Nintendo 3DS Port of The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap Reaches v1.0
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap has received an unofficial 3DS port, as developer EstebanPdN released version 1.0 on August 12, 2026. The project utilizes both 3DS screens while adding support for widescreen, touch controls, and enhancements for New 3DS systems.
Instead of simply using the original Game Boy Advance presentation on the 3DS systems, the 3DS port uses the 400×240 top screen for the main gameplay while using the bottom screen for the interface. You can view the map, dungeon information, quest status, change items through the touch controls, and adjust settings without leaving the main screen.
Display options include true widescreen, the original aspect ratio, and stretched presentation, alongside Pixel Perfect, Scaled, and Blur display filters.
New Nintendo 3DS players can use the 804 MHz mode, L2 cache and multi-core rendering, with optional 2x to 5x turbo speeds toggled by the C-Stick. The port also supports native stereo sound and the Project Picori Randomizer with separate save data slots for normal and Randomizer playthroughs.
In this first release, there is a notable limitation. EstebanPdN currently recommends using the New Nintendo 3DS to play it, as the original 3DS models suffer from noticeable frame-rate drops. The developer has stated they intend to improve Old 3DS performance in a future version, warning players that v1.0 has not been tested from beginning to end, meaning bugs and occasional crashes should not only be expected but reported.
The Minish Cap is not Esteban’s only Zelda project for the 3DS family. They also maintain a native dual-screen 3DS port of A Link to the Past, based on the reverse-engineered Zelda3 project. That project uses the bottom screen for maps and equipment information along with touch controls. The display options include wide, stretched, and original presentations.
The A Link to the Past 3DS port reached its 2.9 milestone on August 4. The latest update includes fixes ranging from presentation settings to improvements to bottom-screen responsiveness on the original 3DS touchscreen.
Neither of these projects contains a copy of the respective Zelda games or extracted game assets. The Minish Cap requires users to provide their own Game Boy Advance ROM, while A Link to the Past requires a compatible SNES ROM. In both cases, the game remains separate from the port files.
Both The Minish Cap 3DS and A Link to the Past 3DS are available through EstebanPdN’s GitHub repositories.
