by Some of the most memorable Zelda games weren't actually made by Nintendo, but were instead developed by Capcom – more specifically a now defunct division of Capcom called 'Flagship'. These games include Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, Four Swords, and The Minish Cap.
It's fairly well known by this point that Capcom's involvement in Zelda came from an initial desire to port the original Legend of Zelda from the NES to the Game Boy. However, an interview with Capcom producer Yoshiki Okamoto has been freshly translated by Did You Know Gaming (thanks, Games Radar+) which sheds a bit more light on how Capcom eventually garnered the green light.
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According to Okamoto-san, he and Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto didn't get off to the best start, since the latter expressed zero interest in porting the original Zelda to the Game Boy. After offering to produce it himself and receiving a firm rejection, Okamoto resorted to radical measures:
"I especially like Zelda [1]. But Nintendo wouldn't port it to Game Boy Color. So I told Mr. Miyamoto I'd produce it myself... but we couldn't come to an agreement. So in the end, I threatened him. I said if Nintendo's not up for it, we'll release an identical game with different characters and just call it something else."
This supposedly convinced Miyamoto to at least consider the prospect further. In addition to Capcom claiming an ability to produce four Zelda titles in one year, this was enough to give the developer the go-ahead.
Of course, the original plan to port Zelda from the NES to the Game Boy didn't come to fruition, but Capcom/Flagship and Nintendo developed a strong working relationship, putting out several well-received Zelda games that many still adore to this day.