult. I’d welcome a Wonder Boy style remake.
Zelda 2 is a good game imo, I feel that most people just hate on it because its a sidescroller (some dont even touch the game) and not a top down game like we are used to. I never even grew up with the NES and I personally think that this game is one of the better games on the system. Also I think people overexaggerate on how hard this game is.
I'm a fan of Zelda 2. The flaws are in difficulty spikes and long stretches of boring activity. The over world map is lifeless and an eyesore. The 2D combat and Temples were mostly inspired, though. Loved playing in the different perspective and it was fun to have an experience leveling system.
Really hated that the "extra lives" were consumable. You'd find one and it would only work that one time. Last time I played, I noticed this too late and used most of them up. So, I gave up on the final stretch of cheap shot enemies, another flaw.
That's why I think this idea could be fantastic though. The lessons of better game design learned over the decades could be carefully applied giving a much better overall experience.
Just dont use the same 80's gameplay and levels, that REALLY killed dragons trap for me
I like Zelda 2, but the difficulty is what sometimes makes it unbearable to me. I completed it once, but when I went back to it when it first arrived on the Wii VC, I remembered just how difficult it was compared to most other Zeldas. A remake would be nice though if it were to smooth out some of the difficulty.
On a side note, who here has played Legend of Princess? It's a fun little side scrolling tribute to the Legend of Zelda games.
I think people overexagerrate the difficulty of Zelda 2. You really just have to understand the gameplay mechanics and use your shield. Some sections were a bit difficult; but with all the magic you get(defense magic early on especially) its not that bad.
It was always fun to fight the ironknuckles; and go deeper and deeper into dungeons. There was a bigger sense of dread when healing items are not so readily available.
This game is my favorite Zelda game. It's one that has many flaws but also many nuggets of pure genius not seen elsewhere in gaming. If there was someone who understood that genius and could preserve it as they ironed out the flaws, I would be all for it.
Zelda 2 is very underrated. I actually find it very enjoyable. For a long time I thought it was too hard then I realized I was playing it wrong. When you play it correctly, the game is good.
@aaronsullivan this always annoyed me too. There’s never a good time to get those lives. You can’t even easily carry them to the last boss because the route to the last temple will drain your lives away. Apart from the one in the final temple they’re always wasted.
They should have increased your maximum number of lives when you found them instead.
I would jump on this. Like, I would literally buy this thing day one and then set my Switch on the floor and pounce on it. Gingerly.
Zelda 2 is underrated in my opinion it had the balls to do something different, and I really enjoyed it. I've played it multiple times over the years.
PRO-TIP
If you want more Zelda II, look into Adventure Time: Hey Ice King Why Did You Steal Our Garbage? on DS or 3DS.
@gb_nes_gamer
Absolutely!
I think that one of the things that I love about the game, and it's the same reason why I love Super Mario 2 (USA), is because of how daring it was! They could have gone the safe sequel route, but they took a chance and didn't give fans what they wanted, which has, historically speaking, worked out well for them on numerous occasions. (Metroid Prime, Wind Waker, etc.)
It was basically Dark Souls before Dark Souls (I didn't beat the game until 2002, thirteen years after first playing it). It controlled well, progressed nicely, had great music, and atmosphere! The only real flaws were the challenge (Death Mountain and the path towards the Great Palace, especially), and NPC's that were of no help at all!
I think that much of the criticism of Zelda II has more to do with the Angry Video Game Nerd Effect! He reviews a game, and (magically?) the game is seen as being worse than it is. For instance, Friday the 13th! He himself has even admitted that the game isn't nearly as bad as he made it sound, in the Nerd review. A lot of his fans even refer to E.T. as the worst game ever made, when they themselves most likely haven't played it (I could probably rattle off a few dozen games, or more, that I've played that are worse than E.T.). Zelda II is the same story, even though it has (unfairly?) been seen as the black sheep of the series since it first came out.
....It can't be all that bad if it inspired LJN's Rambo, right? Haha!
I would love to see that.
I don't want some crappy "hand-drawn" Zelda II.
All Zelda 2 needs is a better translation with better hints. If a remake were to happen, I would hope they'd leave the difficulty as-is, or at least have optional difficulty levels.
But if this guy really wants to make more games like this, I'd be more interested in seeing a brand new game, personally. Zelda 2 is already available and not as difficult as people make it out to be, if you have just a little patience.
