Eiji Aonuma Wants an 'Evolved 2D Style' From His Legend of Zelda Handheld Dev Team

Put me in the 2D camp I guess. Hadn't really thought about it, but haven't played a mainline 3D game since... WindWaker on GC. Didn't realize it. Plan to play 3d's, just haven't gotten around it. But then I pre-ordered Link Between Worlds because SNES was my fav and this was the obvious successor.

Well it looks like the 3ds isn't going anywhere any time soon or they really are working on a successor.

I would love to see another 2D Zelda adventure! ALBW was amazing, and Tri Force Heroes... had potential. I personally think the Switch would work well with a Four Swords Adventures sequel (with the ALttP-esque graphical style of course).

There'll certainly will. The gap between BOTW and the next big 3D Zelda will be full of 2D games, HD Remakes, and spin offs like Triforce Heroes.

Am I the only one who wants remakes of the cdi games?!

Excellent news! I was just thinking recently how it'd be nice to get a 2D Zelda game on Switch a couple years down the line in the vein of Link Between Worlds. I can't imagine they could sell it at the same $60 price point as BotW, though. Then again, I wouldn't say "affordability" is exactly synonymous with "Nintendo Switch," all things considered.

The ALBW team certainly showed they had the guts to go back and reinvent a formula while also being tactful enough to keep everything that made the franchise special intact (including aspects that were seemingly lost to the ever-moving times) with that game.

@GameOtaku Yes, yes you are.

I enjoy both the 2D and 3D entries of the franchise. One without the other is like an incomplete PB&J.

@Spoony_Tech Doubtful since Kimishima specifically said they were not but they are "thinking about it" (I'm paraphrasing). Plus, Aonuma's comments suggest a 2D Zelda for Switch from the 3DS team is possible. With other evidence, it really does seem like Switch IS replacing 3DS.

Edit: And when Switch was still "NX" Nintendo would typically mention 3DS and Wii U. Just saying, it seems probable they will replace 3DS with Switch.

This seems to imply the 3DS will get another Zelda game? Unless the translation is bad.

Entirely possible that they're just responding to the fact that 3DS games are still selling incredibly well though.

I love both.

Good. Don't. I want more top down Zelda.

And a star tropics

That'll be the game that makes me buy a Switch. I am a hardcore ALttP fan, it is my favorite game of all-time.

I actually kind of hope the 2D team is working on a Zelda 2 style game for 3DS.

Cool concept but better graphics, and being less overly hard and cryptic as well as a more fleshed out leveling and equipment systems would do wonders for Zelda 2/a spiritual sequel.

This is awesome news! As a big Zelda fan I enjoy both the 2D and 3D games. Link Between Worlds was amazing! I actually put it as my second favourite Zelda game. I love how traditional it was but how innovative and clever it utilized the hardware. So would love to see a new 2D Zelda, maybe on Switch?!

And speaking of 2D and 3D....how's 2D Metroid coming along?

Did anybody else not understand the second quote at all?

@LegendOfPokemon I like the way you think!

ALBW was incredible but not quite perfect, a larger world a la breath of the wild would be cool. I feel like it was on the grey area between greatness and perfection.

so does this mean we will be getting a side scrolling Zelda game? Zelda II is my favorite game...call me weird....I don't care!!!

A new dedicated portable seems like it would cut into Switch sales a bit unless the portable comes out a few years after the Switch launches. But then people would wonder why they need to buy a portable device if their Switch already sort of doubles as one. I can't seem to find any way for the Switch and a new handheld to coexist. If you guys have any ideas, feel free to let me know.

I am interested to see another 2D Zelda and more. I prefer open world but I'd never hesitate to jump back into Zelda's roots style of gameplay.

Making any further 3DS games is unacceptable. The Switch needs 100% support from all Nintendo studios.

"Switch will allow the users to bring their home console on the go, but this doesn't mean handheld game development like Nintendo 3DS will be discontinued."

Good job Nintendo. Despite all of your ads saying otherwise, you still continue to refuse to acknowledge your hybrid console as a hybrid console. Maybe instead of making two different types of games for two different consoles, you should take your hybrid console and make two different types of games for it solely. Nah, that'd make too much sense. At the end of the day, the 3DS is competition for the NX. Both rely on portability as their main draw, but you're not going to move Switch units if you keep going around saying that the 3DS will remain, and that it'll be supported substantially. You should be trying to get that audience to cross over, because they won't unless they know that the Switch is the future. You're letting them stay comfortable with what they have, and that's just an awful business decision. Why make a hybrid console if you don't plan on using it as a hybrid console? It's just plain stupid.

