10 AMAZING Fan-Made Zelda Games
advertisement
VOICE OVER: Aaron Brown
WRITTEN BY: Aaron Brown
You don't have to go to Nintendo to find a great "Zelda" game. Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we're looking at incredible fan-made games set in "The Legend of Zelda" universe. Our list of amazing fan-made "Zelda" games includes “The Legend of Zelda: The Fallen Kingdom” (2018), “The Legend of Zelda: Black Crown” (2013), “The Legend of Zelda: The Wheel of Fate” (2009), and more!
Welcome to MojoPlays and today we’re traveling through the Hylian timeline to explore the best Zelda adventures not created by Nintendo. With the multiple timelines throughout all of Hyrulian history, who’s to say some of these aren't canon?
One of the core components of any Zelda games is its cleverly designed puzzles and in particular its dungeons. Focusing solely on this aspect of the Zelda series, developer Softendo challenges Link to solve increasingly difficult block puzzles in order to defeat the ghost Sarcophagus and rescue the princess. The player will need to plan ahead as their resources for clearing the blocks is limited in every level and as Link traverses further along, the maps become even larger and more often than not will require a couple restarts to fully understand the complexities of the many puzzles. While not as in depth as many other puzzle games, it can be a great starting point for Legend of Zelda loving parents to get their kids started in the series.
Including 2 in a single entry here as they are part of the same series. The Fallen Sage and Time’s Menagerie are the passion projects of Chansen Lindsey and were created using RPG Maker XP proving where there’s a will there’s a way. Picking up where the fan comic “The Gerudo Wars” left off, Link and his companions, both familiar and newcomers, set off to stop the Gohma army from laying waste to the land. The games feature well written dialogue and character interactions, as well as some impressive puzzle designs, but forgoes the series’ real time combat for more traditional turn based but still manages to be quite challenging especially during boss fights. While the story is designed specifically for those who are familiar with the prequel comic, they are still worth a look for devout Zelda fans even if it does play fast and loose with some of the series’ established lore.
Given Breath’s expansive and experimental version of Hyrule, the developer of this demake decided to take things in a decidedly old school direction. Die-hard Zelda fan Winterdrake Hyrule in the style of the original NES first Legend of Zelda adventure. The 2D version features much of the same interactivity and physics seen in the modern classic and still allows players to experiment and find their own solutions to combat and puzzles. And yes, you can still set absolutely everything on fire. Sadly, because Nintendo is Nintendo, this impressive recreation is no longer playable.
One of the greatest strengths of The Legend of Zelda series is how its gameplay can translate into nearly any genre for fans to let their imaginations run wild. Playing more like Diablo than a traditional Legend of Zelda title, Link will explore the Kingdom of Hyrule and battle unending waves of enemies while collecting over 300 different items to use in battle, only a few of which will be familiar to the universe, as well as gain experience points to level up 4 different skill trees to battle even tougher foes. While Black Crown might be a Zelda game only in appearance, players will still find an enjoyable adventure slaying the many beasts of Hyrule using A Link to the Past’s art style but make no mistake the game can become quite challenging but packs enough easter eggs in it for long time fans to make the journey more than worth the effort.
The first entry in a fan-made trilogy that picks up after the events of A Link to The Past, Return of the Hylian and its sequels OniLink Begins and Time to Triumph follows Link after his wish to unify the light and dark worlds. The trilogy doesn’t make any significant changes to the combat or mechanics already found within A Link to The Past besides a couple minor gameplay tweaks and instead focuses all its attention to the overarching and engrossing narrative that not only builds off what made the original 1992 game such a classic that also grows with its audience, presenting a darker and more challenging experience for those who grew up playing the SNES game.
A perfectly apt description of Dawn and Dusk would be Dark Souls Ocarina of Time Edition. Reusing many of the assets from the original N64 game, Dawn and Dusk tells the tale of two warring kingdoms split right down the middle, Dawnside and Duskside and both are visually and tonally distinct from one another. What starts out as a familiar adventure quickly makes the player aware that it won’t be holding their hand through this world. The entirety of the world in Dawn and Dusk plays like one interconnected dungeon and everything in it is specifically designed to kill you. Dawn and Dusk gives players new mechanics to help them survive such a backflip and the ability to use weapons previously only available to adult Link in the original Ocarina of Time. It might not be Link’s longest adventure but the number of times you’ll see the “Game Over” screen will surely pad out the runtime.
