Summary
The history ofThe Legend Of Zeldagames is vast, with titles becoming all-time classics that are featured in everybody’s library. However, over the decades, Nintendo has released games that either fell into obscurity or the circumstances of their release have made them relics of the past.
From forgotten remasters to Japanese exclusives, certainZeldagames have become rarities that force collectors and fans to spend exuberant amounts of money just to own them. That’s not including the games locked to a certain console that may or may not even exist anymore, forcing the world of emulation to maintain history.
Despite being the home of several strong titles, the Wii U was one of thefew times Nintendo’s console flopped. When the Switch came about,The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker HDwould suffer as it is still only available for the Wii U, so finding a way to play it is difficult.
Even finding a copy ofThe Wind Waker HDcan be taxing with prices ranging from $70 to over $100 for a copy online through stores like eBay. The open-world sea adventure was remastered and improved in almost every way with the Wii U version, and it’s a shame that Nintendo has not ported it to the Nintendo Switch as they’ve done with several Wii U games.
7The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time - The Master Quest
Harder To Play, Harder To Find
Exclusive to the Nintendo GameCube,The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time - The Master Questseemed like nothing more than a port ofOcarina Of Timefrom the Nintendo 64. That was not the case as it was a redesigned version with a new and more difficult layout of dungeons.
Finding a copy ofThe Master Questis not easy, especially if someone is looking for the original case and manual; the few copies available on eBay range from $70 to $90, not including shipping fees. Even if someone manages to snag a copy, the game isonly on the Nintendo GameCube, so it becomes another challenge just to play it.
6Ripened Tingle’s Balloon Trip of Love
Strange Adventure Exclusive To Japan
Though it may not seem like a Zelda title, the strange Tingle is a recurring character fromThe Legend Of Zeldafranchise who somehow got his own spin-off.Ripened Tingle’s Balloon Trip of Loveis the second game in the series, but it was only released in Japan thus rendering it one of therarer games released for the Nintendo DS.
In fact,Ripened Tingle’s Balloon Trip of Loveis known mostly through emulation with a full fanmade translation version released in 2018. Even the very few options for buying an original copy online are only playable with Japanese region versions of the Nintendo DS.
More or less a direct port ofOcarina Of Time,The Legend Of Zelda: Collector’s Editionwas alreadya limited release for the GameCubethat celebrated years of Zelda by combining it with the original Majora’s Mask as well as two classic NES video games:The Legend Of ZeldaandZelda II: The Adventure Of Link.
Four games in one package was a big deal at the time, which is whyThe Legend Of Zelda: Collector’s Editionruns from $90 at the minimum online to almost $300. In a way, it has a fitting title, since it is now more of a collector’s item rather than a game of celebration.
For the first time inThe Legend Of Zeldahistory,fans could play the titular princessinZelda: Wand Of Gamelon. Unfortunately, it is an infamously ridiculed game thanks to the animated cutscenes that were the source of many memes across the internet for years.
Quality of the game aside,Zelda: Wand Of Gamelonhas the unfortunate luck of being exclusive to the Philips CD-I, a console that was already over-expensive for the common gamer in the 90s. It is rare to find a CD-I in the modern age, let alone a working one. Copies of Wand Of Gamelon sell for $725 and up to the egregious price of $4,500.
With Link speaking for the first time, for better or worse,Link: The Faces Of Evilis the sister game toZelda: The Wand Of Gamelonreleased on the same day. It is the same lacklustre 2D side-scrolling adventure with poorly animated cutscenes but in a new location featuring different characters and villains.
Somehow,The Faces Of Evilmanages to be worse due to Link’s obnoxious voice, yet prices for it are just as ridiculous asWand Of Gamelon. Fans are expected to pay from $300 to $2,795, that is when copies are not completely sold out.
2Metroid Prime & The Wind Waker Combo Pack
Link & Samus Together In A Single Package
Nintendo is no stranger to combo game packs, with a prime example being theSuper Mario Bros.andDuck Huntcombo for the original NES. However, Nintendo boldly put two legendary titles from the GameCube library together:The Wind WakerandMetroid Prime, two completely different butbeloved games in theMetroidseriesand Zelda.
Even on the initial release, theMetroid Prime & The Wind Wakercombo was not common, but now, it is even rarer to find, which has resulted in it being found on eBay for over $1000 for a copy. Fans would have better luck just buying copies of both games separately.
Not that anyone would want to playZelda’s Adventure, since it is often considered the worst of the CD-I trilogy of games. It swapped from the infamous cartoon art style to live-action actors for both the gameplay sprites and theFMV cutscenes that 90s games loved, which in some ways look better but are still considered ugly to the eyes.
The CD-I rarity aside, very few fans even know thatZelda’s Adventureeven exists; on eBay, the game’s lowest-priced listing is $1,100 while the most common listing is $1,500. Since Nintendo and Philips no longer have any sort of partnership, it is unlikely that the CD-I games will ever see a modern release outside of emulation.
