Legend Of Zelda The Ocarina Of Time/Master Quest: A Legend Of Epic Proportion
Written: Mar 01 '03
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Come On, It's One Of The Best Games Ever
Cons: Game Stutters Slightly At Points, Master Quest Is A Tad Disappointing
The Bottom Line: This Bonus Disc Is A Must Have For Anyone, And The Best Part About It Is That It's Free.
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| jeremy1456's Full Review: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time + Ocarina of ... |
The Legend Of Zelda series is one of the most well known franchises in the video game industry, and has been for over a decade and a half. Nintendo just couldn't seem to go wrong with their hit franchise, as each sequel sold millions upon millions, and none of the games could really be considered bad, as they all offer a slightly different gameplay experience. The best of these titles for me though has definitely become The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time, which was released on the Nintendo 64 in the year of 1998. The Ocarina of Time went on to become one of the best selling games of that generation despite being launched somewhat late in the life of the Nintendo 64, and it quickly became one of my favorite games of all time. That was around 5 years ago, the Nintendo 64 has been dead for a long time now, but Nintendo recently found a way to promote their next Zelda game; The Wind Waker, every pre-order for the latest Zelda game receives a free bonus disc which contains complete ports of The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time and the never before released Ura Zelda which was actually supposed to be a game for the Nintendo 64 disc drive which never took off, Ura Zelda is entitled Zelda The Ocarina Of Time Master Quest for it's US debut. So does this bonus disc make my pre-order for The Wind Waker that much of a better deal?
This is one of the first non selfish thing that I think I have ever seen Nintendo do, as Nintendo is usually the company who won't do anything that won't bring them profit, namely they don't seem to want to answer gamer's requests by developing an online plan because they don't see what's in it for them while Sony and Microsoft are sacrificing to make their online games. So you can probably see why I was extremely surprised to see Nintendo offering something free to the gaming public, even if it is only to make more people pre-order The Wind Waker, but still, it's a step in the right direction for Nintendo.
Storyline
No Zelda game has ever had a storyline that is on the level of... say... a Final Fantasy game, but that is mainly due to the fact that Zelda games often rely more on gameplay than story, unlike a lot of Final Fantasy games. I still don't like the fact that the main character, Link has little to no dialogue in the game, and the only time he technically speaks out is through the sound effects or through a prompt whenever you are given a choice of answers.
Deep in the dark and dreary forests of Hyrule lives the Kokiri, these are elves that never grow up and so are eternally children. Each of the Kokiri has a small fairy that always flies at their side and helps them, but one boy living in the Kokiri Village does not have a fairy and is often looked down upon because of it. One day the almighty Deku tree decides to summon this boy, for he knows that the fate of the land of Hyrule lies within him, and so he sends the faithful fairy, Navi to go seek the boy without a fairy so that the wise Deku Tree might have a word with him. Navi finds the boy and leads him and brings him to the Deku Tree only to accompany him inside of the Deku Tree to help him pass his test that has been laid before him. Can the fate of the beautiful land of Hyrule really rest with this one frail looking child?
The story behind the Ocarina of Time may not seem like much, but it works well enough with the game, but at the same time is not integral to enjoying the experience. This is one of the few action RPGs that I think could still be an enjoyable experience even if there was absolutely no story at all inside of it. The Ocarina Of Time often goes through periods where there is barely a single mention of the game's story and events.
Gameplay
The Ocarina Of Time stays true to the classic Zelda gameplay, but Ocarina of Time was the first 3-D Zelda game, and the series was easily the best 2-D to 3-D transfer I have ever seen. Like the older Zelda games, the main emphasis is put into slicing away at monsters and solving sometimes overly simple puzzles as you progress from dungeon to dungeon, fighting a boss in each of these as you finish them. I get a slight feeling of repetition while playing any Zelda game though, and this is definitely no different and at some points feels like the most repetitive of the Zelda games.
Zelda The Ocarina Of Time offers the bets experience out of every Zelda game ever released, as combat is more diverse and requires far more strategy than ever before. The Ocarina of Time brought one of the coolest features I have ever seen in an action RPG before, and this is the "Z Targeting System" (well that's what it was called in the N64 version, but in the Gamecube version it is referred to as the L Targeting System), this targeting system allows you to keep the camera on one specific enemy while battling them, while at the same time the computer will direct all of your attacks and blocks toward this enemy. This targeting system is extremely useful in the game, as it allows you to easily dodge and attack enemies that are prone to blocking your sword swipes.
