The greatest game of all time: Ocarina of Time.
You might be shocked to know that despite being the worlds biggest Sonic fan my favourite game of all time does not feature the blue hedgehog at all. Hell it’s not even done by SEGA, but by their biggest rivals Nintendo.
Yes I am one of those who regard Miyamoto’s N64 masterpiece, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as the greatest game ever made. While some might say it’s not THE best game ever few would argue that it deserves a place near the top.
With the recent 3DS remake I ask myself why, after nearly 13 years nothing has come to take its crown. In fact the only game that could claim to be better is itself, strange isn’t it?
So where to begin? I got Ocarina of Time for my Birthday soon after its release, so February 1999. I had rented it previously and was so blown away my money went straight on a shiny new copy of OOT. I had never played a Zelda game before and if I could I would go back in time and punch myself in the face for such stupidity.
Even before you put the game in your N64 you can’t help but look at the simple yet effective box. This game knows it’s good. So good all it needs is a logo and some text in gold writing. Nothing fancy, all it needs to convince you to buy it are the worlds “The”, “Legend”, “of” and “Zelda”.
The first thing you should notice is the brilliant title sequence music. So beautiful and elegant, perfectly describing the world you’ll spend your precious hours in. OOT’s soundtrack is truly one of the most memorable you will ever come across.
Visually the game was ahead of its time. There were moments that literally stunned me to my core, such as the twisting corridors of the Forest Temple. The opening questioning the reason for having FMV over in game cut scenes; it was beautiful and set the scene perfectly.
Even in the opening area the whole place lit up with life and energy rarely seen in games before. Not a drop of the NPC’s personalities held back, Kokiri forest felt oddly strange yet strangely familiar. Immediately it’s made clear that Link was teased for being different (not having a fairy) and already you’re relating to character before you’ve entered your first dungeon.
The game engine questioned everything you knew about gaming. Even at its core the lack of a jump button was inspired. If you had told me that before I played the game I would’ve been bewildered. You move from platform to platform without a jump button, what the fuck? But it works so well within minutes it’s just so natural.
The Z targeting system remains one of the best ways of handling combat in 3D. Being able to freely move around an opponent, blocking and dodging attacks and then countering with the minimum of fuss, it blended real time skill and strategy in a way that felt unique and special.
You enter Queen Gohma’s chamber, its boss time and you can cut the tension with a knife. The atmosphere builds in a big empty room, everything is quiet and then you notice something odd in the ceiling. The eye spots you, Queen Gohma drops from the ceiling and its go time. The pace of the music quickens and you know you have a fight on your hands. You fire several Deku nuts into her brain, slice her eye open like a turkey and you’re rewarded with your first heart piece.
And then just as you’re elevated the Deku Tree, the big tree that’s looked after you and your kind for hundred of years dies before you eyes. You spend a moment to shred a tear and then the real adventure begins. You thought the world was big and filled with life before, and then you’re introduced to Hyrule Field. The whole scale of the world before you becomes real; yes you do climb that Volcano in the distance later on.
Hours pass, you’ve sneaked passed guards and met Princess Zelda, you’ve made Darunia dance to the infectious Saria’s Song, went inside the belly of the beast, literally, and got yourself engaged to a humanoid fish creature and then finally you get your hands on the games namesake, The Ocarina of Time.
And just when you think you’re reaching the end the world expands even more. You pick up the Master sword in the temple of time and all hell breaks loose. Ganondorf gets the triforce, Zelda comes into hiding and Hyrule gets truly fucked over. Its seven years later and you are an adult.
Everything changes and you begin to appreciate OOT’s true beauty. Unlike any other game that went before it you are not just playing a game, you are experiencing the living breathing world of Hyrule. Things you do as a child effect the future, people you meet in the past have whole new lives in the future.
And it only gets better from there as you switch between them at will, effectively making Time your bitch. Your greatest weapon is not your sword, your bombs, not even the horse it’s that musical instrument that gets permanently assigned to a C-button, your Ocarina.
The world gets more insane, the bosses more epic, the puzzles more mind boggling and the experience more incredible, all building up to a fantastic final boss and a beautiful ending.
The game’s length is perfect. Long enough to stand on its own, short enough to be replayed over and over again. There is enough here to keep you going for months, even years. Not a lot of purely single player games can boast that.
The debate whether games are Art or not rages on. Some would say that you cannot have good Art and good Design. There is very little in this world that can say they have both, and I’m not just talking games here.
Ocarina of Time is one of the few, if not the only, games to does everything to an exceptionally high standard. The experience is second to none and remains a master class in how games should be made. One of the greatest creations of mankind.
