An indie platformer inspired by the worst Zelda games ever made is getting a special controller inspired by one of the worst input devices ever made
Jan. 26, 2024Against all better judgement, the spirit of the CD-i lives on
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Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore is bringing back the spirit of the most infamous games in the Zelda series, and it’s channeling an equally infamous input device for a special edition controller.
Back in the ’90s, Nintendo licensed some of its properties to external developers for a device called the Phillips CD-i. The CD-i was billed as a sort of interactive media device that could be used for also sorts of entertainment media, including games - but generally, those games weren’t very good. Nintendo-branded titles like Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon were particularly infamous, but their weird cutscenes and big ideas gave them a certain cult following.
One notable lover of the CD-i Zelda titles is Seth ‘Dopply’ Fulkerson, who’sbuilding Arzette as a spiritual successor that makes good on the potential of those long-maligned games. To support the platformer’s February 13 launch, publisher Limited Run Games is producing a number of collector’s editions and other merchandise, including a special controller inspired by the CD-i.
This “retro inspired Switch and PC controller” doesn’t feature any CD-i branding, but there’s no mistaking the inspiration - it’s a close match to the wired wand remote included with many CD-i models. While more traditional game controllers were produced for the console, the CD-i was intended as a multipurpose entertainment device, and many models came with controllers better suited for skipping tracks on an audio CD than playing a video game.
Nonetheless, a fair amount of poor CD-i owners had to make use of controllers like this in order to muddle through some very bad games. Arzette looks to be much better than the games that inspired it, but if you want some historical accuracy, you can put your thumb to work on an input device sure to be every bit as rotten as it was in the ’90s. You can pre-order a gray edition of the controllerfor $35starting on February 2, or grab a special “Faramore Fuchsia” version bundled with one of the pricierArzette collector’s editions.
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