One amateur game developer has decided to give two of the most notoriously terrible Legend of Zelda games a second chance, remaking Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon for a new audience, as reported by Eurogamer.
Originally developed by Animation Magic and released on the CD-i console in 1993, Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon are considered to be the worst Legend of Zelda games in the entire series thanks to the frustrating gameplay and unintentionally terrifying animated cutscenes which eventually became bizarre memes.
“I wanted to prove to myself that I could make a game,” the remake’s developer Dopply said in an FAQ. “It started as a joke between friends, but then I wanted to see if I could actually pull it off. I’ve flirted with game making for a while but never finished something. This was my chance to do that (well, over the course of four years, I guess). Over time, remastered versions of these notorious titles was something I wanted for myself as well.”
Dopply’s remakes now feature a widescreen mode, remastered gameplay to make the experience less aggravating, subtitles, upgraded sprites, and unlockables. Why would anyone want to spend hundreds of hours over four years remaking two of the worst video games of all time? Out of genuine love for the games and the few design aspects that they actually got right, such as the detailed worlds that players could explore and the excellent soundtracks.
“If you give them non-horrific control schemes and decent performance, they’re fine. As a connoisseur of bad and weird games, I’ve most definitely played worse,” Dopply said.
Nintendo is usually quick to respond when it finds out about any fan remakes of its games, sending out cease and desist letters to protect its intellectual property. The Big House, known for its Smash Bros. tournaments, found this out the hard way when an online tournament for GameCube classic Super Smash Bros. Melee was hit with a legal letter from Nintendo of America over the organizers plan to use the homebrew “Slippi” mod to enable an internet connection for the GameCube-exclusive title.
Dopply might also receive a cease and desist letter from Nintendo if it decides to acknowledge any ownership over the two Legend of Zelda games that aren’t considered to be part of the official series.
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