The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Released on November 21, 1998 by Nintendo and developed by Nintendo EAD, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time brings the storied action adventure game to the third dimension

I used to think Zelda was for nerds. As a kid in the 80s, plenty of my friends had the two Zelda NES games, and I didn't understand how to play them. In the mid-90s, when I picked up a SNES, I didn't touch the pack-in copy of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the first two weeks, instead playing nothing but Street Fighter II. My cousin, who was getting tired of playing Street Fighter II, asked "Why don't we play that Zelda game?" The rest is history. The opening sequence of A Link to the Past mesmerized us, immersed us in an entirely new world of wonder, imagination, and incredible gameplay. From there, everything changed. Not only was I more open to new experiences (and nicer to my cousin), but I felt like I had just played the greatest video game ever made. When the Nintendo 64 was released, I dreamed (literally!) of a new, 3D Zelda game. When that game, 1998's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, was announced, I pre-ordered it at Wal-Mart, then picked up my copy on the day of its release, 11/23/98. pulled an all-nighter, and beat the game in a magnificent six-day fever dream. I felt then that the game was perfect, but not quite as good as A Link to the Past. Now, 25 years later, I've just played through my original copy of the game again. Has it fallen in my estimation...or do I now think it is even better than A Link to the Past? 

DOPAMINE INJECTION

As soon as I switch on my Nintendo 64, I feel surrounded by magic. The high, yet gentle sound of a flute-like instrument plays a comforting melody under the light clomping of a horse's hooves. The sun rises and Link, the Zelda series' protagonist, rides past on his horse, Epona. This is the kind of moment one feels nostalgia for while it is still happening. I press start, type out my name, and the game begins. Link, now ten, is having a nightmare, of a stormy night, a princess on a horse, an evil man in pursuit. He wakes up and he's ten, living in a forest in the Kingdom of Hyrule, with a bunch of fairy children, the Kokiri, who never grow old, though Link is clearly already outgrowing them. The game presents a quick tutorial in the guise of a tour around Kokori Village, granting Link a sword and shield, and the player a firm grasp on the game's controls. Link then heads to the massive Great Deku Tree, a sort of father of the forest, and finds the tree has been cursed by the same evil man from his dream. The Deku Tree opens it mouth wide, and Link enters Ocarina of Time's first dungeon. 

Drown me in memories

I immediately feel immersed in this new environment. The Nintendo EAD team has maximized the potential of the Nintendo 64's soundchip, as the video game maestro, Koji Kondo, utilizes a deep drone score that comes through my tube TV's speakers, along with the sounds of shifty spiders and billowing torches. The Great Deku Tree essentially acts as a primer for the game's wide assortment of remaining dungeons, gently guiding the player in block-pushing, torch-lighting, key finding, and enemy-fighting. The game's combat system is ingenious, allowing players to target enemies with the 64 controller's Z-button, whereupon the player's movement will center around that enemy until the enemy is defeated or the player stops targeting them. The B-button swings Link's sword, with the joystick controlling the direction of the swing, and the R-shoulder button bringing out Link's shield. Most ingeniously, Ocarina makes the best use of the  N64 controller's C-buttons of any 64 game, as the player can assign any item from their inventory to any C-button they choose, i.e. the bow, ocarina, etc. 

The fights in this game are awesome!

In each dungeon, the player will have to find that specific dungeon's new item (in the Deku Tree, it's a slingshot), which not only allows them to complete that dungeon, but can be used throughout the rest of the game (except for age-specific items). In every dungeon, the player can also find a map, a compass that reveals the location of dungeon treasures and helps with direction, and a master key to reach the final boss. The Deku Tree also introduces players to their first dungeon boss, Queen Gohma, a massive, murderous spider. Bosses have to be beaten through skill with the game's controls and player ingenuity in the use of items (often the item found in that dungeon). All later dungeons have a mini-boss at their halfway point too. Ocarina of Time does such a great job, even with the third-person perspective, of making the player feel like they are Link, so for me, this fight against Gohma (and all of the game's bosses) feels personal.

