Classic Zelda Game Jumps From GameCube To 3DS But It's Not The One Everyone Wants

In the year of our Lord 2026, we're heading back to the Great Deku Tree, as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is finally getting the TLC it deserves. Sure, we got the Master Quest expansion and a 3DS upgrade, but since then, those rumours of a full-blown remake in the vein of what Capcom's done with Resident Evil failed to come true...until now.

Zelda never really went away, but with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, 'breathing' new life into the IP, the series remains one of Nintendo's core three alongside Mario and Pokémon.

Fans are helping keep Hyrule alive with their own unofficial releases, and as retro gamers slice and dice their way across the kingdom, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is poised to leap the 3DS.

What Is The Twilight Princess 3DS Port?

Often faring better than Skyward Sword but failing to hit the critical acclaim of Ocarina or cult status of Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess also found itself stuck in an odd spot between consoles. After The Wind Waker gambled with something new in 2002, Twilight Princess went back to a more traditional style of Zelda game in 2006. As this was on the cusp of the Wii's release, the title's delay meant it was forced to span both consoles with mixed results.

Now, the man behind the Super Mario 64 3DS port is back with an ambitious project that aims to put Twilight Princess on the beloved handheld. Over on his Game of Tobi channel, Tobi Friedly showed off Twilight Princess on the 3DS with some impressive results.

Saying that Twilight Princess is up there with Ocarina, Minish Cap, and Breath of the Wild as his favourite entries, the temptation for Friedly to visit the fantasy epic was simply too much.

Although the video shows the game's source code up and running on the 3DS, we're warned that this project is still in its early stages. With this, Friedly reiterated that the current build is 'very unstable' and tends to crash a lot.

Despite GameCube decompilations not being that common, Friedly says he'd confirmed his own suspicions that the 3DS can run Twilight Princess. Looking at how the title can really make the most of the 3DS' unique features, he concluded: "So if this project advances further, we will be able to play Twilight Princess in a very unique way that is not possible on many other platforms."

Asking fans to be patient because things like this take a lot of time, he vowed to keep us updated.

READ MORE: Zelda: Ocarina of Time Unreal Engine 5 Remake Development Has Ended

Where's Our Wind Waker Port?

Riding around as Wolf Link on the 3DS is all well and good, but what about jumping in the back of the Kind of Red Lions and sailing the high seas? While it's possible that The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker could've once got a 3DS port, the release of The Wind Waker HD on the Wii U largely made the idea of a downgraded handheld version redundant.

Hype surrounding fan-made Wind Waker PC ports and upgraded Switch 2 versions in the style of Breath of the Wild show just how much love there is for Wind Waker, so we implore Friedly to explore the idea of a 3DS port at some point.

We've been punk'd at too many Nintendo Directs about mythical Wind Waker remasters or remakes to really give a damn at this point, and although it's good news that Ocarina looks like it’s getting more than a cheap revamp, it's undoubtedly pushed the idea of revisiting Windfall Island further down the queue.

There are numerous Reddit threads arguing about whether the 3DS could handle Wind Waker and why it hasn't been done, with one Redditor even claiming they once had a dream it was a reality.

We're not here to bash on Twilight Princess, but given how Wind Waker has turned it around from its somewhat frosty reception to become one of the most-requested Zelda games in terms of being overhauled, we can only hope the likes of Friedly and other homebrew programmers realise the demand.