Legend Of Zelda: Minish Cap 3D Remake Gameplay Released

Published Oct 21, 2026, 7:00 PM EDT

Tom Wilson is a Gaming Features Writer at Screen Rant. Over the past five years, Tom has worked as the Editor-in-Chief at The Game Crater, as a Staff Writer for GamingIntel, a List Writer at TheGamer, and, of course, as a Senior Writer at ScreenRant. Tom has experience writing reviews, guides, news, and features, and has been responsible for teams of writers, training them and editing their work.

Tom graduated with a Masters in Multimedia Journalism, and has since gone on to build up his portfolio of games journalism work.

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The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap is often regarded as the most underrated entry in the series. While it garnered favorable reviews at launch and continues to be generally well-received by new fans and fondly remembered by old ones, for the most part the game is rarely brought up in conversation, overshadowed by its predecessors and successors in almost every regard. That's not to say that The Minish Cap doesn't have much to offer, as it's an immensely creative entry, but rather that, for whatever reason, fans just don't seem to talk about it.

Fortunately, that may change with a brand-new Minish Cap 3D remake. Designed from the ground up, this remake faithfully adopts the original game's stunning pixel-art style while offering the kind of modern touches fans would expect from a new Zelda game. A recent gameplay clip revealed how the remake looks in action, and it works surprisingly well, with little lost in the transition between 2D and 3D. While the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake showcases a different side of The Legend of Zelda stylistically, this Minish Cap gameplay aims to bring fans back to Zelda's more colorful and stylized presentation.

A short while ago, it was announced that an unofficial remaster of Minish Cap was in the works for the Nintendo 3DS, a project that aimed to utilize the more powerful hardware to improve upon the original experience while retaining much of what made it special. That remaster naturally got some heads turning, but one would suspect that a full-blown 3D remake will have a more significant impact. After all, the strategy to remake your old games seems to be working for Nintendo.

Developed by CryZENx, the same fan who made the viral Ocarina of Time remake a few years ago that many are comparing Nintendo's own efforts to, the Minish Cap 3D remake is an Unreal Engine 5 project that looks to be a far more faithful adaptation. Unlike CryZENx's Ocarina of Time remake, this Minish Cap project, while still built within UE5, retains the vibrant, colorful, and cartoonish aesthetic of the original game, leaning into the Toon Link look from Wind Waker for a more stylized aesthetic.

From the expressive animated faces to the Okami-esque smoke rolling out of the chimney, there are a lot of amazing details that elevate this Minish Cap remake project above previous attempts at updating old Zelda games. It's also incredible to see the previously 2D environments brought to life in such an immersive way. Of course, this does not invalidate the beautiful pixel art of the original, but merely offers an alternative to those who prefer 3D environments in their video games.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap remake is a work in development and will likely never be fully playable, much like CryZENx's previous project. However, it is perhaps enough to encourage people to finally go out and play this amazing and criminally underrated Zelda game. Should Minish Cap no longer be referred to as the most underrated Zelda game as a direct consequence of CryZENx's remake, then it should absolutely be considered a win.