The gameplay may sound repetitive, but that's because the whole game is slightly on the repetitive side of things. I think it would have added more diversity to the game if you could travel to some new scenery besides what is in the game, and also if the puzzles were less similar. The puzzles are slightly boring sometimes as they simply require a swift shot with an arrow or the simple press of a switch on the ground, nothing that will usually cause you to have to think too hard. The really only puzzling thing about this game is that it is often easy to get lost in the dungeons, and sometimes items are in hard to see locations, but besides those 2 things the dungeons are fairly easy to trek through.
Each of the dungeons has a separate theme to it, well most of them anyways. You will travel through a dungeon deep inside the misty forest, one underwater at the bottom of a deep lake, a dungeon deep within the sweltering jungle, but there are several other themes. In classic Zelda style, you start the game on a trek to find 3 different items which are hidden in the three main dungeons at this point, but after acquiring these items you are given an entirely new set of items that you must receive in order to progress in the game.
One of the more original ideas implemented into the Ocarina Of Time was the use of time, meaning that time passes, day turns to night and vice versa. The different times of the day can be both good and bad, as during the daytime all of the villagers are awake, and the drawbridge to Hyrule Castle and the marketplace is always open, and the Hyrule Field is a fairly safe place, but when night falls on the land monsters start coming from the ground, Hyrule Castle closes it's drawbridge, and most of the villagers in Kariko Village are asleep in their homes with the doors locked. This feature is a very nice addition, as it adds a sense of realism to the game.
The Ocarina of Time is also the first Zelda game in which Link can ride the horse Epona. Of course, only adult Link can ride this horse in the Ocarina of Time, but it sure makes traveling across the massive world of Hyrule less tedious. Epona can even manage to jump small fences if you hit them at the right speed, and Epona can get small bursts of speed when you press the A button while riding.
At a specific point in the game, Link will receive an Ocarina that he can play. The use of the Ocarina is integral to this game's gameplay, as you will often have to bust out this instrument and play specific songs that you have learned while on your journey. Some of these songs have magical attributes associated with the, for instance, one song can change the weather and another can change the time of day, while others are just needed to unlock doors and treasure chests.
"You're Not Thinking Fourth-Dimensionally Marty!"
In the beginning of the game Link is simply a Kokiri child from the Forest, but after collecting the 3 jewels that he is commanded to collect, he gains entry to the Temple Of Time and also recieves the treasure of the Royal Family of Hyrule; The Ocarina Of Time. At this point, Link enters the Temple and is warped 7 years into the future where he is now an adult, but you after beating the first adult dungeon you can travel between the time periods, and Link gains the title of the hero of time. Through time travel, you can slightly alter something, like say, plant a seed and then you can travel into the future to see the direct results of this, which often leads to treasure or opens up the way that you need to continue on.
The ability to travel through time makes a very nice addition to the Zelda series, and besides the series' transition to 3-D graphics, is the only real fresh concept brought to the table with the Ocarina of Time. Adult and young Link both use a different set of items, and so it is sometimes necessary to travel between the two time periods to solve puzzles and such. The best implementation of it being necessary to travel through time to complete a task is best seen when playing through the temple found in the desert, which requires you to play through the first half as young Link and then switch to adult Link to finish it.
Items Solve All Your Problems
The Legend Of Zelda series has always relied heavily upon finding items in dungeons and using them to proceed through the level, and The Ocarina Of Time does not stray from this aspect. Every single dungeon contains at least 3 items in it; a special item/weapon that can be used by Link, a map of the dungeon, and a compass. The special items that you find in the dungeons can be equipped and used by Link, and these items are often necessary in completing the dungeon in which you find them.
These special items aren't the only thing that Link can equip and use though, as Link will acquire various tunics, swords and shields throughout his quest. Obviously the swords are Link's main weapon for combat, and the shields are used for blocking attacks, but the tunics have special characteristics about them. The standard green tunic does nothing special for Link, but while wearing the blue tunic Link can breathe unerwater, and while wearing the red tunic Link can withstand heat, so much in fact that he can enter a volcano.
Differences Between The N64 and GC Versions
The Ocarina Of Time for Gamecube is a straight port of the Nintendo 64 version, but with the change of storage format there were sure to be come changes in the transfer. The first difference is that the video and sound quality are both crisper in the GC version. The other difference is that the GC version stutters slightly at certain points in the game, namely the screen freezes for a second when you pause the game, and saving your file takes much longer than it did in the N64 version.
