The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

WOW!!!! Wot a great game. Zelda 64 is a landmark in gaming. It has stunning visuals, a great orchestral soundtrack, immense involvement and more importantly brilliant fun. An expierience not a game. All those Final Fantasy 7 and 8 lovers start crying now because Zelda Gaiden is on its way!!!!!!!!

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is by far, the greatest gaming experience on ANY format. The game is flawless in its delivery and is as close to perfection that you can get. In fact I pity ANY game that tries to capture the magic that Ocarina so exceptionally did, as it is impossible. It takes a gamers dream and recreates it to the point of being called a "Masterpiece". Impossible to criticize, impossible to dislike, this game has everything.

The plot is as "fantasy-warrior" as you can get, as it tells the dark story of a young boy that is in a forest to which he doesn't belong. A boy that is different to his fellow peers and has a need for adventure. Asked by a mysterious fairy named "Navi", LINK soon starts a magical adventure that see's a dark lord "Ganondorf" slowly destroying Hyrule. Through the help of his time travelling instrument, the Ocarina of Time, he must travel from child to adult in order to stop what Ganondorf is planning. The story is perfect, a flawless plot that has in it the potential to capture everything a fantasy-obsessed human needs, and boy does it deliver.

Starting with the graphics, well, in short, they are AMAZING. Keeping in mind this game is 8 years old, the graphics still stand up to any game out today. The breathtaking scenery of hyrule is almost POWERFUL in its emotion. Riding your horse through the field of Hyrule, you feel incredible; Watching the sunset go down at Lake Hylia, you feel spellbound and gazing at the beautifully detailed towns makes you FEEL like you're living in the town of Kakoriko. The literally jaw-dropping scale of the land you explore, and the monsters you slay, never ceases to leave you holding your breath. The graphics are beautiful and polished to say the least, and not "Just for an N64 game", but for any video game.

The combat system, action AND the weapons and items you collect are anything you'd ever want, and more. You can find LOADS of ways to kill the 100's of different beasts and creatures courtesy of the 15 + weapons you can collect. Swords, Bow and Arrow, Boomerang, Hookshot, Megaton Hammer, Bombs,slingshot etc. are just a few of the weapons on offer. The combat system is, and I know I use this word a lot when describing OOT, perfect. You literally just go in there and find whatever way you can to kill whatever is attacking you. The action is intense, epic and dramatic. Whether it's running in and out of the way of a giant fire breathing dragon, or hacking at a phantom that comes rapidly out of one of many paintings, you'll be kept on your toes at all times.

But it's not all non-stop action, Ocarina of Time requires you to think a whole lot. The dungeons are literally packed with brain-bending puzzles that needs complete focus to figure them out.

The music is beautiful and enchanting, absolutely perfect for the gaming experience that it provides. Its dark and mystical, the scores that are created are some of the best around, and is made even better by your own personal Ocarina that you can play. The music is deep and emotional and provides hugely towards the emotion you feel towards the game. For example, while strolling through the town of Kakoriko and Lon Lon Ranch, you feel happy and relaxed, as the music is lazy and slightly upbeat. Through Hyrule field you feel intense and ready for action, as the music is fast and...well... "Warrior"-Like! When your in dungeons and bosses however, the music is dark and slightly disturbing in places, suiting perfectly the intensity and tension that is flowing through the game. The scores written on the ocarina are epic and dramatic and full of emotion and atmosphere, that is both moving and breath-taking.

But the game isn't only adventure, you can get yourself involved in a massive amount of fun and enjoyable activities. Horse Riding for example, is great. There is nothing better than experiencing the beautiful scenery on horseback. You can take part in many weapon-related games in towns, such as archery games, slingshot games and bombchu games and a big part of the game that will see you saying goodbye to a big chunk of your life is surprisingly, fishing in Lake Hylia. It sees you fishing in a relaxing, lazy environment as you stand there with a rod and try to catch a big fish. A nice break from the action that provides challenges in its own right. You can also take part in sub-missions, such as selling masks to a variety of different people, getting such weapons as the BigGoron Sword that is not needed in the main adventure (But is VERY handy) and you can even get your own cow.