Plus, the presentation in the boss introduction cinematics is of the highest possible tier

Once the dungeon is completed, Ocarina fully absorbs me in its story, as The Great Deku Tree, before dying from the evil man's curse, explains that the man, named Ganondorf, wants to conquer the world. Link most find and talk to the Kingdom's young princess, Zelda, the same young girl from Link's dream. As Link leaves his childhood home, and says goodbye to his early childhood, he reaches the vast (for 1998) Hyrule Field, and is suddenly approached by a massive owl. I feel like this deepens the game's fitting autumnal atmosphere (it was released in late November!), as the mysterious and mystical owl speaks to Link and gives him advice about the journey ahead. It's important to note that Link NEVER speaks in this or any other game outside of cries and grunts, furthering the player's ability to empathize and put themselves in his shoes. As the owl flies away and Link if left to his adventure, the game introduces its revolutionary day to night cycle, with a constantly moving sun overhead that eventually dips below the horizon, as night falls on Hyrule field, the music fades, and the moon rises. 

I love this game

Link finally reaches Hyrule Castle town, a triumph of design and 1998 video game console technology, using 3D models for the village's citizens, while employing the kind of pre-rendered backgrounds the Sony Playstation made its hay with, and the Nintendo 64's catalogue probably didn't utilize enough. The town is festive and fun, home to numerous mini-games and shops. Link becomes embroiled in a bit of Hyrule drama, as the local milkman/rancher from the nearby Lon Lon Ranch hasn't yet completed his castle delivery, and his daughter, Malon, the same age as Link, is nervously awaiting his return in town. Link agrees to help, finds Malon's father, then sneaks into the castle, where he has a fated meeting with Princess Zelda. He learns about the Triforce, a sacred object left behind by the creating goddesses of Hyrule, which will grant the wish of any who touch it. Apparently, Ganondorf is trying to acquire three sacred stones (one of which the Deku Tree has already given to Link), so that he can enter the Sacred Realm and access the Triforce, then make his dreams of dominion come true. 

An iconic N64 moment

The game now begins to gain thematic depth. First of all, Link is taking on an incredible burden for a child, and that's a theme that becomes even more heightened as the game progresses. However, through this epic quest, Nintendo is also able to metaphorically present the stages of life. For instance, Link must now travel through Kakariko Village to Death Mountain, to retrieve another sacred stone. To do so, he must venture into Dodongo's Cavern, the local dungeon, but first, he'll have to befriend Darunia, leader of the local race of people, the rock eating behemoths, the Gorons. Friendship is one of the earliest stages of life. The first stage is essentially all nurture, spent almost entirely with parents or guardians, until the child has matured enough to begin connecting with the outside world. That first stage of life is perfectly represented by the opening of the game in the womb-like forest, with the Deku Tree as childhood guardian, among the Kokiri, who remain children forever. After Link strikes up a friendship with Darunia, conquer's Dodongo's Cavern, and acquires the second spiritual stone, he must head to Zora's Domain to interact with the aquatic race, the Zoras. From there, he'll have to venture into the belly of Jabu Jabu, a giant, mystical fish, and spiritual icon of the Zoras, in order to assist the Zora princess, Ruto. Here is the next stage of life, where Link must learn to interact with the opposite sex. Rather amusingly, so must the bossy young Ruto, who somehow becomes betrothed to Link in the process (due to later events in the game, that betrothal never comes to fruition).

Somehow, the game also thematically explores the power of music (fitting, since there's an instrument in the title), and yes...even depression. Nintendo's stated goal in creating these Zelda games (according to interviews) is to foster empathy in children. That's about as noble a goal as I can think of.

