Zelda: Breath Of The Wild's Cool 2D Prototype Inspired This Playable Fan Game

A demo is now available for a Zelda fan game that was inspired by the 2D prototype Nintendo created when designing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.

The game, Zelda: Breath of the NES, is described as a "new adventure in the classic Zelda style, but with smooth animations and a more interactive world." The demo lets you move around in an overworld, testing out various mechanics and items.

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The trailer above shows off some of the improvements that have already been made since the release of an earlier version. Update notes for v1.3 mention the ability to now deflect projectiles with the Korok Leaf and a fix for a problem where burning an apple tree didn't cause baked apples to drop.

Breath of the NES developer WinterDrake is actively recruiting more people to assist with its development, including artists and composers.

The project page on itch.io notes the game is free, as this is an unlicensed project. As such, it's possible Nintendo and its lawyers may force it offline, similar to what happened with some Pokemon fan games last year. If you're interested, you may want to download the current version while you still can. You can grab it here.

As for the prototype that inspired this game, Nintendo shared some details about its during this year's GDC. You can watch the panel where it was discussed here (around the 47-minute mark).