Zelda’s Infamous CDi Game Turned Into Much Better-Looking Game Boy Game

Zelda’s Adventure, the third and final CDi game of The Legend of Zelda, has been ported over to the Game Boy by an indie game developer nearly 30 years after its release – and it’s a massive improvement in the graphics.

Indie game developer John Lay released the Game Boy port of the infamous CDi Zelda game on Itch.io today, and it was developed in GB Studio with some modifications. The trailer provided in the tweet below shows a side-by-side comparison between the widely criticized graphics of the original CGI title and the Game Boy version that fans would’ve wanted to play all those years ago.

Proud to release a complete port of Zelda’s Adventure for the Game Boy.

Zelda’s forgotten CDi game is now available to download!https://t.co/LOsk0DjrbS

Made with @GBStudioDev. Music composed by @beatscribemusic.@gbs_central, @DouggernaughtTV, @thedopster #gameboy #Zelda pic.twitter.com/fLQ5NvgAzO

— John Lay (@johnlay_) April 29, 2023

Lay noted that he adapted Zelda’s Adventure to make it have the same aesthetics as The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, seeing as the first two CDi Zelda games — created per Nintendo’s agreement with Philips — were side-scrolling games. He also chose to port it over to Game Boy because of the Zelda games that were already released on the portable system, such as Oracle of Ages.

“Zelda’s Adventure looked interesting and I thought it would be fun to play on a portable system. I chose the Game Boy because of the existing Zelda games on the system,” Lay said on the game’s page. “The game sticks to the aesthetics of Link’s Awakening, but also incorporates some features from Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons.”

In Zelda’s Adventure, Link is captured by the evil and fearsome Ganon, and the princess journeys out to Tolemac, the uncharted souhteastern region of Hyrule, to rescue him with the guidance of Shurmak. Her court astronomer Gaspra advises that the only way to save Link is to collect the seven Celestial Signs that Ganon has stolen and face the villain himself.

It, however, was brought down by some odd graphics. In a 2002 column, IGN’s Peer Schneider recommended it only for “die-hard Zelda fans.”

“Zelda’s Adventure is a marked improvement over the other two CD-i games, but even if you compared it with all the games that appeared on the popular consoles that were out the same time, Link’s Adventure can hardly hold a candle to the worst of them,” he wrote at the time. “It’s sad, but true.”

Zelda’s Adventure is playable on the original Game Boy and Game Boy Advance if you order the cartridge. You can also play the game on the website on its Itch.io page.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releases May 12 on Nintendo Switch.

Cristina Alexander is a freelance writer for IGN. She has contributed her work to various publications, including Digital Trends, TheGamer, Twinfinite, Mega Visions, and The Escapist. To paraphrase Calvin Harris, she wears her love for Sonic the Hedgehog on her sleeve like a big deal. Follow her on Twitter @SonicPrincess15.