At this point in the game, I am having a great time, but also, Adult Link is on the box, and I want to play as him. Link takes the three spiritual stones to the Temple of Time, which appears as an enormous church, towering over the Hyrule Castle Village town square. On the way to Hyrule Castle Town, Link's nightmare comes true, as Princess Zelda races past on the back of a horse driven by her handler, Impa, chased by the evil Ganondorf. Young Link tries to stop Ganondorf and fails miserably, though after Ganondorf rides off in chase of Zelda, Link finds a mysterious ocarina that Zelda tossed into the castle moat as she rode past. Link runs to the Temple, places the spiritual stones in their proper location, plays Zelda's ocarina, and the Sacred Realm opens. Beyond the door to the Realm, Link sees a sword set in a pedestal, pulls it, and wakes up seven years later. He's suddenly 17 years old, and you know who else turned 17 in 1998 while playing this game? I've never felt more connected to or immersed in a video game than I did Ocarina of Time in 1998.

I don't think there's a cooler sound in a video game than the one when Link cuts through the air the moment after he pulls the Master Sword from its pedestal

Link has awakened in the Sacred Realm with one of the seven Sages, who tell Link he has been sealed there until this very moment, as he is now old enough to wield the Master Sword and defeat Ganondorf (there's probably some Freudian subtext there with Link having to reach a certain age before he can proper "wield his sword"). Link must now leave the Sacred Realm and travel across Hyrule, to awaken five of the sages who don't yet know their true identity, and then meet up with the final sage, so that the united seven can seal Ganondorf, who currently reigns supreme over Hyrule, away in the Sacred Realm. The moment Link first runs out of the Temple of Time is shocking. He finds that Castle Town is not only destroyed, but that the people left behind have been transformed into bloodthirsty zombies. This is a moment of pure horror, and it won't be the last time Ocarina of Time ventures into that territory.

Just a reminder that this game is rated "'E' for Everyone"

Rather fittingly, Link is first sent to the Kokiri Forest. None of the Kokiri recognize Link, but they are worried that Saria, Link's childhood friend, has suddenly vanished. Link makes his way through the Lost Woods to the Forest Temple, and suddenly Ocarina of Time finds some way to kick into a higher gear. The Forest Temple feels ancient, holy, huge, Koji Kondo's theme a brilliant, haunting mix of native chants and urgent atmospherics. Ocarina of Time covers another stage in life here, when Link realizes that other adults can be deceitful and untrustworthy, as the Temple's boss is literally a duplicitous phantom of Ganondorf himself (this battle also elevates the imaginative nature of the boss fights, as the phantom rides out from a Temple wall painting). Boss defeated, it is revealed Saria is a Sage, she awakens, and the first portion of Link's quest is complete.

It's now time to investigate the second most shocking reveal after adult Link awakens, that Death Mountain is now ringed by a halo of fire

Link then heads back to Death Mountain, as who else could be the Sage of Fire but Darunia? Link makes it to Goron City, only to find it empty of all but one young Goron, Darunia's son. From Darunia's son, Link learns that Ganondorf has awakened an ancient evil dragon named Volvagia. He has set Volvagia over Death Mountain's Fire Temple, and sent the entirety of the Goron race there to be eaten by the fiery beast, as a message to anyone who would oppose him. Darunia, who survived capture, has set off to save his people from the dragon, and hasn't returned. Thus, the Gorons have only one last hope: you.

The foyer to the Fire Temple is, for me, the most holy moment in my video gaming life

It's the Thanksgiving break of my junior year of high school. I'm barely sleeping. All I am doing is playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on my Nintendo 64. My mom tells me to do something else for a little while. I tell her I'll go pick some pecans, but I'm in the middle of the Fire Temple, so I pause, turn off the TV, but not my Nintendo 64. I also don't power down my precious stereo system (for which I worked as a farmhand for an entire summer) that I've connected to my TV, and the windy ambiance of the Fire Temple rumbles so hard, it's blowing a steady wind from my subwoofer. I leave to pick pecans, neglecting to tell my mom that I did take a very late break from Zelda the night before to watch a movie because that movie was 1985s Lifeforce. I think about how the zombies from that movie remind me of the zombies in my real life in Zelda, then I think about Mathilda May, pick some pecans for 85 cents a pound, make about $16 from a couple hours work, then get right back into the Fire Temple.

