The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker Just Got An Unexpected HD Port

Published Sep 29, 2026, 5:45 AM EDT

James is a gaming writer from London who has spent thousands of hours exploring titles from every genre. Though he has a particular affinity for multiplayer titles like World of Warcraft, Destiny 2 and League of Legends, he has also put thousands of hours into single-player experiences, from deep RPGs to epic PC strategies. When he's not playing or writing, he can usually be found supporting his beloved Brentford FC.

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The fascination with The Wind Waker from The Legend of Zelda community really has grown exponentially over the last few years, and it really is quite nice to see as a longtime fan. Those of you who were around at the time will remember that it was far from appreciated at launch, with the toon style proving too much for many fans, who were expecting something a lot more gritty and real.

Since then, the art style has become beloved for its unique approach, and the story and gameplay remain comfortably some of the best from that era, leading plenty to still play it the world over. As such, we have seen all sorts of fan projects attached to the game, and the latest sees it debut onto an entirely new platform for the first time.

Over on Twitter/X, the user Kahris shared an update on their efforts to get The Wind Waker running natively on iOS and iPadOS. The project builds on the work of others including ExpansionPak, RecompCore, Dolphin and Aurora, and it's now in a state where it runs very well.

As the first public static recompilation of the game for iPhone and iPad, it supports up to 4k resolution, texture packs, improved Swift Sail, quality-of-life changes, and full widescreen. It also features controller support and touchscreen customization options, allowing you to make gaming feel as comfortable as it ever does on mobile devices.

In sharing a little about how the project came about and progressed, the developer shared the following insight:

"BlueWake uses static recompilation. It translates the GameCube code from your disc and compiles it into native ARM64 before you play. It doesn’t require a completed Wind Waker decompilation or JIT on your device. None of this would have happened without the work behind ExpansionPak’s DolRecomp, RecompCore, Dolphin and Aurora. Their translator, runtime and renderer gave me something to build on.

"I used Codex throughout the Wind Waker integration, debugging, optimization and iOS app dev. And the mods make this so good. WideBoner’s Better Wind Waker brings Swift Sail and all those little changes that make replaying it feel better. Hypatia’s texture work looks beautiful upscaled."

The source and full build guide are available entirely for free via the creator's GitHub, though you will need your own copy of the game on GameCube to get it to work. It will then entirely custom build the app for your device from the information stored on that disc, in what is a genuinely impressive idea.

Other than that, we have to sit tight and hope that Nintendo finally gives Zelda fans that Wind Waker/Twilight Princess double pack we have been waiting on for the Switch 2. Failing that, at least we have the Ocarina of Time Remake to look forward to in November, which should serve up a healthy does of nostalgia, if nothing else.