What would Nintendo have to do to make New Legend of Zelda a success?

What is this?

New Legend of Zelda with a capitalized N? And it has Zelda I’s sprites on it. Is this a hint for what is coming?

Perhaps. Zelda has not been selling well in Japan. Nintendo is likely looking to see what can revitalize the series. Zelda’s situation today (and it only selling in America) is similar to where Mario’s situation was after Super Mario Sunshine. Mario was considered ‘lame’ just as Zelda is today.

Although it scares me that Aonuma could be linked to the project in anyway. Aonuma despises Classic Zelda and has done everything possible to remove the things we love about it.

What would Nintendo have to do to make New Legend of Zelda a success? It is not going to be as easy as New Super Mario Brothers. I’ve concluded there are three things that must be done. I will sum them up with three words: Multiplayer, Vast, Music.

1) Multiplayer

A multiplayer game has far more value today than a single player game. It allows the family to play together and for more experienced players to help with less experienced ones. Super Mario Brothers 5 worked well with multiplayer. So could Classic Zelda.

However, Aonuma Zelda is incompatible with multiplayer. Narratives do not work well in multiplayer (who wants to watch cutscenes together? Ugh). Solving puzzles also does not work well in multiplayer. To this day, there has never been a successful multiplayer puzzle game. All puzzle games are single player for a reason.

Classic Zelda is based around arcade gameplay and computer RPG gameplay. Do these work well with multiplayer?

The arcade gameplay works extremely well with multiplayer as can be seen with examples such as Gauntlet. Even back in the 80s and 90s, players preferred their arcade games to be co-op such as Contra or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (the arcade game) or Double Dragon or Marble Madness.

The RPG gameplay works extremely well with multiplayer as well as can be seen with the MMORPG. Zelda fans are going to hate me for saying this, but I believe the a probable future for the Zelda series is to become a MMO. Such a game would outsell all Zelda games combined.

Without multiplayer, a NLOZ just wouldn’t be appealing. NLOZ’s game engine needs to be exploited in ways different than other video games. While it may appear simple in some ways, it needs to be complex in other ways. Multiplayer not only gives the game a huge boost in value, it also allows it to spread in a viral fashion among gamers.

2) Vast

Classic Zelda has always been associate with ‘vastness’. Not only is there a huge overworld, it is filled with dungeons, caves, and all sorts of secrets. Vast does not mean bloated or empty. We do not want Wind Waker’s oceans or Twilight Princess’s empty plains. Vast means many layers. Link to the Past got away with a smaller overworld than the previous Zelda games because Link to the Past had two layers of overworld on top of each other.

Nintendo must utilize the ‘simpler’ game engine of NLOZ to create a much vaster playing field. These ‘HD’ games with their bells and whistles cannot offer this. The fact that people passionately play games like Minecraft which is just programmed in Java and playable in a web-browser speaks of the thirst and hunger for running around in a vast overworld.

Vast does mean concentrated though. This is probably what caused the original developers of Classic Zelda fits which made them never want to work on Zelda again.

The best way I can illustrate the consumer reaction to Zelda has been ‘so much to sink your teeth into’.

There is so much into the game which is why the cartridge needs to be made of solid gold.

3) Music

Classic Zelda’s ambition can be heard today. The music was, in large part, the reason for it being so awesome.

No NES game was presented or sounded quite like this.

This music is amazing. Without it, the game would not have its impact.

As soon as Link to the Past boots up, you know you are in for an wonderful experience.

Even on Gameboy, Zelda is still epic.

A huge problem with New Super Mario Brothers series is that Nintendo doesn’t think production values are important. While 3d Mario gets orchestras, 2d Mario gets ‘wah wah’ sounds as its music. The constant complaint of ‘plainness’ is given because the first four Mario games popped with color and sound. Where would Super Mario Brothers be without the theme song of 1-1? Or the jump of Mario? (BOING)

Zelda needs strong production values. The reason why people dislike retro themed games is because developers assume production values aren’t necessary. If Nintendo half asses it like they did with the NSMB games, expect failure. In fact, I think the NSMB sales are depressed because Nintendo didn’t put a stronger effort in this area. The original 2d Mario games wowed not just because of the game but because of the production values. It is the same with Zelda.

If these three things are not done in NLOZ, then it cannot succeed. My biggest fear is that Nintendo will allow Zelda to become a slave to the hardware instead of its master. It would be forcing the game to be a certain way because of how the hardware is designed. For example, the Wii U controller would make a Wii U NLOZ be more like the horrible Four Swords instead of what a proper Zelda should be. I greatly fear Nintendo will go down this path especially if Aonuma is involved.

In future posts, we’ll look over about other elements that could be in NLOZ.