Legend Of Zelda Fans Split Over 40th Anniversary HD Collection

The 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda went by quietly. February 21 was the day the iconic series debuted in Japan 40 years ago, and all expectations of a celebration have gone unanswered. Nintendo's reticence is odd, considering how influential Zelda has been to the entire medium of video games, and fans are truly adrift not knowing what to expect, if anything.

Among the most common predictions to celebrate Zelda's 40th anniversary is the collection that has seemed so likely for years at this point: The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD finally getting ported to the Switch or Switch 2. Sequestered on the relatively unpopular Wii U, the two remasters have long been viewed as an inevitable Switch re-release, yet even the series' 40th anniversary hasn't coaxed them out of Nintendo. Looking back at anniversary predictions in a Reddit thread from user Common-Feature-4394, though, it's easy to see that even the most dedicated fans have wildly varying ideas of how Nintendo might mark the occasion.

Will Zelda Get A 40th Anniversary HD Collection?

Only Nintendo knows its plans, but some sort of re-release does still seem the most likely for the 40th anniversary, since we're presumably still years away from the next mainline 3D Zelda game. Twilight Princess HD and The Wind Waker HD still feel like the obvious choices, simply because they're both beloved, and would conceivably require less work than other games to bring to the Switch and Switch 2. As some comments in the aforementioned Reddit thread point out, Nintendo's line of "HD" Zelda games has grown to include Skyward Sword – is a three-game bundle out of the question?

On Switch 2 it would not seem so odd, but Skyward Sword HD is already an original Switch game (that is still sold at full price, no less). But considering Twilight Princess and The Wind Waker have failed to make their big comeback thus far, and that many have given up hope a while ago, there are a lot of other potential routes the series could take in celebration of this four-decade milestone. The main problem is that Nintendo is especially secretive about The Legend of Zelda, and there has so far been no indication of coming announcements.

Nintendo Will Surely Mark Zelda's 40th With Something

With how long and unpredictable game development timelines can be, it's not necessarily surprising to see Nintendo remain mum to this point. Clearly nothing was ready for the exact date, but that doesn't disqualify the possibility of an official celebration later this year. In the absence of a new release or re-release from Nintendo, all manner of possibilities have been proffered.

The perennially requested remake of Ocarina of Time is suggested often, though others are quick to point out that a remaster of Ocarina of Time 3D may be more likely – and that, of course, brings up the question of a Majora's Mask 3D remaster as well. Hopes for a Grezzo-style remake of A Link to the Past or A Link Between Worlds (or both) are also common.

At the very least, I expect the GameCube version of Twilight Princess to be added to the Nintendo Classics collection, joining The Wind Waker, but that is admittedly not as exciting as a full-fledged re-release. The 40th anniversary feels like too big of a milestone for Nintendo to ignore, but until there's official news, it's always a possibility that The Legend of Zelda's four-decade run goes by with only fan celebrations.