Link and his Master Cycle Zero raced into action on July 19 as free downloadable content in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for the Nintendo Switch. Following the release, Deluxe producer Kosuke Yabuki discussed the Hylian hero’s inclusion via a post on the official The Legend of Zelda Japanese portal.
In the post (as translated by Perfectly Nintendo), Yabuki said his idea to bring Link’s Breath of the Wild incarnation into Deluxe surfaced after playing The Champions’ Ballad DLC. The Master Cycle Zero’s dirt bike design was perfect for handling the racing game’s tumultuous terrain, and modifying the vehicle to fit the Mario Kart formula was easy enough by making use of Link’s Paraglider.
Yabuki also talked about the challenge of adding the Master Cycle Zero to a world that had already been created, noting that the Zelda team had to take into consideration the vehicle’s visual design, the sound of the engine, and even the feel of the tires on the ground. He recalled Zelda producer Eiji Aounuma coming to him during Breath of the Wild’s development, asking what his thoughts were on introducing a motorbike into the game, to which Yabuki replied that doing so would be “the highest place” anyone could drive a motorcycle in.
The idea to bring Link into Deluxe was not unusual, said Yabuki, due to the fact that many members of the Mario Kart development team had worked on previous Zelda titles (Yabuki himself did level planning for Twilight Princess), and vice versa. They are in fact, according to him, coworkers that continue to work on the same floor, often passing each other in the halls.
Though the Hero of Hyrule’s inclusion in a Mario Kart game is not new (Link made his first appearance as DLC in Mario Kart 8 for the Wii U back in 2014), this is the first time he’s been able to sport his own canon vehicle with all the appropriate add-ons. The Master Cycle Zero, Paraglider and Ancient Tires are all accessible with any character, so it’s easy to give your favorite racer a bit of a Breath of the Wild makeover!