Forget Daenerys, Link is the breaker of chains, and he KILLS dragons

The Fire Temple is the pinnacle of Ocarina of Time's epic, Tolkienesque atmosphere, particularly on the GOLDEN CARTRIDGE VERSION. Koji Kondo's original instinct in soundtracking the Fire Temple was to employ Islamic Chants over hand drums, underscored by a darkly chiming melody. This instinct was absolutely perfect. This is the moment in the game where things get real, where Link goes from a kid shouldering a heavy burden to a legendary hero who will be spoken of in myth and song for eons. The epic chanting and the dungeon's billowing flames, ancient architecture, and demonic evil conjure Tolkien's Moria, Mount Doom, the Lonely Mountain, Smaug, the dwarves. The chants feel like they are coming from the Goron, as the meek stone men pray for a savior, and the player, as Link, is that savior. Kondo took something that was already epic, something that felt like the interactive realization of an ancient heroic poem, and made it transcendent. Unfortunately, Nintendo, who has always been averse to including any allusion to religion in their games in the West, decided that this music needed to be removed, and in every release of the game after the pre-order (the post pre-order Nintendo 64 cartridges are grey), the music for the Fire Temple is just a bland remix of the composition from the later Shadow Temple. Unfortunately, the Zelda franchise hasn't used any type of field-recording chanting music for any game since, despite the fact that a temple is supposed to be a holy place or a place of worship. I hope they go back to it one day. 

The fact that you get to use a legendary Goron weapon, already set up through the game's lore, makes the Fire Temple's final boss fight even more special

As 17-year-old me controlled 17-year-old Link throughout the Fire Temple, rescuing the enslaved Gorons from their cages, defeating the evil Volvagia with the ancient Goron Hero's hammer, and reuniting with Darunia before he leaves for the Sacred Realm to take his place as a Sage, I felt a feeling I haven't quite felt since, as if I wasn't playing a video game, but was living inside of it. Playing through now at nearly 42, I feel as close to that as my less-hormonal brain can. Some may knock the Nintendo 64's dated graphics, but the sometimes brown color tones and jagged edges only make the game feel even more Tolkienesque, even more so than the later released Nintendo 3DS version, which includes upgraded, smoother looking graphics. The full, pure Ocarina of Time experience is on a golden cartridge in a Nintendo 64, plugged into a CRT.

Scanlines and blurry textures aren't defects

I guess I've digressed long enough. Like has to revisit the Zoras and the subject of the opposite sex is revisited, as Link must work with a matured and wizened Ruto, who discovers after Link completes the Water Temple that she is also a Sage. The Water Temple is famed for its difficulty, though I've always found it quite easy, and ended up being the go to person to complete it for all my friends who got stuck there. Around this time, Roget Ebert famously said that video games could not be art, but the mini-boss room in the Water Temple makes that argument mute. Ocarina of Time features a great story, an epic adventure, and thematic depth up to this point, but this mini-boss battle not only exists in an artistically stunning room (a metaphysical indoor lake with a dead tree in the center), but furthers the game's themes of growing up, as Link must fight himself. Yes, somehow, the game's unimpeachable quality levels up again. The Water Temple's lute-based theme, evoking ancient Greece, heightens the greatness of the dungeon all the more.

Any talk against the Nintendo 64's graphical prowess is slander

There is no game like this one. Also, I love the solution to this fight.

At this point, it's tough to resist Hyrule's allure, especially considering the player can bounce back-and-forth between child and adult Link within each's timeline whenever they want. While the other Temples beckon, and they promise even more thrilling experiences, there's so much to do in this magical kingdom, they can wait. While all of Ocarina of Time's world map might fit into an area roughly 15% the size of the later Nintendo Switch Zelda games' maps, the Ocarina of Time map is perfect. It's easy to argue that the hundreds of hours needed to complete all the tasks on those mammoth Switch game maps make those tasks far less memorable. Ocarina of Time, like all of the great games from this era, but on the highest level possible, presents just enough optional activities to allow the player to live in its world for 30 or so hours, where everything is memorable and feels full of personality, and never feels like a mindless task. I love those Switch games, but in my opinion, the Nintendo 64 version of Zelda, with an intentional, linear story, within a large world that is fun, but not overwhelming to explore, is the best version. Link can go fishing in the most relaxing pond for prizes and get in some chats with the pond manager. He can collect heart pieces, and bottles, and poes, and golden skulltula tokens (to break a curse on a Kakariko village family), and complete a mask quest, and a quest for a better sword, along with a few other tasks...but that's it. The goals are attainable. Hyrule can be mastered...and the player can still have a life. There's fast travel to Temples you've already visited, and you can even acquire a horse (through your burgeoning relationship with Malon, who I am sure Link eventually marries, and has the Link from the later Twilight Princess game as a descendent), but you can also run from one end of Hyrule to the other in a fairly reasonable amount of time. You can even effect change in the adult Link's world by doing things in child Link's world, but even that doesn't cover enough gameplay territory to be overwhelming. It's perfect.

