The Legend of Zelda - Cancelled Games: Difference between revisions

== Ideas and Pitches That Never Left Pre-Production ==  

 

 

 

Following the release of ''The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening'', Shigeru Miyamoto and Yoshiaki Koizumi began working on a remake of ''Zelda II: The Adventure of Link'' for the Super Famicom, designed using polygons. The two experimented with a thin, polygonal Link viewed from a side-scrolling perspective, similar to the original game. Plans to turn this concept into a full game eventually fell through, and both developers moved on to other projects. However, the team still wanted to create another ''Zelda'' based around swordfighting, the way {{TAoL|-}} was, and this eventually led to the development of {{OoT|-}}.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= You might say that, but before Super Mario 64, I had actually been making Zelda II: The Adventure of Link in polygons with Miyamoto-san. We were experimenting with a thin, polygon Link seen from the side and fighting with his sword. Chanbara was a pending issue at the time. We couldn't really bring Zelda II: The Adventure of Link into form at that time, but I kept that desire to achieve a sword-fighting Zelda game until I joined this team. |name= Yoshiaki Koizumi |url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/zelda-ocarina-of-time/1/1 |title= The Legend of Zelda with Chanbara-style Action}}</ref>

 

Following its release in 2006, ''The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess'' went on to become one of the highest-selling games in the {{TLoZ|-}} franchise.<ref>{{Cite Web|quote= Wii/GC / Twilight Princess / 8,850,000 |author= Ishaan Sahdev |published= January 31, 2018 |retrieved= April 26, 2020 |url= https://www.gamedesigngazette.com/2018/01/the-legend-of-zelda-global-sales.html |title= The Legend of Zelda - Global Sales |site= Game Design Gazette |type= }}</ref> Keen to give players that had enjoyed {{TP|-}} a new game to play while avoiding the lengthy development cycle ''Zelda'' projects typically involved, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto asked the game's development team to explore ways to re-use ''Twilight Princess's'' existing world and assets.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= The terrain created for Twilight Princess was vast. And honestly, I really thought there was more we could do with it. Those sort of sentiments always cross our minds in video game development though...|name= Shigeru Miyamoto |url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/crossbow/0/1 |title= The "process" as the reward}}</ref><ref>{{Cite Person|quote= So, after we finished with the development of Twilight Princess, I talked to the staff about whether or not we could do a side story. With a big series like Zelda, we usually only release a new version every 3-5 years, but we thought it would be great to make something for those people that really enjoyed Twilight Princess where they’d be able to keep playing in the same world. I think it’s important for players to be able to play new games at a fairly fast pace.|name= Shigeru Miyamoto |url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/crossbow/0/1 |title= The "process" as the reward}}</ref>

The idea was to use ''Twilight Princess's'' vast terrain to develop a new game that would serve as an "extra story" or "side story" to the main game's events. However, as the team began to formulate stories for this new project, Miyamoto felt these stories were too vast in scope, describing them as "epic tales" as opposed to side stories.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= So, I asked our Zelda staff to think about a new project with an extra story based around Twilight Princess. But then, they were coming up with stories that can be described as ’epic tales’ rather than ’side stories’. Of course it’s also important to continue creating epics, but I do not believe that an epic tale alone can make a great game.|name= Shigeru Miyamoto |url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/crossbow/0/1 |title= The "process" as the reward}}</ref> Development was halted while the team collectively pondered a solution.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= With that in mind, we took some time to ponder over the new project and I ultimately suggested that we make a game based on the Twilight Princess that utilized the Wii Zapper.|name= Shigeru Miyamoto |url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/crossbow/0/1 |title= The "process" as the reward}}</ref>

Ultimately, Miyamoto suggested the use of the Wii Zapper to create the game that would become {{LCT|-}}.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= With that in mind, we took some time to ponder over the new project and I ultimately suggested that we make a game based on the Twilight Princess that utilized the Wii Zapper.|name= Shigeru Miyamoto |url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/crossbow/0/1 |title= The "process" as the reward}}</ref> Describing the ''Zelda'' team's reaction to the decision, Miyamoto stated: "They were kind of shocked. It was like killing all the ideas they were working with until then. Some even felt that we should not do something which makes it look like we are reusing the already existing software and selling it to the consumers."<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= They were kind of shocked. It was like killing all the ideas they were working with until then. Some even felt that we should not do something which makes it look like we are reusing the already existing software and selling it to the consumers.|name= Shigeru Miyamoto |url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/crossbow/0/1 |title= The "process" as the reward}}</ref>

 

