Zelda Could Pull One Forgotten Spin-Off Out of its Hat for The Switch 2

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 18, 2025 2 Views 5 Min Read
Zelda Could Pull One Forgotten Spin-Off Out of its Hat for The Switch 2

The Legend of Zelda franchise is one of the most diverse out there in terms of the sheer variety of experiences it’s home to. The Zelda series has a tendency to keep evolving, significantly changing its gameplay formula, art style, and tone with each new console generation. For instance, while the N64’s The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask were quite similar entries, the series’ next entry, the GameCube’s Zelda: The Wind Waker, was a complete reinvention of the series.

That’s just scratching the surface of The Legend of Zelda‘s diversity. The Zelda franchise is also home to a wealth of handheld titles and spinoffs, many of which take the series in new and distinct directions. The Nintendo Wii’s Link’s Crossbow Training is one such entry in the franchise, offering a completely different experience to any Zelda entry that came before it, and it’s an experience that could pave the way for a great Nintendo Switch 2 launch title.

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Released in North America in November 2007, Link’s Crossbow Training was a pack-in title for the Wii Zapper peripheral, the successor to Nintendo’s classic NES Zapper light gun controller. As a peripheral, the Wii Zapper was far from a must-have add-on given that it was simply a plastic shell that held the Wii Remote and Nunchuck. But Link’s Crossbow Training did its very best to show that the Wii Zapper was a worthwhile purchase.

Using the same art style, enemy designs, and many of the same locations as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Zelda’s Crossbow Training saw players engaging in a series of shooting gallery challenges that had them blasting away at various targets. Some of these challenges were simple target practice levels, some were Defender levels that had players fending off waves of enemies while stationary, and some were Ranger levels that let players move Link freely around an environment.

Link’s Crossbow Training was an incredibly short game, taking just an hour to beat and four hours to complete fully, and the gameplay itself was far from complex. But Link’s Crossbow Training was still a fun time, and it helped to justify the purchase of a Wii Zapper for early adopters.

Unlike the Wii and Wii U (Premium Edition) before it, the original Nintendo Switch didn’t come with a pack-in game at launch. At the time, former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime claimed that the lack of a pack-in title was to keep the Switch’s price tag down and to give consumers a choice of the game they bought on launch day.

But due to the somewhat lackluster launch line-up (aside from Zelda: Breath of the Wild and a few others), many early adopters of the Switch ended up grabbing 1-2 Switch on launch day, making it the de facto pack-in title in the eyes of some fans. This was reinforced by 1-2 Switch‘s whole premise, which centered around showcasing the Joy-Con’s unique features in a party game format.

At the time of writing, the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch line-up hasn’t been announced just yet. But it might be fun to see the return of the Nintendo pack-in title, and a Link’s Crossbow Training sequel could actually offer the perfect backdrop to showcase the new features of the console and its revamped Joy-Cons.

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