The game has about 100 hours of gameplay, the main adventure taking about 40 hours and the rest of the game taking about 60, which you wouldn't find in games today. This game requires you to get approximately 70 pieces of heart, around 100 golden skulltula's, 4 bottles, 8 special poes, large wallet, full amount of arrows, bombs, deku seeds, bomchu's AND deku nuts, deku sticks, light, ice and fire arrows, about 20 different weapons, 3 different types of sword, shield, shoes and tunics, 2 types of gauntlets, 2 different ocarinas, around 6 hidden fairies that will provide a variety of different upgrades including 3 magical god powers (Dins fire, Nayrus Love and Fayroras Wind), double defense and the power to lift giant triforce blocks, a variety of different sword techniques and finally around ten different ocarina tunes. And you know what? I probably forgot a few things.

As long a review as this is, it doesn't do justice to this monumental, legendary gaming experience. This is as close to a masterpiece as you can get.

A little while ago, I gave this game a bad review. Boy was I wrong at the time, and now I stand corrected. As quality goes, this is the BEST game I have ever played! There are still a few complaints, but other games have even more.

First of all, the graphics aren't the best out there. The characters look better than in many other games, but backgrounds still don't match up to Super Mario 64. But at least you can go there this time. There are no voices except Navi's annoying "Hey!", but that's a minor complaint. And finally, the biggest flaw is that you can't fight bosses anymore, which is a big pity. That means the only thing you can do after beating this game is to start another file over.

But now that we're done with the rants, let's get to the good stuff.

TLoZ: OoT has the biggest 3D world I have ever seen! They've got a giant volcano, a huge lake, a desert, a forest etc. And each place is filled with villains and people to interact with.

And each of the 8 dungeons Link must play through are nicely designed with intricate puzzles and wonderful music. In fact, the entire game has nice music. Kudos to Koji Kondo there.

The control system takes some getting used to, but once you get used to it, you'll find out it works very well. Some people complain about the lack of an auto-jump, but I find that it works quite well. The Z-targeting system is a good way to fight your enemies. It adds realism to your fights.

This game is also long. It would have taken me over 100 hours to beat if I didn't have a cheat sheet. Overall, in my opinion, as far as quality goes, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time snatches the title of best game away from Soul Calibur, both of which were given 10s by more critics than any other games.

This game, created by the incredible Shigeru Miyamoto, is by far and away the best game I have ever played. It provokes emotions and thoughts that many films totally fail to inspire. The game, as well as being mentally challenging, is physicaly difficult as well, with much practise needed to perfect the moves and complete the tasks necessary to finish the game.

The story follows Link, a young Kokori boy who recently has been having terrible nightmares. The Kokori folk are the people of the Kokori forest, a giant woodland area in this magical land. All of the Kokori folk retain their youthfulness. No matter when they are born, they always stay childlike. Each member of the Kokori people has his or her own guardian fairy to help them through their life struggles. Link however does not have a fairy and never has done. Then one day Link is visited by a fairy who tells him to visit the great Deku tree who is a giant tree possessed by the spirit of the wood who serves as the father of all the Kokori. The Deku tree knows of the nightmares and predicted them long ago. He reveals to Link that he is going to grow up as a hero and save Hyrule. He also reveals that Link is not actually a Kokori boy, he is in fact a Hyrulien (from the town of Hyrule) and that is why he never had a fairy.

After having left the forest Link goes to Hyrule town with his new found friend and guardian fairy called Navi, then on to Hyrule castle to meet princess Zelda as prophecised by the Deku tree. She tells him that she has been having the nightmares as well and she also a suspicion that a strange man who works for her father (the king) will try to overthrow the peaceful land of Hyrule and rule as a terrible dictator. And so the giant quest begins, (for it is truly giant) so great in fact that you mature to an adult before it ends. That however is for you to find out about. I do suggest that you play this game if you have an N64 and if you dont have one, I suggest that you buy one to play it. It has changed my life in more ways than on. My imagination took me to places I could never dream of before after I finished this game. I found it wholly satisfying and thought provoking also. If I could use four words to describe this game they would be: epic, enchanting, magical, and emotional. It is not a game but an experience.

I awoke on a warm December morning, 1998, and there lying on my desk was a golden rectangular box. Even though I was excited, I had know idea what I was inserting into my Nintendo 64. From that morning my view of video games had changed. Playing that game was like observing a piece of art.

Every aspect in the game is incredible, from the new visually stunning 3-D concept to the adventures that Link must surpass.

The Legend Of Zelda Ocarina Of Time in my opinion is the greatest game ever, I believe that even in the many years to come of video gaming, this Masterpiece could not be toppled.