''Note: Coincidentally, the original concept for the Wii Zapper was first proposed by a member of the Twilight Princess team during the development of that game.''<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= When we were in the middle of developing the Wii version of Twilight Princess, one of my staff came up to me and showed me some similar sort of wire and rubber band construction he’d made, and I said to him, ’this isn’t the time or the place to be making things like this!’ (laughs) But when I held the thing in my hands, I saw that it really felt pretty comfortable to hold. So, I talked with hardware people, and we got started on the formal project development.|name= Shigeru Miyamoto|url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/wii/crossbow/0/2 |title= Wire and rubber bands as inspiration}}</ref>

 

{{main|Heroes of Hyrule}}

 

The second instance was in 2009, when designer Hiromasa Shikata (who had served as one of many sub-directors on {{TP|-}}) and programmer Shiro Mouri (who had served as lead programmer on the Nintendo DS ''Zelda'' games) were brainstorming ideas for the Nintendo 3DS handheld, which had not yet been revealed to the public.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= When The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks was over, much of the staff went to develop Sword. The only ones left were Mouri-san, another programmer and I. The Nintendo 3DS wasn't out yet, but our goals was to make a Zelda game for the handheld that would follow the Nintendo DS, so for about the first year, we thought a lot about what to do. |name= Hiromasa Shikata |url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/a-link-between-worlds/0/0 |title= "Sounds Like an Idea That's 20 Years Old"}}</ref>

During the development of {{ST|-}}, Shikata had felt the game's cooperative gameplay mechanics were well suited to a multiplayer game.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= 「ゼルダの伝説 大地の汽笛」で，リンクとファントムを切り替えながら遊んでいくシステムがあったんですが，僕はあれを2人で同時に遊べたら面白いだろうと思っていました。 でも青沼さんが以前，「マーヴェラス ～もうひとつの宝島～」というゲームを作っていて，あれが3人だったんですよね？ |name= Hiromasa Shikata |url= https://www.4gamer.net/games/306/G030630/20151007059/ |title= なぜ今，マルチプレイなのか。そして“ゼルダのリアリティ”とは？　「ゼルダの伝説 トライフォース3銃士」，青沼英二プロデューサーと，四方宏昌ディレクターに聞いた}}</ref> Perhaps due to this, Shikata and Mouri's initial approach to a 3DS ''Zelda'' was a game centered around player communication, similar to {{FS|-}} and {{FSA|-}}. When the pair presented the idea to their managers, it was turned down by Shigeru Miyamoto, who felt the concept sounded stale.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= When The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks was over, much of the staff went to develop Sword. The only ones left were Mouri-san, another programmer and I. The Nintendo 3DS wasn't out yet, but our goals was to make a Zelda game for the handheld that would follow the Nintendo DS, so for about the first year, we thought a lot about what to do. A Link to the Past wasn't on our minds at all. We didn't even have the idea of Link entering walls. We were thinking about a Zelda game with the theme of communication. When we presented it, Miyamoto-san said, 'This sounds like an idea that's 20 years old.' |name= Hiromasa Shikata |url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/a-link-between-worlds/0/0 |title= "Sounds Like an Idea That's 20 Years Old"}}</ref> This eventually led to the development of ''The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds''.

 

A 3D rerelease of {{TLoZ|-}} was planned to be a part of the ''3D Classics'' line of games.<ref>{{Cite Web|quote= |author=Nintendo World Report |published= June 20, 2010|retrieved= September 5, 2021|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MxR5U4QLLs|title= Nintendo 3DS Classic Collection Exclusive Footage (E3 2010)|site= Youtube|type= }}</ref> However, it was cancelled at an early point in its development process, potentially due to the difficulty of creating games for the line,<ref>{{Cite Web|quote= So at first it looked like you would merely port it, but it actually turned out to be a lot of work! (laughs) I would guess it was about 20 times the work of merely porting it? |author= Satoru Iwata |published= |retreived= February 22, 2022|url= https://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/eshop/0/3 |title= Iwata Asks : Nintendo 3DS : Classic Games in 3D |site= Nintendo |type= }}</ref> and was never seen outside of E3 2010.

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''Note: Taro Kudo's first directing job on Paper Mario was as a member of Vanpool, which co-developed Paper Mario: Sticker Star alongside Intelligent Systems.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= I'm Kudo from Vanpool. I was in charge of direction and the script for this game. My first involvement with Super Mario was at the time of the Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars game for the Super NES as a member of the Square (now Square Enix) staff.|name= Taro Kudo|url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/papermario/0/0 |title= Talking Away at Iwata}}</ref> Following the game's release, Kudo would go independent but continue to work on subsequent Paper Mario projects with Nintendo. At present, it is unclear whether Kudo is still an independent developer or not.''

