Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto has defended the company’s remakes, and said that newer versions of classic titles can lead to “future developments” — something that fans are keen to see for Star Fox and Zelda.
While Nintendo remaking and re-releasing its classic games is absolutely nothing new, it’s fair to point out that two of the company’s biggest Switch 2 games this year will be very familiar to long-term fans. Star Fox, which launched last month, sparked conversation online for technically being the company’s third reimaging of its N64 classic. The upcoming Switch 2 incarnation of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, meanwhile, will follow various re-releases of the N64 original, as well as its 3DS port.
Now, speaking to Japanese gaming magazine Famitsu (via Nintendo Everything), Miyamoto has addressed the claim that there are too many Nintendo remakes — and hinted that the projects will subsequently serve as the basis for something new.
“Some people might say there are a lot of remakes, but after five years, a lot of people have outgrown games and stop playing them,” Miyamoto said. “Young people today don’t have the opportunity to play games from 10 years ago, so remaking them to be more playable and releasing them again is a good way to meet the demand.
“Letting people know the original games also leads to future developments,” he teased, “so we’ve been actively pursuing that recently.”
Following the appearance of Fox McCloud in this year’s Super Mario Galaxy Movie, as well as the Switch 2’s Star Fox remake, many fans expect an all-new Star Fox game to follow in due course. As for Zelda, it is inevitable that a full-blown follow-up to Tears of the Kingdom is in the works, while Ocarina of Time launches later this year to keep fans busy.
After a major leak and much fan speculation, Nintendo finally confirmed it was remaking Ocarina of Time during last month’s major Nintendo Direct. An initial teaser revealed little, though showed the game’s 3D art style and confirmed it will launch sometime later in 2026. However, a now-removed product description has hinted that the game will likely be a faithful remake.
Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at [email protected] or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social