Random: Unofficial Legend Of Zelda NES Remake Gets 20-Minute Gameplay Video

Nintendo will unleash their Ninja to shutdown that fan project, like "Don't you dare make our Zelda games into something like that!"

“ Link will no longer receive a sword from the Old Man; instead, you need to venture into the basement and solve some simple puzzles before you can get yourself equipped.”
That moment was already perfect it doesn’t need Aonuma Style.

I mean, I get it, but at that point you can just give him any other look, change up the map lay-out and just create a spiritual remake.

That change to the beginning stops it dead in the water on arrival. One of the best things about the original Zelda was getting your sword immediately with no pomp and going right into the adventure. Small thing to some probably, but to me it smacks of someone who doesn't understand what makes the game so special.

There are already so many remakes and rom hacks of this game. This one doesn't seem all that special. I loved the 3D Doom/Zelda mods.

Collecting rupees in chests before you get the sword is just... dumb. You can't start with that! You get the sword, bang! Game is yours! Explore! Someone definitely felt they were improving on the original there...

@Peteykins I've seen so many hacks and remakes of this game, and this one seems very unique. Is there another one like this that I don't know?

@Sketcz Nintendo's lawyers: "My copyright sense is tingling!"

Improve the graphics but leave the gameplay alone

It's strange but I prefer the NES graphics.

I can’t tell if NintendoLife supports this project or wants it to reach Nintendo faster by covering it. Either way, the Nintendo ninjas, as so many like to call them, are on their way. Well done.

Hmm, going down into the basement to get the sword and doing the puzzles (3 block moving puzzles in a row) seems redundant. Then Link went into that room with the spikes and that's where I decided that, although it looks okay, the game design is not great.

Cease-and-desist notice incoming. The dev probably only made this for his resume. He is right. Stirring up some controversy in order to get noticed. And not just by Nintendo. He seems very talented and I wish him the best.

@Pillowpants yeahh, it's a bit hard to tell without playing it myself but I feel like they kinda missed the mark with the sword combat too. It doesn't have the same risk/reward as the original game where Link is locked in-place for a decent amount of time while being restricted to thrusting in 4 directions, which made positioning very important. But if they're going down the 360 degree swinging route, the enemies lack the speed of A Link Between Worlds/Link's Awakening remake that made them more likely to punish whiffed attacks/poor spacing

I can appreciate the fan dedication for this but still prefer the NES and SNES satellaview versions in terms of the way it looks.

"Empty has also clarified that the game will not be released as a playable demo, so folks will simply have to make do with the video for now."

As long as this is just images and video, Nintendo might not interfere with this fan project.

I like how true Empty is to his name cause the first thing Link got from the old man in the cave is nothing which makes it feel empty. Cool remake, to not waste this kind of talent he could easily turn this into an original game and release it on all platform just like all the other Zelda fan made games that got turn into Rime, Blossom Tales, Ocean's Heart, and Oceanhorn. Without the Zelda license attach to it, it may not sell as much but at least it'll be something to try. Just keep all the cool lighting, effects, and gameplay intact and I'm sure it'll do fine.

This is a rare fan project that actually feels like a real Zelda game. Love the new music and mix of Wind Waker / Link’s Awakening Remake art style. It works really well and they did a great job at making this world feel alive.

That change with the sword didn’t bother me. It’s not the same game. They can add some of their own creativity. Just blindly copy/pasting it into a modern engine wouldn’t make anyone excited either.

If Nintendo is reading this somehow: I will never buy another one of your consoles if you C&D this.

I’d be happy to play the super famicom version.

Nintendo might be planning or working on their own remake of The Legend of Zelda (JP: 1986, NA/EU: 1987).

Zelda 3 (SNES JP: 1991, NA/EU: 1992) got a direct sequel using the same world:
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS JP/NA/EU: 2013)

Zelda Links awakening (GB JP/NA/EU: 1993) got a remaster and a remake:
Zelda Links awakening DX (GBC JP/NA: 1998, EU 1999) Now in color, a new dungeon and a mouse that take photos!
Zelda Link's Awakening (Switch 2019)

Also Zelda 1 is commercially available right now:

• Nintendo Switch Online (2018)
• Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda (2021)

@PinderSchloss What a lame threat, if this guy is serious about making a Zelda game he would had been sending his resume to Nintendo instead of the internet. This game getting C&D is what it deserve if it actually turn out to be a Zelda game in the end. It needs to not be a Zelda game for it to succeed. It needs to be its own game. Besides it already try to not be like the original by giving a task to find the sword instead of just handing it by the old man so that's already an originality there, now he just need to altered Link by changing sprite, name, and all Zelda related contents and then it's ready for prime time.

