The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker Surprise HD Port Released

2 hours ago 8

Published Oct 1, 2026, 8:30 AM EDT

James is a gaming writer from London who has spent thousands of hours exploring titles from every genre. Though he has a particular affinity for multiplayer titles like World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 and League of Legends, he has also put thousands of hours into single-player experiences, from deep RPGs to epic PC strategies. When he's not playing or writing, he can usually be found supporting his beloved Brentford FC.

The Legend of Zelda fans really have been going through something of a golden era over the last year or two, and the 40th anniversary of the franchise this year is showing no signs of slowing that down in any way. The Ocarina of Time Remake is on the way in November and that should bring back an all-time classic title for an entirely new generation of gamers.

Outside of the official releases from Nintendo, it has been really encouraging to see so many of the older games return in new forms thanks to the dedicated work of the community as a whole. Whether you're a fan of the very first games in the series, or the entries from the early 2000s, almost every title has returned to prominence in one form or another over the last 12 to 24 months.

Now, that has happened once again with arguably one of the most beloved titles in the series to date, and it should be quite an exciting next step for those looking for something to fill out the time until Ocarina releases.

Screenshot of Link in The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker for GameCube

As first reported by Dark Side of Gaming, an unofficial PC port of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker has just been released, following games like Twilight Princess and The Adventure of Link. The Wind Waker has grown to become one of the most widely appreciated games in the series to date, and it now regularly crops up in projects like this one, that aim to return it to the front of everyone's minds.

The unofficial PC port runs natively on Windows and uses Direct3D 12 for the graphics. It also supports 16:9 and 16:10 widescreen, though if you do prefer the old school experience, you can stick with the original 4:3 aspect ratio. You can also run it at either 60 FPS, or 120 FPS with Smooth Motion, so you shouldn't notice a difference from modern games in that respect.

Arguably the most impressive feature of the bunch, though, is the fact that it supports both gamepad, and mouse and keyboard as viable control methods. That's something we often don't see in these translations across to the PC as a platform, so to have it here is a genuinely leap forward from a technical perspective.

Link in the king of the red lions boat in Zelda Wind Waker

If you really want to dial up the visuals further, this native PC version of The Wind Waker also allows players to use texture packs in the Dolphin format. If you do fancy giving it a go for yourself, then the download is available from the creator's GitHub, via the link here. Just make sure you have a legitimate copy of the game at home, just to keep everything above board from an emulation perspective.