Classic Zelda games now on Switch

Up there with Pokemon and Mario, The Legend of Zelda completes Nintendo’s trifecta of gaming Goliaths. Each of them is a cornerstone of the company, with each boasting an impressive catalogue of classics alongside a continuing slate of modern titles. 

While Mario is the oldest, we’ve been swinging our swords and saving Hyrule since 1986. The Zeldaverse was recently back in the news thanks to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s record-breaking success, but for many, the ability to play its retro titles is seriously lacking on modern systems. 

More classic Zelda games land on Switch

As of right now, the Nintendo Switch Online catalogue has expanded to include two more classic Zelda games. With the Game Boy Colour getting some much-needed TLC, NSO has just added The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons.

Despite their similarities and the fact both titles were released in 2001, Ages and Seasons were two completely different games that had their own adventures and mechanics. After completing one, you’d put a passcode into the other and it became a sequel.

As the name suggests, Oracle of Ages involves time travel, while Oracle of Seasons lets you change the seasons. These two top-down Zeldas have the same nostalgic buzz as something like Link’s Awakening, but for many, these aren’t the Zelda outings we were looking for.

For longer than we’d care to remember, a loyal legion of Hylians have been calling for The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess to be added to the Switch. Both games launched on the GameCube (also on Wii for Twilight Princess).

We’ve all heard about the mythical new-gen remakes of these games, but to be honest, we’d just like to see them added to the Switch library. Although both games got HD ports for the Wii U, they’re overdue a revisit. Come on Nintendo, give us what we want.

Will we get more classic Zelda remakes?

Click to enlarge

It could be time to admit that the ship of Zelda remakes has sailed…for now. Barely a Nintendo Direct goes by without some supposed insider claiming it’ll end with a Wind Waker and Twilight Princess reveal, and yet, we remain disappointed.

The release of Skyward Sword HD was hardly met with the fanfare it hoped for. Nintendo has never directly said whether this has affected plans to revamp the older games, but with Skyward Sword being the start of the story chronologically, it would’ve made sense to start here and keep revamping Zelda titles.

Putting a final nail in the coffin (for now) Zelda Producer Eiji Aonuma recently downplayed the idea of revisiting older games – saying that Nintendo is more invested in looking forward instead of backwards. While Capcom continues to make bank with its Resident Evil remakes, Nintendo seems content leaving Zelda to gather dust.