On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda as this year kicks off, I imagine you’ll probably want to go ahead and revisit as many Zelda games as much as you can. If so, this superb fan made Twilight Princess the remaster needs to be on your radar.
A fan favorite since its release on Nintendo GameCube and Nintendo Wii in 2006, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is a darker, more mature take on the classic Zelda formula, and a spiritual successor to Ocarina of time following the more experimental approach of Majora’s Mask and the cartoon Wind alarm clock.
Celebrate Twilight Princess’ 20th Anniversary With This Remaster
Just in case you don’t feel old yet
If you really want to feel old, 2026 marks the 20th anniversary of Twilight Princess alongside the 40th anniversary of the franchise as a whole. I’d say that means an official Nintendo Switch 2 port or remaster is almost inevitable, but since it’s currently January and you probably can’t wait, there’s a great texture pack for Twilight Princess this makes the classic adventure game more beautiful than ever.
Created and featured by Henriko Magnifico, a creator who has created some stunning Nintendo texture packs over the years, the Twilight Princess 4K Update is absolutely breathtaking.
This is a massive visual overhaul for Twilight Princess which includes “over 1,200 faithfully recreated 4K textures, an updated UI, custom shaders, fully customizable tone mapping, quality of life improvements, and crystal clear text for all in-game messages.”
Henriko also lists a few other major features, including:
“Full support for European, Japanese, and American versions of the game. This includes the GameCube and Wii versions! The pack also supports many different platforms, including Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. The installation process is also incredibly simple with minimal effort required from the user to set it up and start playing. Enjoy!”
This is of course a completely unofficial pack, and you should ensure that you legally own a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess on GameCube or Wii if you plan to emulate it. If you have the knowledge to set up something like this, it might just be (currently) the best way to play this game.
Zelda’s 40th anniversary is this year
Can you wait for the real deal?
That said, I must reiterate that this year marks the 40th anniversary of Zelda. As such, I’d be stunned if Nintendo didn’t choose to mark the occasion by finally bringing The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD And Twilight Princess HD from Wii U to Nintendo Switch systems. It might be worth the wait for the real thing.
If you really don’t think you can do this (or if you really like emulation), this incredible texture pack is probably the ultimate way to revisit one of the most popular games. Zelda games of all time. Don’t do anything illegal, please.