Honestly I have been expecting a remake of Zelda 1 and 2 with modern graphics since I played Super Mario All-Stars in 1993. Both are excellent games that have a huge potential for remakes. Link's Awakening for Switch is amazing despite the game's strict design, but considering Zelda 1 is open world, it would have been a better fit on Switch.

The lack of actual Zelda music hurts the presentation for this lifelong fan, but ever since the remake of Link's Awakening, I've wanted Nintendo to take an official pass at sprucing up the first adventure, so I appreciate this effort

Well, it's not going to get finished now if it wasn't already.

Nintendo will shut down this cool looking project to the thunderous applause of their sycophants.

They embody a lot of good and evil, the Big N.

If Nintendo would make their own remake of the original Zelda, I'd probably be more excited for that than 90% of the other game announcements happening nowadays. This looks pretty great.

Nintendo should just hire him and finish this project, maybe even match the graphics style to the fantastic Link's Awakening remake/engine

Everytime one of these comes up, out of the woodwork comes:

"Why are they wasting their talent on this instead of sending their resume to Nintendo??"

Good grief. Can half of you spare some of your mental energy to actually think beyond that notion, and maybe come up with some of the -frankly- obvious answers yourselves?

And no not "they're piggybacking off Nintendo's IP". Maybe something along the lines of "they made it cause they live X IP"?

Every time, it's the same thing. Not to mention actually making something original takes massive amounts of work. It's not the kind of thing you do to cut your teeth on. It's something you do when you already have a good grasp on what you're doing.

It's like complaining why someone is using training wheels when they're learning to ride a bike. Or similar.

...People just don't freakin' learn when it comes to fan remakes and stuff.

I want a remake of Link to the Past. 🙏❤😭

This has been commented on multiple times in the past. It's really not clear what NL's intent is with these articles, except that I assume the writer has a daily quota and word count to make. We all know giving attention to these things just calls the wrath of Nintendo's lawyers. There's a very brief window after any article goes live that reads can react to before the take-down notice gets filed. So, what's the intent? Help Nintendo? Shutdown the dreams of aspiring developers? Make your quota? Serve the fans? It's really not obvious except to try to maybe server multiple masters poorly.

As for this specific remake - because there are really getting to be a lot of them - it's a neat take, mostly visually. I assume the change to how to get the sword is just to try to personalize your take on the game. As other have said it's a delicate balance to show you know how to design a game vs you know how to translate a designed game into a game engine; which is closer to what this is. I always assume the point is to pad the resume, get noticed and get a job in the game industry. That's getting harder by the minute with so many cuts starting last year and several key publishers pushing to use AI. Poor Gen Z and A are going to be old school developers before they even turn 40 at the rate AI is taking over things.

How long until N take it down?

Now I want an official remake from Nintendo. Blast it all.

I only watched the first few minutes, but I really like this remake. The original will always hold a special place with me, but I’m glad to see Empty add his own ideas to what we see here. I sincerely hope the project can get finished.

I'd absolutely die for a Zelda remake. Heck even Zelda II. This looks great too, some minor changes here and there.

Not to be rude but can you not cover fan projects? It only paints a target on the devs back so Nintendo can shut them down

I know game dev is hard, but this looks very clunky and that first puzzle before the sword is just bad design, especially the clunky movement being very careful to not fall into the pit.

@smolsauce On one hand, you're right. On the other hand, the devs shouldn't be releasing a trailer at all and keeping this as quiet as possible. Nintendo can't shut something down if no one besides the devs knows it's being developed.

Has anyone managed to make Zelda 1 in the style of the prototype Nintendo made to see if BotW's mechanics could work? Feel like that could be fun to play as a full Zelda 1 remake.

@Kilroy Oh, I understand that the devs made a mistake uploading this in the first place but I don't think these articles help.

It's all fun and games until Nintendo hands out a C & D. Sigh...

Ok that opening section did not need to be made longer

Did the majority of people commenting not read this "Empty has also clarified that the game will not be released as a playable demo, so folks will simply have to make do with the video for now."?

Yeah I saw that. It looks awful and unappealing. And maybe someone should tell the creator that the 3rd game is not the first.

@Sketcz So your saying that if you chant Nintendo's name in the mirror 3x, the ninja lawyers will come for your blood that much sooner? 🤔

@Coalescence Agreed

@Sketcz 0_o