Is The Adventure of Link the only instalment truly deserving of a remake?


The video game medium is no stranger to the current trend of reboot culture. In fact it is within the gaming medium where rebooted titles and franchises find their greatest stride; recent canonical resets (DMC), tonal shifts (Tomb Raider 2013) and remodelled gameplay schemes (Resident Evil) have all served to maximise sales based on nothing more than the sheer curiosity of gaming consumers. It is because of these mass and easy to garner sales that the trend of reboot culture is currently showing no signs of slowing or indeed ending.

However, as fans of The Legend of Zelda franchise, with Ocarina of time 3D safely nestled away under our tunics, The Wind Waker HD on our horizon and the sequel/remake hybrid we currently know as A Link to the Past 2 in our futures, not to mention the high probability of Majora’s Mask 3D and the inevitable petition to see Twilight Princess in HD, it is easy to forget that the current trend of reboot culture actually exists. This is because, as far as The Legend of Zelda goes, we are living in the microcosm of Nintendo’s era of the remake.

A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess all have one thing in common; their popularity. These titles are the series elite, these are the titles that Nintendo want us to experience, not to maximise sales of something fresh, but to remind of us where the franchise has been, where it could be going again and to celebrate a common, well known and loved heritage. It is testament to these titles that Nintendo have already chosen to grace us with updates of Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker and A Link to the Past…

But at a time where criticisms aimed at The Legend of Zelda franchise are those sang to the tunes of stagnant mundanity and lacklustre attempts to recapture the golden age of the franchise, are more remakes really what the series needs in order to evolve beyond its current state?

Well, if one of these remakes were to be The Adventure of Link, then I’d say yes.

Every franchise has an instalment that we’d all rather ignore and forget about, like a creepy uncle at a family barbeque or that one time you just don’t like to think about… and in The Legend of Zelda’s case The Adventure of Link wears the title of most stigmatic and unloved instalment of the series as proudly as a failure possibly can.

However, following the release of the Hyrule Historia, a widely debated but nevertheless canon encyclopaedia on The Legend of Zelda franchise as a whole from beginning to end, it is The Adventure of Link, the black sheep, which has benefitted from the horse’s mouth. So let us give The Adventure of Link the time of day and study in detail the narrative context, the setting and the gameplay mechanics of a theoretical 3D remake which could revitalise and evolve The Legend of Zelda franchise.

Firstly then, with the Hyrule Historia at its back, The Adventure of Link has arguably become one of the most narratively rich and complex instalments of the Zelda franchise, second perhaps only to Ocarina of Time’s tendency for splitting the Zelda universe into multiple separate branches…

Very much like The Wind Waker with its brave narrative concept of flooding Hyrule following the events of Ocarina of Time, The Adventure of Link also plays host to a number of major universe defining and world altering notions which set the scene for an adventure which is yet to be fully realised.

Hyrule’s Golden Era (which sees the monarchy of Hyrule ruling with the Triforce to maintain peace and prosperity within the land) The tragedy of Princess Zelda I, the entirety of the original game; The Legend of Zelda and Hyrule’s Era of Decline are all introduced within The Adventure of Link’s narrative before the game itself even gets underway. In the first few moments of what would most likely be an exposition driven opening cutscene, Zelda fans will have witnessed the rise and fall of one of the greatest kingdoms in gaming history before being immersed into a poverty stricken country with little law left to abide by, danger in every province and an army of vengeance driven creatures (Ganon’s underlings) hungry for Link’s blood.

But The Adventure of Link doesn’t just make do with one of the strongest narrative backdrops in the franchise’s history; it’s also got a lot of self-reflexive and overarching references, plot developments and links to where the series has been and where it went long ago.

Most modern Zelda games reference and re-use versions of characters from previous titles like Beedle whom we originally met for the first time in The Wind Waker and whom we saw again in Skyward Sword sporting a very similar role. Linebeck from Phantom Hourglass and Linkbeck III from Spirit Tracks is but one other example of a heavy handful of characters who have returned from one title to another, recycling characters has indeed become The Legend of Zelda’s primary mode of reference, yet there was a time when that wasn’t the case and The Adventure of Link once again serves to remind us of how painfully different (in a good way) it is to most of the other games it shares the franchise with.