Few games are truly brilliant, only one series is Truly Legendary, and In my opinion at least, Ocarina of Time is the best of them all.
Yes I am one of those who regard Miyamoto’s N64 masterpiece, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as the greatest game ever made. While some might say it’s not THE best game ever few would argue that it deserves a place near the top.
With the recent 3DS remake I ask myself why, after nearly 13 years nothing has come to take its crown. In fact the only game that could claim to be better is itself, strange isn’t it?
So where to begin? I got Ocarina of Time for my Birthday soon after its release, so February 1999. I had rented it previously and was so blown away my money went straight on a shiny new copy of OOT. I had never played a Zelda game before and if I could I would go back in time and punch myself in the face for such stupidity.
Even before you put the game in your N64 you can’t help but look at the simple yet effective box. This game knows it’s good. So good all it needs is a logo and some text in gold writing. Nothing fancy, all it needs to convince you to buy it are the worlds “The”, “Legend”, “of” and “Zelda”.
The first thing you should notice is the brilliant title sequence music. So beautiful and elegant, perfectly describing the world you’ll spend your precious hours in. OOT’s soundtrack is truly one of the most memorable you will ever come across.
Visually the game was ahead of its time. There were moments that literally stunned me to my core, such as the twisting corridors of the Forest Temple. The opening questioning the reason for having FMV over in game cut scenes; it was beautiful and set the scene perfectly.
Even in the opening area the whole place lit up with life and energy rarely seen in games before. Not a drop of the NPC’s personalities held back, Kokiri forest felt oddly strange yet strangely familiar. Immediately it’s made clear that Link was teased for being different (not having a fairy) and already you’re relating to character before you’ve entered your first dungeon.
The game engine questioned everything you knew about gaming. Even at its core the lack of a jump button was inspired. If you had told me that before I played the game I would’ve been bewildered. You move from platform to platform without a jump button, what the fuck? But it works so well within minutes it’s just so natural.
The Z targeting system remains one of the best ways of handling combat in 3D. Being able to freely move around an opponent, blocking and dodging attacks and then countering with the minimum of fuss, it blended real time skill and strategy in a way that felt unique and special.
You enter Queen Gohma’s chamber, its boss time and you can cut the tension with a knife. The atmosphere builds in a big empty room, everything is quiet and then you notice something odd in the ceiling. The eye spots you, Queen Gohma drops from the ceiling and its go time. The pace of the music quickens and you know you have a fight on your hands. You fire several Deku nuts into her brain, slice her eye open like a turkey and you’re rewarded with your first heart piece.
And then just as you’re elevated the Deku Tree, the big tree that’s looked after you and your kind for hundred of years dies before you eyes. You spend a moment to shred a tear and then the real adventure begins. You thought the world was big and filled with life before, and then you’re introduced to Hyrule Field. The whole scale of the world before you becomes real; yes you do climb that Volcano in the distance later on.
Hours pass, you’ve sneaked passed guards and met Princess Zelda, you’ve made Darunia dance to the infectious Saria’s Song, went inside the belly of the beast, literally, and got yourself engaged to a humanoid fish creature and then finally you get your hands on the games namesake, The Ocarina of Time.
And just when you think you’re reaching the end the world expands even more. You pick up the Master sword in the temple of time and all hell breaks loose. Ganondorf gets the triforce, Zelda comes into hiding and Hyrule gets truly fucked over. Its seven years later and you are an adult.
Everything changes and you begin to appreciate OOT’s true beauty. Unlike any other game that went before it you are not just playing a game, you are experiencing the living breathing world of Hyrule. Things you do as a child effect the future, people you meet in the past have whole new lives in the future.
And it only gets better from there as you switch between them at will, effectively making Time your bitch. Your greatest weapon is not your sword, your bombs, not even the horse it’s that musical instrument that gets permanently assigned to a C-button, your Ocarina.
The world gets more insane, the bosses more epic, the puzzles more mind boggling and the experience more incredible, all building up to a fantastic final boss and a beautiful ending.
The game’s length is perfect. Long enough to stand on its own, short enough to be replayed over and over again. There is enough here to keep you going for months, even years. Not a lot of purely single player games can boast that.
The debate whether games are Art or not rages on. Some would say that you cannot have good Art and good Design. There is very little in this world that can say they have both, and I’m not just talking games here.
Ocarina of Time is one of the few, if not the only, games to does everything to an exceptionally high standard. The experience is second to none and remains a master class in how games should be made. One of the greatest creations of mankind.
Few games are truly brilliant, only one series is Truly Legendary, and In my opinion at least, Ocarina of Time is the best of them all.
posted by Master hunter at 1:13 pm
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