Zelda's 35th anniversary: How will Nintendo celebrate in 2021?

Last year, Nintendo celebrated Super Mario Bros. 35th anniversary by announcing that several classic Mario games would be ported to the Nintendo Switch and also by releasing Mario collectibles. Now The Legend of Zelda franchise is about to reach its 35th anniversary on February 2021, but Nintendo hasn't officially revealed any celebration plans. It only makes sense that the Japanese gaming company will also do something for its beloved Hylian characters like they've done for past Zelda anniversaries. But what exactly will this celebration look like? Here's an educated guess for what to expect along with what I'd love to see.

Given that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild won Game of the Year during the 2017 Game Awards and has gotten so much attention since then, it makes sense that Nintendo would want to use this opportunity to shine a light on Link and the rest of Hyrule. This is especially true with the highly anticipated Breath of the Wild 2 on the horizon.

So what would we expect? Well, Nintendo celebrated Mario's 35th by doing several things including releasing the Super Mario Bros. 35 multiplayer, announcing that three classic Mario games would be ported to the Switch in the form of the limited run Super Mario 3D All-Stars, announcing that Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury would come to Switch in February 2021, and releasing the Game & Watch Super Mario Bros. along with other Mario collectibles.

Given all of this attention to Mario classics and simple goodies, I fully expect Nintendo to release ports and collectibles for some of Zelda's greatest games. Maybe a collection that includes both Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD or some more Zelda amiibo. I'd probably die of happiness right on the spot if they announced a full Switch remake for Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask, but I'm not holding my breath for that since they recently remade those games for 3DS. However, it wouldn't be out of the question for those two titles to at least get ported to Switch.

Of course, I fully expect there to be some tangible Zelda collectibles as well. We saw Nintendo announce a set of Mario collectible pins for the plumber's 35th anniversary, so it really wouldn't be out of the question to see a similar Zelda pin set as well. It's possible that more plushies, toys, and wall art could also make their way into stores to celebrate Zelda's 35th anniversary. I'd personally love to get another Link figurine for my office. Please Nintendo, make it so. But above all, there's one thing I really want Nintendo to do for Zelda's 35th anniversary.

The absolute perfect way for Nintendo to celebrate Zelda's 35th would be by giving us a release date for Breath of the Wild 2. At the very minimum, I'd hope that we at least get another teaser trailer for the sequel. Afterall, it's been a long time since E3 2019 when the first teaser took our breath away.

On top of that, it has been almost exactly four years since The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild released on Nintendo Switch. Crazy right? Considering that the sequel was announced in 2019 it's possible that the anticipated game is far enough along that it could release this year. This is especially true given that the developers are able to reuse many of the same assets and work within the same game engine as the first game, so it potentially wouldn't take as long to create.

I can't wait to see what Nintendo has cooked up for The Legend of Zelda's 35th Anniversary. We'll be sure to update when we learn exactly what the gaming company is doing to celebrate.

The Legend of Zelda 35th Anniversary

Are you excited for Zelda's 35th Anniversary? Is there anything you're hoping that Nintendo does to celebrate? Tell us about it in the comments below.