Link, Zelda and Ganondorf have gone through many alterations over the years, rarely looking identical from game to game. However, some versions of the characters seem to stick around longer than others. In another revelation from the Zelda: Art and Artefacts book, the 3DS Link to the Past sequel was originally meant to star Toon Link. According to the franchise’s Yoshiki Haruhana, there was much debate over which incarnation of Link should appear in A Link Between Worlds. While they eventually settled on a traditional Link design, many believed the portable game should feature Toon Link. Interestingly, the same debate took place around the development of Tri-Force Heroes. Check out an excerpt from the interview below.
Haruhana: For this title there was a difference of opinion on which Link to use. Since it was for the Nintendo 3DS, some felt that it should be Toon Link, since it’s a title for a portable game system, but others said that this was a sequel to A Link to the Past, so it should be regular Link. We had a long debate over it.
Interviewer: The people who played the first game on SNES may have had an issue if the main character was Toon Link…
Haruhana: Exactly. Since A Link to the Past was the original, it only made sense to go in that direction. And since it’s been twenty-two years since the previous title, the expectation about the art style became what it is. I found myself thinking that the Zelda series certainly has a bit of everything, which keeps it interesting.
Interviewer: So it isn’t necessary for the main character to be Toon Link just because the game is on a portable system.
Haruhana: Yeah, that’s how it worked out.
Interviewer: But for Tri Force Heroes, the main character went back to being Toon Link.
Haruhana: Actually, we had our share of trouble for this title as well. For a while into production, the main character was the Link used in A Link Between Worlds. But one day, Aonuma made an announcement: “We’re going with Toon Link!”
All: [laughter]
And this exact thought process (Since Aonuma is clearly beyond in love with his first true solo Zelda game, WW) is why everything in every timeline will from this point and forever more, attempt to draw SOMETHING from Wind Waker into it. If they had decided to make Toon Link the star in this game, it would have done two things:
Been Terrible
Made people think it’s in the Adult Timeline because thinking is too hard for fans of that timeline.
We get it Aonuma. WW is obviously your proudest moment in your life. Can you PLEASE stop shoving it down our throats already? Isn’t it enough that you decided to throw non Rito looking Rito into BotW, instead of going off the source material and making them of the Fokka tribe?
shut up.
Don’t start with that. Sonicgalaxy27 does it enough.
||Simulation started…||
||Shut up…||
lol
He should be proud. Two bird tribes wouldn’t work. Thats why its rito. Kys
No WW is the best! Any and all references are welcome!!
||The Zoras will test Link at various locations throughout the landscape…||
‘been terrible’
lmao
These decisions made on a whim aren’t solid for the Zelda storyline.
I quite like toon link, WW is my favorite game of all time. But it wouldn’t have worked for a Link to the Past sequel.
On an unrelated note. Did anyone have any problems with this game? It worked fine on my OG 3ds but once I got my OG XL, the game would freeze every five minutes and I had to hard reset the game. I just never finished it for that reason. I have since bought a New 3ds XL, but just havent tried it, and im really not interested anymore.
Im just curious though.
I got the bundle that it came in with the Triforce 3DS XL, and it worked for me. Never had any issues.
hm, thats odd. It just didnt seem to work for me.
The bundle came with a digital version. Did you buy digital or physical?
It’s the physical game. Now Ive been reading online, and it seems to have happen to a few people. Not enough for it to become an issue though, oh well.
That sucks. Odd for a Nintendo game to have issues like that. Or maybe I just don’t hear about them. Either way, it prevented you from playing.
It is odd, I do have to admit that that this is a first, so its not a big deal. I just hope that this doesnt happen more often what with the switch using cartridges now.
There are screenshots that support this:
http://www.zeldauniverse.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/A-Link-Between-Worlds-early-prototype.jpg