@idrawrobots The Dragon's Trap remake had an option to use the original graphics, for those who hate their eyes. Thankfully Zelda 2 actually looked fine, so it might be worth using the option.
Man Zelda 2 was one of my first real gaming disappointments. Absolutely loved the first one and we had high hopes for the sequel. Was jarring as a kid to see such a different style of game than what we expected. Will certainly give it a shot if it comes to the Classic game collection thing
Add Toon Link Graphics
@NYCallday The platforming and fighting is hard, but not unfair. The biggest problem with Zelda II is how things are unfairly hidden for you, meaning you have to wander around for hours to find secret villages and hidden passages in dungeons. I prefer to beat my games without guides, and boy was that hard to do with Zelda II.
A better hint system or something would improve this game tenfold.
@jerichofr fair enough.
If we’re going down the remake route, I’d add more side-quests to the villages, cut out a lot of the non-temple “action scenes”, and probably build more puzzles into the temples. I personally don’t mind the side-scrolling perspective (Miyamoto used to say Zelda is about combining 2 worlds - most evident in LttP and OoT, but applicable to all except possibly Links Awakening or Majoras Mask), but would have liked the dungeons to be a little more intellectually challenging, and visually unique.
Zelda II would be good, but I'd prefer Wonder Boy in Monster World.
@adam I am Error, gotta love that translation work on zelda 2 lol.
@subpopz I second that, the backtracking almost killed it for me... love the game nonetheless
I’d love to see this. Zelda II was hard but was still a fun game to play through. I was thinking of replaying it again soon...I’ll stick to that idea as I doubt this will ever come out.
@jerichofr
Blasphemy. Majora's Mask is a superb game.
Speaking of another game that could've been better: Sega Sonic the Hedgehog.
Oh yeah i want a Zelda II remake.
I would change 3 things though.
1. Many of the game mechanics have aged badly and are needlessly cruel. Having a better save system with more than one starting point is just the beginning. There's a number of design flaws well-adressed in this comment section. Oh yeah, for the dungeons please add a map. And for the completionists add something like a percentage counter (for each area).
2. The cryptic talking of characters. With the exception of the classic 'I AM ERROR' I would rewrite almost everything. I would keep some of its myths, but weave in more to the storyline as well. The old English translation isn't up to Nintendo's new standards anyway.
3. The graphics. I know it's an old game and it looked fine in 1987. But I think they have aged badly even when compared to later NES titles. They're just so basic and boring to watch nowadays. Everything needs more details. From the overworld to the dungeons to the towns. Some of the areas in the game are barely discernable from other areas. The music is also guilty lacking variety, but what little is there is still good. A remake should certainly have additional tracks.
This is exactly the type of thing that needs to happen in lieu of a virtual console.
No thanks. I like it just the way it is.
@jerichofr
So in other words you hate anything automatically because its a little different?
Nothing wrong with Zelda 2. 12 year old me LOVED it back in the early 90's. 39 year old me still loves it now.
@NewAdvent there were no checkpoints back then and it's not the only game that had you start back from the beginning when you died.
@jerichofr So? That's just as dumb as saying that there's no saving ocarina from being a 3d Zelda which automatically makes it bad. Side scrolling adventure games are a lot of fun. And when your main weapon is sword, your gonna do a lotta hack n slash. Which is true for the whole freaking series.
@SKTTR
1) What's so needlessly cruel about the save system, especially when you can play it on a 3ds with save states?
2) The dungeons, bar the last two aren't in actual need of a map. You can go look those up on gaming site anyways.
3) What was so cryptic about it? Are you telling me you couldn't figure out that the guy told you to talk to Error of Ruto? Or what Error meant when he said South of King's Tomb is a tunnel? Or that the lady who told you that the big obvious gravestone in the middle of the massive graveyard was King's Tomb and you needed to walk downwards? That clue couldn't have been more obvious if they tried.
Percentage of what for completionists? Does this Look like a 90s collectathon to you? You get the hearts and the magic jars. Are you saying you can't figure out that a heart or jar was added when your health or magic meter gained a new bar? There wasn't even that many to collect. The sidequests were 1 per village. You know you got it by the new Spell in your arsenal. I wish Zelda would do away with big collectathons. 100 gold skultulas and 600 korok seeds was overkill.
NES graphics are fine. Except I suppose, to graphic snobs.
It will never happen with Nintendo being about 20 years behind the times and only now going "Wait..the internet wasn't a fad?". Wonderboy was amazing though..easily one of my favorite games of its time the remake was spectacular.
