It has been a busy few weeks for video games leaks. There was that whole Naughty Dog thing, of course, where hackers supposedly leaked the entire plot to The Last of Us Part II. Meanwhile, in Nintendo land, an early build of Pokémon Gold & Silver leaked. This led to the reveal of some bizarre Pokémon designs, like a skeletal Xenomorph. That would be enough to keep curious fans satisfied, but it turns out the Nintendo leaks are not over yet. A former concept artist recently shared what he claims are a Zelda spinoff and Boo-centric game.
The artist in question is Sammy Hall, who worked with Retro Studios in the mid-to-late 2000s. He was a pre-production artist for titles like Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and Donkey Kong Country Returns. A website called ShineSparkers got hold of his online portfolio recently. In it, Hall shares concept art for what were allegedly two cancelled games. One was meant to be a Zelda game starring Sheik in a timeline where Link died. The other was a handheld game starring the ghost Boo.
The concept for the Legend of Zelda spinoff seemed to take on a darker tone, with a visual style close to Twilight Princess. It was supposed to be based on the bad end of Ocarina of Time, where Link dies and things get grim. It seems like it would break away from the series in a major way, starring a very male-looking Sheik in an “action/JRPG.” There were even some concepts of Sheik with a beard. To see the full slate of art, see this page.
The other game was something about Boo, and that’s about all the detail we have. The art seems to suggest that it’s a very stylized take, different from the usual Super Mario art style. Boo might have been in debt to “Haunt University” and would have to travel around a spooky world map. He’d be able to use “possession powers” to complete his quest.
As to why this is being revealed now, there are a few possibilities. A comment on one of the collections suggests that Hall became disillusioned with the gaming industry. If that’s the case, he could be sharing this art because he simply doesn’t care.
“Have always worked full-time salary at developer studios. Sometimes random freelance for fun projects outside of games. But I’m completely pulling out of that game career until there can be some real solutions to the exploitation, criminality, and abuse that I see my peers put through… Things have been messy for WAY WAY too many decades,” he wrote.
On the other hand, ArtStation is often used as a portfolio for artists. So Hall could have had these drawings could’ve been around for some time, seeing as these games were cancelled over a decade ago. Fans could simply have only discovered them recently. Either way, they provide a fascinating look at what could have been.
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Source: ShineSparkers
