Journey far enough back into the history of the Legend of Zelda, and eventually, fans will discover some of the most bizarre entries in first-party Nintendo franchises to have ever existed. Specifically, the Legend of Zelda games for the Philips CD-i, which stem from a strange licensing agreement that allowed Philips to use Nintendo’s characters for third-party games, something practically unheard of today in part due to how poorly the CD-i games turned out.
Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon are two of the three Legend of Zelda games made for the CD-i, the only other being Zelda’s Adventure. The games are notorious for their outlandish cutscenes – which feature a fully voiced version of Link – and side-scrolling mechanics. Throughout the years, they’ve accumulated a reputation as a nail in the CD-i’s coffin, and thanks to an amateur developer, Legend of Zelda fans can experience them once again.
Twitter user Dopply shared remade versions of the two Legend of Zelda games, which have been enhanced with features like widescreen support, subtitles, and better controls. According to Dopply, the project took four years, and was primarily used to teach himself about game development, as well as “fulfilling an in-joke between friends.” Dopply says that the programming got a little rough, though he learned a lot while taking on the project.
It’s interesting to see just how odd the games are compared to the franchises’ modern offerings. The animated cutscenes are like something out of a cartoon that never quite made it past the planning stages, and hearing Link’s voice despite decades of silence is odd.
Nintendo is protective over its IP, typically shutting down fan projects as soon as they start to get off the ground. Just a few days ago, the company caused controversy for forcing the cancellation of a Smash Bros. tournament that would have used third-party multiplayer software. However, the Philips CD-i games might end up being a case of Nintendo letting something slide, as Nintendo traditionally avoids acknowledging that the CD-i games exist.
Dopply has provided the remastered games for free to anyone that wants to give them a try, though there are quite a few playthroughs of the game around the internet for those that would rather just spend a few minutes taking in their bizarre nature. Nintendo puts a special emphasis on the quality of its new titles, so fans likely won’t ever see Legend of Zelda games quite like the CD-i ones ever again, but they’ll always be a part of the franchise’s legacy.
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