 

 

== Games That Were Altered / Cancelled During Development ==

 

 

=== A More Experimental Zelda 3 ===

 

[[File:ALttP Sci-Fi Zelda Concept Art.png|thumb|right|230px|<center>Concept art from {{HH|-}} hints at a scrapped sci-fi element</center>]]

The company's first 3D ''Zelda'' game, {{OoT|-}}, was intended to be developed with the 64DD peripheral in mind, utilizing its hardware to create a persistent world with lasting effects such as trees remaining cut once the player had chopped them down, or Link leaving permanent footprints behind him wherever  he walked.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= The game Zelda designer Shigeru Miyamoto and his team wanted to create would be set in a persistent world. Every change Link would make to his surroundings would stick. If you smashed a box, it would stay broken. If you dug a hole, it would remain there until you covered it. If you left footsteps in the sand, they would stay. All this was supposed to be made possible by the enhanced storage space of the 64DD. |name= Peer Schneider |url= https://www.ign.com/articles/2001/09/15/hyrule-times-vol-4-cancelled-games |title= Hyrule Times Vol. 4: Cancelled Games}}</ref> This idea was ultimately shelved, owing to the fact that the 64DD consisted of mechanical moving parts like a hard disk, and depending on where on the disk the data was stored, it could take longer to retrieve. This would potentially limit the number of animations that could be programmed for Link, which led to the team's decision.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= ROM cartridges don't have moving mechanical parts, so you can retrieve motion data in an instant wherever it is, but with a magnetic disk, it takes time to move certain mechanical parts, so depending on where the data is, it takes time to retrieve it, so you couldn't make Link move. If there weren't many movements and you could fit them in the memory, you could read them to memory from the magnetic disk beforehand, but there were 500 patterns. |name= Satoru Iwata |url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/zelda-ocarina-of-time/1/4 |title= What We Couldn't Do with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time}}</ref>

In order to give the Nintendo 64 a second ''Zelda'' game in a shorter time, Miyamoto asked his team to develop an updated version of {{OoT|-}} for the 64DD. This project, titled "Ura Zelda," was meant to use remixed dungeons from {{OoT|-}} and add other enhancements such as fleshing out unresolved plot threads. Eiji Aonuma, who had designed the dungeons for {{OoT|-}}, was put in charge of development.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= Since we already made The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, we had 3D models that we invested a lot of time in to build. This all started by (Shigeru) Miyamoto-san asking whether we could make a game in one year if we repurpose the models. But we were already talking about trying to make Master Quest for Nintendo 64DD. We were told to repurpose the dungeons from Ocarina of Time and make a game out of it, and I was handed the baton to make that happen. However, when we made Ocarina of Time, we made those dungeons thinking they were the best we could make. That's when Miyamoto-san asked me to remake them, so I hesitantly obliged...but I couldn't really get into it. |name= Eiji Aonuma |url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/majoras-mask-3d/0/0 |title= Make it in a Year}}</ref> Unenthused by the idea of remixing his older dungeons, Aonuma eventually asked permission to create an entirely new ''Zelda'' game instead, which would lead to the development of ''The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask''.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= I secretly started making new dungeons that weren't in Ocarina of Time, and that was much more fun to me. So, I grew up the courage to ask Miyamoto-san whether I could make a new game, he replied by saying it's ok if I can make it in a year. |name= Eiji Aonuma |url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/3ds/majoras-mask-3d/0/0 |title= Make it in a Year}}</ref>

