Box Art
Game: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
First Released: November 21, 1998, Nintendo 64
Developers: Nintendo EAD
Platforms: Nintendo 64, Gamecube, iQue Player, Virtual Console
Rated: E-10, for Fantasy Violence, Animated Blood, Suggestive Themes
First Released: November 21, 1998, Nintendo 64
Developers: Nintendo EAD
Platforms: Nintendo 64, Gamecube, iQue Player, Virtual Console
Rated: E-10, for Fantasy Violence, Animated Blood, Suggestive Themes
How I Came To Play This Game
Hyrule Field
The first Legend of Zelda game I ever played was Twilight Princess, and I still consider it one of the best games ever made. I first played Ocarina of Time at a friend's house on the Gamecube pre-order disk. The first thing I noticed was that the graphics weren't as good as Twilight Princess. I have always been tolerant of older games. I know that graphics don't matter as long as the game plays well. This one did, and I can see how it has become known as one of the greatest games of all time. However, I still think Twilight Princess is better.
Story
Fight With Ganon
The events of Ocarina of Time are set in the fictional kingdom of Hyrule, the setting of most of The Legend of Zelda games. Hyrule Field serves as the central hub connected to several outlying areas with diverse topography. Most of these areas are populated by the races of Hyrule: Hylians, Kokiri, Gorons, Zoras, Gerudos, and Sheikah. The game opens as the fairy Navi awakens Link from a nightmare, in which Link witnesses a stormy night where a man in black armor on horseback chases after a girl on a white horse. Navi brings Link to the guardian of Link's village, the Great Deku Tree, who is cursed and near death. Link breaks the curse, but cannot stop the tree from withering. The Deku Tree tells Link a "wicked man of the desert" has cursed him and seeks to conquer the land of Hyrule and that Link must stop him. Before dying, the Great Deku Tree gives Link the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, the Kokiri's Emerald, and sends him to Hyrule Castle to speak with the "princess of destiny." As Link is leaving, his close friend Saria bids him good luck and gives him the Fairy Ocarina, a precursor to the Ocarina of Time. At Hyrule Castle, Link meets Princess Zelda, who has been having dreams about the future of Hyrule and foresaw Link's arrival. She believes Ganondorf, the Gerudo King of Thieves, is seeking the Triforce, a holy relic in the Sacred Realm that gives its holder god-like power. Zelda's description of Ganondorf matches that of the man who killed the Great Deku Tree, as well as the man from Link's nightmare. Zelda asks Link to obtain the three Spiritual Stones, one of which he already possesses, so that he might enter the Sacred Realm and claim the Triforce before Ganondorf reaches it. Link goes to Goron City, where he meets Darunia, the leader of the Goron race. After Link defeats King Dodongo, the boss of Dodongo's Cavern, Darunia gives him the Goron's Ruby, symbolizing brotherhood. Link next goes to Zora's Domain, where he obtains the Zora's Sapphire from Ruto, the Zora Princess, after rescuing her from the belly of Lord Jabu-Jabu (a whale-like creature sacred to the Zoras). Link returns to Hyrule Castle, where Ganondorf is pursuing Zelda and her caretaker Impa on horseback, as in his nightmare at the start of the game. Spotting Link, Zelda throws the Ocarina of Time into the castle moat. Link attempts to stop Ganondorf but is knocked to the ground by a bolt of energy. Ganondorf is impressed with Link's courage, but warns him not to interfere with his plans. After Ganondorf rides off, Link retrieves the Ocarina of Time and Zelda telepathically teaches Link the "Song of Time". Using his newly learned song together with the Spiritual Stones to open the door to the Sacred Realm inside the Temple of Time. Through the door, Link finds the Master Sword, a legendary sword forged to destroy evil. However, as he pulls the Master Sword from its pedestal, Ganondorf appears, having secretly followed Link into the Temple of Time, and claims the Triforce for himself. Seven years later, an older Link awakens in a distant room of the Sacred Realm known as the Chamber of Sages and is met by Rauru, the ancient Sage of Light and one of the seven sages who protect the location of the Triforce. Rauru informs Link that his spirit was sealed for seven years until he was old enough to wield the Master Sword and defeat Ganondorf.[36] The seven sages are capable of imprisoning Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm; however, five of the seven sages are unaware of their identities after Ganondorf transformed Hyrule into a land of darkness. Link is then returned to the Temple of Time, where he is met by the mysterious Sheik, who guides Link to rid the five temples of Hyrule from Ganondorf's monsters, allowing the power of the temples to awaken the sages. Link finds that these five sages are all people he befriended as a child: Saria (the Kokiri girl from the forest) is the Sage of Forest; Darunia (the King of the Gorons from Death Mountain) is the Sage of Fire; Ruto (the Zora Princess from the river) is the Sage of Water; Impa (Zelda's caretaker, a Sheikah originally from Kakariko Village) is the Sage of Shadow; and Nabooru (the second-in-command of the Gerudo Thieves of the desert) is the Sage of Spirit. After awakening the five sages, Sheik is revealed to be Princess Zelda and the Seventh Sage. She tells Link that Ganondorf's heart was unbalanced, causing the Triforce to split into three pieces, as predicted in an ancient prophecy. Ganondorf kept the Triforce of