As a huge fan of the top down Zelda, I'm glad to hear this. Not that the "3D" Zelda isn't good, but my favorites in the series are mostly top down "2D" Zeldas.

What if the perspective switched when docked and undocked. Like
Imagine a link between worlds where when undocked you became art link and docked you can move freely like normal... interesting

I always enjoyed the puzzles more on 2D Zelda as opposed to 3D zelda where I want more action, so they really should focus on that. They also should make games (even though by capcom) like the Oracle games again but with more choices and side quest. When I say choice, I mean like the horn to choose your pet (Dimitri, Ricky or Moosh). Whenever I revisit these games, I always choose another pet to spice up the gameplay a little.

I lean toward 2D myself. Though I love all the games and it's a toss up between A Link to The Past and Wind Walker for my favorite.

Though I'd probably fall in the 3D camp, I love Oracle Of Seasons and Link's Awakening.
To be honest I like them both better than ALTTP, and Link's Awakening is up there with my favorite Zeldas ever.

@Pikachupwnage Zelda II wasn't particularly all that hard...I completed it 100% at the age of 8 when it came out before the Internet was even a thing and didn't even have a Nintendo Power subscription at the time to fall back on. I will never understand how it gained the reputation for being so hard. I'd say for that time period it was even a platformer on easy mode with rpg elements splashed in.

@GameOtaku Who or what is your avatar of?

Wouldn't mind a Seasons & Ages remake

Yes please! I'll take a new 2D Zelda in a heartbeat! (Link's Awakening 2 please?)

@MegaVel91
It's Manpukamaru from Valkyrie Drive Bhikkuni! The CDi games aren't that bad. The name escapes me but, the one where you play as Zelda looks interesting.

Zelda 2 could use a remake 😊

Four Swords and Triforce Heros type of games make much sense on the Switch. Just not to the detriment of single player though.

@Dysnomia
I think they need to get away from the co-op Zelda games. Triforce Heroes wasn't very well received.

@Spoony_Tech
There is no separate 3DS successor that is currently in production. The Switch will be the only new Nintendo hardware for the foreseeable future until Nintendo can properly gage its success and determine whether developing another separate dedicated handheld device is worth the investment or not.

In other words, if the Switch fails, expect another dedicated handheld. If the Switch succeeds, expect the Switch to replace the 3DS with a cheaper and dock-less Switch configuration.

Much like with the Mario games, 2D and 3D Zelda games are different enough such that they should both exist separately and not be "combined" together (or have the 2D Zelda games disappear altogether).

I would love Zelda Link Between Worlds 2 on the Switch. LTTP and LBW are the two greatest SNES and 3DS games IMO, so a sequel would be amazing, even if it won't match the ambition or scale of BOTW.

I like both for different reasons. I think the fact I like both is why Wind Waker is one of my favorites, it's kind of like both in one. It has the 3D aspect, but the grid based map.

I am partial to the 2D top down Zelda games and would love to see a new iteration. It would be sweet if they were to come out with a Zelda game similar to the perspective of Captain Toad Treasure Tracker. Of course the worlds and castles would have this perspective instead of just one block section. Maybe this can be the "2D evolved" gameplay they mentioned?

I certainly enjoy both styles of Zelda game but now when I think about my favourites there are definitely more 2D games than 3D at the top. That said it's not the camera perspective that matters, it's just I haven't enjoyed many of the 3D iterations other than Ocarina of Time. ☹️

I love both styles, ALBW was awesome, and I would love to play that style of game in HD on the switch. Honestly, I was kinda bummed out at the thought of never seeing a 2d top down Zelda again, and now I'm pretty stoked to hear this. I hope the 2d and 3D dev teams make 2 games that tell a story together. Kinda like the Oracle games, but with both genres.

Prefer the 3D ones myself but not by much. Would be well up for a new 2D Zelda. Should look great on Switch too.

Makes sense, we'll have 2D and 3D Mario games, same for Zelda. Hopefully same for Metroid...

I wish they would do with Metroid what they did with ALBW. Go back to the old side scrolling Metroid but with vamped up 2.5D graphics.

