Nintendo Details Amiibo Features For ‘Zelda: Twilight Princess’ And More
Nintendo shared details Thursday on upcoming amiibo features and how they will interact with games such as The Legend Zelda: Twilight Princess HD for the Wii U. There is even the re-release of some Pokémon amiibo figures on the way to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the franchise that encourage fans to catch ’em all.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD launches on March 4 for Wii U owners and includes a Wolf Link amiibo figure with the physical edition of the game. While the detailed figure is lovely to look at, it also includes a bonus dungeon for the game. Tapping the Wolf Link amiibo to the Wii U GamePad controller will unlock the Cave of Shadows as a new challenge that rewards players with new features once completed.
“After completing the Cave of Shadows, players can save their remaining hearts to the Wolf Link amiibo, and then use those hearts inside the Cave of Shadows to replenish life energy. After conquering the cave, players can save a record of their remaining hearts to the Wolf Link amiibo and attempt to beat their score at any time,” Nintendo revealed.
The Wolf Link figure can also work with the upcoming open-world The Legend of Zelda game for the Wii U. The game is still scheduled to launch later this year, and Nintendo will reveal more details about the amiibo features then.
Existing amiibo figure from Super Smash Bros will also work with Twilight Princess HD. Link and Toon Link will replenish player arrows when tapped on the Wii U GamePad Controller, while Zelda and Sheik can refill player’s hearts. Ganondorf is naturally devious being the villain of the series and causes Link to take double damage.
Now, here’s the potentially bad news. Good luck finding the physical edition of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD unless you jump on pre-orders immediately. These were previously sold out, but a new batch went up for pre-order at Best Buy, GameStop, and Amazon, among other retailers. Even then, GameStop lists the game as having “limited quantities.”
Nintendo has had issues with keeping amiibo figures supplied to retailers in the past. It will be interesting to see if the company is able to keep up with demand considering how the Wolf Link figure and Twilight Princes HD are tied so tightly together.
Some previously limited amiibo figures will be making a return. Pikachu, Charizard, Jigglypuff, Greninja, and Lucario will be made available to select retailers to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Pokémon. Details on which figure will be made available where have not been announced yet. The Pokémon Day celebration takes place on February 27 with a Mythical Pokémon distribution event kicking off on February 1. Expect the Pokémon amiibo figures to hit retailers at approximately the same time.
Meanwhile, the Animal Crossing amiibo figures will begin appearing in stores on March 18 featuring characters like Timmy & Tommy, Kapp’n, Rover, and Digby. New amiibo cards will also launch to be used in Amiibo Festival for the Wii U and Happy Home Designer for the Nintendo 3DS.
Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games will also have amiibo action in-store for players. Mario and Sonic players will be compatible with the game when it is released on March 18 for the Nintendo 3DS. Using the amiibo will boost Mario and Sonic’s outfits with that character’s power for the day.
Finally, Star Fox Zero is still on track for the Wii U on April 22 and will include amiibo support as well. Unfortunately, details beyond that are not being shared by Nintendo at this time. It’s safe to bet amiibo collectors will see Fox McCloud and other characters from the series, though.
[Image via Nintendo]
