The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom delivered equal parts open-world adventure and virtual Lego set with its weekend launch, and its community hasn’t run out of ideas yet. While some players are busy bothering Koroks, others are turning Link into Tony Hawk.
Tears of the Kingdom players are having a blast – sometimes literally – with Link’s arsenal of options using the Ultrahand. The new ability allows him to piece together objects in the world with the Hylian equivalent of sticky tacky, leading players to create bridges, vehicles, and even strange new iterations of their own armor.
That freedom has sparked endless creativity in Zelda’s player base, including those itching to channel their inner Tony Hawk, as fans have discovered you can attach almost anything to Link’s shield, and it still works. So for those wondering, can you shield surf on rails with a minecart attached to Link’s shield? The answer is an emphatic yes.
you can attach a mine cart to a shield and grind rails like its tony hawks pro skater pic.twitter.com/DwuiQy0nQz
— Jake Dekker (@jacobdekk) May 14, 2023
Just as the Twitter clip demonstrates, you can use Tears of the Kingdom’s minecart rails like normal with the fusion. The same is true for skating around open fields, dungeons, and anywhere else Link stumbles upon a set of wheels.
That mobility comes in handy, especially when your giant airboat go off the rails into a shrine’s bottomless abyss. Perhaps keeping a spare shield-cart fusion on Ultrahand is advice to live by, like in this footage below. It’s just Tony Hawk Pro Skater with a Zelda twist.
Tony’s Hawk Pro Skater 6 (2023) pic.twitter.com/h4ySksvFap
— Cam Hawkins ✌🏽 (@CamFinalMix) May 14, 2023
Not every shield combination makes sense, but you can still do it, and the process is all in good fun. Zelda series Producer Eiji Aonuma showed off some of the sillier fusions prior to launch, including one instance where he stuck a mushroom to his shield and charged into battle. If it works, it works.
Link’s new life as a professional skater isn’t always powered by wheels (or mushrooms), either. Players are mixing more dangerous combinations, like bombs and shields, to trigger flashier bullet time sequences. It doesn’t matter there might be easier ways to get from point A to point B; the point is that you can do it, like in this clip of Link flinging himself into the air to shoot an arrow.
When I tell y’all I SCREAMED! For MONTHS since we knew we can fuse the FIRST thing that came to my mind was if we are able to BTB (bullet time bounce) with a bomb flower on a shield and it FREAKING WORKED! 😱 GOTY #TearsOfTheKingdom https://t.co/gsWWkvZXS9 pic.twitter.com/qpXp87Zbs3
— Chris R. Was Right like always 🇵🇷 (@ChrisRighteous) May 13, 2023
Link’s Tony Hawk days are a big departure from his ocarina-playing adventures or time as King of the Red Lions’ captain, but the creative aspect still channels something incredibly Zelda through inventive community play and discovery. Tears of the Kingdom Fusions may not always work out (beware of spring shields), but the focus on player freedom has delivered a Zelda that’s just as fun to fail at as it is to progress.
Breakthroughs in shield skating are just one of many bizarre creations in Tears of the Kingdom; IGN has rounded up other moments of brilliance–including all of the ways you can make a seemingly unsafe (but totally safe) bridge.
And for help with everything Tears of the Kingdom, take a look at our Tears of the Kingdom Walkthrough and Guide about making your way through Hyrule, in fact, you can start here:
Andrea Shearon is a freelance contributor for IGN covering games and entertainment. She’s worn several hats over her seven-year career in the games industry, with bylines over at Fanbyte, USA Today’s FTW, TheGamer, VG247, and RPG Site. Find her on Twitter (@Maajora) or the Materia Possessions podcast chatting about FFXIV, RPGs, and any series involving giant robots.
