The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Zelda V) will be the fifth game in what has been called the finest series of video games ever. It will also in my opinion be the best game of all time.
Story
The storyline in this game sets it before all of the others. Ganon is not Ganon, but just a petty thief, Ganondorf Dragmire. Also, Link is just a young boy in the beginning of the game, but matures as the game goes on. As the game begins, young Link sees young Zelda being kidnapped. As always, Link will have to defeat Ganon, and save Zelda.
 Gameplay
The gameplay of Zelda V sounds great from every source I have read, including IGN64, Zelda Headquarters, and Nintendo Power. The atmosphere is huge, and it will take an expert to beat the 32 MB (256 megabit) game in 40 hours or less. In Zelda V, you can interact with almost anything, a feature absent from most RPGs. The controls are another great feaure of Zelda V. One of the most innovative controls is the context sensitive B button. The action that this button makes you do changes when you are in different places. For instance, if you were standing next to a box, the action in the B button display would read "open". Touching the B button would open the box. The game utilizes all buttons on the controller, which may make it difficult for novice players.
Graphics
The graphics are great, as one would expect from an in-house Nintendo developed title. The framerates run 24 - 30 frames per second (fps) and the game is smoothly animated. The developers (Miyamoto and Co.) paid attention to the tinyest detail when developing Zelda. They even used real lighting effects. This was the first Nintendo-developed game to do that. The shadows even go the opposite direction of the light source.
 Sound
There has not been much said about the sound but I am certain that it will be up to par with the gameplay and graphics. I can't wait to here that classic Zelda tune coming out of my N64.
Miscellaneous
There are still some of the same items as in previous Zeldas, but some are only availible to Link when he is young (boomerang), and some items change when Link is older (sword). The camera improves on Mario 64's by not going through the wall, etc. There is also a target lockon system that, by pressing the Z button, allows you to lock onto targets.
 Overall
This game has my vote for game of the year, and I haven't even played it yet. The game is rumble pak compatible and has built in EEPROM with 3 save slots. It supports 1 player. We'll have a full review of it next month.
Questions? Comments? E-mail me at n64obsession@hotmail.com | 
