The Legend of Zelda Port Roundup

The porting scene is on fire right now and the most popular series to port is by far the Legend of Zelda, with dedicated ports before and after the Nintendo data leak in 2018. With nearly every Zelda game’s source code out in the wild, it’s only a matter of time before we see a working port of every Zelda title. In the meantime, here is a roundup of all of them.

I’ve listed all known titles that could receive a port in chronological order since some games have multiple projects, so check back here for updates! Also see our dedicated website for such endeavors!

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Table of Contents

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The Legend of Zelda

ZeldaClassic is an almost 1:1 replica, or “tribute” of the original Legend of Zelda game for the NES and is primarily used for fan projects. It’s not a port, but a faithful recreation that started in 1999 and continues to be developed to this day. It’s currently only available for PC, Linux, and MacOS and might take some workarounds to get it onto your ARM based Linux/Android device. No ROM required.

ZQuest is an open-source engine for making games similar to the original Legend of Zelda, Link’s Awakening, and even A Link to the Past, and is available on PC, macOS, and Linux.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Zelda II: Enhanced is a port created by developer HoverBat and released on Itch.io. It comes baked in with widescreen support, better controls, and QOL adjustments to make the game bearable. The port was brought over to PortMaster by dev Jeod. Currently, it’s only available on PC and Linux. No ROM required.

A Link to the Past

Zelda3 is a “Reimplementation” project of ALttP by snesrev and is natively supported on Windows and Linux by building the application with the repository on a PC. The ‘reimplementation’ provides support for higher quality assets, more aspect ratios, QOL control updates, shaders, a higher quality world map, and more. No ROM is required, but you will have to build it (see the GitHub for directions). An Android version was also made by Waterdish!

Link’s Awakening

The catchy Zelda-LA-DX-HD was a project by developer BigheadSMZ that was a fully enhanced port of Link’s Awakening that included multiple QOL improvements, a seamless overworld, image enhancements like dynamic lighting, and a myriad of changes to the UI and movement system. It was fully playable out of the gate and functioned for both PC and Linux, but it was taken down by Nintendo…

Then the even more catchy Zelda-LA-DX-HD-Updated project was a continuation of the previous project, but with no copywritten assets. This version requires you to have a “Copy” of the 1.0.0 release and a PC to patch it. The patcher also gives you access to an Android version!

See our coverage here

Ocarina of Time

By far the most popular of the Zelda ports is Ship of Harkinian by the dev team HarbourMasters. This decomplication port includes arbitrary framerates, aspect ratios, cheats, texture pack support, mods, gyro support, and many more enhancements. The development for this port is extremely mature and the definitive way to enjoy Ocarina of Time. It will require you to rip a specific version of the game, but once you do, setup is very easy. You can enjoy this port on PC, Linux, and Android (once again through Waterdish).

See Majora’s Mask for the Zelda64Recomp project.

Majora’s Mask

The sequel to Ship of Harkinian, titled 2Ship2Harkinian, is a full decompilation of Majora’s Mask that carries most of the enhancements from SoH, including gyro, mods, autosaves, free camera, etc. Setup is straightforward and is compatible with your more common Majora’s Mask ROM files. You can enjoy this port on PC, Linux, and Android (once again through Waterdish). Between the decomp and the recomp (below), this is the version I recommend.

See our coverage here

The Zelda64Recomp project is a recompilation (not a decomp) of Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask that uses the 64: Recompiled tool. The recomp tool, in theory, allows for easier production and more efficient ports than decomps, but development in its current state is slow, and only Majora’s Mask is supported, with Ocarina being planned. Notably, this port also supports raytracing (RT64). Linux and PC are currently supported.

The Minish Cap

A PC “recreation” exists but is currently de-listed from GitHub. It is in its very early stages and was developed by LuisAlexisSalazar (no account remains). A backup of the release can be found here. As of now, it functions in a similar manner to the original: Locked to 3:2 and has the original mechanics. Time will tell if this port will officially resurface.

See our coverage here

Twilight Princess

Dubbed “Dusklight“, this project is an ambitious and heavily optimized reverse-engineered version of Twilight Princess and has an attractive UI, over 120Hz support, ROM-based setup similar to Ship of Harkinian, Texture and cheat support, mirror modes, and so much more. Of all the ports to try on this list, this one is by far the easiest to set up.

See our coverage here

Other Zelda Ports