As if encompassing the entirety of The Legend of Zelda within its backdrop wasn’t enough, The Adventure of Link also serves to bridge a generational gap between gamers who were born with the series and those born later; the Sages from Ocarina of Time are amongst the most recognisable and fondly remembered characters of the series to date; yet, as if Nintendo had it planned all along (or at least back then), we had heard of these Sages long before we ever met them (had we played the games in order of release). As a result, the locations within The Adventure of Link serve to honour at least the namesakes of the Sages of Ocarina of Time with places such as the Towns of Rauru, Nabooru and Ruto and other more intriguing locations (at least in concept) such as the Water Town of Saria, Harbour Town of Mido and the Mountain Town of Darunia. (I’m aware that Mido isn’t a Sage, by the way).

And if bridging a large generational gap in one fell swoop wasn’t enough, then how about another gap that The Adventure of Link could bridge with no sweat at all; the gap between Zelda theorists and Zelda fan-fiction writers. An odd relation indeed but lest we forget that The Adventure of Link’s final boss is none other than one of the most enigmatic (thus theorised upon) and widely loved (thus drooled upon) characters in Zelda history, Link’s greatest adversary; himself, in the guise of Dark Link…  

Thus mentioning the Sages, Dark Link and their legacies within the world of The Adventure of Link leads me neatly onto my next point; the setting.

While The Adventure of Link in its original state on the NES doesn’t paint the picture of an overly large game in the same way games like The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess do with their large overworlds, one needs only to respect the freedom of 3D spacing and call to mind the content of The Adventure of Link itself to realise just how grand the game could be were it to be remade into a modern home console game.  

Most instalments in The Legend of Zelda series are usually rather generous when it comes to content and fully fleshed out overworlds but The Adventure of Link is on another level entirely; not only would we have six unique hub locations (the aforementioned Sage towns) seven dungeons (or palaces as they are referred to in the original game) and recognisable fan favourites such as Death Mountain, we would also be given two large continents upon which to do our adventuring, something which no Zelda game has done since The Adventure of Link itself.

So then, let us look at these concepts in more detail; the six unique hubs, the seven palaces and of course the two continents that The Adventure of Link presents us with before moving on to talk about the soul of the setting itself.

It may seem difficult on the face of it to theorise how six very similar towns in the original game could be made unique enough to litter a fully-fledged three dimensional adventure game, that is to say it could be difficult, were we not Zelda fans and were the series not currently twenty seven years old. As previously mentioned, these hubs share the namesakes of the Sages found in Ocarina of Time; and if we were asked anything about the Sages we’d likely say that each one represented an element found within the world of Hyrule such as fire, water, forest and more uniquely the concepts of spirit and shadow. Knowing this and applying each element to the correct namesake already gives us more than enough material to begin to realise just how unique, in traditional Zelda style, these towns could be. Now, far be it for me to assume the designs Nintendo could implement into these towns to make them memorable but it wouldn’t be hard to imagine concepts such as Durania Town featuring a cavern or local mine, or Ruto Town featuring a picturesque waterfall or important creek or Mido Harbour Town featuring a cast of small arrogant ginger children who can’t get girls to like them... (just kidding). All of this of course is before we start thinking of numerous references and characters from the games preceding The Adventure of Link (such as The Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past) and the characters from the original game itself which would include the likes of Impa, the current King of Hyrule (an interestingly reformed character and failure of a man riddled with regret after cursing his sister Zelda into an eternal slumber) and Error (I’m sorry, I just couldn’t resist).

