Beloved Legend of Zelda Games Get New Enhanced 3DS Ports

New unauthorized versions of Minish Cap and A Link to the Past have all sorts of bells and whistles

The Nintendo 3DS saw ports and remakes of pretty much every successful Nintendo franchise before it, but some of them were pretty barebones. One of the best games in The Legend of Zelda series, The Minish Cap for Game Boy Advance, was available via the 3DS Virtual Console. It was not, however, built for that newer portable system.

Homebrew developer estebanpdn recently shared a 3DS native port of the 2004 action game, and it's got more bells and whistles than the official Nintendo version. This version of Minish Cap supports the 3DS' dual-screen display, with the map and other UI elements placed at the bottom. There's widescreen, as well as touch control compatibility. The fan version contains a host of performance improvements, like the ability to boost clock speeds, better upscaling, and higher frame rates than were possible on Nintendo's original hardware. The 2026 port even offers a built-in randomizer that should help keep things fresh for anyone who has already played the original game.

estebanpdn also recently released a native port of Mario Kart 64 3DS with many similar features, like a bottom screen HUD and some touch controls. Right now, the port doesn't support multiplayer — but the developer says it is coming in an update. Somehow, that's not all. The developer has kept busy recently, judging from the 3DS port of Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past that was uploaded merely two days ago. In addition to expected features, this Zelda port comes with turbo speeds and screenshot functionality.

So, how is any of this possible? The ports don't include any game ROMs, nor do they make use of Nintendo assets. Users must provide a legally obtained, compatible ROM. All the included projects are based on reverse engineering work or decompilations of the original games. The developer shared a link to his Patreon page, but noted that "nobody is obligated to support me" and that he was going to keep working on his projects either way.

The Zelda and Mario Kart ports follow similar projects based on decompiled versions of Nintendo's games, which have led to advanced PC ports of games like Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time — much to Nintendo's disapproval.) Fans have even ported Super Mario 64 from the N64 to the original PlayStation, thanks to having access to the game's reverse-engineered source code.

Nintendo will release an officially sanctioned new version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time later this year. That modernized remake is slated to launch on Nintendo Switch 2 later this year.