YEAH, I DO!!!

Once Link is through wandering around Hyrule, he must then learn about about its dark secrets, as he journeys into the disturbing and evil Shadow Temple, a place where those who opposed the Kingdom were once tortured, interrogated, and killed. Bloodied torture devices litter the temple, along with some of the game's most wicked enemies. Both the Water and Shadow Temples are preceded by mini-dungeons, an ice cavern before the former, and the Bottom of the Well below Kakariko Village for the latter, which must be visited by young Link. After destroying the evil beating heart of the Shadow Temple, and awakening its Sage, Impa, Link must again revisit his childhood at the fifth and final dungeon before the game's climax, The Spirit Temple, housed in the realm of Ganondorf's birth, among the Gerudos. Rather fittingly, there are undercurrents of returning to the mother here, as the temple is housed within the giant colossus of an ancient goddess, and not to get too graphic (and Freudian again), but the entrance to the Temple is between her legs. After gaining an item that makes his adult version stronger, Link returns to the Temple as a 17-year-old to complete the second leg of the Spirit Temple, defeating the evil witches at its core. This is perhaps the game's most poignant moment of thematic depth: the evil and narcissistic witches use black magic to keep themselves young, while the selfless Link has literally given up his childhood in order to save Hyrule. Kondo soundtracks this Temple with an ancient Egyptian-scaled and toned theme that gives a sense of spiritual exhaustion.

Fitting that the final dungeon before Ganon's Castle is in the desert

Nintendo also changed the symbols on the blocks in later versions of the game, as they also had some religious connotations. GET THE ORIGINAL GOLD CARTRIDGE (It should say NUS-CZGE-USA on the front!).

Link awakens the Temple's sage, a Gerudo woman named Nabooru, then defeats these witches who had once fittingly acted as Ganondorf's surrogate mothers. Throughout his short adulthood, Link has been aided by a mysterious masked androgynous figure named Sheik. As Link returns to the Temple of Time, Sheik reveals herself to actually be Zelda, long in disguise to hide from Ganondorf, in order to help Link. Ganondorf then reveals himself, takes Zelda to the top of his castle (a floating, perverted version of the old Hyrule Castle), and beckons Link to come try to save her. A now fully powered Link, far more formidable than the child Ganondorf easily knocked to the ground seven years before, heads to the Castle, and with the aid of the Sages, gains entrance. Ganon's Castle combines aspects of all the game's Temple's together, culminating in a bunch of escalating, epic duels with some of the game's most powerful foes. The swordfights in this game are great, as Link can jump to the side and flip backward to dodge attacks. I prefer to go shieldless and fight more aggressively, as a series of optional fetch quests allow Link to gain the massive Bigorron two-handed broadsword, the game's most powerful weapon, which I prefer to wield. 

The Sheik encounters' cinematics are excellent

The first moment the "Ganon's Castle" overlay comes up instead of "Hyrule Castle" is just as shocking as the moment adult Link first runs out of the Temple of Time

The endless stairs to the final boss fight are atmospherically awesome! Also, Biggoron's Sword for life!