I'd also like to see these guys tackle a CastleVania 2: Simon's Quest remake. Konami aren't doing anything with their IPs so why not?
If anyone could do it, Omar could.
Having never played Zelda II, I'd be rather hooke on a remake looking as good as Lizard Cube's stuff does.
If there are actual improvements: I'd buy it. It's up there with Secret of Mana on my list of "games that desperately need a remake that fixes its issues" - also alongside Metroid II, but that one actually did get that remake...as a fan game...
Zelda 2's sidescrolling scenes and overhead overworld are such because it was attempting to be Ocarina of Time, 10 years before Ocarina of Time.
I cannot understate this enough. The RPG-esque leveling and EXP mechanics are a result of not having established a style to the series at the time (and being born in a time when JRPGs were Zelda's major competitors in the fantasy action genre). BUT the action, the towns, the dungeons, and the out-of-dungeon "scenes" were the direct predecessor of 3D Zelda games. Even Ocarina of Time's Forest Temple had an elevator as a call-back to the elevators of Adventure of Link's Temples.
In this game, we have jump attacks, we have targeting locations (different results for attacking a head vs attacking the body/feet). This game literally has 3 dimensions, although it only explores 2 of those dimensions at any given time.
If you were to remake Zelda 2, I would suggest it to be remade as a 3D Zelda game. The culture of the game's design is much more closely related to the 3/4s view over the shoulder games (Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, and Breath of the Wild) than the top-down games, whether 2D or 3D (The Legend of Zelda, A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures, The Minish Cap, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes).
Look at those two parenthesesed lists. Of them, every game from 2006 onwards has some element of 3D. The fundamental design difference between Zelda games are top-down or over-the-shoulder. Zelda II is the only 2D over-the-shoulder Zelda game – all the others are the "big 3D, AAA major Zelda home console releases" from Ocarina onwards. Zelda I established the top down form. Zelda II established the "3D" action form.
This is perhaps my third favourite Zelda game, despite its flaws (Breath of the Wild and Link's Awakening take precedence for obvious reasons). Both NES Zelda games could use remastering or remaking for the modern era, if only to give them a graphical and speed makeover (color and sprites from the NES, like with the Gameboy, are extremely dated now, unlike those of the SNES and beyond; in addition, both games are way too sticky with fake difficulty, such as caused by the game slowing down and causing Link to die because there were too many enemies on screen for the game to handle). But of the two, Zelda I could get away easily with just a straight remaster in A Link Between Worlds' engine. Zelda II requires its own engine on the basis of how different it is. I think that gives it a real opportunity to update and flesh it out in the way it really wants to be (as a huge open world game like Breath of the Wild, with 8 different towns to visit, combined with interesting combat physics and mechanics).
This game is a masterpiece as is. Please leave it alone.
I absolutely love the Dragons Trap remake by LizardCube, that's why I bought the physical version as soon as it released. I've already played through several times. It's such a great game to begin with and the new graphics are brilliant.
I really hope LizardCube continues to do these remakes and bring them out at retail too. Zelda 2 would be perfect for a remake, love that game. If they can't do that because Nintendo, then more Wonderboy remakes would be fine with me.
If they ever do remake it, I hope they get rid of that nonsense of resetting your experience points every time you die.
Zelda II is why as a child I owned a Game Genie.
Great title, though.
geeez yes!! do it!
@BulbasaurusRex nonsense? just a punishment for your failure
@Tempestryke While OoT is overrated (as most 3D games are), it isn't a bad game. Zelda 2 was (as was Majora's Mask.) When even the designer of the game thinks he should have done things differently, it is a bad game.
@GeminiSaint Nah. MM is a weak game because of one thing.
Music: Good.
Dungeons: Good. (Though could have been more)
Overworld: Too small, but not bad.
Items: Interesting
Transformation mechanic: Awesome.
Ticking clock/72-Hour limit: Destroys sense of adventure and kills the game.
It's really that simple.
@jerichofr Except you have a great deal of control over the flow of time in that game. You can slow it down, speed it up and/or jump back to the first day anytime, anywhere. And when you travel back in time, you also get to keep all the main collectibles you obtained, which -along with the warp owls- essentially function as shortcuts to get back to where you were in no time. There's really hardly any pressure from the so-called "time limit" in this game, if you take time to learn how to best make use of the many tools you're given.
It's really that simple.
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