The Gamecube disc also allows you to select between the original Ocarina Of Time game or the never before released Ocarina Of Time Master Quest. The Master Quest was originally developed for the Nintendo 64 Disc Drive, which never took off and thus was not released over in North America. The only differences in Master Quest are the dungeons and monsters which are a lot more difficult; all of the dungeon have been totally remixed and so the puzzles are all different, along with there being more monsters that are more difficult. This is really fun to play through, as it is a fresh new way to play The Ocarina Of Time.
Disc Supplements
Since this is a free bonus disc Nintendo included plenty of advertising, including videos for upcoming games, the videos that are included on this disc are for the following games; The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker, The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past, Metroid Prime, F-Zero, 1080 degree Snowboarding, and Wario World. There may be more though, as I'm having a hard time remembering at the moment.
My Ratings For: The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time/Master Quest Bonus Disc
Graphics: 7/10
Even though this game was originally released for the Nintendo 64, I am reviewing it on Gamecube, and so I must compare it's graphics to those of other Gamecube games. The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time is a fairly decent looking game with a decent polygon count and fair textures, but the frame rate is rather low and so the game usually doesn't look smooth by any means. This game doesn't have much in the way of an original art style, but most things in this game look spectacular and fit the environment perfectly. The thing that I really like about this game's graphics are the little details that went into it, such as the subtle use of fog as the sun begins to rise, and the gloomy atmosphere present in the Forest Temple. These nice little touches really add to the game's overall feeling, and it works nicely to stress the Nintendo magic that went into this game.
Textures and lighting effects are extremely... well... mediocre. By today's standards the lighting effects are fairly weak, and the textures just seem to blur together sometimes. The character models all use little to no textures in their designs, and it seems like the only area that the designers really took a long time on were the character's faces (I'm not counting the original character models here when I say that).
Environments and particle effects are a little below the standards of today, but they work with this game and so it doesn't matter how primitive they may seem. Hyrule Field is extremely barren, as I could count the amount of trees on it with 2 hands despite the fact that the field is massive. There also isn't a lot in the way of particle effects in this game, and they would have worked nicely if they had been implemented a little more.
Story: 6.5/10
Like I said earlier, the story in The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time is a little on the weak side of the spectrum. Unlike the past Zelda games, there are actually a couple of plot twists in this one, but this still isn't enough for me to think more of the game's story. What's worse is that the story is the same old same old when it comes to the Zelda series, with Link on a quest to save Zelda, only withal couple of other elements thrown in so that gamers can sight differences.
Control: 7.5
The N64 controller was absolutely perfect for this game, but it feels more than a little awkward when using the Gamecube controller. For one thing, the Nintendo 64 controller made use of the C buttons, but since the Gamecube controller ahs less buttons, Nintendo had to assign the weapons to the camera stick, and this doesn't work very well at all. If you would rather not use the camera stick Nintendo has also made it so that you can use these items with the Z, Y, and X buttons, but this feels just plain awkward. I do have to give Nintendo credit though, as the camera in this game is the best camera that I have ever seen used in a 3-Dimensional game.
Sound: 9/10
During the transition from cartridge to Gamecube disc, the sound quality improved slightly. The music and sound effects are now a little more crisp, probably due to the Gamecube's higher quality sound output capabilities and the new storage medium. The music in this game is terrific; I like how Nintendo can just change the mood of the entire game with one sharp melody. I have a couple of favorite songs in this game, one of which is the epic overworld theme, and another is the dark and mysterious theme that plays in the Forest Temple. There are a couple of particularly weak songs in this game though, including the music that plays while fighting the mini bosses in the dungeons.
Sound effects are fairly standard in this game, as they accomplish the task for which they were created. Link's voice often gets annoying with every swipe of his sword, but besides this minor setback everything sounds all right. The most realistic sound effect is the one made by the bow whenever you fire off an arrow. All in all there really wasn't anythign totallly enthralling with the sound effects in this game, but then again nothing sounds particularly awful.
Fun Factor: 9.5/10
I've said it before and I'll say it again, The Legend Of Zelda: The Ocarina Of Time is the best Zelda game ever created, even though at one point in time I did prefer A Link To The Past. The Master Quest addition adds a whole new level of replayability, and since this disc is a free promotional offer there is no better deal out there. This game is one of the greatest action RPGs ever created, and the immense amount of work that Nintendo put into it is obvious as you play through, easily the most polished, and probably best N64 game ever released, I'm just glad that Nintendo gave this game another home so that people who missed out on it the first time now have a chance to play it.
Overall Rating: 9.5
Recommended:
Yes
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