If you’ve ever wondered what classic game art would look like if brought to life, here’s a great example. American Entertainer Parker Simmons has transformed parts of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past SNES manual and other materials in living and breathing animations.
The results are absolutely amazing: the illustrations of the 1991 Super Nintendo action adventure come to life. Many Zelda fans on social networks request an official cartoon in this style, instead of the we actually have.
Simmons reveals that the ‘Link vs Stalfos’ battle was animated in Adobe Animate, had about 110 symbols, 70 frames, and the music was taken from the ’90s Zelda “Sound and Drama” CD. Perhaps most surprisingly, the SFX is ripped from Dragon Quest VIIIbut it fits! Note: It appears that this original art was recovered from The Legend of Zelda: Art and Artifacts Dark Horse book published in 2016/17.
Aside from the beautifully animated ‘Link vs Stalfos’ battle, Simmons showed Link exploring a dungeon and talking to a Sage:
Parker Simmons is best known as the creator of the Cartoon Network animated series, Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart. He has also worked on OK KO! as a writer and in various other roles, including voice work.
If you’d like to see some of the artwork for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in its original state, there’s actually an original PDF manual that you can access at Nintendo official website. And remember, you can also play the SNES classic A Link to the Past through the Switch Online service. You will need a subscription, of course.
As for whether we’ll ever see something like this, who knows? With Mario now making his way to the big screen this April, perhaps there’s a chance Link will leave the late ’90s animated TV series behind and write a new chapter in his screen history.
