A talented animator shows what a ’90s Link to the Past animated show could have been

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past never received an animated adaptation, but one talented artist on Twitter has given fans a glimpse at what a cartoon based on the game would look like. Link’s animated debut happened in the ’80s, as part of segments on The Super Mario Bros. Super Show!, which had a The Legend of Zelda spin-off show, but that was the last time he had a starring role in a cartoon series.

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Nintendo fans may have been deprived of decades’ worth of Legend of Zelda cartoons, but one talented animator has created clips of what A Link to the Past animated series would look like. Parker Simmons on Twitter has uploaded animated clips of scenes from the A Link to the Past manual, with the first depicting Link fighting a group of Stalfos.

The second clip is a loop of Link exploring a dungeon while holding his map and compass, recurring items found in dungeons throughout The Legend of Zelda video games.

The final clip shows Link contacting a Sage with the aid of a magic crystal. At this point in the story, Link is freeing the Seven Maidens from imprisonment, as they are the descendants of the Seven Sages, who once used their magic to seal Ganon away in the Dark World.

According to Simmons, the clips were created using Adobe Animate, with sound effects from The Legend of Zelda: Sound and Drama CD and SFX from Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King. The animation quality of these clips is phenomenal, and it shows how much fans have missed out on over the years, as Nintendo has been cautious about using its first-party properties in multimedia projects. If The Super Mario Bros. movie is a hit, then Nintendo might be more willing to let Link have more adventures outside of video games.