The Zelda series needs no introduction
The Zelda series needs no introduction and regardless of how old you are, what platform you favour, odds are that some point in your gaming lives you have witnessed the greatness of at least one of the Zelda games.
Ocarina of Time is the first in the Zelda series to be fully 3D, a feature which really adds something to the game. The visuals are fantastic, and I guarantee you will never forget the first time you step out into Hyrule with all that lush green grass.
It’s not just outside you’ll be traversing, because within the game is an almost labyrinth style of dungeons that will make your mind boggle and in some cases just sit there in pure frustration cursing the designers to hell and back. The puzzles are challenging all throughout the game and at later levels your brain power will be truly put to the test, especially in dungeons such as the Water Temple, which to this day I claim to be one of the greatest dungeons in gaming history, it’s just that dam good.
The sound is also very atmospheric which is a great feature, as the sound really paints a picture of where you are, not that you need to with the lush three dimensional graphics. It does what every sound piece in a game should do, it portrays emotions through the game into you the player, whether it be curious, calm or even spine chilling.
That’s enough of the technical stuff out of the way; let’s get on with the game. When you begin, you’ll find yourself as a rather young Link running around your home village. Soon events start happening that will eventually turn the rather young Link, the hero of time and an adult, quite literally as well.
Probably one of, if not, the best feature of the game is the ability to travel through time, and by doing so making our hero age. You can then wave goodbye to the young Link (for the time being, as he does get called upon later on) and then welcome the new adult Link.
The control system is flawless and you have complete control over your character, even swapping between items such as the boomerang and slingshot is very quick and simple, which adds a good dimension to the combat system.
Despite the main quest there is still plenty of other content to take part in, such as fishing and lots of little mini games. Doing so won’t grant you any new super powers, but normally you get rewarded with a new slot of heart, which is always welcome.
Say hello to Epona! Once you hit a certain point in the game you will be granted the ability to call upon your horse to travel the lands of Hyrule. Doing so is great fun and gets you from A to B that much quicker, which is a good thing considering the size of Hyrule. Sadly you are unable to enter into combat while on horse back, which is probably one of my only annoyances with the game, but despite that, the ability to ride around on your own horse is another great feature of the game.
All the familiar items are within your grasp, as you’ll have access to the boomerang, slingshot, bow, hookshot and lets not forget the Master Sword.
As the name suggests, one of the most important items in the game is the Ocarina of Time itself and while you do no get that variation of Ocarina until later on in the game, there are plenty more variants for you to get a hold of.
The Ocarina’s are like flutes, and when you play specific tunes on one, a variety of effects can happen. You can call your horse and even turn night into day.
I’m finding it really hard to say anything about the game, but it is that dam good. For those of you that haven’t played it, I suggest you do so as you will not regret it. A masterpiece of gaming history and a game that can be only described as Excellent, Amazing, Fantastic, Gob Smacking, Phenomenal – just circle which one you prefer.