Considering that four of my top five LoZ are of the 2D style, I will always want another.

Though maybe BotW jumps up there. I've quite hype for it, as much as I have been for any game in a while. Will know in a month or so.

I much prefer the 3D Zelda games, but, more 2D games would still be nice.

Great. More zelda is a good thing.
More games for 3ds isnt a bad thing for me and probably many others out there that won't be buying a switch ever or way down the line they might invest. If Ninty discontinue 3ds then so be it and if they want it side by side with switch then so be it. Anyways another 2d zelda on both machines would be great

"but rather have each think about what they can bring to Nintendo Switch from their own perspective."

There you go. Switch is 3DS's successor, Confirmed.

"The handheld development team will not be phased out because of Nintendo Switch. Switch will allow the users to bring their home console on the go, but this doesn't mean handheld game development like Nintendo 3DS will be discontinued."

In other words, traditional handheld-style games will NOT be phased and WILL be coming to the Switch. Games like 2D Zelda, Picross, Animal Crossing, Style Savvy and all those Touch! Generations style games on DS are more than likely in development for Switch.

I still believe Nintendo will make a smaller version of the Switch, however, for people that want something more pocket-friendly. But it won't feature dual screens; it will just be a smaller Switch, and perhaps have no removable Joy-Cons.

I'm shocked that nobody has mentioned Phantom Hourglass + Spirit Tracks yet. I would consider them 2D games as well and they were both awesome!

While PH was the better game overall I really liked that Zelda had a more active role in ST.

This question is the crux of the issue for the Switch. If this came out on 3DS it would be given good reviews and would last about 20 hours and cost about £30 when released. But with BOtW in 3D with potentially hundreds of hours of gameplay, and a £50 price tag, can these games co-exist? Will they price the games differently or will they just go for the higher price?

People who like handheld gaming for th design, as well as more budget friendly games might not take to the Switch if it offers handheld experiences at console prices. It will be interesting to see what Nintendo does and how the two areas co-exist on the Switch

Love both styles! Very happy to hear the dev teams will remain separate. The two styles have existed in their own rights for years and there's no reason to now combine them. @countzero - love the DS games, lil cartoony Link running around following the stylus, the music and aesthetic worked beautifully.

I'd like the return of cel shaded toon Link in their new 2D Zelda. No recycled map from previous games and gimmicks like trains. And while we're at it, resurrect Vaati. Minish Cap was pretty great.

I've said this before, but the Switch is not a handheld console... it is a home console that has been given some of the traits of a handheld to make it portable.
While I think it could be debated whether or not it can still be classed as a home console, or whether it should be classed separately as a hybrid console, this does not change the fact that it's not a handheld.

This is great to hear! I am a big fan of both styles of gameplay and I think that there is plenty of room for both. Imagining a system that gets twice as many Zelda games due to the hybrid nature gets me excited as Zelda is one of my favorite series.

With BotW arguably moving much further away from the classic 2D formula than any previous 3D Zelda, carving out its own formula, I really hope they continue to produce 2D Zelda games in the more traditional style.

This sounds like they are, which is great.

ALBW was simply awesome, and losing that style of game simply because Switch does away with a separate handheld console would be devastating to me. The puzzle mechanic in ALBW was probably the best of any Zelda game, and it just wouldn't work in a full 3D game.

Good news I hope.

@DragonEleven I don't understand this reasoning. What is it that does prevent the Switch from being a "true" handheld. On the most basic level a handheld is a console I can hold in my hands and play it anywhere I want.

The Switch does that. Is it the battery life? Three hours isn't a lot but it's still enough to consider it a handheld. The 3DS doesn't last much longer and my iPod touch loses 30%-40% of battery when I play Super Mario Run for an hour.

What can a handheld like the PS Vita do that the Switch can't?

I hope we don't have a situation where every major 3DS release is mirrored on the Switch. Like how we have Mario Maker or Smash Brothers on the Wii U then we got a 3DS version down the line. Maybe they will release games this way until there's enough Switch users out there? Then we won't get these obvious "We're not abandoning 3DS development" quotes. I would like to see Nintendo's games fully realized on the Switch.

@countzero Those are the traits of a handheld that have been given to a home console to create the Switch... it's like taking the wings of a bird and sticking them on a monkey... it doesn't make the monkey a bird, it makes it a flying monkey.

