The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker originally featured a theremin

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, one of the most celebrated of Zelda games, originally featured a theremin, rather than a conductor’s baton.

The news comes from Did You Know Gaming?, a YouTube channel specialising in esoteric gaming knowledge. According to a translated issue of Nintendo Dream magazine, Eiji Aounuma, the lead producer of Zelda, originally wanted a theremin. He would have had players using each of the analogue sticks to move Link’s hands and manipulate the instrument.

Check out the video below:

The description reads:

“In this video, Did You Know Gaming takes a look at many pieces of cut content and unused ideas from The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for the Nintendo GameCube that impacted the game’s mechanics, story, and presentation.”

The reason that it was going to feature was because of a film, released in Japan at the time, about the instrument’s creator, Leon Theremin.

Shigeru Miyamoto, however, was not enamoured of the idea. He was, apparently, critical of the control scheme that governed its use. Elsewhere in the video, there are nuggets of intriguing Wind Waker knowledge. An admission, for instance, that the game’s ocean as large as it was in order to load the islands.

The game is one of the most celebrated in the series. In VideoGamer’s review of the game, Keza MacDonald said:

“When playing Wind Waker, it’s impossible not to succumb to its charm and unashamed freedom of imagination. Zelda: The Wind Waker is a work of genius. Make the most of it.”