Zelda: Twilight Princess Is The Unexpected Star Of Zelda’s 40th Anniversary
It should be a really big year for The Legend of Zelda, as it celebrates 40 years since the original Zelda game was released in 1986. The series, which has over 20 mainline games and over 40 releases and re-releases all together, is one of the most well-known and iconic franchises for Nintendo.
Link is so recognizable at this point that he could compete with Mario for the title of Nintendo mascot. Whether someone prefers the classic retro-style games or the more modern graphics of Tears of the Kingdom, there's a Zelda game for nearly everyone to enjoy.
While news of a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has been catching the attention of many eager players, overall there hasn't been a lot going on from Nintendo. However, many fans have taken up the reins to give Link and Zelda a more exciting year. Among these is one impressive look at Zelda: Twilight Princess.
Zelda's 40th Anniversary Has Been Relatively Quiet
Strangely, despite being what should be a big anniversary, The Legend of Zelda's 40th birthday seems to be getting a relatively quiet celebration from Nintendo. There is the Ocarina of Time remake, and leaks suggest that new Zelda-themed Nintendo Switch hardware, such as Pro Controllers, are coming. But otherwise there really hasn't been much said.
Many have been surprised that there haven't really been any new Zelda game announcements or even DLCs to mark the occasion. After all, this would have been a perfect time for some kind of Tears of the Kingdom DLC to drop.
Of course, Nintendo could simply be saving the biggest and best for closer to the holiday season, or maybe they are busy planning the 50th anniversary instead. Whatever the reason, talented and creative fans have picked up the slack to make sure there is plenty of Zelda content to enjoy in 2026.
Twilight Princess: Dusklight Has Given Fans Something To Play
One of the most beloved Zelda titles, Twilight Princess, has suddenly found itself in the spotlight again, thanks to a modded port. Dusklight is a Twilight Princess mod that not only allows players to enjoy playing the classic game on Windows, Linux, macOS, iOS, and Android, but also adds ultrawide display support, better frame rates, and higher resolutions to the game.
In order to make this work, players need to have their own copy of the original game, and do a little bit of tweaking to get the GameCube game's assets into a format that it can be used. Dusklight's website explains more on this and how to make it work, stating that they can't distribute the game assets as they don't own them.
Dusklight's developers are continuing to improve the mod, giving the game better optimization, mouse and touch controls, texture pack support, and more.
Hopefully, there will still be some big announcements from Nintendo for the anniversary year. However, at least in the meantime, there is a fun, new way to experience one of the biggest and most memorable games from The Legend of Zelda series.