The first entry on our list not to focus on the hero’s fans are familiar with, The Wheel of Fate instead follows Din, who is one of the last of the Goddess Tribe who understands Link, Zelda and Ganon are locked in an unending loop of reincarnation and save Hyrule using the three pieces of the Triforce. The only problem is she needs to kill each one to recover their piece and find her lost sisters and put an end to the cycle. The game uses the art and graphical style of the Gameboy entries Oracle of Ages and Seasons and players can use a range of familiar weapons and items as well as remote controlled summons such as the Navi. While the game does have a few more technical issues than some of the others on our list, it's still a refreshing approach to a familiar narrative.
Most of the entries on our list reuse assets or ideas from some of the most popular entries such as the N64 or SNES but The Legend of Princess, outside of also not starring our familiar hero, is closer to the often-overlooked Zelda II. At first glance, outside of the iconic green tunic, there isn’t much of the series DNA present but longtime fans will find numerous easter eggs and familiar weapons and enemies that are sure to bring a smile to even the most casual Zelda player. Featuring stunningly gorgeous sprite visuals and wonderfully detailed environments and enemies, the titular princess herself Bind is surprisingly emotive and the controls are as tight and pitch perfect as you’d expect from Nintendo themselves. Plus, you get to use your cucco companion to fly around many of the game’s environments which is just endlessly entertaining.
Breath of the Wild and now Tears of the Kingdom are arguably some of the biggest Legend of Zelda adventures Nintendo has ever created, but fan creator ierinwait is close behind with the 3rd entry in their voxel-style Legend of Zelda series. Yet another one that was struck down by the almighty Nintendo lawyers, and after a name change to simply Fallen Kingdom, the game gives players the open world of Breath of the Wild, complete with hang glider, and let’s them explore the cutesy voxel version of Hyrule and its many environments and experience its original story. As a fan game, Fallen Kingdom is undeniably impressive, as the 3rd entry in a series by a sole creator, it’s absolutely astounding and the attention to detail and clear love and care that went into the project makes it a must play for Zelda fans. While you can at least.
Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask are widely considered some of not only the best Legend of Zelda games but also some of the greatest games of all time and likewise they are frequently the starting point for many fan games and adventures much like Voyager of Time. Picking up after the events of Majora’s Mask, Voyager of Time sees Link returning to Kokiri Forest to finally live a life of peace but finding himself once again plagued by nightmares. The game reuses much of the world from Ocarina of Time but remixes much of the items you acquire as well as how Link explores the world. The game focuses much more heavily on time travel than its original incarnation and tells a much more personal and darker tale than Nintendo ever would for Link and the future in the wake of Ganandorf’s resurrection.
“Zelda Forever: The Tower of Evil” (2013)
One of the core components of any Zelda games is its cleverly designed puzzles and in particular its dungeons. Focusing solely on this aspect of the Zelda series, developer Softendo challenges Link to solve increasingly difficult block puzzles in order to defeat the ghost Sarcophagus and rescue the princess. The player will need to plan ahead as their resources for clearing the blocks is limited in every level and as Link traverses further along, the maps become even larger and more often than not will require a couple restarts to fully understand the complexities of the many puzzles. While not as in depth as many other puzzle games, it can be a great starting point for Legend of Zelda loving parents to get their kids started in the series.
“The Legend of Zelda: The Fallen Sage and Time’s Menagerie” (2008-10)
Including 2 in a single entry here as they are part of the same series. The Fallen Sage and Time’s Menagerie are the passion projects of Chansen Lindsey and were created using RPG Maker XP proving where there’s a will there’s a way. Picking up where the fan comic “The Gerudo Wars” left off, Link and his companions, both familiar and newcomers, set off to stop the Gohma army from laying waste to the land. The games feature well written dialogue and character interactions, as well as some impressive puzzle designs, but forgoes the series’ real time combat for more traditional turn based but still manages to be quite challenging especially during boss fights. While the story is designed specifically for those who are familiar with the prequel comic, they are still worth a look for devout Zelda fans even if it does play fast and loose with some of the series’ established lore.
“The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the NES”
Given Breath’s expansive and experimental version of Hyrule, the developer of this demake decided to take things in a decidedly old school direction. Die-hard Zelda fan Winterdrake Hyrule in the style of the original NES first Legend of Zelda adventure. The 2D version features much of the same interactivity and physics seen in the modern classic and still allows players to experiment and find their own solutions to combat and puzzles. And yes, you can still set absolutely everything on fire. Sadly, because Nintendo is Nintendo, this impressive recreation is no longer playable.
