Summary
The Legend of Zeldaseries has had a long succession of fantastic games, and a lot of these titles have made repeat appearances over the years. The eternal popularity ofOcarina of Timehelped pave the way for a 3DS remake, andThe Wind Waker HDmight be my favorite Wii U game despite its origins on the GameCube. EvenSkyward Sword, a game with a gorgeous world and story weighed down by an imperfect structure and aggressive hand-holding, ended up nabbing a Switch remaster that cleaned up some of the pain points.
Not every game in theZeldaseries has been treated equally, however, and a number are still stuck in their classic forms throughplatforms like Nintendo Switch Online. When it comes to something likeZelda 2: The Adventure of Link, a divisive reputation that’s been consistent for decades helps explain why it probably won’t get a new version anytime soon. One game that I think is among the franchise’s best is equally unlikely to receive a remake or remaster, however, and I actually don’t have a problem with that.
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The Minish Cap Is A Uniquely Charming Zelda Game
I Think The GBA Entry Is One Of The Best
I was a little late toThe Legend of Zelda, growing up on Nintendo platforms but staying more in theMariozone when it came to the first-party juggernauts. Although my memory’s a bit hazy on the subject, the first one I played in any capacity might have beenSkyward Sword, which a friend lent me for a week as a teenager. I spent almost all of that time in Skyloft, completely enamored with an environment that felt vivid and alive in a way I hadn’t encountered many times before. If that was my first, it certainly hooked me.
Another that I played during my teen years wasThe Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, and I’m still obsessed with that one in a way thatSkyward Swordnever ultimately managed. More than anything else,The Minish Capis filled to the brim with charm. The story sends Link on a lilliputian adventure instead of treading down the typical path of his conflict with Ganon, and I remain delighted by the characters he meets and locations he visits over the course of the size-swapping journey.
A Remake Or Remaster Of The Minish Cap Seems Unlikely
Other Games Might Be Higher On Nintendo’s List
Nintendo, however, doesn’t seem to be as in love withThe Minish Capas I am.The biggest obstacle may be that it wasn’t developed in-house, instead joining the ranks ofOracle of SeasonsandOracle of Agesas a title made by Capcom and the smaller developer Flagship. Although all of Capcom’sZeldagames delivered the core elements that made the series great, they do feel a bit like their own thing, and it never feels like they’re acknowledged quite as often as everything else in the mainlineZeldaseries.
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Even though it’s likely that Nintendo will keep revisiting pastZeldagames for new releases,I don’t see a remake or remaster ofThe Minish Capbeing in the cards anytime soon.A Link to the Pasthas already received something of a sequel withA Link Between Worlds, and bringing it over to the same engine as theLink’s Awakeningremake seems more likely thanMinish Capmaking the jump. The Wii Uremasters ofThe Wind WakerandTwilight Princessare also long overdue for a port to the Nintendo Switch or its upcoming successor.
The Minish Cap Couldn’t Look Any Better Than It Does
Gorgeous Pixel Art Has Stood The Test Of Time
On one hand, I’d love for more people to try outThe Minish Capin some form or another, as I think it’s more under-played than it is genuinely underrated. On the other hand, though, I don’t actually think a remaster or remake would be the best way to do it. Above all else, I love the art ofTheMinish Cap, and despite how fantastic theLink’s Awakeningremake looks,I’d argue that renderingThe Minish Cap’s environment in 3Dwouldn’t be to its benefit.
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The best pixel art can be timeless, andThe Minish Capis a fantastic example of that concept.Every screen is bursting with detail that makes its world feel alive, especially when blades of grass tower over a shrunken-down Link, and a leaf or a clover can be rendered in vivid detail. A lot of great classic pixel art doesn’t work as well on flatscreens thanks to a reliance on how CRTs treated the image, but the style ofThe Minish Capis perfectly tuned for the Game Boy Advance’s LCD screen, and it looks great on any modern display.
Another great example of the magic that Flagship worked on the GBA isKirby and the Amazing Mirror, which is also a contender for my favorite pixel art of all time.
What I’d like to see more than a remaster or remake ofThe Minish Capis simply a standard digital release of the game on the Nintendo Switch or its successor. Like a lot of classic Nintendo games, it’s currently wrapped in with the Nintendo Switch Online subscription. Some form of availability is better than nothing, butI’d rather have the option to buy it on digital storefronts outright. The fact that the original game has skyrocketed in value doesn’t help matters, and grabbing a cartridge ofThe Minish Capcan cost more than a used GBA itself.
I obviously wouldn’t complain if Nintendo did go back to the drawing board withThe Minish Cap, at least if the results were good in their own right. But not everything needs a fresh coat of paint, andThe Minish Capis one game that’s already timeless. It may not be one of the most significant pieces ofThe Legend of Zeldahistory, but it’s a fantastic experience that I’ll always love, and I think new generations could keep being charmed by it with or without any updates.
