It’s been a very long thirteen years since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time had hit stores for the Nintendo 64. Making record sales and being regarded the best Zelda game in the series, if not the best game ever made. The question is, after all these years, does the 3D remake for the Nintendo 3DS measure up to the games of our current generation?
The story stacks up rather well with current adventure games out there. In fact, I’d go as far as to say it’s better the most of them! Side quests are plentiful, and collecting the gold Skulltula’s and heart pieces will keep you playing for quite a while. Besides, if you get lost or don’t remember what to do next, there are always the new “Vision Stones” to help you along the way by showing you videos on what to do next.
The visual update if beautiful. It is still not the best looking handheld game ever, but the art style has not faded over time. The 3D effects had a large part to play in this. Little details like pulling your arrow back toward yourself, running or riding under trees, even fighting many enemies all around you, the 3D effects feel just right. Maybe it’s just me, but the scene when you pull the master sword out for the first time gave me goosebumps all over again.
Even though it doesn’t sound like a huge improvement, the menu is now on the bottom screen, making it easier to switch between items, tunics, and boots. This also made the Water Temple actually bearable, to play through not to mention the painted walls showing you to each “water level” switch. Besides that, it really makes the game play a lot smoother. Another addition to the game’s engine is the motion controls for aiming (hookshot, bow, etc). While this is a welcome feature that helps with those really tricky shots, it’s not quite fast enough for situations like bosses where reaction time is everything.
Included in the game, after you beat it, is the “Master Quest” version of the game with new dungeons that prove to be much more difficult. And if that didn’t mess you up enough, the world is mirrored as well.. Oh joy. At least when you beat that you also unlock a very welcome boss rush mode. The game says it’s for showing off how fast you can beat all the bosses in the game, but we all know it’s just so we can beat them over and over again. After all, they may be simple, but they are lots of fun.
And I know, all of you are asking the same question that I was asking myself, “Is Navi back and is she as annoying as she was before?” The answer is yes, in fact, she now yell at you TWICE AS MUCH! Why Nintendo, why?!
Aside from that, the remake of Ocarina of time is flat out amazing. Revised soundtrack, updated graphics, new menu system, new game modes.. What more do you need? A Navi mute button? Well maybe, but even Navi after all is an essential part of the overall experience. This is one Legend that will be a permanent part of my 3ds collection.
Overall Score: 9.5 GG’s
