The Legend of Zelda: Parallel …

I was reading a post by Toxicka Shock about this disturbing homebrew Gameboy ROM this morning:

One of the great unsung stories of video gaming in the 2010s was the explosion of high quality homebrew releases. The success of games like Undertale and Cave Story are proof that you don’t need millions of dollars and humongous staff to create an unforgettable title, but where thing get really interesting is when it comes to retro console releases.

It hit me right in the face with a blast of nostalgia and reminded me of my console modding days.

Back in the day, I had a soft-modded original Xbox loaded with emulators and ROMs from all the big 90s consoles. It was my first and, frankly, my best experience with emulators as well as community built, homebrew games and ROM hacks. The 2000s and 2010s were definitely a golden age for unofficial ROMs.

My absolute favorite to this day is still The Legend of Zelda: Parallel Worlds;

The Legend of Zelda: Parallel Worlds is a fan overhaul of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past using new graphics, new music, a new overworld and underworld, and a new storyline. It is for the SNES. As of 2008, the game has been in production for 4-5 years and has had a demo release, a 1.0 release and a 1.1 patch to fix many bugs as well as minor changes in dialogue. A 2.0 release is planned and has been officially announced. This overhaul is infamous for its high level of difficulty

When you picture a homebrew game you probably picture something with lots of bugs, and sprites made in MS Paint. Or maybe the old NES Zelda hack where they make everyone look like South Park characters.

This is definitely not that though. It feels like an authentic Nintendo title. It truly feels like an insanely difficult official sequel to A Link to the Past.

It’s over 20 years old, but it’s still worth playing if you’re a die hard Zelda fan. Especially if, like me, A Link to the Past is your all time favorite in the series.