Power, while the other two chosen by destiny carry the remaining pieces: Zelda gained the Triforce of Wisdom and Link received the Triforce of Courage. After Zelda bestows Link with Light Arrows, weapons necessary for defeating the evil king, Ganondorf kidnaps Zelda by trapping her in a magical crystal and brings her to his tower. The remaining six sages help Link enter the tower, where he battles and defeats Ganondorf, thereby freeing Zelda. However, Ganondorf uses his remaining strength to destroy the tower in a final attempt to kill Link and Zelda. The heroes manage to escape the collapsing castle, but Ganondorf suddenly emerges from the resulting rubble and traps Link in a burning ring of fire. Using the Triforce of Power, he transforms from his humanoid Gerudo form into a boar-like monster named Ganon, and immediately knocks the Master Sword from Link's hand outside the ring of fire. After a long battle without the Master Sword, Link, with the aid of Zelda's paralyzing light, retrieves the Master Sword and delivers the final blow. The seven sages trap Ganondorf in the Dark Realm that his evil created; still holding the Triforce of Power, Ganondorf vows to take revenge on their descendants.[39] Zelda uses the Ocarina of Time to send Link to his original time to live out his childhood, at which point Navi departs. In the game's final scene, Link meets Zelda in the castle garden again.
Pros And Cons
Story
The Master Sword
At the time I first played the game, I had never heard of anything like the story Ocarina of Time. I had to get used to the series quirky nature with all of these laws and beliefs that are completely different than the ones that exist in our world.
Characters
Playing the Ocarina
There are many characters in the game, but the ones that stand out are Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf. These three are like a sacred trinity. They each represent one of the pieces of the Triforce, and each recieved the correct pieces that represent them. It's one of those rare occurances of perfection. The sages also take a large role in the story, so I guess I should mention them too.
Gameplay
Link frozen in the Ice Dungeon
The gameplay is very self explanatory. You play as the character named Link with a third person perspective and the camera is always at the players back. You can still see enough to see what's behind him though. You run around, slash things with a sword, rescue a princess, and save the kingdom of Hyrule. You have many items to use that you can either attack enemies with or solve puzzles. Puzzles are a main thing to find in a Legend of Zelda game. There are many dungeons in the game you need to go through to advance through the story. You always find a map, compass, dungeon item, and Heart Container in a dungeon. What I like about it is that you can explore the world at your own pace. There are no strings attached, you can do what you want. You don't have to go to the next place right away, you can explore this area first and find all sorts of cool things. Dead Man's Volley is fun, where you have to repeatedly reflect energy blasts back to your opponnent until he gets hit by it, allowing you to attack him. Being able to play the same character at two different ages and see the way the world changed in seven years was the best thing ever.
Graphics
3D Airship View
You need to realize that this game was originally released on the Nintendo 64. At the time, these were the best graphics you could get on a home console. Compared to today, however, the graphics show their age. However, it could have been worse. In my opinion, the Nintendo 64 had the best graphics out of all the generation 5 consoles. So we are lucky we got it on Nintendo 64, because I feel it could only really be done on Nintendo 64.
Music
The music of the Legend of Zelda series has always been great. However, it has also been a huge part of the gameplay as well. I like all of the songs that you play on the Ocarina, and I also like many select tracks found throughout the game. I have all my favorites on my 3DS to listen to anytime I want.
Releases
NES Box Art
Ocarina of Time was first released for the Nintendo 64 on November 23, 1998. Several updated versions were subsequently released with some bugfixes. Then on February 18, 2003, it was ported to the Gamecube along with a modified version of the game called the Master Quest. This version was much more difficult to figure out. It was also released as part of the Zelda Collectors Edition which was given away through many promotional events. Later in 2003, it was ported to the iQue Player. And finally in 2007, it was released for the Wii Virtual Console.
Remake
Remake Box Art
A remake of the game for the Nintendo 3DS was released in 2011. This version had updated graphics, stereoscopic 3D, and fixed a lot of problems with the original game. Many parts of the game that stumped people a lot have been made easier to figure out, you can use the gyro sensors to aim your weapons or look around, amd the boot items are now included in the inventory screen so they can be equipped and unequipped easier. Many glitches from the original were fixed, but the developers wanted the kids of the new generation to have the same experience as the older one, so they kept some glitches in the game. This was my first 3DS game, and I love it. The 3D feature was not so good though. The Master Quest also makes a reappearance with some minor changes. The camera ius mirrored, and enemies do twice as much damage.
My Rating
I give this game a 10/10. Everything about it was perfect. Definetly one of the greatest games of all time.