Everyone expected the Wii U would get its own Zelda eventually, but no one saw this coming. While people wait for an entirely new Zelda in the console’s far-off future, Nintendo is tiding fans over by returning to the franchise’s past in an HD port of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. It's scheduled to hit the console by end of 2013, and the early footage looks gorgeous.

Wind Waker may have been a divisive title in 2003, but nowadays Toon Link and his cel-shaded friends are celebrated almost universally by fans--we even rank it in the top five of our best games ever list. Still, there’s always room to improve, and since Nintendo made vague references to updates of some kind, we have more than a few ideas on how to reshape the game for Wii U. If it were up to us, we’d start with…

Way back when Wind Waker was playable at E3 2002, Nintendo was keen on including Game Boy Advance connectivity into as many games as possible. Wind Waker used the GBA link cable to make the franchise’s lovable oddity, Tingle, a playable character. The GBA became the Tingle Tuner, and that feature allowed a second player to assist Link with helpful items, similar to the second player function seen in Super Mario Galaxy.

More than a few GameCube owners missed out on the Tingle Tuner due to not owning a GBA and/or connector cable, so Wind Waker HD could finally give those players a chance to fill Tingle’s shoes. We envision player one guiding Link with the Classic Controller, while player two backs them up on a GamePad that displays enhanced versions of the old GBA display. All the content already exists, and it’s just the type of friendly co-op experience Nintendo prefers.

Even if you regard Wind Waker as the greatest adventure Link ever had, you were likely a little annoyed at how the game built towards its finale. After completing the sixth dungeon, the final confrontation with Ganon seemed just on the horizon. That’s when you’re handed the last-minute task of fishing for pieces of the Triforce. Players had to search the entire ocean for shards of the Triforce of Courage, a banal task that felt like content padding.

This HD reimaging is the perfect opportunity to ditch that repetitive task, or at the very least make the search more enjoyable. We’re not asking for an entirely new dungeon to replace it; the fix could be as simple as cutting the eight necessary shards down to four. Oppositely, the devs could shake things up by attaching the shards to different fetch quests or combat challenges, in addition to searching the open waves for buried treasure. Or they could just cut that section altogether and let us fight Ganon an hour earlier. Something should be done, because we’d hate to slog through all that a second time.

Miiverse is one of the Wii U’s most innovative features, but it’s also criminally underutilized. The social network gives gamers all over the world a chance to share tips and strategies, or just share experiences with one another--but few games take advantage of it. When Wind Waker HD was first revealed, Nintendo mentioned Miiverse would be a part of the game, so we hope the devs make it a prime example of the system’s potential.

As we saw in New Super Mario Bros U, Miiverse can parcel out gameplay hints if a player is stuck, so perhaps players that spend more than 30 minutes without progressing in a dungeon can turn on helpful pop-ups. Miiverse also lets players share screenshots online, and we can already imagine the type of gorgeous compositions wannabe photographers could create with the spiffy new graphics. Maybe Nintendo could even add the ability to post brief videos that you could capture within the game, letting players share a record-setting boss battle speed run.

It’s great to see Nintendo diving into HD visuals after spending so many years staring at the Wii’s perfectly adequate standard-def graphics. The screens of Wind Waker HD look particularly vibrant, not at all like some shoddy remakes we’ve seen in the past. That said, these early screens don’t look as cel-shaded as the original, and that’s a look we’d hate to lose.

Wind Waker’s graphics were a point of contention when the game was first shown over a decade ago, but now the cartoony visuals are what make it timeless. As the once-sharp polygons of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess continue to age, WW still impresses. We hope Nintendo cribs from Halo Anniversary and allows players to swap between the two versions at will when playing on Wii U. That’s no easy technical feat, but we trust Nintendo can find a way to make it work.

“Another quest will start from here.” That was the message players saw after watching the credits on the original Legend of Zelda. From there. they could dive into the more challenging Master Quest, which featured rearranged dungeons and tougher enemies. Ocarina of Time also featured a Master Quest that wasn’t available to US fans until the GameCube remake, and that treat for hardcore Zelda players made the game feel new all over again, something that could be repeated in Wind Waker HD.

The original Wind Waker did feature a second quest, but almost all the changes to the game were cosmetic. What the super-hardcore need now is a truly remixed Master Quest to make the game feel fresh in ways that enhanced graphics can’t, mostly using stronger bosses and reconfigured levels. But the Master Quest needs to be available from the start. It’d be cruel to make players beat the regular game first before it unlocks.

We’re not totally sure what place motion controls have in Zelda’s future, after they had such a heavy influence on Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. But we think waggle has its advantages when used in small doses. Wind Waker has a couple features that could potentially be improved with the Wii U’s motion capabilities. However, in case we misjudged how fun these could be, we hope the devs keep these controls entirely optional.

Of all the items in the WW, the Deku Leaf is the most ripe for motion enhancement. It could be pulled off naturally by holding the GamePad parallel with the floor, then shifting the controller in different directions to guide Link and his makeshift parachute all the way to the ground. Another possible use of motion would be allowing players to pick up a Wii Remote and use it as the Wind Waker (aka the baton) Link waves around to change the direction of the air. Both would be cute tricks to try, while not being integral to enjoying the game traditionally.

The Tingle Tuner was the first time the Zelda franchise included GBA connectivity, but that was just a taste of what would be included in Four Swords Adventures. The GameCube release let up to four players control the Hero of Time in a top-down throwback to Link to the Past. The game was virtually impossible to recreate up until now, but with a GamePad and some help from the internet, the game could find new life if included with Wind Waker HD.

The core gameplay could work great as a four-player online adventure, with each team member controlling Link on the GamePad, using the second screen to approximate the GBA’s visuals, or maybe even integrating a 3DS wirelessly. Additionally, it could be the first chance for US players to enjoy Navi Trackers, a cute side game that was cut from the US release of Four Swords. Nintendo gave away the GBA version of Four Swords as a download not too long ago, so why not make Wind Waker HD even more valuable by including the GameCube iteration?

Wind Waker is full of side quests and optional collectibles, created specifically to satiate completionists. One example involves taking pictures with the Picto Box, a black-and-white camera that can be used to nab a Heart Container. Later, Link is given a series of missions to upgrade to a shiny new "Deluxe Picto Box," which captures the world in color and lets Link take pictures of people and creatures in the world in order to populate the Nintendo Gallery with tiny figurines. Problem is, you don't get the upgraded camera until late in the game (or on a second playthrough after completing it once).

Let's hand over that camera earlier in the game to let us take advantage of it throughout the entire game on the first play through. Why? Because the Wii U's GamePad would make it more fun! Snapping pictures could be easier than ever if Nintendo lets us hold the GamePad up and move it around using the motion controls, something that would make this otherwise unremarkable side-mission much more memorable.

What would be your dream version of Wind Waker HD? What changes would make this classic title even better? Let us know in the comments!

And if you're looking for more Nintendo info, check out us disecting the news in Radar Reacts and new footage of Bayonetta 2.