The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

Who knew they could improve it?

I will admit, it took me a long time to beat Ocarina of Time when I was a child. So long that I hardly even remember beating it. Today however brings me to the conclusion that I was just a stupid kid. Playing Ocarina of time now is a great blast through my childhood and I honestly believe this is the best version of Ocarina of Time you can get, but should you get it? Let’s find out!

If you don’t know what Ocarina of Time is, then where have you been? Generally considered the greatest Zelda game ever made (not my opinion) it was a landmark in video gaming history and it will always be remembered throughout all of time (LOL time pun). The story is actually rather simple when you break it down however. Link (NOT Zelda) is a fairy boy, and our courageous young adventurer who must save the land from the evil Gerudo king Gannondorf, save the princess Zelda and restore balance to the land by using the power of the Ocarina of Time to transfer himself back and forth through time. This entails the gameplay of 2 distinct links, his younger self and his older self (being before and after the world is engulfed in darkness respectively). If you are coming into this game expecting a storytelling masterpiece then you will probably find it lacking quite a bit as it is rather generic. However then again this game is where most fantasy adventures base themselves off now, so you could call it the starter of it’s generation, but it’s still rather generic nonetheless. The interesting dynamic of switching through time is what makes this game so memorable and it allows the story to still remain epic and interesting while still being fairly generic. There is not much else to talk about the original Ocarina of time so I will focus mainly on the changes that the 3D remake has brought.

Truly, this could not look more epic

The presentation of this remake it truly where it shines. The entire graphics engine has been redone in order to make the game seem as though it should normally fit on the 3ds, and it shows! Models are slightly less blocky, textures are crisper and the land looks a lot more brighter. This fantastic remake has done wonders with Ocarina and helps to make it seem even less dated than it was before, it seems like this game could have easily just been made around a year ago. The soundtrack is slightly higher quality and my god if you haven’t heard Ocarina of Time’s soundtrack I highly encourage you to do so as it is an absolute masterpiece of song-writing. All of these things combine together to make this game look and sound beautiful, a much deserved improvement from it’s original debut on the Nintendo 64. Truly this is the definitive way to play Ocarina of Time as it will be a visual treat to your eyes. Also of worth mentioning is the 3D aspects which make the world seem all that more special as you feel like you are gazing in a window to this world rather than just simply playing a game, and I don’t praise 3D that much at all.

The gameplay aspects however are what makes this remake truly special. Firstly the main gameplay aspects of Ocarina of Time are unchanged, as they were nigh-on perfect as they were. The things that have been changed however are the use of the touch screen to use as your inventory, map screen and gear screen, which is a huge improvement for constant use, especially the map functionality. There is now an option to use video hints to help you with certain parts of dungeons or quests, which is extremely useful as some of the puzzles in Ocarina of Time were incredibly complex and explanation wasn’t the game’s strong point. Finally there is now a new ability to use the 3DS’s gyroscope to aim and view in first person rather than using the analog stick. This can sometimes be wonky however it generally works well and it is capable of making your aiming a lot quicker and more precise if you get good at it. Finally the package includes the addition of the ‘Master Quest’ mode which allows you to play through the game again but on a much more difficult mode which changed layouts of dungeons and such. Finally they include a ‘Boss rush’ mode that allows you to play through each boss fight in the game side by side, which I think is a superb addition as the bosses in this game were some of my favourite in the series. All of these new gameplay aspects are welcome additions and allow the game to evolve past it’s original counterpart rather than just making it a direct port with no additional features or challenges.

You play that ocarina Link!

Not everything is sunshine and rainbows however. As mentioned the graphical update it great and all, however there are some things which have not been properly upgraded to fit the new hardware. Most notably some objects retain their strange quality of being 2d static objects, such as fences and gates. These strange differences in graphics really stick out and they make the game feel strange when you view them. Also while I mentioned that the 3D is good it does mean you have to maintain the console as a static point, which is quite pointless when you consider this is a handheld console that is supposed to be used on the move. This is even worse when it comes to the gyroscope controls. Word of advice, don’t use 3D when using the gyroscope. That is the main bulk of the problems however as there is not much else I can fault with a port without saying problems about the original game itself aside from the fact that of course it is just a remake, so those who already have the original game might find no incentive to buy this at all.

Aside from this though, this is still a masterpiece of a game. From one of the greatest video games of all time this has tried to follow in it’s footsteps, and it has done very well I would say. If you are a fan of the Zelda series but haven’t tried Ocarina, then you are insane, and should buy it on 3DS for the best experience possible however if you have already played it and own the original, maybe give this a skip as there is not that much incentive to re-buy this one. Now Nintendo, Majora’s Mask remake. Now. Please?