Another Nintendo Direct. Another period of coming to terms with no ports of The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and Twilight Princess HD for the Nintendo Switch. After the long-awaited release of Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition, and with the Switch 2 Direct poised to take place next week, I foolishly believed it was the last chance they had to be revealed. Well, I’m wrong, and two of the best Zelda games ever made remain trapped on an old system.
It feels like an especially bizarre omission, given that Nintendo has developed a habit of porting old Wii U games to its new system over the past eight years, so much so that these are the only two games left on it worth converting. Both games have already been visually beefed up for HD displays with updated controls and even a handful of new mechanics, so it seems especially odd that Skyward Sword HD beat them both to the punch. So where are they?
Where Are The Switch Versions of Twilight Princess and Wind Waker?
Nintendo isn’t like other companies. That means it makes some of the most groundbreaking and unique games in the world, but also loves to frustrate its consumers with the most weird and esoteric of practices. It closed this week’s Direct presentation by acting like it had made the world’s first smartphone app, and earlier in the show it acted like Family Sharing on most game consoles hasn’t been a thing for almost a decade now.
Did you know that the original version of Twilight Princess on the Wii had to reverse the camera to accommodate motion controls because most players are right-handed? Now you do.
That means it isn’t the best when it comes to listening to fan demands or making games that we want to play available in the most convenient of ways. So, if you wish to play Wind Waker or Twilight Princess in 2025, you best have some original hardware lying around.
It doesn’t have to be this way, and I bet Switch versions of both games have been in the can for years now, or Nintendo has plans to bring them to new consoles in the future. It wouldn’t make any sense otherwise, especially considering its attitude toward every single other Wii U exclusive, and re-selling its classic games in general.
It’s probably in a similar position to the remasters of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, both of which are said to be ready for release, but Nintendo is waiting until the right time in its schedule. Pretty please, just give them to us already – especially with Metroid Prime 4 finally around the corner.
What worries me most, however, is that Twilight Princess and Wind Waker won’t be released in a double pack or some sort of compilation like Super Mario 3D All-Stars, but as full-priced titles that Nintendo knows hardcore fans will pay for. It might be magical, but hot damn is it greedy.
Could Twilight Princess And Wind Waker Come To Nintendo Switch 2?
It definitely feels like they could, or at this point, the remasters are going to be cross-gen releases of some description. Who knows, perhaps Nintendo has more ambitious visual plans for both of the games instead of merely just porting over and polishing the Wii U versions. At this rate, it has to be something like that.
Launching these games – either individually or as part of a twin pack – is essentially printing free money for Nintendo. They are guaranteed to sell millions of copies or more and remain consistent successes in years to come, not to mention that we would love a way to play them without having to jump through awkward hoops.
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Headline of this piece aside, deep down I know that Twilight Princess and Wind Waker are going to arrive on modern Nintendo platforms eventually. I’m just frustrated and confused as to why they’re taking so long.
The priorities feel woefully misguided, and it’s a big shame that new generations of players who might not have been playing games when the Wii U first broke cover haven’t had a chance to experience these classics. Maybe in 2026?
