Zelda Day 2022: 841 facts you probably didn't know about Zelda games

December 26, 2022 12:14 AM

Gamespot has an epic series of videos covering various bits of esoterica concerning The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Here's a playlist of all of them. Youtube channel Looygi Bros has a similar playlist covering Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask and Wind Waker. Added together, it totals 841 miscellaneous pieces of Zelda lore! By the time you've finished watching them all, it'll probably be Zelda Day 2023!

"Zelda Day" dates back to 2010, when three people made posts on The Legend of Zelda series on the same day. Since then, I've tried to commemorate this occurrence by making another post on some aspect of that series on December 26th.

Here's the links individually:

Gamespot:
48 things you still didn't know - 21 more - 31 more than that - 29 on top of those - and then still 28 more - and 30 additional - followed by another 33 - and then 27 - after that 25 - then, 26 - and 19 - and 20 - and 22 - and 18 - and 23 - and another 24 - and then, 16 - then ANOTHER 16 - then 12 - then 15, and then, finally 14 -- as of this writing, that is. That's 497 things in all, over nearly three hours!

Looygi Bros:

15 cool things about Ocarina of Time - 10 more - then 13 - then another 13 - then 19 - then 7 - then 11 - then 11 more - then 10 after that - then 10 - and then 13. Then, later, another 10, another 8, yet another 10, and then 9, and 9, and 8, and at last another 8.

There's more, on Majora's Mask:
11 cool things about Majora's Mask - and then 10 - and then 9 - and then another 10 - then yet another 10 - and another 10 again - and another 10 once more - and 9 - and 7 - and 7 again - then 6, then 15, then 7, then 10, and then finally 7.

And now, a new series has started on the Wind Waker, with one video so far and 12 facts. Here is a playlist with all of them.

posted by JHarris (14 comments total)

Fantastic post!
posted by Fizz at 6:09 AM on December 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

I clicked a random spot in a random video and learned you can cook the Sheikah Slate. So I’m all in.
posted by rlk at 6:39 AM on December 26, 2022 [3 favorites]

w00t! Happy Zelda Day, JHarris! I was thinking of posting the Zelda animated series from the 80s which I found on YouTube a couple days ago, but then I actually watched the first one...

Positives:
+ Zelda does more than get kidnapped.
+ The 'Do the Mario' theme is the opening for the show.

Negatives:
- Link is toxic masculinity embodied. It's really amazing how much misogyny gets packed into twenty minutes.
- The show's writers didn't get the memo that Zelda is the boy.

According to Some Dude in the YouTube comments, the show was initially produced before the release of Zelda 2, so differs from much of the later game lore. Presumably the animators and writers had nothing to do with the video game producers... Kind of the Splinter of the Mind's Eye of the Zelda franchise, I guess.

So, given the questionable quality of the material, I'll contribute the link here instead of as an FPP.
posted by kaibutsu at 1:01 PM on December 26, 2022 [1 favorite]

I never had an n64 so I’ve never played ocarina of time. I have tried to play it via emulation but the controls just seem ALL WRONG. it makes me sad! Is there any way to play this in modern days that I have missed??

GREAT post btw
posted by capnsue at 5:02 PM on December 26, 2022

Legally, Ocarina of Time was made available for the Wii and Wii-U Virtual Console, but can no longer be purchased in that format. It's one of the games, I'm pretty sure, on the Nintendo Online Expansion Pack on Switch, but that is $50 a year for access, not to own. It was remade for 3DS with 3D support, which can be found on cartridge. It was released on two different Gamecube bonus disks which can be had on the secondary market. And there's always the N64 original, of course, if you can find an N64 now.
posted by JHarris at 6:48 PM on December 26, 2022

Yeah, I keep wondering if the right idea these days is to play it via N64 emulation _and_ just ponying up the $20 for a N64 style USB controller. The 3DS version is pretty good if your eyes are up for it, though, but getting good 3DS hardware is starting to be challenging.

136 days until Tears of the Kingdom! I should probably start (and finish) Skyward Sword on the Switch, although the controls annoy me.
posted by Kyol at 7:41 AM on December 27, 2022 [1 favorite]

There was apparently a Switch remake of Link's Awakening a couple years back. I'm kiiiinda hopeful for an Ocarina of Time remake, as I tried playing it in emulation a few years back and just couldn't get myself to accept the N64 graphics. Pixel art has persisted as its own thing, but early 3D console games are low-poly sludge-fests.
posted by kaibutsu at 8:53 AM on December 27, 2022

Oh, also now remembering that the controls + camera were pretty terrible... We've landed on pretty good (or at least consistent) idioms for navigating 3rd-person 3d spaces by 2022, but they were still being worked out in the N64 days. A remake with modern controls and somewhat updated graphics would be great.
posted by kaibutsu at 8:55 AM on December 27, 2022 [2 favorites]

I doubt they'll be doing an Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask remake anytime soon because they were both remade for the 3DS not very long ago.

Actually, now that I think about it, the only Zelda games that haven't been remade recently are the first three. And minor titles that will probably never be remade like Oracle of Ages/Seasons, Phantom Hourglass, and Spirit Tracks.
posted by zixyer at 10:11 AM on December 27, 2022 [1 favorite]

Link to the Past got remade for GBA at least, although I wouldn't call that recent. The closest thing Zelda I got to an official remake was on the Satellaview, limited to Japan and fairly obscure now (although fans have found it and reworked it to be more generally playable). Zelda II has never been remade.
posted by JHarris at 10:31 AM on December 27, 2022

Ah, cool; the remake was Ocarina of Time 3D, released in 2011. I'll put it in my queue, thanks!
posted by kaibutsu at 9:40 PM on December 27, 2022 [1 favorite]

Please forgive me if this was covered in the links above, but I just found an implementation of A Link to the Past in C on GitHub that was released this October. Worked beautifully with the personal copy I dumped using an INLretro.
posted by chinesefood at 5:00 AM on January 1, 2023 [2 favorites]

Those types of projects are slowly becoming more common. Mario 64 has been decompiled to source code, which has greatly expanded the abilities of the modding community. And the 2D Sonic games have also been decompiled, which has resulted in some really brilliant and absurd productions.
posted by JHarris at 4:12 PM on January 1, 2023

Ocarina of Time for 3DS is an absolute marvel. The textures are all hi-res and pretty, the gyroscopic aiming is worth the cost all on its own, and there's a ton of QoL improvements and extra features.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:40 AM on January 4, 2023 [2 favorites]