Aonuma would serve as director on {{MM|-}}, while a separate team would work on ''Ura Zelda''.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= Ultimately, other staff members handled The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Master Quest. Still, as someone who has been in charge of the dungeons, I just couldn't get that excited over making a flip-side for them. I couldn't see it turning into a new The Legend of Zelda, either. But we'd been told to make The Legend of Zelda. It isn't as though we could just say, "I don't want to", and end it there. At that point, Miyamoto-san gave us a tradeoff: he said, if we could make a new The Legend of Zelda game in one year, then it wouldn't have to be a "flip-side".|name= Eiji Aonuma |url= http://iwataasks.nintendo.com/interviews/#/ds/zelda/0/0|title= The Previous Game Felt As Though We'd Given Our All}}</ref> In 1999, Miyamoto would state that ''Ura Zelda'' was being developed in parallel with ''The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask'', and that it would "use the existing {{OoT|-}} cartridge" but with different dungeons, treasure locations, and story events that made use of the 64DD peripheral. At the time, Miyamoto also stated that Nintendo was considering using some form of "network technology" for the game.<ref>{{Cite Person|quote= We are working on two follow-ups to The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. "Ura Zelda" uses the same system as Ocarina of Time but uses the 64DD to add game data. The story in "Ura Zelda" will be similar to Ocarina of Time but with new maps and scenarios. Zelda Gaiden, on the other hand, is a completely different game, although it too uses essentially the same game system as Ocarina of Time. Everyone has enjoyed the Zelda series but there's typically at least a 3 year wait between sequels! People who are in Junior High School when they play one Zelda game would be in High School by time the next game comes out, and those in High School will graduate before the next game came out! So, we wanted to make a new game in the series sooner. "Ura Zelda" will use the existing Ocarina of Time cartridge but with different dungeons, and new locations for the treasures. Since the 64DD media is cheaper than a new cartridge, this is an inexpensive way to make a sequel. We may also consider using network technology for "Ura Zelda." Right now, most of the staff is concentrating on Zelda Gaiden.|name= Shigeru Miyamoto |url= https://www.zeldadungeon.net/wiki/Interview:Nintendo_Online_Magazine_August_29th_1999|title= Interview:Nintendo Online Magazine August 29th 1999}}</ref>

''Note: While the trilogy was in development, the three games had different placeholder subtitles in Japanese. The commonly accepted translations for these are Mystical Seed Power, Mystical Seed of Courage, and Mystical Seed of Wisdom. The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia confirms that Mystical Seed of Power would become Oracle of Seasons. This would indicate that Mystical Seed of Courage became Oracle of Ages, owing to the piece of the Triforce depicted during the game's introduction, and that Mystical Seed of Wisdom was the game that was cancelled.''<ref>{{Cite Book|quote= 最初は『ビルダの伝説ふしぎの木の実力の章/知惠の章/勇気の章』の三部作として予定されていた。『力の章』は現在の『大地の章』の内容で。四季を司るゼルダ姫がさらわれ、ハイラルとウーラ世界を行き来する物語であった。|book= E|lang= ja|page= 255}}</ref>

 

 

== Non-Nintendo Projects ==  

 

 

A prototype that was created in 2003 by Ubisoft staff members Davide Soliani and Fabio Pagetti, in the hope of pitching the project to Nintendo via Ubisoft.<ref name="Dreamers">{{Cite Web|quote= Long time ago, i guess it was the 2003, me and Fabio Pagetti (the artist who made the pixel art below) almost convinced our managing director to let us produce a demo for a GBA version of Wind Waker. No luck that time, but it was running nicely. We were dreamers|author= @DavideSoliani|title= Davide Soliani|url= https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/943510427534639104|archive= https://web.archive.org/web/20221118051151/https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/943510427534639104|published= December 20, 2017|retrieved= May 16, 2021|site= Twitter|type= }}</ref> The prototype was produced in a month and purportedly ran well on the Game Boy Advance hardware.<ref name="One month">{{Cite Web|quote= We had only one month. It was just a  dream of a couple of young devs |author= @DavideSoliani|title= Davide Soliani|url= https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/943511069758066688|archive= https://web.archive.org/web/20221118042534/https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/943511069758066688|published= December 20, 2017|retrieved= May 16, 2021|site= Twitter|type= }}</ref><ref name="Dreamers"/> Described as "just a  dream of a couple of young devs," by Soliani, the project was never greenlit by Ubisoft or presented to Nintendo.<ref name="Nope">{{Cite Web|quote= Nope |author= @DavideSoliani |title= Davide Soliani |url= https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/943518078008037376 |archive= https://web.archive.org/web/20221118042326/https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/943518078008037376|published= December 20, 2017 |retrieved= November 17, 2022 |site= Twitter |type= }}</ref><ref name="One month"/>

When asked if a "whole vertical slice" of the project was ever produced, Soliani clarified that this was not the case.<ref name="One month"/><ref>{{Cite Web|quote= Not at all|author= @DavideSoliani |title= Davide Soliani|url= https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/943604985551450112|archive= https://web.archive.org/web/20221118043157/https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/943604985551450112|published= December 20, 2017|retrieved= May 16, 2021|site= Twitter|type= }}</ref> The only remnant of the project today is a single screenshot that was shared by Soliani via his Twitter account.<ref name="Nope"/><ref>{{Cite Web|quote= We don't have it anymore, sorry|author= @DavideSoliani |title= Davide Soliani|url= https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/944068241227268098|archive= https://web.archive.org/web/20221118222835/https://twitter.com/DavideSoliani/status/944068241227268098|published= December 21, 2017|retrieved= May 16, 2021|site= Twitter|type= }}</ref>