5 Nintendo Masterpieces That Deserve an 'Ocarina of Time'-Style Remake
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake launches on Nintendo Switch 2 on November 5, and it might be the biggest remake in gaming history. Nintendo rebuilt its 1998 masterpiece from the ground up, adding full voice acting, revamped controls, quality-of-life fixes, and an ocarina you can play by humming into the console’s microphone. It also brings a gorgeous visual upgrade that makes it the best-looking game on the Nintendo Switch 2.
No other remake will match Ocarina of Time‘s prestige or influence, but Nintendo is sitting on a vault of masterpieces that deserve the same royal treatment. From GameCube cult classics to a 3DS gem held back by its own hardware, these Nintendo games need a ground-up rebuild to make them feel new and nostalgic at the same time. Here are the Nintendo masterpieces that deserve an Ocarina of Time-style remake next.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
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The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask is one of the darkest games Nintendo has ever made, and it was built in roughly a year on the bones of Ocarina of Time. The 2000 Nintendo 64 sequel reused its predecessor’s engine and character models to tell a uniquely strange, melancholy story about a nightmare-inducing moon crashing into the land of Termina in three days’ time. Link relives those 72 hours over and over, using masks to become a Deku Scrub, a Goron, a Zora, and many more in order to save a town full of people who know they’re doomed.
After the Ocarina of Time remake, Majora’s Mask should be a no-brainer. Just like the original reused the assets of its predecessor to shorten development, a Majora’s Mask remake should reuse the beautiful engine and assets from the Ocarina of Time remake. It’s the easiest layup Nintendo has in its arsenal, and it would be a real shame if they don’t capitalize on it. I’ll admit I’ve never finished Majora’s Mask, so a full-blown Switch 2 remake would be the push I need to finally learn why it’s so beloved.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
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Super Smash Bros. Melee is one of the rare fighting games that refuses to die, and its fans are the reason why. HAL Laboratory and Masahiro Sakurai built the 2001 GameCube platform-fighter on a brutal development schedule, and it became the GameCube’s best-selling game. Fast-paced gameplay and physics quirks like wavedashing and L-canceling enabled one of the most competitive fighting game scenes that still packs major tournaments 25 years later.
No other Smash game feels like Melee, and that’s why the fanbase refuses to leave it behind. Nintendo has kept that scene at arm’s length, avoiding official tournaments, and even sending cease-and-desist letters to community tourneys that they took issue with. Give fans a visual upgrade with official online play, keep every mechanic and animation exactly the same, and it’s the ultimate win for everyone involved. If anyone can pull it off, it’s Sakurai.
Kid Icarus: Uprising
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Kid Icarus: Uprising is one of the best 3DS games ever made, and the best revival Nintendo has ever pulled off. Sakurai’s Project Sora revived Pit in 2012 after more than two decades away, mixing Star Fox-like on-rails flight sections with frantic ground battles and charming banter between Pit, Palutena, and the gods they fight. Its Fiend’s Cauldron mechanic let you bet hearts to crank up the difficulty, a risk-and-reward system that made every chapter worth replaying.
Uprising was near-perfect, with the only problem being the 3DS itself. Aiming with the stylus while moving with the Circle Pad was so awkward that Nintendo decided to offer a plastic stand to improve the ergonomics. Even so, I sank dozens of hours into its Light vs. Dark online battles, which were way better than they had any right to be. Switch 2’s more traditional dual-stick control scheme would be a perfect match for Uprising. Throw in the Joy-Con 2’s mouse controls and gyro support, and a remake could finally give Kid Icarus a platform to realize its full potential.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem
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Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem is the game that stands out most in Nintendo’s catalog, and that’s a compliment. Silicon Knights’ 2002 GameCube survival horror game spans two thousand years of history, with players controlling a dozen characters in a fight against an ancient evil. Its sanity meter mechanic turned the game and console against you: as the meter drained, the game faked a muted TV, deleted save files, and a disconnected controller to convince you that you were also going insane.
Nintendo loved those effects enough to patent them, but the series never got a sequel after Silicon Knights collapsed following its legal battle with Epic Games. Eternal Darkness is still one of the most creative horror games ever made, and while tricks like faking a disconnected controller would be hard to pull off today, I’m sure Nintendo could find a way. Resident Evil 2 and Bloober Team’s Silent Hill 2 already proved horror classics can thrive with a modern take.
Super Mario 64
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Super Mario 64 didn’t just launch the Nintendo 64 in 1996; it taught the entire industry how to make a 3D game. Mario’s analog-stick movement, triple jumps, and painting worlds inside Peach’s Castle set the template for every sandbox-style 3D platformer, and its engine even laid the groundwork for Ocarina of Time itself. Nintendo has only revisited it twice since: the 2004 remake Super Mario 64 DS and a straight port in 2020’s limited-time Super Mario 3D All-Stars.
I unwrapped Super Mario 64 along with my Nintendo 64 on Christmas, and that was the moment gaming became a big part of my life. It means more to me than even Ocarina of Time, and I doubt I’m the only one out there who feels this way. Super Mario 64 is still a fun game that holds up well, but the outdated control scheme and fighting the Lakitu camera never get better. A full remake that touches up the controls, camera, and visuals, while keeping the original level layouts untouched, would be a game changer. Alongside the Ocarina of Time remake, it would put Nintendo’s two most influential titles back in the spotlight on the Nintendo Switch 2.
Ocarina of Time and June’s Star Fox prove Nintendo is now open to the idea of fully rebuilding its classics from the ground up, and these five games should be on the docket for its next attempt. Majora’s Mask already has the bones in place and Melee players are still hauling CRTs to tournaments; it’s an easy layup for Nintendo. Not only are remakes great for nostalgic players, but they’re usually a financial win as well, since their budgets and development times tend to be lower than original games. After the inevitable success that November 5 will bring Nintendo, hopefully they will get the ball rolling on its next big remake sooner rather than later.
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