It's easy to see that, out of all of the games in the franchise, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is one of the best. Nintendo's classic SNES RPG helped define what the series was all about - if you've ever played a Zelda game, regardless of 2D or 3D, you can thank A Link to the Past for setting the foundation.
That being said, A Link to the Past was released all the way back in 1991 - while the game still looks good, graphics have come a long way since the days of the Super Nintendo. True, fans have gotten a glimpses at Nintendo's HD Zelda game for the Wii U, but consoles can't really compete with high-end PCs. It begs the question: what if a Zelda game was made without the Wii U's limitations?
One fan may have just answered that: a YouTuber going by the name CryZenx has just released a video showing off an unofficial version of A Link to the Past running on the Unreal Engine 4:
True, the video only offers up a short glimpse at A Link to the Past's opening moments, but it's an impressive glimpse nonetheless. The rainy night that kicked off the SNES classic was as atmospheric as you could get on a 16-bit console...but this short demo is on an entirely new level.
Of course, one of the Unreal Engine's biggest strengths is its lighting engine, that it shines through here. The most notable upgrade is obviously the lantern, and its soft, warm glow illuminates Link in a way that the Super Nintendo couldn't have dreamed of. Even the smaller touches, such as lightning strikes briefly revealing Castle Hyrule, look fantastic.
Sadly, a Zelda game on the Unreal Engine 4 won't be happening anytime soon: Nintendo's first-party games almost always run on in-house technology, and it's hard to see the publisher licensing out the Zelda franchise after those terrible Phillips CD-i games...
Of course, CryZenx's A Link to the Past demo isn't the first fan-remake to be built with the Unreal Engine 4...but, considering how polished it is, it may be one of the best.
For more of CryZenx's work, check out his YouTube channel.
