The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
There is one word to describe The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: Perfect. This is absolutely the best game I have ever played! Without a doubt.
Graphics
The graphics are awesome. The first time I popped the game into my N64, I was completely blown away. It has crisp, clean graphics and spectacular real lighting effects. Nintendo also used pre-rendered graphics in such places as the Temple of Time and inside many buildings. The graphics resemble those of a more serious Banjo-Kazooie with many more cut scenes--40 minutes worth to be exact. The cut scenes are great and make the game all the more realistic and cinematic. The characters are animated very beautifully and the background objects are very realistic.
Landscape
The landscape in Zelda 64 is one of the largest I have ever seen in a game and is almost totally interactive. It's so large that it takes a few minutes just to walk from one side to the other. The passing of time is really cool, too. It turns from day to night and vice-versa when you are in outside places such as the Hyrule Field, Lake Hylia, and Death Mountain. In towns, however, time stands still. You can make it day when it is night or night when it is day by playing the sun's song. The map was well designed by the game's lead designer, the great Shigeru Miyamoto. Overall, this is a very attractive and well planned landscape.
Sound
The sound, like everything else in this game, is awesome. Many classic themes from other Zelda games are mixed with great new music to make the games soundtrack. One of the only disappointments I had, though, was that there was no classic Zelda theme in Ocarina of Time. That was only minor considering the number of other catchy tunes in the game. The music is context sensitive also. It changes depending on what you are standing next to. The sound effects are just as good as the music. I especially liked the sound of an enemy hitting your shield.
Gameplay
Perhaps the best feature in this game is the gameplay. It draws you in and doesn't let go for hours. When I first played the game I couldn't stop. If it weren't for my dad, I might have played all night. The controls were designed perfectly for the N64 controller. Here's what each button does:
- A: Context sensitive, various functions depending on what you are standing near, note on Ocarina
- B: Sword, shoot arrows while on horse
- C left, right, down: Items, set on item subscreen, notes on Ocarina
- C up Look around, talk to Navi, note on Ocarina
- Z Targetting system, camera
- R Shield
This game also makes use of the rumble pak better than any other game on N64, even better than Star Fox 64. When you are riding Epona (your horse), it actually feels like you are riding a horse. I have yet to experience the Stone of Agony, so I don't know how that feels, but if it is like the rest of the game, it will be great. Miyamoto did a great job with the gameplay in this game.
Replay
I'm gonna play this game over and over and over again. It's that good. It wouldn't hurt to have a multiplayer mode, but I guess that there wasn't enough room on the cart.
Overall
If you haven't played this game you haven't experienced the full power of the N64. If you buy one game for the N64 ever, this should be the one. Take it from me, a person whose had a Nintendo system since I was seven. This is the best game I have ever played for any system.
