Legend Of Zelda: Minish Cap Remake Splits Gamers, And We Can See Why

1 hour ago 8

Link surrounded by forest creatures in The Legend of Zelda Minish Cap key art.

Published Jun 26, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT

Tom Wilson is a Gaming Features Writer at Screen Rant. Over the past five years, Tom has worked as the Editor-in-Chief at The Game Crater, as a Staff Writer for GamingIntel, a List Writer at TheGamer, and, of course, as a Senior Writer at ScreenRant. Tom has experience writing reviews, guides, news, and features, and has been responsible for teams of writers, training them and editing their work.

Tom graduated with a Masters in Multimedia Journalism, and has since gone on to build up his portfolio of games journalism work.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, while certainly extremely popular among fans, is one of the lesser-discussed titles in the series. That isn't to say that it isn't good, as this 21-year-old Game Boy Advance title still absolutely holds up to this very day and is a remarkable achievement both as a work of art and as an extension of the Zelda formula. However, considering its age and its lack of prevalence in the general gaming zeitgeist, one can understand why discussions of a Minish Cap remake are being had.

While The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap has returned in numerous forms and even has a place on the Nintendo Switch 2, a remake would allow Nintendo to really market and push for it to be relevant once again, something that certainly appeals to its dedicated following. Indeed, in many respects, Minish Cap deserves such attention, but the idea of a potential remake has gamers divided, with many unsure if it's even a good idea.

Over on Reddit, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap fans congregated to discuss the potential for a remake in the currently extremely popular HD-2D style. For those unaware, the HD-2D graphical style was popularized by the likes of Octopath Traveler a few years back and has been used rather extensively by Square Enix for numerous projects and remakes, as well as within the indie scene. It blends 2D highly detailed sprites with 3D environments to create a blend of the two. It's a striking art style, but one that many are unsure would work for Minish Cap.

Despite the fact that Minish Cap remains one of the most underrated Zelda games of all time, many fans felt that a remake was either unnecessary or that changing the art style would be to the game's detriment. User Canvas_Notebook questioned the choice of using the HD-2D style by saying, "I don’t see the need when the original art style is still cute and charming." Another user, Mishar5k, echoed this sentiment by writing, "Minish caps pixel art is so good that its hard to imagine improving on it tbh."

While a Minish Cap remake may not be in the works, at least yet, anyway, it is still available on the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 via Nintendo Online.

Other users criticized the use of HD-2D altogether, with user rnnd calling it "overused." It has appeared in quite a few projects, remakes specifically, with both Dragon Quest and Star Ocean using it rather extensively. So, it isn't hard to see why this may be a prevailing opinion, especially toward a game with a striking art style that hasn't really aged.

The general sentiment, however, is that Minish Cap, despite its age, doesn't need a remake. Unlike the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake, which is addressing a visual style that some may regard as outdated, Minish Cap looks better than most pixel art games released today. The only reason a remake would even be necessary would be to revamp gameplay ideas, but even in this regard, it holds up. Perhaps then, in this instance, a simple port of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap would be preferable, especially considering that's something Nintendo has already proven it loves to do.