Up to this point, the game has been incredibly cinematic, not because of hour-long cutscenes (the game's cutscenes are all tastefully short), but simply because of the perfect artistry of its presentation. Now that's amped up to 11, as Link must run up a seemingly endless stairway lined with torches, until he reaches one lined with stained glass, as the sound of a harpsichord grows louder, playing Ganondorf's theme. As Link reaches the candle-lit chamber at the top, he discovers it is Ganondorf himself sitting at and playing the melody on an enormous harpsichord, while an enslaved Zelda floats overhead. It turns out that because Ganondorf lacks purity of heart, when he touched the Triforce seven years before, it splintered into the essence of its three core parts, with the Triforce of Power imbuing itself in Ganondorf, Wisdom to Zelda, and Courage to Link. Now, the parts are reunited, and Link and Ganondorf must battle for the completed Triforce. The fight is suitably epic, multi-tiered, and ends before the ruins of the castle, between a now enraged beast form of Ganondorf, and Link and the now freed Zelda. If the player has the original GOLD CARTRIDGE, the killing blows landed on Ganondorf result in sprays of red blood, changed to green blood in later versions.

I can't stress how awesome this moment is. I wish every game had this level of showmanship.

The final boss fight essentially rewards the player for having played through the game

Red blood pouring out of Ganon's skull is a lot more cathartic than green blood

Ganondorf vows revenge on Hyrule's children as he's imprisoned in the Sacred Realm. Zelda sends Link back to his childhood time in his childhood form, though he retains his memories. The credits roll over a melancholy, empty Hyrule. Suddenly the mood shifts, and it's revealed that everyone in Hyrule who survived has congregated at Lon Lon Ranch to celebrate Link's victory, as the Sages look on from atop Death Mountain, though it's a bittersweet celebration, as Link has now vanished from this timeline. Back in Link's own timeline, where no one will ever know what he has done for the kingdom, he returns the Master Sword to its pedestal. The credits finish and Link is shown mysteriously approaching the young Princess Zelda, presumably to warn her about Ganondorf's schemes. The screen freezes and fades to sepia tones. Thus ends the greatest game of all time.

The Malon in this version will be waiting for Link to return for a very long time

I love this game

...I really, really love this game

I should point out, I'm not saying Ocarina of Time is my favorite game of all time...but it's probably second. With that said, there are so many games in existence, too many for any one person to ever play, the statement "this game is the greatest of all time" is almost as subjective as saying "this game is my favorite." However, any argument against Ocarina of Time's greatness should meet hard resistance. I haven't yet mentioned the game's most divisive element, Navi, Link's fairy. Navi gives Link advice throughout the game, helps him target enemies, and helps him converse with NPC's. The truth is, any divisiveness back in 1998 was nothing more than an affectionate nitpick at the high-pitched way Navi yells out "HEY!" when she wants to get the player's attention. I love Navi. Some gamers pick on the Nintendo 64's polygonal graphics, pointing out that as an early console attempt at 3D, they haven't aged well. First of all, we don't say that about the NES' 2D graphics, even though modern 2D platformers are in another technological stratosphere. The fact is, the N64 has a certain graphical style. Some games utilized that style well, and while those graphics might not compare to today's 3D graphics, they are a great representation of that style. 1999's Armorines for the Nintendo 64 is an ugly game. Armorines' graphics haven't aged well because they were already bad when the game was released. 25 years after it was released, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time isn't an ugly game. Its graphics are a charming, lovely representation of the best 64-bit graphics could be, a perfect complement to Ocarina of Time's timeless gameplay, impeccable soundtrack, and flawless presentation. If there's a better game, I haven't played it, 25 years ago, or 25 years since.

SCORE BREAKDOWN

Graphics: 10.0/10 -- Superior design, presentation, and performance, without the need for an expansion pack...AND the game runs smoothly.

Music and Sound: 10.0/10 -- Koji Kondo's final solo soundtrack is his brilliant masterwork, evocative, imaginative, and infinitely memorable.

Gameplay: 10.0/10 -- Timeless adventure at the service of a timeless story, carried out through a timelessly perfect control system.

Lasting Value: 10.0/10 -- 25 hours to beat, 35 hours to do everything, and still just as fun 25 years later.

Final Score (Not an Average): 10.0/10