Super Smash Bros. is compelling in large part because the wide variety of playable characters has an equally wide variety of movesets. Each franchise that Smash features, from The Legend of Zelda to Pokemon to Final Fantasy, contributes characters who derive all kinds of attacks and abilities from their unique design aspects and backstories. However, although Smash brings lots of interesting attacks out of its guests, each franchise still have so many more potential fighters to offer. For instance, The Legend of Zelda could spawn its own fighting game using NPCs from throughout its history, and Hyrule Warriors proves that it's possible.
When the first Hyrule Warriors was announced, it was something of a surprising spinoff, especially since Zelda doesn't get particularly many spinoffs nowadays. Nevertheless, it was a hit, letting players take control of Link's friends and enemies for the first time and showcasing the true potential extent of their powers. The formula worked so well that Hyrule Warriors has seen multiple releases and now has a successor in Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity, but Nintendo could reuse the idea in a similar format by making a Zelda fighting game in which characters from across the franchise timeline assemble to duel one another.
Imagining a Zelda Fighting Game
Hyrule Warriors features all the logical playable characters from The Legend of Zelda, such as Link, Zelda, Impa, and other famous protagonists like Darunia and Princess Ruto. However, it also has a handful of goofier characters who translated surprisingly well into the hack-and-slash format, like Twilight Princess' bug-obsessed Agitha and the Majora's Mask incarnation of Tingle. Age of Calamity continued that tradition with playable characters such as Hestu, Breath of the Wild's maraca-loving Korok. By delving deep into each Zelda character, then crafting movesets based on both their abilities and personalities, Hyrule Warriors historically proves that there's a warrior within every Zelda character.
Thanks to that precedent, a Zelda fighting game is perfectly plausible, operating along the same lines. A fighting game about The Legend of Zelda's characters could have a sword-wielding Link, a magic-heavy Zelda, a bug-conjuring Agitha, and so on. Nintendo could take inspiration from the abilities that Omega Force and Team Ninja already take up with, simply slimming them down to fit a more close-combat fighting game model as opposed to the Dynasty Warriors-style of hacking and slashing. Combining those streamlined movesets with a new Zelda time travel narrative could make for an excellent fighting game based on one of Nintendo's strongest IPs.
The Search for a Smash Stand-In
It's worth noting that Nintendo might be in the market for a new line of fighting games right now. While the Super Smash Bros. brand is powerful, its future is uncertain, since Masahiro Sakurai has confirmed that there are no plans for a new Smash game yet, and said that fans shouldn't necessarily assume that the franchise will continue. Whether it's a platform fighter or a traditional fighter, a Zelda fighting game could take Smash's place for at least a little while, buying Nintendo time as it searches for either a permanent Smash replacement or a way to follow up on the groundbreaking Smash Ultimate.
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity proves that a Zelda fighting game or two might be able to fill that void for a while. Age of Calamity builds a Hyrule Warriors experience vastly on the back of Breath of the Wild alone, rather than blending tons of Zelda games. Many other Zelda titles have the same potential to provide tons of unused playable characters, so a fighting game could explore NPCs and villains who haven't gotten their chance to shine in a Zelda spinoff yet. Regardless of whether it serves as Smash's replacement or not, there's a lot of potential in a Zelda fighting game.