A talented Zelda fan creates an original concept for a Game Boy Color version of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Before the release of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on Switch, the iconic Nintendo franchise received entries on various platforms over the past 30 years, including Game Boy Color, GameCube, and Wii.
In Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Link and Zelda's expedition underneath Hyrule Castle leads to the Upheaval, a disaster that scatters debris and land into the sky and across the Kingdom of Hyrule. The Upheaval also spreads the Gloom, a dangerous and mysterious substance that drains life from its victims. After this major event, Link wakes up with a newly transplanted Zonai arm and a deteriorated Master Sword on the Great Sky Island. Rauru, the first king of Hyrule, gives Link crucial guidance as the hero regains his bearings and sets out on a search for Zelda.
Zelda fan and pixel artist Ncxaesthetic recently completed an original concept for what Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would look like as a Game Boy Color game. The artist designed several mock-up screenshots of environments from Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom by taking inspiration from Zelda: Link's Awakening DX, the first Zelda title designed for the Game Boy Color handheld. The first mock-up depicts a title screen with a pixel version of the official Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom key art, and subsequent designs show Link traversing the Great Sky Island and other areas of Hyrule from a top-down 2D perspective.
The color palettes used in Nncxaesthetic's Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom concept are very similar to the ones found in Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, which were developed by Capcom in 2001 for the Game Boy Color. These classic Game Boy Color titles will be available for Nintendo Switch Online subscribers in the near future, and a remake of Zelda: Link's Awakening is already available on Nintendo Switch.
Ncxaesthetic's impressive Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom concept harkens back to classic top-down Zelda games, and fellow Zelda fans appear to be quite pleased with the overall aesthetic and enemy designs found in the mock-up screenshots. Although Nintendo likely won't return to the traditional 2D style of Zelda games for a new entry, fans may experience the franchise's earliest entries by subscribing to Nintendo Switch Online.
It is worth noting that Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom includes outfits from past Zelda games, allowing Link to dress up as a previous incarnation of the Hylian hero. While exploring Hyrule, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom players may also find miscellaneous outfit pieces like Majora's Mask.
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is available now for Nintendo Switch.