BATTLE SYSTEM INTERACTION ORIGINALITY STORY MUSIC & SOUND VISUALS CHALLENGE Needlessly Irritating COMPLETION TIME 20-40 Hours OVERALL 3.0/5.0 Rating definitions

   The Nintendo 64 era wasn't exactly a golden age for Nintendo, which chose to stick to cartridges for their console instead of moving to CDs like its rivals Sega and newcomer Sony, and thus being somewhat hampered by the dying medium. The likes of Quest 64 didn't exactly enhance the console's meager RPG selection, alienating many fans of the genre, although the Big N, in a way, had an ace up its sleeve, in the form of an addition to its revered Zelda series, in development for many years. In 1998 came the much-anticipated release of the fifth installment of the franchise, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time, which received rave reviews and sold millions of copies. Does it live up to the hype?

   It could, if you have a nice grasp on the battle system. The transition to 3-D naturally requires drastic change in combat, which somewhat works, yet still bears its share of flaws that wouldn't be present in a 2-D setting. New to the series is the fabled Z-targeting system, where the player uses the Z button to lock onto an enemy to have better aim against it in battle. Unfortunately, the Z button is also the button used to move the camera behind Link, and targeting an enemy in the first place can be fairly tedious.

The Fairy Bow--tested on animals

   Luckily, when you've eventually targeted an enemy, Link's fairy, Navi, can provide advice on how to defeat it, and combat isn't too bad once you've targeted a foe. Link, for one, has a variety of tools, chiefly his sword and shield, to help him fight, alongside moves available only when Z-targeting such as sidestepping, leaping backwards, and so forth. The player assigns tools other than the sword and shield to the bottom three C buttons for easier access. Link can also acquire up to four bottles in which to put healing potion, fairies, bugs, and so forth, which can be handy for the toughest boss fights. Many bosses, like in the other Zeldas, require some element of strategy to defeat, but here, the camera and targeting system can really make them much harder than they need to be. Returning elements of the battle system include magic and the need to acquire four heart pieces to increase Link's life. In the end, combat is functional, but still middling, largely depending upon the player's abilities.

   Even some of the elements outside of battle suffer a little because of the transition to 3-D, such as many puzzles, traditionally a high point of the series, alongside a few dungeons whose designs are simply horrendous. Once again, the awkward controls can affect gameplay outside of combat, although the menus aren't too shabby, with everything neatly organized onto four panels, alongside the ability to save your progress anywhere, and the eventual ability to use Link's Ocarina for rapid conveyance among areas. There's also one major sidequest, the collection of Gold Skulltula tokens, gained by killing Gold Skulltulas found all across Hyrule, and which Link can exchange for special prizes. Oh, and Link can acquire a horse, too, for rapid transportation across Hyrule Field, and on which he can use his bow and arrows. Overall, interaction, like combat, is middling.

   All the changes that a transition to 3-D brought the series at the time were naturally well more than enough to make Ocarina feel fresh, and the targeting system would influence many future action RPGs. Elements of the series, such as Link, Princess Zelda, Ganondorf, Hyrule, Death Mountain, and so forth, recur, although the game was certainly something new for its time.

   The story, while not perfect, is actually one of the better ones to appear in a Zelda game. It stars Link, of course, this time a Kokiri boy without a fairy that finally does receive one, named Navi, in the beginning of the game. He eventually meets Princess Zelda, fearful of a shady Gerudo named Ganondorf, and who has earned the favor of the King of Hyrule. Link eventually gains the ability to travel between two time periods so he can stop Ganondorf's ambitions to rule Hyrule. The pacing is somewhat sluggish, although the game reveals the origins of the Triforce alongside some other backstory and a new take on the Zoras, not to mention other races, and is in the end one of the better plots of the franchise, not to mention very few N64 RPGs, for that matter.

   The music is normally a high point of the Zelda series, and Ocarina does have its share of nice tunes, primary the remixes of pieces from A Link to the Past. The music, unfortunately, becomes way too atmospheric at times, especially during the nght and in the dungeons, whose tracks are almost completely forgettable. There are a few voice clips as well, ranging from Navi's annoying "Hey, listen!" to Link's battle grunts. In the end, though, the aurals are middling.

You'll definitely need a bigger boat.

   By today's standards, the graphics of Ocarina would pretty much stink, but in their time, they were actually pretty nice. The game would've certainly benefited from a higher framerate, but most character and monster models have nice detail, even if they're a bit blocky. The color scheme fits, as well, despite flat, blurry texturing of environments. In the end, Ocarina made pretty nice use of the Nintendo 64's visual technology, even if the graphics aren't entirely aesthetically pleasing.

   Finally, Ocarina is by no means a difficult game, just needlessly irritating, with challenge, quite frankly, heavily depending upon how well the player grasps the game's controls. It's also one of the longer Zelda games, taking anywhere from twenty to forty hours to complete, depending upon how much time the player spends hunting down every heart piece, Gold Skulltula, and extra tool.

   Despite trying as hard as I could, in the end, I just couldn't fully appreciate Ocarina of Time, what with awkward gameplay at times, despite the glowing ovation it's received since its release. The transition to 3-D is faithful, to say the least, but things just don't work as well in 3-D, in my opinion, as they do in 2-D. Still, it's certainly better than many other games on the Nintendo 64, but if you're new to the series, this probably wouldn't be the strongest place to start.