The Nintendo Switch is slowly turning into a machine filled with games from The Legend of Zelda series. The people who purchase a Nintendo Switch Online subscription can play the first three games anytime they want. Besides those titles, gamers can also purchase Cadence of Hyrule, Hyrule Warriors, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild for the system. A remake of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is also due to be released soon and a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is currently in development.
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is one of the first remakes in the series, as Nintendo has generally been fine with porting the older games in their original form, with the exception of the HD remasters on the Wii U. The fact that Nintendo has gone to such lengths to bring a twenty-six-year-old game to the Nintendo Switch has suggested to fans that other remakes could also be in the works.
There is one game that feels as if it would be a prime candidate for a remake and that's The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, which still holds up well to this very day. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening can put a framework in place for future remakes to be made for the Nintendo Switch.
A Link To The Past Is Connected To Link's Awakening
The Legend of Zelda series has included several games that star the same version of Link, such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is also receiving a sequel that appears to be starring the same versions of Link and Princess Zelda from the first game.
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is actually the first game in a four-part storyline that has been chronicled on the official website for the series, as well as in books like The Legend of Zelda: Encyclopedia. The Link from The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past defeats Ganon and leaves Hyrule to train. Link's ship is destroyed in a storm on the way back to Hyrule and he washes up on Koholint Island, which is covered in the events of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening. The same Link returned to Hyrule Castle at some point in the future and was later sent to the lands of Holodrum and Labrynna, as was seen in The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages.
It will be harder for Nintendo to remake the Oracle games, as they were developed by Capcom. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past has no such restrictions, so there shouldn't be any issues with remaking it with the same engine as The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.
Nintendo Has The Framework To Remake A Link To The Past
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening began development as a port of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Game Boy before it evolved into its own title. This is the reason why both games feature similarities in their gameplay and inventory system, even though The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening was restricted by the hardware of the Game Boy.
The similarities between The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past are such that it would be feasible to remake the latter in the engine of the former. The two games use the same top-down view, they share similar settings and even contain a lot of the same items. The cartoonish style of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening would fit well with the aesthetic that was used in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, which already looks gorgeous on the Nintendo Switch.
Nintendo Could Be Using Link's Awakening To Gauge Fan Interest In Remakes
It seems like a strange decision for Nintendo to remake The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening instead of any other number of games in the series, especially as fans would kill for a remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
It's possible that the reason why The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening was chosen first was to act as a testing ground for future remakes. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is a relatively short game with a small overworld, so the development time wouldn't be as long as it would for the more complex entries in the same series, so there is less risk involved if it underperforms.
If The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is a big hit for the Nintendo Switch, then it will prove that there is an audience who are willing to pay for remakes of the older games in The Legend of Zelda series, even if they are lacking in additional content or new features. If that is the case, then The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past feels like the next logical step.