E3 is like Christmas for us video game lovers; I am sure that many of you readers have heard the show referred to as such. Everyone writes down their E3 wishes within their heads and sends them off to the magical E3 Santa, hoping that their dream title comes to fruition (I would like to suggest that instead of milk and cookies, this Santa gets his fix on Mountain Dew and Doritos). The build-up to the show is one of my favorite times of the year because I get to listen to my peers and friends speculate on what they would like to see as well. Some keep their predictions pretty safe, while others like to go balls to the wall in their predictions. Well, life is too short, so put me in the camp of the latter! That is why I will inevitably let myself down when Nintendo doesn't announce a Zelda collection for the Switch during their E3 Direct.
Imagine this: Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask are ported from the 3DS, with a bit of extra polish added. On top of that, Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are just straight ports from the Wii U remasters. Finally, we finally get that long-discussed Skyward Sword remaster as well. I mean, just thinking about it has me watering at the mouth. Just by having Ocarina, Majora's Mask, and Wind Waker on one cartridge, it would make it one of the best collection packs ever made.
[pullquote]"I will inevitably let myself down when Nintendo doesn't announce a Zelda collection for the Switch during their E3 Direct."[/pullquote]
A remastered edition of Skyward Sword would be a little wacky though. The game is so heavily rooted and designed around motion controls that it would possibly be too challenging to implement normal controller support. It is not like Twilight Princess on the Wii where you can just wiggle the Wii remote and Link will swing his sword. Skyward Sword follows the exact movements of the controller while Link has his sword equipped (I always thought it looked pretty weird). This way, if an enemy is blocking one side of their body, you can bring the Wii remote to the other side and swipe across to land a blow.
Most enemies in the game are designed around this mechanic and involve some timed counter motion to defeat them. That is why if the game is remastered, it would probably still rely on motion controls, just with the Joy-Cons instead. I guess Nintendo could dumb down the enemies so that players would need to counter how baddies are defending themselves, but that would drastically make the game too easy. But, if they do decide to remaster the game, Nintendo can finally make the sky actually look like a sky with vibrant colors rather than the muddy and washed out art style that Skyward Sword currently has.
[pullquote]"Just by having Ocarina, Majora's Mask, and Wind Waker on one cartridge, it would make it one of the best collection packs ever made."[/pullquote]
If all the stars and planets line up, some of the 2D titles would be thrown in as well, specifically the original Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past. I would hope that maybe Link's Awakening could be thrown in too, but if I am keeping this wild dream at least a little realistic, those two would probably be the only 2D ones packed in since they have always been the most popular of the genre. And of course, we're also getting the upcoming Link's Awakening remake for Switch later this year, so it seems unlikely to be put into a collection.
Now yes, I know exactly what plenty of you are thinking. The most likely scenario would be for Nintendo to port Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD to the Switch and sell both as stand-alone titles. I know that and I am actually speculating we are going to hear something about that at this year's direct. Nintendo will charge a full $60 for both, just like they charged for New Super Mario Bros Deluxe earlier this year. We will all gasp at the price and complain at the company for overcharging us once again for a game we have already played. Then we will buy both anyway. Possibly, if Nintendo was being a bit generous with the pricing of a first party game (that never happens), we could maybe see Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD bundled together for $60.
[pullquote]"There is nothing more exciting to me than having my favorite games from my favorite franchise with me wherever I am at."[/pullquote]
Of course, we have seen a Zelda collection before with the infamous Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition on the GameCube, which came packed in with the original game, Zelda II, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, and a 20-minute demo for Wind Waker. It was a pretty insane deal that the current Nintendo would probably never do again, because it was bundled in with the GameCube in North America or sent when registering for Nintendo Power. If only the big N would give us some great deals like this once again.
I know this is a far-fetched dream, but that is the point of these articles. Wild ideas are what make E3 fun, especially ones that would top every previous E3 show, and there is nothing more exciting to me than having my favorite games from my favorite franchise with me wherever I am at. Plus, with the success of both Breath of the Wild and the Switch itself, I think the collection could sell incredibly well on the system. A boy can dream.
As we near E3, what do you want to see the most at this year’s show? What’s your dream scenario? Be sure to let us know in the comments. Lastly, be sure to check out some of the other hopes and dreams for E3 2019 from the rest of the DualShockers writers.