Handheld consoles aren't just designed to be portable... they're designed for flexibility... they can be played for as long or short periods as you want, whenever and wherever you want... it's easy to stop and start playing.
Home consoles, on the other hand, are designed solely for long periods of gameplay, with as little interruption as possible... and that is exactly what the Switch is for... you don't have to stop playing when you move away from the TV... it isn't designed for long-term play away from the TV, only long enough for you to be able to keep playing until you can get back to the TV.

@Spoony_Tech
The 3DS team and the Wii U team have different approaches to game development, so I don't necessarily want to combine them and have them think together, but rather have each think about what they can bring to Nintendo Switch from their own perspective

He tried to backtrack after he said this. But this says it all, really. Even 3DS Zelda team is being transitioned to work on Switch.

It really will have all (or most, for time being) their dev teams funneled into it. Aside from a few remnants left to carry the torch for 3DS for another year

I would love to see a remake of the very first zelda game and the second lol.

Good. I'd still love to see more Top-Down Zelda games in the future.

Would suggest a dual release for a 2D Zelda on 3DS and Switch...

Link between worlds had a great style I really liked it, that was a great compromise between flat-out 2D and crappy 3D (different story on the Switch, it allows smooth crisp 3D )

To all that responded on my comment, I guess I didn't read the whole article correctly. Thanks for the clarification! It pays to read the whole thing before commenting lol.

Interesting. I would have thought a Zelda fan would enjoy a quality title regardless of it being 2D or 3D. But I guess it makes sense to have a preference for one or the other. I would love to see a full on 2D top down title on the Switch ala ALttP. ALBW was fantastic and I love the risk it took. Would love to see that on a much epic scale. And it would be a nice change while we wait for the next 3D game.

ALBW was one of the best games I've ever played, easily among my top 3 Zelda games.

For some time now I've wanted a sweeping 3D home console style Zelda to be built for handheld from the ground up. We know the hardware is up to it, with the release of OOT and MM on 3DS. In fact, the DS could have been host to something like this because we saw plenty of titles on there in a similar style, notably Mario 64's remake. Now we have the Switch, which words as a handheld with Zelda...I guess I kind of have my dream come true at last.

We will see more 2D style Zelda's come to Switch. After all, we've seen the likes of New Super Mario Bros and Kirby make the jump from handheld to TV. Even the Mario 3D series started on handheld and found a comfortable home on the TV.

@GameOtaku for sure I agree that the coop Zeldas are not really good, but just saying that with the Switch it actually makes more sense than it ever has before.

@DragonEleven I get your point. However, I think it ultimately comes down to the individual player and their preferences and needs and how that defines what the Switch is for them personally. For some, that's exactly the scenario that will play out. Taking it off the dock will be for short term until they can back to the TV, one of the concepts I think Nintendo envisioned. For many, they may never use that dock. Therefore, the Switch is a very powerful handheld console. The game will also determine for some how one uses it at anytime. A game like BoTW might be better served being played 90% on TV whereas as with a Pokémon main title, the console may never see the dock.

@Not_Soos Well it's not like that hasn't happened before. When NSMB U came out it was the same price as Super Mario 3D World when that released. Of course, NSMB U price dropped a bit by then but they were still priced the same at their respective releases.

@Spoony_Tech Actually, it sounds more like they plan on making a 2D Zelda on Switch with the 3DS team.

Hm...I wouldn't be too surprised if they manage to extend the battery life with games like this which would have a more portable aspect to them (possibly less draining on the console).

I really loved A Link Between Worlds so I would totally be up for another game in that style. When the 3DS came out and Ocarina of Time 3d came out I was worried the 2d style games were gone for good. I wonder how a 2d Zelda game would work on Switch. I'm sure it would look shiny.

Link Between Worlds has become my favorite of the Zelda series and one of my favorite games of all time. It took what was previously my favorite, Link to the Past, and modernized the parts that haven't really aged well, and added enough to it that it felt like a new adventure. The dungeons were more inventive without some of the obscure puzzling the SNES title devolved into in the last few dungeons.

I would absolutely love to see another true 2D zelda adventure (or many more.) It's a different game with a different style of play, and it should never be lost to the ages.

They can also turn them around a lot faster to fill in the years between big 3D releases. They're running out of remasters and rereleases to sell to the same audience.) And the DS Zeldas dependent on the touch screen are probably not going to be seen again.