The palaces (The Adventure of Link’s term for dungeons, remember) are something rather unique. In modern Zelda games such as Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, Twilight Princess, Wind Waker… you know what, everything since 1998, has had us visit dungeons with elemental concepts (The Great Deku Tree – forest, Snowhead – ice and Dragon Roost – fire for example). This is the first major difference between modern dungeons and The Adventure of Link’s palaces, in that the palaces seen in The Adventure of Link do not revolve around elemental concepts, instead they are what they are; ruined palaces of ranging architectural (and perhaps cultural given the plethora of races which once lived in Hyrule at this point) structures infested with monsters against the backdrop of a country at war.

These palaces, while somewhat limited with the original game’s primitive technologies, have the opportunity to become some of the most atmospheric and fiendishly challenging trials that the series has ever seen. Differing architectural and cultural designs in places akin to something similar to Twilight Princess’s final dungeon, Hyrule Castle, could give The Adventure of Link’s remake a sense of grandeur and a unique contrast when compared to the rest of the series, proving that even now The Adventure of Link still stands alone in concepts and ideas, only this time possibly for the better in a series currently in dire need of change. And while the idea of elemental-less semi-dungeons may seem limiting, we must remember Nintendo’s masterful design team, the real world examples of labyrinthine palaces in which they could draw from and the twenty seven years of heritage from Zelda itself with its very own cultural backdrops; the elegant and ornate hallways of the once proud Ocean Palace, the narrow and cramped forgotten hallways of Maze Island Palace littered with pitfalls, spikes and fiendish traps and the decadent and grandiose chambers of the Great Palace would all serve to make each and every palace as unique as any elementally focused dungeons. Add to all of this the bosses such as Horsehead, Barba (also known as Volvagia for those in the know) the intimidating Rebonack and the impressive Thunderbird and the palaces in The Adventure of Link’s theorised 3D remake stands in good stead for some newly unforgettable battles.

Finally, before I talk about the soul of the Adventure of Link’s setting we must inspect the notion of having two continents in which to fulfil our adventure. No other game, save for The Adventure of Link, has given us two continents to roam; The Wind Waker may have given us an entire ocean and Twilight Princess may have given us one heck of a large overworld but within The Adventure of Link we have the opportunity to have both.
Obviously the continents in The Adventure of Link are separated by water and in the original game we had two means of traveling across it; one by raft to the opposing harbour on whichever continent you were travelling to and the other a pair of magical boots which let you walk across the water to one of the offshore palaces which could not be reached via a raft.

Essentially, in a post Wind Waker era, The Adventure of Link presents us with two modes of travel, and there is no reason why the raft or a boat, original to this theoretical 3D version The Adventure of Link, could not be implemented and play much the same way as The King of Red Lions in Wind Waker or Skipper’s boat in Skyward Sword.

And aside from the main quest which would take us through both of these vast landmasses, the two continents themselves would also help The Adventure of Link enhance numerous other features other than travel, such as longer and more intricate side-quests, major trading sequences, more collectables such as bugs, Poes and heart containers, hidden areas and caves like those found in Twilight Princess would also have an opportunity to shine, as would collectables and side-quests on the ocean separating the continents itself with the possibility of epic set pieces (a wrecked ship floating dead on the ocean’s surface, a reminder of the current time of war within the game), chests to be salvaged, towers to siege and quaint islands brimming with puzzles which hide secrets, Easter eggs and mini-games… Two continents, two methods of travel (land and sea), original and unique takes on the tried and tested forms of dungeons and unique hubs celebrating the series’ past and (the then) future of the franchise is surely something we would all like to see on a home console game.

And so, with the world concepts of The Adventure of Link introduced and theorised upon, I’d now like to talk about setting in a different way; not so much in terms of locations but more so in terms of time.

