The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D removed some cross-title Easter eggs. The development team aimed to prevent unrelated elements from disrupting players' immersion in the game world, so they did not retain all designs from the original version.
Portraits of Mario and his companions, visible in the original version when Link meets Zelda in the castle courtyard, have been removed. Patterns from The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword hidden in certain locations in the 3DS version also do not appear in the new release.
Series producer Eiji Aonuma explained that after reevaluating these designs, the team concluded that players might question seeing elements like Yoshi, which are unrelated to the current world, causing a break in immersion. He recalled that when these portraits were originally added, the development team had a more relaxed attitude toward Easter eggs and did not consider them significantly impactful; this remake adopts a more cautious approach to world-building and player experience.
However, the new version did not remove all references to the Mario series. The Bowser pattern on Talon's clothing is part of the original character design and was therefore retained. The team evaluates each Easter egg based on its relationship with the specific scene and character design, rather than removing all crossover elements outright.