@UmbreonsPapa Currently the only games on the way for the Switch are primarily home console games... no main series Pokemon game has been announced.
Regardless of how people may intend to use the console, I think Nintendo are making it clear that it is supposed to be a portable home console, rather than a handheld console.

Paper Zelda anyone?

@Tarvaax
I consistently have been saying that they are hedging their bets and will change their turn after E3, but it is getting distressing.
Either the Switch is the next big thing, or the Switch is a stop gap. And a stop gap won't sell, nor will it bring the ganes(monster hunter and Pokémon) that will move units.
I don't get Nintendo.

When the Switch is home to a new 2D Zelda, we'll know for sure that the new hybrid concept is here to stay. Meaning, I hope it happens soon!

@DragonEleven I think I get what you are saying but I still can't see what technical aspect of the Switch prevents it from being as flexible as a traditional handheld.

I can see two aspects that could hurt it as a portable device. One is the boot time as it is acceptable for a home console to take longer to boot up but long loading times would hurt it on the go. The other is the lack of a standby mode of some kind because you have to be able to interrupt your game for a longer amount of time.

But so far we don't know if those features will be there or not.

2d and 3d Zelda on the same system! Oh the potential is exciting. Actually if they redid triforce heroes I'd pick it up now.

@countzero Size is a key aspect... handheld consoles are typically designed to fit into a standard pocket so that they can easily be carried around, so that you can have them with you whenever you want to play... but the Switch is too large to fit into a standard pocket... you'd need to either carry it in-hand constantly (which is impractical) or keep it in a bag (making it take longer to start and stop playing).

You could also consider it's power limitations while portable to be a factor... it's optimised for use as a home console... as long as it's being used as a portable it's not capable of using it's full processing power... and if they did allow it to use its full processing power, then the battery would run out far too quickly.

I hope that they eventually make a 2D, smaller version of Breath of the Wild. I'm not saying I dislike the 3D games, I really enjoyed the open adventure aspect; but the quaintness of A Link Between Worlds and Triforce Heroes is nice too.

I have no issues with having 2D Zelda continue. I appreciate both styles very much.

I'm glad they aren't merging teams since it allows the 2 styles of Zelda to stay independent while still producing both styles at once. Now if only they copied this structure with Metroid...

@DragonEleven I know there isn't a Pokemon main game announced. But I'm gonna make an educated assumption and guess there will most likely be one at some point. But that wasn't really my point. Ultimately, the market will determine what the Switch will be considered, regardless of what Nintendo ultimately wants.

A Link Between Worlds is easily one of my favorites from the last 5 years. I hope to see another following that template.

We really need a fantastic 2D Zelda on Switch. Imagine how sweet it may look!

@UmbreonsPapa I'm not so sure about that... they had said before that they wanted to keep the main series on the handheld consoles, and there's a good chance that like Nintendo, they consider the Switch to be a home console, not a handheld... and while they have said since then that they do intend to bring Pokemon games to the Switch, they did not specify main series games, suggesting that they might have been referring to spin-offs instead.

@WarlockNem It wasn't easy, but Zelda 2 gets easier once you master how the shield works, and the "Punch-out" style of fighting. Not to mention once you figure out how to get through the southern Death Mountain cave maze. The life restoring spell helps too.

Honestly, I felt Zelda 1 was harder. Some dungeons were very well hidden, and the game was more vague on what to do next.

I'm glad to hear this. I started the series with Zelda II and have always loved the 2d games and prefer the 2d top-down and side scrolling platformer styles over the 3d style, though I do enjoy some of the 3d games like Majora's Mask, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess. I was very pleased with A Link Between Worlds as it ended up being my 5th favorite Zelda after A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Zelda II, and Majora's Mask. I liked Tri Force Heroes too, but I think they could've done things to make it better like having a quick totem formations function like Four Swords Adventures had to make single player more friendly. Also I think they could've left out the speed challenges as I wasn't even able to beat the 1st stage (though I heard there's a costume that makes you faster).

