The Zelda Clone That Almost Happened at Capcom

It turns out the history of the Zelda series could have looked very different. Yoshiki Okamoto, a former producer at Capcom, recently shared a story about the frustration he felt while working on titles for the Game Boy Color. He had a strong desire to create a remake of the original Legend of Zelda, but Nintendo turned his idea down.

Okamoto was so determined to see his vision come to life that he considered a bold backup plan. He told his team that if Nintendo continued to say no, they would simply make their own version of the game. He suggested they keep the core mechanics of the adventure but swap out the characters for their own original creations.

Thankfully, the tension did not last forever. Nintendo eventually gave the green light, which led to the development of the fan favorite titles Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons. It is interesting to imagine a version of that classic gameplay existing as a completely different franchise. We are glad things worked out so these legendary adventures could be part of the Zelda series.