The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

1998 video game for the Nintendo 64

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time[a] is an action-adventure video game. The game was published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was published in Japan and North America in November 1998. In December, it was published in the PAL regions. It was the fifth Legend of Zelda video game. It was the first to be in 3D.[10] In the game, the player character Link goes on an adventure to save the kingdom of Hyrule from the evil Ganondorf. To save Hyrule, Link must fight against Ganondorf and all his minions. A special object in the game is the sacred Ocarina that Link can play after he learns the songs, causing different effects depending on the song he plays, such as moving him to certain places around Hyrule (making it much easier and faster to travel), and starting rain (for example to water plants or fill dry lakes).

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time.svg
Developer(s)Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Shigeru Miyamoto[1]
Producer(s)Shigeru Miyamoto
Designer(s)Shigeru Miyamoto
Yoichi Yamada
Eiji Aonuma[2]
Yoshiaki Koizumi
Artist(s)Yusuke Nakano
Writer(s)Toru Osawa
Shigeru Miyamoto[3][4]
Yoshiaki Koizumi[5]
Composer(s)Koji Kondo
SeriesThe Legend of Zelda
Platform(s)Nintendo 64, GameCube, iQue Player, Virtual Console (Wii, Wii U), Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Switch Online
ReleaseNintendo 64:
Nintendo GameCube:
iQue Player:
  • CHN: November 17, 2003
Virtual Console (Wii):
Virtual Console (Wii U):
  • NA: July 2, 2015
  • EU: July 2, 2015
  • AU: July 3, 2015
  • JP: December 22, 2015
Nintendo 3DS:
  • JP: June 16, 2011
  • EU: June 17, 2011
  • NA: June 19, 2011
  • AU: June 30, 2011
  • KOR: September 27, 2012
  • CHN: October 27, 2012
Nintendo eShop:
  • EU: October 4, 2012
  • AU: October 4, 2012
  • NA: October 18, 2012
  • JP: November 1, 2012
Nintendo Switch Online:
  • WW: October 2021
Genre(s)Action-adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Many websites and magazines name it one of the best video games of all time.

StoryEdit

In the Kokiri Forest, the Great Deku Tree asks the fairy Navi to tell Link to come to him. When Link arrives, he learns that the Great Deku Tree is dying because of a curse placed on him by an evil man called Ganondorf. Link is the only one who can save him. Link must enter the Great Deku Tree in order to save him from the curse.

Although Link defeats the most of the monsters inside, he is too late to save the tree. Before the Great Deku Tree dies, he gives Link the Kokiri Emerald, a magic stone, and tells him that it was a man in black armor who put the curse on him. He also tells Link that he needs to go to princess of Hyrule at Hyrule Castle. Before he leaves, Saria, Link's friend, gives him the Fairy Ocarina, a magic instrument.

At Hyrule Castle, Link sneaks pass the guards and meets Princess Zelda. Zelda shows Link, through a window, a strange man with evil eyes. She tells Link that the man is Ganondorf. She also tells him that Ganondorf wants to steal the Triforce, a magic symbol of the Gods, and take control of the world. To defeat him, Link needs to find three magical "Spiritual Stones" (Kokiri Emerald being one of them), six great medallions and the magical Ocarina of Time.

ReleaseEdit

Ocarina of Time was a very popular game, and many people liked it. Five million copies of the game were sold around the world after six months, and 7.6 million copies were sold in total.[11]

Many people were happy with this game, although there were a few, small problems. One problem was that players cannot skip through the parts where people talk. Another was that players cannot play against the boss monsters that they have already killed.

Overall, many websites and magazines think that Ocarina of Time is one of the best games ever made. GameSpot,[12] Famitsu,[13] IGN,[14] Electric Gaming Monthly,[15] and Edge[16] all gave the game perfect scores.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DEdit

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D is a remake made for the Nintendo 3DS console. It was released on June 16, 2011. It includes use of the console's touch screen and better graphics.

NotesEdit

  1. Known in Japan as Zelda no Densetsu: Toki no Ocarina (Japanese: ゼルダの伝説 時のオカリナ, Hepburn: Zeruda no Densetsu: Toki no Okarina) or The Legend of Zelda: Toki no Ocarina (Japanese: The Legend of Zelda 時のオカリナ, Hepburn: Za Rejendo obu Zeruda: Toki no Okarina).

ReferencesEdit

  1. "A Link to Zelda's Future". GameSpy Articles. IGN Entertainment, Inc. June 6, 2004. Retrieved September 15, 2010. GameSpy: My understanding is that during the last days of the creation of Ocarina of Time, Mr. Miyamoto was taken off the project. / Eiji Aonuma: It was the opposite. At the beginning of the project, his attitude was "Okay, guys, I will let you go ahead and make this game." At some point, he said, "No, no. I've got to get on here." He jumped in and took control of the direction. It was not him beginning then leaving, it was him watching and then taking over the reins. I think maybe we were moving a bit slow for him. Obviously, Mr. Miyamoto had a large passion for Ocarina of Time. He could not hold back anymore. He jumped in and started giving direction.
  2. "The Previous Game Felt As Though We'd Given Our All". Iwata Asks: The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Nintendo of America, Inc. Retrieved October 18, 2010. Eiji Aonuma: Our first 3D The Legend of Zelda game for the N64 turned out to be The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. I did some direction on that one, although it was only partial: I was in charge of dungeon design.
  3. "Question and Answer Session with Mr. Miyamoto". Nintendo E3 Report 1998. Nintendo of America Inc. (via Internet Archive). May 27, 1998. Archived from the original on October 7, 1999. Retrieved May 30, 2010. Shigeru Miyamoto: However, the scenario and game modes are only about 50% my idea.
  4. "Interview mit dem Meister". Club Nintendo (in German). Nintendo of Europe GmbH (Ausgabe 4): 17. August 1998. Shigeru Miyamoto: Die komplette Story ist von mir. / The entire story is from me.
  5. Chris Kohler (December 4, 2007). "Interview: Super Mario Galaxy Director On Sneaking Stories Past Miyamoto". Wired: GameLife. Condé Nast Digital. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  6. "Release Information". IGN. 1996–2010. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 "Release Information". Zelda Dungeon. 2001–2010. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  8. 8.0 8.1 "Release Information". Giant Bomb. 2010. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  9. "Master Quest Release Information". IGN. 1996–2010. Retrieved March 10, 2010.
  10. "How Ocarina of Time Defined The Legend of Zelda Franchise". Collider. 2021-06-18. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  11. "GDC 2004: The History of Zelda". IGN. 26 March 2004. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
  12. "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Review". GameSpot. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
  13. "Zelda Receives Highest Ever Famitsu Score". IGN. 14 November 1998. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
  14. "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Review". IGN. 26 November 1998. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
  15. "Retro Review: Zelda Ocarina of Time". 1UP.com. Archived from the original on 2013-05-22. Retrieved 2015-11-24.
  16. "Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time review". Edge. Bath: Future Publishing. December 1998. pp. 84–87.

Other websitesEdit