Mini Review – The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Adventure

I’ll go with the crosses this week.

Colin

You’ve played the game before and if you haven’t then what the hell is wrong with you? It’s the age old story of boy meets girl, boy meets nemesis, boy is charged with destroying nemesis and saving the world, dungeons are explored, enemies are slain and time is travelled. Arguably the most substantial videogame remake in recent years, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was a classic at launch but has it stood the test of a decade (a very long time in videogame years) and is it a strong enough title to appeal to those who aren’t blinded by nostalgia? I think you already know the answer.

The game looks simply beautiful, especially when you don’t bother with headache mode, Hyrule has never looked more stunning to stroll or ride from one end to the other and the dungeons are as bold and vibrant as ever. The 3DS has done a great job on the audio which is frankly superb, not to sound too pretentious but the sound allows the nostalgia to just wash over you and just about any noise can give you goosebumps. Even by today’s standards the audio is exceptional, there’s just something timeless about it all. There’s no real audio dialogue to speak of but that doesn’t stop each character from being unique and every interaction from feeling meaningful, finding out what they want and interpreting this as some sort of mini quest that could result in a bigger bomb bag or a piece of heart is one of the best experiences in the game and can frankly eat up most of your time – in the best possible way.

2D mode for people who enjoy having eyes.

The game controls beautifully and although I imagine many 3DS games (if they are ever made) would have benefitted from dual analogue nubs/circle-pads, this game copes beautifully with what it has. Items are indeed easily selected from the menu and mapped to relevant buttons but the whole process with the two screens definitely seems more streamlined the only downfall being that the new button configuration is a little annoying to have to relearn how to play Zelda’s Lullaby or Epona’s Song (I’m really trying to find fault here).

The 3DS has managed to include a few extra additions beyond the polished graphics and the extra screen for the map and item selection by further making the game more accessible and dare I say ‘easier’. There are shrines dotted about the place with helpful hints that show you what needs be completed next if you ever become stuck, granted these are not quite as obtrusive as the ‘super guide’ system other Nintendo games have implemented and they can be completely ignored if you wish.

Rick Dangerous 3DS.

Other than the aforementioned headache mode the game utilises the system’s in-built gyroscopic sensor to allow you to tilt the system to view your surroundings and shoot weapons, this is a feature that works brilliantly in a game like Face Raiders but here, it’s not unwelcome but rather underused and things become quite more difficult attempting to use it in the heat of battle. For those who do choose to turn up the 3D I can imagine that trying to aim whilst remaining precisely in front of the screen would prove quite tricky – better luck next gimmick Nintendo.

Any negatives? No.

Actually I cannot find much fault with the game, as a (slightly) younger lad the game was a joy to play and now I actually have something to while away the hours on a long journey to work, it’s not exactly ‘pick up and play’ but with the 3DS’s sleep mode I can stop without fear of losing progress. The best I can come up with as a complaint as it might have been nice to see if some sort of StreetPass connectivity could have been integrated into the game, but even this would have been a shit idea, I would however have liked the option to play the Master Quest version of the game from the off, but the story has to be completed before unlocking this.

What Nintendo have done here is to take one of the greatest games of all time and by utilising a few new features on a new platform, make it better, hopefully reaching a new generation of gamer. My only wish is that this system has the potential to take a new IP to the height of this now thirteen year old game.

Somehow, I doubt it will be matched.

Rating: 10/10