“The Legend of Zelda: Black Crown” (2013)
One of the greatest strengths of The Legend of Zelda series is how its gameplay can translate into nearly any genre for fans to let their imaginations run wild. Playing more like Diablo than a traditional Legend of Zelda title, Link will explore the Kingdom of Hyrule and battle unending waves of enemies while collecting over 300 different items to use in battle, only a few of which will be familiar to the universe, as well as gain experience points to level up 4 different skill trees to battle even tougher foes. While Black Crown might be a Zelda game only in appearance, players will still find an enjoyable adventure slaying the many beasts of Hyrule using A Link to the Past’s art style but make no mistake the game can become quite challenging but packs enough easter eggs in it for long time fans to make the journey more than worth the effort.
“The Legend of Zelda: Return of the Hylian” (2009)
The first entry in a fan-made trilogy that picks up after the events of A Link to The Past, Return of the Hylian and its sequels OniLink Begins and Time to Triumph follows Link after his wish to unify the light and dark worlds. The trilogy doesn’t make any significant changes to the combat or mechanics already found within A Link to The Past besides a couple minor gameplay tweaks and instead focuses all its attention to the overarching and engrossing narrative that not only builds off what made the original 1992 game such a classic that also grows with its audience, presenting a darker and more challenging experience for those who grew up playing the SNES game.
“Dawn & Dusk” (2019)
A perfectly apt description of Dawn and Dusk would be Dark Souls Ocarina of Time Edition. Reusing many of the assets from the original N64 game, Dawn and Dusk tells the tale of two warring kingdoms split right down the middle, Dawnside and Duskside and both are visually and tonally distinct from one another. What starts out as a familiar adventure quickly makes the player aware that it won’t be holding their hand through this world. The entirety of the world in Dawn and Dusk plays like one interconnected dungeon and everything in it is specifically designed to kill you. Dawn and Dusk gives players new mechanics to help them survive such a backflip and the ability to use weapons previously only available to adult Link in the original Ocarina of Time. It might not be Link’s longest adventure but the number of times you’ll see the “Game Over” screen will surely pad out the runtime.
“The Legend of Zelda: The Wheel of Fate” (2009)
The first entry on our list not to focus on the hero’s fans are familiar with, The Wheel of Fate instead follows Din, who is one of the last of the Goddess Tribe who understands Link, Zelda and Ganon are locked in an unending loop of reincarnation and save Hyrule using the three pieces of the Triforce. The only problem is she needs to kill each one to recover their piece and find her lost sisters and put an end to the cycle. The game uses the art and graphical style of the Gameboy entries Oracle of Ages and Seasons and players can use a range of familiar weapons and items as well as remote controlled summons such as the Navi. While the game does have a few more technical issues than some of the others on our list, it's still a refreshing approach to a familiar narrative.
“The Legend of Princess” (2009)
Most of the entries on our list reuse assets or ideas from some of the most popular entries such as the N64 or SNES but The Legend of Princess, outside of also not starring our familiar hero, is closer to the often-overlooked Zelda II. At first glance, outside of the iconic green tunic, there isn’t much of the series DNA present but longtime fans will find numerous easter eggs and familiar weapons and enemies that are sure to bring a smile to even the most casual Zelda player. Featuring stunningly gorgeous sprite visuals and wonderfully detailed environments and enemies, the titular princess herself Bind is surprisingly emotive and the controls are as tight and pitch perfect as you’d expect from Nintendo themselves. Plus, you get to use your cucco companion to fly around many of the game’s environments which is just endlessly entertaining.
“The Legend of Zelda: The Fallen Kingdom” (2018)
Breath of the Wild and now Tears of the Kingdom are arguably some of the biggest Legend of Zelda adventures Nintendo has ever created, but fan creator ierinwait is close behind with the 3rd entry in their voxel-style Legend of Zelda series. Yet another one that was struck down by the almighty Nintendo lawyers, and after a name change to simply Fallen Kingdom, the game gives players the open world of Breath of the Wild, complete with hang glider, and let’s them explore the cutesy voxel version of Hyrule and its many environments and experience its original story. As a fan game, Fallen Kingdom is undeniably impressive, as the 3rd entry in a series by a sole creator, it’s absolutely astounding and the attention to detail and clear love and care that went into the project makes it a must play for Zelda fans. While you can at least.
“The Legend of Zelda: Voyager of Time” (2013)
Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask are widely considered some of not only the best Legend of Zelda games but also some of the greatest games of all time and likewise they are frequently the starting point for many fan games and adventures much like Voyager of Time. Picking up after the events of Majora’s Mask, Voyager of Time sees Link returning to Kokiri Forest to finally live a life of peace but finding himself once again plagued by nightmares. The game reuses much of the world from Ocarina of Time but remixes much of the items you acquire as well as how Link explores the world. The game focuses much more heavily on time travel than its original incarnation and tells a much more personal and darker tale than Nintendo ever would for Link and the future in the wake of Ganandorf’s resurrection.