We need to remember that The Adventure of Link is a very interesting game in terms of the Hero Defeated timeline; it ends the timeline and encompasses two great eras of the franchise’s mythology. The Adventure of Link (and the original Legend of Zelda included) sees the end of the Golden Era and enters the Era of Decline. A decline to such an extent that the world map in the original Legend of Zelda is now known as Lesser Hyrule and in The Adventure of Link the Era of Decline has only served to lessen Hyrule even more so with the event of Ganondorf’s death. There is no longer a great monarchy ruling over races and distant lands, there is now nothing but a small kingdom battling poverty and the end of its own decadent history and political power, and with Ganon’s underlings searching for the blood of the Last Hero of the land with rage and vengeance in their hearts, large portions of the once great kingdom of Hyrule now stand as infested ruins. If we look upon the official artwork of certain scenes from The Adventure of Link and the original Legend of Zelda we see a desolate kingdom, bare trees and a tired earth, overcast skies and mourning sunlight, the colours of life and happiness are gone; Hyrule is in its death-throes.

This is the essence and soul of The Adventure of Link, while Twilight Princess may have given us a dull colour palette The Adventure of Link has the potential to show us a truly desperate time in Hyrule’s history, an emotional sense that has not been felt in many other Zelda instalments since or previously. In terms of Twilight Princess, perhaps the game closest to what The Adventure of Link could become, the Hyrule we saw in the child timeline was very much an ever growing kingdom and while the colour palette was indeed dull and drab the architecture was grandiose to say the least and showcased the prosperity of the land. Conversely, the bustling nature of the land’s hubs such as Ordon village with its old-world and comfortably quaint lifestyle, Kakariko village with numerous growing small businesses indicating that even villagers removed from the centre of the kingdom still had revenue enough to buy from several (not-so-cheap) retailers and Castle Town with its crowded and oversaturated market place all point to an educated conclusion that the Hyrule seen in Twilight Princess was a thriving, prosperous and ever growing one; the land was also lush, forests were thick and teaming with life with natural ecosystems going undisturbed by war or famine or draught and rivers and lakes were deep and crystalline with no pollution or man-made interference opposing the inhabitants there. While some view Twilight Princess as being dull and drab to look at, the last thing one could describe the land as being is dead or dying, and in a post Twilight Princess era, The Adventure of Link has every opportunity to present to us a dead and dying Hyrule; something we have truly never seen before.

As Link, we would be the Last Hero fighting for a world that for over 27 years as gamers we have loved, the design of such an overworld would indeed be stellar to say the least on modern HD consoles when delivered to us in a 3D environment. Tragically uninhabited villages, long forgotten ruins of what were once proud and lustrous palaces would stand as eerie reminders of the lives lost to war and poverty. Skeletal trees would echo the once radiant fields of old, and the cold, dry and dead earth beneath our feet stretching out into the blood red mourning light of the overcast horizon in the distance would never let us forget the happiness of eras gone by that will never return… The Adventure of Link has every opportunity to be as atmospheric, dark, desperate and ultimately uplifting and life affirming than any other Zelda since perhaps Majora’s Mask, it is all there waiting to be utilised.

However, attempting to save a dying and poverty-stricken world at war wouldn’t be any fun if we didn’t have the weapons and abilities to get the job done, and nor would it be any fun if this theoretical 3D remake of The Adventure of Link didn’t do anything new as opposed to the five previous 3D Zelda games. Ultimately, outside of the strong narrative background and the more than generous and fresh overworld, it is in the gameplay that The Adventure of Link could shine where it once failed.

Gameplay is the major overarching factor which grants The Adventure of Link its black sheep status. The infamous merging of top down overworld exploration with side scrolling combat and violent palace sieges wasn’t the only concept which made The Adventure of Link so different from nearly every other Zelda game, it was a notion that hasn’t been since in Zelda; an RPG style level system.

Both the side scrolling and level system concepts were the two main reasons why The Adventure of Link is viewed by many Zelda fans as the devil’s work, it was notorious for its difficulty and as a result many gamers have not even come close to seeing the closing credits. Yet in a 3D game the constant shift between top down overworld exploration and side scrolling combat would no longer be a factor but what of the level system?