Anyway, after Skyward Sword, I lost my faith in Nintendo's ability to make a good 3d Zelda game. I had big expectations of that game but it ended up at the bottom of the Zelda list for me. I hated the full motion controls (the limited motion controls of the Wii version of TP were good enough IMO), I hated Fi, didn't like the lack of an onscreen map, I had problems reading text because it the text color did not have enough contrast from the text boxes, I did not like how overly linear it was & how you had to do speak to certain characters to trigger events so you could progress even if you played the game before & know what to do, I hated the disjointed non-continuous world, I thought the sky portions were boring and the combat on the loftwing sucked compared to the Epona combat of TP, and my biggest complaint was that it was overcomplicated. Too many ingredients/bugs/etc to collect for potions (they were wise to trim it down to just guts, claws & horns in ALBW), doing those stupid key puzzles to open boss doors was not fun and unnecessary, figuring out which specific sword strikes were needed & getting the motion controls to actually do them was a pain, and I absolutely hated the breaking of the shields and having to collect stuff to fix/upgrade them or get new ones. And I read that item crafting (like the shield crafting in SS) will be very prevalent in BotW, not to mention that BotW will also have a big world, which from Nintendo's track record in the past have been very empty, boring & a chore to criss-cross through as you go to your destinations. I heard it will be a lot like Skyrim and I have no interest in that series, so my favorite franchise in video games being turned into a franchise I could care less about does not make me happy.

If they really want to introduce Skyrim like elements to Zelda, then it would have been smart, not to mention awesome and extremely innovative to bring back what they did with the Oracle games. What I mean is, they should've made a new Zelda game that was purely Zelda formula, and made a Skyrim-like game at the same time and have the 2 games be integrated and interactive so you can carry items, characters, etc from one game to the other as well as combine worlds and progress between the 2 games. The Zelda game could've taken place in Hyrule while the Skyrim like game could've taken place in Lorule, the Twilight Realm, Termina, the Dark World, or some other Hyrule-related location. This would give Zelda fans a pure Zelda game while also giving Skyrim fans a Skyrim-like game and fans of Zelda who would be interested in giving the Skyrim-like game a try would be able to do so without worry that the Zelda game would be ruined in case they didn't like the Skyrim-like game. It would let you play the games individually or play them combined for a new experience, something that would make for a massive adventure and is the type of innovation I've expected from Nintendo ever since the Oracle games.

Even though I liked TP, I'm not a fan of the beginning and how slow paced it is until you get the Master Sword in that game. Had I made that game or been put in charge of a remake or the HD version, I would've changed it greatly. I would've thrown all the beginning scenes with the kids, fishing, using the stick, slingshot etc, and goat herding into a big massive cutscene like Metal Gear Solid games have. I would eliminate the twilight covering Hyrule and bug hunting portions completely. All those cut parts would be replaced with a full Twilight Realm overworld with multiple dungeons much like the Dark World in ALttP had. You would visit buildings with their unique architecture in the Twilight Realm where you would speak to characters with Midna and find out bits and pieces of the history of the Twili and the events that took place in the Twilight Realm along witth the Twili's thoughts & opinions of their ancestors and the light worlders. I think that would have made TP so much more fun than it was.

Anyway, I'm very glad to hear this. I don't know what is meant by evolved 2d. I enjoyed the 2d style in ALBW very much. I think the next step in evolution would be having a top-down Zelda game with a multi-tiered overworld. I actually wanted this very badly and was hoping Nintendo would make a 2nd Zelda game on the Wii U after BotW prior to them mentioning that the Wii U will be discontinued. My vision for the game that it would have the ALBW top-down style & would have those square & rectangular floating platforms that took you up & down the huge caves in Hyrule's & Lorule's Death Mountains, but those platforms would be in the overworld! If you played ALBW, you definitely noticed all the cracks/chasms/canyons in the surface of the land. My idea would be having those platforms take you down into those chasms where you would find villages and dungeons filled with monsters/enemies and other stranded characters. There could also be such platforms taking you high into the sky, perhaps on floating pieces of land or isolated mountain tops. This could be done in a sequel (or maybe even a prequel) to ALBW where you would be able to control not only Link but Ravio as well and would have to forge a weapon to protect the restored Lorulean Triforce from a new enemy/evil as despite having its Triforce restored, Lorule was still left in ruin and had no protection from evil that would want to steal the Triforce. Such a multi-tiered overworld game would probably have been too much for the 3DS to handle, especially if such a game had a mostly continuous (mostly seamless) world, but the Wii U would definitely have the power to run such a game. Since the Wii U won't be getting new Zelda games after BotW, I guess they could make it for the Switch.

Edit: One thing I'm annoyed with is this term open world. The very first Zelda game had an open world, as do the majority of the series.

