The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (25 hours, Nintendo 64)

Nintendo 64 cartridges always looked like tombstones to me. “Here lies Link, hero of Hyrule.” Maybe I’m losing my mind. Anyway, when I was a kid, we’d get a new Nintendo 64 game once every three or four months. We didn’t have the World Wide Web, so my childhood friends and I discovered good games through magazines and word of mouth on the playground. Ocarina of Time was the game to own when we were kids. Finishing it now as an adult is exciting because I never beat it back then—though I did complete Ocarina of Time: Master Quest on the GameCube, which is the same game with harder dungeons. So, what do I think now that I’ve finally played through the original? It’s very, very good.

I’ve listened to the podcast Retronauts for over a decade. There are probably more hours of Retronauts in my ears (and brain) than any other podcast. Jeremy Parish, the show’s host, was always critical of Ocarina of Time because he felt it was too similar to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past—just in three dimensions instead of two. I’ve only played a little bit of LttP, but I’ve watched speedrunners play it and can understand his criticism. It’s not a unique game. I’m also going to deduct a point from the final score simply because the game feels a bit basic compared to what’s available today. Hyrule Field is pretty empty. Towns are sparsely populated. The graphics are incredibly simplistic. Still, as a kid, this game was bleeding-edge.

Where Ocarina of Time really shines is in its dungeons. The puzzle-solving is excellent, and there are a lot of dungeons to explore—nine, plus Ganon’s Castle, which includes several smaller challenge rooms. I couldn’t finish the game without a strategy guide, though I don’t consider that cheating. Fun fact: you could mail-order strategy guides from Nintendo Power magazine—or get one for free when you renewed your subscription. The game includes extra challenges for completionists, like collecting all the Heart Pieces or finding every Gold Skulltula. I didn’t go that far. There’s also an involved trading sequence I didn’t finish this time, though I remember completing it as a kid. I didn’t get every single item either, but I did collect most of them.

I think my favorite Zelda game of all time is Link’s Awakening DX on the Game Boy Color—which, funnily enough, is the most primitive. There’s an old man in the game who gives you tips whenever you find a phone. It’s almost like the strategy guide is built into the game. But I’m getting off-topic. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is very, very good—but honestly, there’s not a lot to say about it that hasn’t already been said. Most gamers in their thirties or forties already know this one—unless they bought a PlayStation, Saturn, or were (gasp) PC gamers in those days. But chances are, if you’re in that demographic, you’ve at least seen some video footage.

It was a struggle to finish all the dungeons at age thirty-eight, so it’s no wonder I couldn’t do it at fourteen. Beyond the dungeons, though, there wasn’t much left for me to enjoy. I’ve already played all the mini-games, collected the items (back in the day), and talked to every NPC. Now I can finally put Ocarina of Time on the shelf and say I had a nice time.

4/5