I mentioned at the beginning of this article that a lot of criticisms towards the Zelda franchise are those sang to the tune of mundanity brought on by the games not being different enough with each instalment (for both the 3D and 2D perspectives). It is true that not much has changed and many changes that we saw in games like The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess in terms of combat in the 3D realm were lost and replaced in Skyward Sword, which effectively took us back to square one. The second, and perhaps most troubling complaint, is the overall difficulty of Zelda games; no 3D Zelda game could comfortably be described as being difficult, perhaps save for Majora’s Mask. So how, of all games, could the Adventure of Link and its level system, a concept which is almost universally snubbed by the Zelda community, possibly rectify what we have lost in recent years in terms of gameplay and difficulty?

The answer is; by not changing a thing. In the original game we were assaulted by a large number of enemies in the overworld, we also encountered very formidable enemies early on like Darknuts and Stalfos. These enemies all served to help the level system along; we would gain experience for the enemies we killed and the harder the enemy the more experience we would gain, naturally. However, if we failed, if we were killed or hurt, then we would lose some of our collected experience thus making the levelling system less linear than generic RPG stat grinders. In a 3D world I would argue that this levelling concept, kept the exactly the way it is from the original game itself, could present itself as an in-game difficulty setting.

For example, if we wanted to increase Link’s experience and thus gain levels then all we would need to do would be to attack and defeat roaming enemies in doing so, and like the original game, new magical abilities and sword skills would be made available to us (both great opportunities for Twilight Princess’s Hidden Skills and Ocarina of Time’s powerful magic spells to return). However, if we wanted a harder game then we need not attack the more powerful enemies and employ a fight or flight strategy into the game, later enemies in the game would then give us a run for our heart containers when a weedy and inexperienced Link would have to rely on nothing but the player’s skill to survive.

This would also bring out a lot of replay value for the game itself with individuals changing their strategies and tactics for a different experience with each play through. For example, individuals who intend to fight only when necessary would need to know how to fight because they’ll be at low levels which would usher in a need for a deeper understanding of the game’s mechanics, and while those who fight every enemy in sight and thus increase their repertoire of in game skills will find themselves using unique techniques and tactics because they would be strong enough to suffer a little punishment, thus pushing the combat into a deeper and more personal space.
In my opinion this level system could go a long way to appeasing the complaints of difficulty of most modern Zelda and its 3D games while also appearing as a fresh and new mechanic for a generation of gamers who have never experienced Zelda’s early history. What was different back then for all the wrong reasons could be an exciting step forward for all of the right reasons were it to be implemented into a modern home console game.

And while the original game did not feature the series classics in terms of items like the bow or bombs, there would be nothing stopping their integration or the 27 years of stellar gameplay mechanics and designs of the Zelda series itself.

The Adventure of Link may have been ahead of its time at release, or perhaps it was that miss-step that shouldn’t be forgiven; but in a time when the franchise of the Legend of Zelda desperately needs to change, innovate and evolve to once again lead the revolution it began over a decade ago, then perhaps the best thing the series and Nintendo could do is look to the past, beyond the glory days of the franchise elite like Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past, to not look back at what once was but to look back and realise what could still be.

The Adventure of Link has more than enough in game concepts to make a truly epic and long-lasting 3D Zelda instalment on a home console with more than enough room for fresh innovations and designs to truly flesh out a game which was tragically held back at the time of its release.

Seven unique palaces, two continents, off shore islands and an ocean all brimming with side-quests, collectables and enemies and an immersive and personal level system which could forever truly evolve combat in Zelda all portrayed under the tragic guise of a kingdom we all love so dearly suffering its last gasps of life while evil tries once again to claim the land… I can think of no better time for Link to step up than at this moment of time.

It may have taken a quarter of a century for The Adventure of Link and the original Legend of Zelda to find a true placement in the franchise they started, but with a work ethic that deems narrative and story as appendices to gameplay, perhaps it is in Nintendo’s best interest to reimagine something where the work has been done for them. The Adventure of Link encompasses two great eras of Zelda’s mythology and tells the tragic events of one of the most interesting narrative occurrences in the series history with the Tragedy of Princess Zelda I, it ends a timeline that many people are highly disrespectful of and offers so much possibility in terms of content and series evolution.

In a time of remakes and reboots, perhaps a call to the old in search of the new is the only way forward.