The top 5 things we'd love to see in a Legend of Zelda game for mobile
Fivers
There's a good chance that by now you've read our news piece about the leaks that are suggesting that Nintendo's next two mobile games are going to be based around the Zelda and Donkey Kong franchises. It's not too much of a surprise - we've had Mario, we're getting Mario Kart pretty soon, Zelda and the big ape were always going to be pretty close to the top of the list.
But, it got us thinking - what sort of thing would we like to see in Zelda and Donkey Kong games for mobile? And you know what happens when we get thinking - we turn those thoughts, no matter how controversial, into hot content for you to sink your eyes into. Now we've typed that out, it does sound a bit weird though.
Anyway, this list is going to run through the top 5 things we'd love to see in any potential Zelda game that comes out for mobile. You can click here to check out what we'd love to see in a Donkey Kong mobile game. We imagine Nintendo is going to be reading everything here very carefully, so if you've got your own suggestions stick them in the comments box and you never know what might happen. Sort of.
1
Real world exploration
Zelda games have always made Hyrule an important character - each game the land you're working through is completely different, with new sections to explore and, for the most part, a new art style from what's come before. Mobile play gives Nintendo the opportunity to do so much more though.
For one thing, the steps you take in the real world could change what's happening in the game. It could be something simple like the farther you walk, the longer passes in the game, or it could be something more complex. Maybe you'll need to walk a set distance to get to some secret hidden in a corner of the map?
There are loads of potential ways to make the tech work, and it'll be interesting to see if Nintendo takes a leaf out of Pokemon GO's book for this one.
2
Clever combat
Fights in the Zelda games are never about brute force. They're always about figuring out how to exploit the weaknesses of the bosses and enemies you're taking on, and using the resources at your disposal to the best of your ability.
If Zelda came to mobile with simple button mashing, or an Infinity Blade-style swiping system, it'd be a bit disappointing. We don't imagine for a second that it will, and if it does we expect there to be something else bubbling under the mechanics to keep us interested.
Winning a big fight in Zelda should feel like solving a puzzle. Albeit a puzzle with a little bit of murder at the end.
3
Characters from different eras
The Zelda franchise has been rolling along for quite a while now, which means there are loads of different characters that have populated the games. Sure, some of them are the same character with a different look, but that definitely counts.
It wouldn't surprise us to see some of these characters making an appearance in a mobile Zelda game. After all, the trend for licensed games on mobile seems to be squishing together a whole bunch of characters for narrative, if not chronological, reasons.
We'd hate to see a sloppy, team-based midcore RPG based on Zelda, but there's so much scope for playing around with the fiction of the series that it'd be a bit of a shame if Nintendo didn't use mobile as a platform for experimentation.
4
Simplified controls
One thing Nintendo has got right with all of its mobile games so far has been the controls. Just check out Super Mario Run if you don't believe us. It's clearly worked hard to figure out just what it is that makes mobile play tick, and that's shown in everything that's hit the App Store and Play Store bearing the big N's name.
That's not to say we want dumbed down controls, we just want a Zelda game that works on the platform that it's been designed for. That might mean we end up with something that's more like the earlier Zelda games in the series, rather than the more modern, open-world adventures we've seen recently.
We hate to see games scuppered by their controls, and we're 90 percent sure that if it happened to a Zelda game it'd break our hearts. So please don't do it Nintendo, we're fragile enough as it is.
5
A female lead
Wouldn't it be great if, for just one game, we got to play as Zelda from the very start? It's her legend after all, Link's just along for the ride because he was wearing the right colour jumper when a fairy turned up.I think that's the story anyway.
Taking this option would allow Nintendo to make a Zelda game with an entirely new set of moves and skills. You get the same magical design, but built around a character with a moveset we haven't spent the last 30 years becoming intimately familiar with.
We're all for diversity and taking things in new directions here at Pocket Gamer, so if only one of the things on this list happens, we really hope it's this one.
