What's New
Twilight Princess HD is the 2016 Wii U remaster of Twilight Princess, which first came out on GameCube and Wii in 2006. Tantalus Media did the remaster for Nintendo. It has the same story and dungeons, but cleaner graphics, GamePad controls, a shorter Tears of Light hunt, bigger wallets, a Hero Mode from the start and a new amiibo dungeon, the Cave of Shadows. Sections marked New are not in the original, Changed means it works differently, and Gone means it was removed.
Which Way Round?
Changed The Wii version was a mirror image of the GameCube version, with a right-handed Link. Twilight Princess HD uses the GameCube layout in normal play, so Link is left-handed again. Hero Mode switches to the mirrored Wii layout.
Hero Mode
New Hero Mode is available from the start. You take double damage, no hearts drop, and the world is mirrored. Unlike The Wind Waker HD, you choose Hero Mode when you create a file and can't switch that file back to normal.
Tears of Light and Collecting
- Changed 12 Tears of Light per province instead of 16, and you can pick each Tear up as soon as the insect holding it is defeated instead of waiting for it to form.
- Changed Bigger wallets: 500 Rupees to start, 1,000 with the Big Wallet and 2,000 with the Giant Wallet (300, 600 and 1,000 in the original).
- New Colossal Wallet: holds 9,999 Rupees. You get it for clearing the Cave of Shadows while you have the Giant Wallet.
- Changed You can open Rupee chests with a full wallet now. The extra Rupees are lost instead of being put back.
- New Ghost Lantern: Jovani gives it to you at 20 Poe Souls. It lights up when an Imp Poe is in the area, day or night. See Poe Souls.
- Changed Better map: it marks Horse Grass, minigames, side quests and your last save point, and shows how many Poes are left in each area.
- Changed Sera's cat only needs one fish at the start of the game, not two.
Controls
- Changed Three item buttons: X, Y and R, with L to call Midna. The original had two on GameCube and four on Wii.
- New GamePad: the map and items are on the GamePad screen, so you can swap items without pausing. Once you can change form freely, tap the GamePad to switch between Link and Wolf Link without asking Midna. You can also play on the GamePad alone or use a Pro Controller.
- New Free camera on the right stick, and gyro aiming for the bow and Gale Boomerang.
- Changed Smoother combat: your sword passes through walls instead of bouncing off them, and slashes leave a trail.
- Changed Swimming and climbing are faster, and swimming and riding Epona handle differently.
amiibo
New Five Super Smash Bros. amiibo and the Wolf Link amiibo work once light returns to Faron Province. Each one can be used once a day from the Collection screen.
| amiibo | Effect |
|---|---|
| Wolf Link | Opens the Cave of Shadows and saves your heart count there |
| Link or Toon Link | Refills your arrows |
| Zelda or Sheik | Refills your hearts |
| Ganondorf | Doubles the damage you take (four times in Hero Mode); your hearts turn blue |
Smaller Changes
- Changed Falling into lava costs one heart instead of two.
- Changed The mini-boss Darkhammer has an armored tail, though the fight is the same.
- Changed Midna now has a reflection, many typos are fixed, and a new credits sequence for the HD team plays after the original credits.
- Changed Graphics run in 1080p with new, sharper textures and brighter lighting; most models are the originals.
What's Not Included
- Gone Wii Remote pointing and motion controls: the HD version uses the GamePad instead.
- Gone Miiverse stamps: the game hides 50 Miiverse stamps around Hyrule, usually in place of Rupee chests. Miiverse closed in November 2017, so they can no longer be posted.