How Link Wound Up on the Wrong System

Super Nintendo Specs:
*CPU: 16-bit 65816 (3.58MHz)
*RAM: 128KB (1Mb), 64KB (0.5Mb) Video RAM
*Graphics: Dedicated graphics processor
*Colors: 32768 (256 on screen)
*Sprites: 128
*Sprite Size: 64x64 pixels
*Resolution: 512x448 pixels
*Sound: 8-channel 8-bit Sony SPC700 digitized sound

WiiU Specs:
*Tri Core, 3 GHz PowerPC-based 45nm CPU, very similar to the Xbox 360 chip. The CPU features 2 MB cache, 1 MB for Core 0, and 512 KB for cores 1 and 2
*2 GB RAM: 1 GB is allocated for games and is shared between the CPU and the GPU, while 1 GB is allocated to the operating system.
*Custom 40nm AMD GPU with 32 MB embedded eDRAM and unified shader architecture
*25 GB Blu-ray based disc
*8 / 32 GB internal flash memory
*Dedicated 120 MHz audio processor, 6 channel audio for console, 2 channel for controller
*512 MB separate on-board flash storage for the OS only

Now, there is a reason why this article started out with specs of both systems. One of these two systems is regarded as one of the greatest systems ever made and contained one of the greatest video games ever made known as Link to the Past. Now, for those that have yet to know this, Link to the Past was not only arguably the greatest game ever made up to that point, but was also the biggest game to ever be released. It was leagues ahead of anything we had seen before way back in 1992. As a matter of fact by the time I got my first Super Nintendo back in 1995, the game was still the biggest and baddest in the market.

So now we are flash forwarding to today, with Link to the Past 2 finally being announced. But it won’t come out for the WiiU, a powerful system that can really use some good news and a way to make use of its weaker graphical capabilities when compared to the upcoming systems. Instead, its coming out for the Nintendo 3DS. Now about a year ago I would have agreed with this decision since the 3DS was needing some good news. But now, the 3DS is on the right path with a good variety of games that had come out and are on the way.

The Nintendo WiiU is in trouble. Not 3DS trouble, but deeper trouble. It is threatening to become the next Dreamcast if something doesn’t change soon. What better way to bring the WiiU back into the spotlight than getting a sequel to one of the most beloved adventure games in history? What better way to make the WiiU relevant than releasing a sequel to a beloved game that has a mere 1 MB in memory?

Nintendo, think of the possibilities! Think of just how much content you could pack into a 2D-action adventure game on an HD/Blu-Ray Disk system! You have the chance to take the already-long adventure of Link to the Past and quantify its length and depth by an exponential amount. You can make a Zelda game that can contain 15 Link to the Pasts and then some. I am pretty sure the entire world would prefer a 2D Link game on a blu-ray-like disk as opposed to a smaller cartridge. You can include all the necessary enhancements like day/night, month/year features, etc. P.S. the controller would have been perfect for item movements and the monitoring of maps.

You guys used to be about pushing the envelope and seeing what you can pull off with what cards you are dealt with. I had discussed this before, but Nintendo used to have the biggest games around, from the original Mario Bros. to the original Zelda to Link to the Past to Mario 64 to Ocarina of Time, and lastly Wind Waker. Notice most of our "larger" titles had been Zelda games. But in recent years, this envelope hasn’t been pushed. Even if the hardware isn’t that much stronger than the PS3, New Super Mario Bros. U could have been much bigger (My idea can be found here), and the same goes with Nintendo Land. Link to the Past 2 with the minimal graphical requirements could have been a 100-hour adventurous marathon. Instead, it’s a 3DS title as the WiiU winds up with a Wind Waker remake being one of their biggest releases of the upcoming holiday season.

Nintendo, you dropped the ball here. Link to the Past 2 should have been a massive, massive 2D adventure that is worthy of carrying the legendary Link to the Past title.

Instead, it will just become another handheld Zelda game that will make us ponder how much bigger it would have been if it had gotten the upgrade.