@Pikachupwnage I don't think Zelda II was cryptic at all. There was the Hidden Kasuto you had to find, but that wasn't too hard to find if you spoke to every villager and explored. The area it was in was suspicious because it was small & a dead end/isolated. I thought the 1st Zelda was much much more cryptic. The hardest part of Zelda II is learning/handling the combat.

Anyway, I would love to get another side scrolling platformer Zelda like Zelda II. IMO, Zelda II to this day has the best combat in the series. It takes a while to really master where you can fight the tougher enemies and bosses with minimal or no damage, but once you do, it is so satisfying playing through the game (I loved it even as a beginner to the game when I was 11). The combat is great because it's all in the hands of the player to succeed or fail. You can't blame bad camera angles or messed up enemy targeting (where you target an enemy but Link is facing & attacking a wall like it happened so many times to me in the 3d games).

I wouldn't want a remake but a sequel/prequel and one that would hopefully be in 8-bit. Yes, I think Nintendo would be wise to set aside a team of developers who make 8-bit NES style and also 16-bit SNES style games on their digital eshop service. It's already been proven that fans love NES games as seen with the NES Remix games and again with the NES Mini. So why not take the next step and give us brand new 8-bit Mario, Zelda, Metroid, Star Tropics, etc games that would've been on the NES had it been continued? Big AAA titles take years to make (3d Zeldas take 5-6 years), so NES & SNES style games being released as we wait for the AAA titles would be smart, non-risky in terms of investment & loss, and would definitely sell well. When Capcom did this very thing with Mega Man 9 & 10 back in 2009 & 2010, I was hoping it would start a trend and we would finally get a Duck Tales 3. Those games sold well and Nintendo would be smart if they do the same with their IPs. I even say they should make some 8-bit Game Boy & Game Boy Color style games, as the original GB was madly successful and had such a great library.

I personally am dying for a 2nd 16-bit SNES style Zelda game. One that would have the capabilities of the Super FX2 chip used by Yoshi's Island. I guarantee that had there been a 2nd SNES Zelda, it would've used that chip.

@GamePerson19 I think it would be wise for Nintendo to not kill off the 3DS just yet. My biggest concern about the Switch is its durability. Undocking it into portable mode and then re-docking it to home mode and doing this over & over again will cause it to break. It looks pretty flimsy to begin with, and even if I'm wrong about that and it's sturdy and built with quality, what won't matter is that there is only a certain amount of times someone can undock/dock it until there is enough wear that the pieces no longer make proper contact or something just snaps/breaks off. That's just natural. I already know people who are having problems with the 3DS' AC adapter not making proper contact with the back of the 3DS after plugging & unplugging it every now & then just for charging. Then there's also the problem of losing parts.

If/when I do buy a Switch I plan on leaving it docked in home mode all the time so I guess I won't have to worry about this. But the biggest problem will be little kids who will of course want & get the Switch when their parents buy it for them. They will have no problem losing parts and breaking it. That is why Nintendo made the 2DS. So I expect there to be a lot of pissed off parents having to buy new controllers and controller parts and based on this assumption, I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo releases a home-only model of the Switch as a remedy to this problem. If they do this, then they will certainly need to fall back on the 3DS as their portable console. Personally, I will definitely hold off to see if Nintendo makes a 2nd model before buying anything. The Switch could've had a lot more power if Nintendo didn't have an interest in having it serve as a mobile device as well, and killing off the mobile aspect would make it be such a waste if that happens. I kind of hope it does because I really like the 3DS. If they do kill the 3DS though, I want them to make a 3DS Player device for the Switch so we could play DS & 3DS games on it (so long as a tablet can be used on it) much like the Game Boy Player on the Gamecube did with GB, GBC & GBA games. I've wanted this ever since the Wii U actually. I think it could've sold more Wii U's had they done that and used such a device to integrate 3DS games with their Wii U counterparts while also having multiplayer crossover. Just imagine if they had such a device and they would have integration between A Link Between Worlds and Breath of the Wild where you could carry over items to BotW or affect its plot/world by doing certain things.

@SanderEvers I don't think making a portable only Switch is feasible because of the price tag it would have. Unless they weaken it or release it for $200 or less, I don't think it would sell well. I think $200 (which is what the 3DS was priced at before it went out of stock everywhere by me in December) is already too much for a handheld and asking any more would turn off many people from buying it.