The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time headlines Wii U eShop update

By Danny Cowan July 2, 2015

Young Link stares at Ganondorf in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. — Image used with permission by copyright holder

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Nintendo’s landmark Nintendo 64 action-RPG The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is now available for Wii U via the Nintendo eShop in North America and Europe.

The Wii U version of Ocarina of Time improves on the previously released Wii Virtual Console version of Ocarina of Time with sharper visuals, an improved framerate, and a reconfigurable control scheme. The Wii Virtual Console version did not include, however the Master Quest version of the game, which was released for GameCube and then included again on 3DS. Master Quest features updated, more challenging versions of the game’s dungeons.

Ocarina of Time rendered Nintendo’s decade-spanning The Legend of Zelda series in polygonal 3D for the first time upon its launch in 1998, and it’s seen multiple re-releases in the years since. The stranger Nintendo 64 follow-up The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask saw an upgraded port released for the Nintendo 3DS earlier this year.

PadaOne Games’ Roving Rogue also joins the Wii U eShop as part of this week’s Nintendo Download update. Featuring a local multiplayer mode that supports up to four players, Roving Rogue is a side-scrolling platformer with a unique teleportation mechanic that allows characters to escape from enemies and environmental hazards in an instant.

Over on the Nintendo 3DS, Tecmo Koei’s Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 premieres this week with a broad sampling of characters and features previously seen in the brawler franchise throughout its ten-year history. Samurai Warriors Chronicles 3 combines Samurai Warriors 4‘s melee-focused combat system with new character customization features and a Challenge Mode that tests the skills of series veterans.

Other games premiering in the eShop this week include the Wii U flight sim Quadcopter Pilot Challenge and the tactical RPG Mercenaries Saga 2 for the Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo additionally notes that a new gameplay mode for its team-based multiplayer shooter Splatoon is set to premiere ahead of this weekend’s Splatfest event.

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