Nintendo is about to unleash what could be the most ambitious remake in gaming history. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time arrives on Nintendo Switch 2 on November 5, rebuilt from the ground up with full voice acting, modern controls, quality-of-life improvements, and a stunning visual overhaul that makes it the best-looking game on the system. There's even a microphone-based ocarina you can play by humming. It's a love letter to a 1998 masterpiece—and a blueprint for what Nintendo could do next.
No other remake will carry the same weight as Ocarina of Time, but Nintendo's vault is overflowing with classics that deserve the same royal treatment. From GameCube cult favorites to a 3DS gem held back by its own hardware, here are five Nintendo masterpieces that should get the full Switch 2 remake treatment next.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Majora's Mask is one of the darkest, strangest games Nintendo has ever made. Built in roughly a year on the bones of Ocarina of Time, the 2000 Nintendo 64 sequel reused its predecessor's engine and character models to tell a melancholy story about a nightmare-inducing moon crashing into Termina in three days. Link relives those 72 hours over and over, using masks to transform into a Deku Scrub, Goron, Zora, and more, all to save a town full of people who know they're doomed.
After the Ocarina of Time remake, a Majora's Mask remake is the easiest layup Nintendo has. Just as the original reused assets to shorten development, a new version could reuse the beautiful engine and assets from the Ocarina remake. It would be a shame if Nintendo didn't capitalize on that. For anyone who never finished it—myself included—a full Switch 2 remake would be the perfect push to finally see why it's so beloved.
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee is one of the rare fighting games that refuses to die, and its fans are the reason. HAL Laboratory and Masahiro Sakurai built the 2001 GameCube platform-fighter on a brutal schedule, and it became the GameCube's best-selling game. Its fast-paced gameplay and physics quirks like wavedashing and L-canceling spawned one of the most competitive fighting game scenes that still packs major tournaments 25 years later.
No other Smash game feels like Melee, which is why the fanbase won't leave it behind. Nintendo has kept that scene at arm's length, avoiding official tournaments and even sending cease-and-desist letters to community events. A remake that gives fans a visual upgrade with official online play—while keeping every mechanic and animation exactly the same—would be the ultimate win for everyone. If anyone can pull it off, it's Sakurai.
Kid Icarus: Uprising
Kid Icarus: Uprising is one of the best 3DS games ever made and the best revival Nintendo has ever pulled off. Sakurai's Project Sora brought Pit back in 2012 after more than two decades away, mixing Star Fox-like on-rails flight sections with frantic ground battles and charming banter between Pit, Palutena, and the gods they fight. Its Fiend's Cauldron mechanic let you bet hearts to crank up the difficulty, a risk-and-reward system that made every chapter worth replaying.
Uprising was near-perfect—the only problem was the 3DS itself. Aiming with the stylus while moving with the Circle Pad was so awkward that Nintendo offered a plastic stand to improve ergonomics. Even so, the Light vs. Dark online battles were way better than they had any right to be. Switch 2's dual-stick control scheme would be a perfect match, and with Joy-Con 2's mouse controls and gyro support, a remake could finally give Kid Icarus the platform it deserves.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem stands out most in Nintendo's catalog, and that's a compliment. Silicon Knights' 2002 GameCube survival horror game spans two thousand years of history, with players controlling a dozen characters in a fight against an ancient evil. Its sanity meter turned the game and console against you: as the meter drained, the game faked a muted TV, deleted save files, and a disconnected controller to convince you that you were also going insane.
Nintendo loved those effects enough to patent them, but the series never got a sequel after Silicon Knights collapsed following its legal battle with Epic Games. Eternal Darkness is still one of the most creative horror games ever made, and while tricks like faking a disconnected controller would be harder today, Nintendo could find a way. Resident Evil 2 and Bloober Team's Silent Hill 2 already proved horror classics can thrive with a modern take—and with Resident Evil's first two films hitting Netflix, the genre is hotter than ever.
Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64 didn't just launch the Nintendo 64 in 1996; it taught the entire industry how to make a 3D game. Mario's analog-stick movement, triple jumps, and painting worlds inside Peach's Castle set the template for every sandbox-style 3D platformer, and its engine even laid the groundwork for Ocarina of Time itself. Nintendo has only revisited it twice since: the 2004 remake Super Mario 64 DS and a straight port in 2020's limited-time Super Mario 3D All-Stars.
I unwrapped Super Mario 64 along with my Nintendo 64 on Christmas, and that was the moment gaming became a big part of my life. It means more to me than even Ocarina of Time, and I doubt I'm the only one who feels that way. The game still holds up, but the outdated control scheme and fighting the Lakitu camera never get better. A full remake that touches up the controls, camera, and visuals would be a dream come true—and a reminder of why Nintendo's past is worth preserving.
With Ocarina of Time setting a new standard, the question isn't whether Nintendo should remake these classics—it's which one comes first. And if you're looking for more November entertainment, Rings of Power season 3 returns and Godzilla Minus Zero stomps into theaters.
