Wow. We knew the remake of the N64 classic Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) was going to be great, but the whole gaming world wasn’t quite prepared for how sensational this reimagining was going to be.
Nintendo has smashed this one out of the park many times over, taking one of the most celebrated games in history, and making it feel more essential than ever. Drop everything, get a Switch 2, experience this masterpiece reborn.
Nintendo’s Ocarina of Time Remake is Phenomenal
This remake launched a few weeks before Grand Auto VI arrives (one of the most hotly anticipated games in history), which we think is a classic bit of Nintendo timing. GTA 6 won’t be available on the Switch 2 and the gaming giant has provided every single reason available for us to not give a toss.
As you can only get the Ocarina of Time remake on the Switch 2. And the only game we want to play right now is the Ocarina of Time remake. We blasted through it, completed everything, and immediately went back in to start again.
The 1998 original is legendary, its influence on the industry colossal and still resonating to this day.
Yes indeedy, titles like GTA 6’s various gameplay mechanics owe a huge amount to what Nintendo achieved with the game nearly 30 years ago. Industry legend Shigeru Miyamoto (the Steven Spielberg of gaming) was the producer back then, with the game directed by Toru Osawa, Yoichi Yamada, Eiji Aonuma, Yoshiaki Koizumi, and Toshio Iwawaki.
For the remake, HokWai Ng of Nintendo EPD Production Group No. 3 handled the project.
And this is what he was advancing, the 1998 original. Doesn’t look like much now, but 28 years ago it was a landmark in gaming and considered the best video game ever created.
Ocarina of Time was the first 3D Zelda and translated the 2D formula into a gloriously open, enthralling world. The foundational game design principles it set are still in use in every major AAA game release coming out today.
That includes its Z-targeting lock-on-combat system, context-sensitive controls, dual-world time travel, and atmospheric open world.
In the plot, players take control of the young Link. He lives in Kokiri village with his peers, but he’s not like the other children. It soon emerges he must defeat the evil Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo, who threatens the kingdom of Hyrule. Off you then trot to scour the land, explore dungeons, defeat temples, and restore peace region-by-region.
You start off as young Link in Kokiri, visit the Great Deku Tree, gain some new powers, explore, and marvel at what Nintendo has done to this game. Everything about it is a massive quality upgrade.
The N64 Ocarina of Time was starting to show its age (as you’d expect), the remake smooths everything out and adds endless little flourishes to enjoy. You get complete control of the camera, 60 FPS graphics, a new orchestral OoT score (which is a glorious update of composer Koji Kondo’s classic music).
Then there’s voice acting, gyro aiming (a really big deal, it’s great!), quick swap item bars, and each area of the game is overhauled and added to.
Early on, for example, when Link first gets his sword there’s a little upgrade in the remake on how you do that. Then, when you’re at Hyrule Castle’s market you get to FREE ROAM around the joyous, consumerist mob. It’s lovely!
There are new characters around, too, such as a glorious eccentric Beard Beacon Guy who drops hints about where certain beard wearing characters may be.
Yet where Ocarina of Time still delivers a 10/10 blow is with the brilliance of its dungeons and temples, brought to life for a different era of gaming in this spectacular remake.
Ocarina of Time’s Dungeons/Temples Are Glorious
Traditional Zelda games are dungeon heavy, where you head on into a puzzle-ridden underground are and solve the hell out of fiendish concepts. The Ocarina of Time team delivered massively here, especially in adult Link form. The five core temples are phenomenal, offering world-class level design and Nintendo displaying its very clear genius.
Each one just wows you so consistently across every turn, the dungeon design is phenomenal (and better than ever to play, thanks to the remake).
HokWai Ng and his team have tightened up the experience, including for the notorious Water Temple (third in the running order), so the sense of completion when you get through them is mightily rewarding. And some of the boss battles at the end are just way ahead of so many other bosses we’ve ever faced in your average AAA game.
Bongo Bongo from the Shadow Temple is a highlight, this eerie bastard who percussions his way to freaking you out.
This at every step across the game. Relentlessly. A lot of gamers get on their high horse about Nintendo, claiming its games are “for kids”, but in plain sight there has been this consistent level of genius for the last 40+ years.
From the dungeons to the temples and those boss battles, the remake reshapes every moment into something newly remarkable. The very best of modern gaming sensibilities, merged with the pure focus on gameplay brilliance the 1990s had in spades.
Conclusion Alert!!! The Ocarina of Time Remake is a Masterpiece
On many occasions, we found this remake of Ocarina of Time quite overwhelmingly good. Whilst it helps that an all-time classic game was there waiting to be updates, the attention to detail is exquisite and it feels like a brand new game.
Also, some problems remain. At time, there’s a need to backtrack to-and-fro that’s a bit tedious. Also, Nintendo hasn’t added any new dungeons or anything. It is strictly an update of the original (with added flourishes everywhere), but a grand scale reimagining as with Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII remake this is not.
That’s good and bad, in a way, and we’re delighted with the chosen route. Even if a beefed up adventure would’ve jaw-dropping, too.
The two most recent Zelda games are the outstanding Breath of the Wild (2017) and equally great Tears of the Kingdom (2023). Some fans of the series get a bit snotty about those two, nit-picking faults as the games do stray significantly away from the traditional Zelda formula (there aren’t many dungeons etc. in those two, they’re open world experiences).
For us, those are the two best Zelda games and two of the best games ever.
But in this remake of Ocarina of Time, Nintendo has dragged this glorious SOB from 1998 right to the fore. It’s met with instant critical acclaim and is already one of the highest rated video games in history. It also shifted over five million units in just four days, with many people (including random friends of ours from high school 30 years ago) messaging us to say they’re getting a Switch 2 just for the remake.
Yes. Why not? With around 30 hours of gameplay excellence, it’s a magical experience and a perfect demonstration of what Nintendo does best. A masterpiece that anyone of any age can experience and fall in love with (all over again).
