The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is one of the most revered video games in the history of the industry. The original released during a time where games were more affordable, and 90s cartoons were all the rage, this remastered edition keeps what originally made Ocarina of Time succeed and refreshes some parts to make it new again. With all the fixes to some of these parts, does Ocarina of Time really hold it’s claim as one of the greatest video games of all time, or has it finally shown it’s age?
This is a story of a boy named Link, who was chosen by the gods to save Hyrule from the evil Ganondorf, who in turn kidnaps the Princess Zelda in attempt to bring the powers of the Triforce together in order to rule the land with an iron fist. The archetype of a maturing hero is the backbone of what makes this game timeless. While on your journey to becoming the hero of time, you’ll travel to many places to gather knowledge and strength required to defeat Ganondorf. The story dives into the origins of a prophecy about the hero of time, the Triforces of Wisdom, Courage and Power, magic sages and everything else in between. As the story progresses, it becomes more apparent the task at hand, it is to defeat Ganondorf with all those powers and knowledge to restore order in the world. Though the story is only part of what makes this game legendary status, the gameplay is also what engages the player to the extreme.
Story: 4.5
Ocarina of Time is mainly and adventure game filled with quests and dungeons to encounter. When in these dungeons, one will encounter a lot of creatures and rooms that turn the level that the player is in into a puzzle. In order to solve the puzzle there is always an item stuck in the dungeon, or even in the world of Hyrule itself, that is required to open the blocked path that dives further into the dungeon. There are a lot of side quests to deviate from the main story once the land of Hyrule is opened to you, and unlike the original if the player gets stuck there are what are called Hint Stones, that Link can crawl into to help the player through the game. This is also the glue that helps Ocarina of Time hold together as one of the best games of all time. It takes adventuring to a whole new level. Want to cut grass to get more rupees (currency in Ocarina of Time)? Go ahead. Want to adventure out into Hyrule in search for Poes? Be my guest. Help a mask shop keepers? I believe your rewards is just more rupees. Want to hit a chicken with your sword? You may, only if you want to be killed by other near by chickens. Now as for controls, there is no variation other then the camera controls is mapped to the gyro-motion of the 3DS, and the buttons for Ocarina have been remapped which takes some time getting used to.
Gameplay: 4.5
Ocarina of Time 3D wouldn’t be a remastered version without better graphics. The visuals have been greatly improved, even without the 3D feature. The environments are lush and vibrant with enemies and lots of plant and water life. The graphics are just gorgeous for an updated version of a older game. The bosses are epic as ever, and as long as you don’t mind reading the text seems to fit the style of feel for this game. Music is….well I can’t emphasize enough how much of an impact the music had, so much so that the 25th Anniversary CD came with a copy of The Legend of Zelda: Skyway Swords.
Graphics and Sound: 4.5
Seriously if you’ve read this far and aren’t playing this game, or at least a version of this game and have a Wii, N64 or 3DS BUY IT NAO!! Stop reading this and buy it now!! Overall I give this game a 4.7 out of 5. Before you get butt hurt though, regardless of how much Ocarina of Time improved it’s graphics, tweaked gameplay and packaged it as a new game, if you’ve played on any of the systems listed then you aren’t really missing much. It does have replay value, and is flawless, but only suggested for fans of the series or those new to it.