The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

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.

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.

This Zelda has enchanted our minds with whimsy and fantasy. The lush detail and the riveting story makes it so powerful, so righteous, you'd be saying good-bye to reality within a few minutes. The emotions there had a real touch and added atmosphere to the game. It's like something we'd love to see in a theatre. This is what happened with Titanic, the movie monopolized the movie box office, while Zelda monopolized the video game industry. This is truly the best game of all time... For now. Because later we'll see a better Zelda, and we'll hopefully experience the power and beauty of a new fantasy world.

This game is absolutely flawless, full stop. There is a lot to do, like being a merchant, fisherman, saviour of the world, and collector. This is a pretty hard game, so don't expect to have completed it all a week after purchase. Because of this game, Nintendo are my favourite game company, Microsoft's XBox coming a close second.

I have found that this is hard to get for the N64, but I have found plenty of the special edition Wind Wakers, which have Ocarina of Time in the box as well.

If you still have an N64 and have found this game cheap, get it! 10/10

I only wish that Majora's Mask was like this, it was good but not great.

The most anticipated game of all time has finally been released after more than two years of wait and it really was worth the wait to finally be able to play this masterpiece from the first screen to the last. It has all the genius of Shigeru Miyamoto and the best of all the "Legend of Zelda" games put together in the greatest game of all time. An Action/RPG adventure every true player would've dreamed of. It's a must for any owner or future owner of the Nintendo 64. It really is the "Titanic" of the Video-Game Industry.