Nintendo The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is 20 years old today, update - retrospective article from "The Guardian"

[SaysWho?]

 

 

[Keyser_Soze]

I get it man, we’re all old! 😭

[Paperclyp]

It’s one of those rare games where the reverence for it isn’t exaggerated. I go back and play it here and there, and I’m always surprised at how modern it feels. 

[SaysWho?]

1 hour ago, Keyser_Soze said:

I get it man, we’re all old! 😭

 

Brah, you can't have a year where Starcraft, Half-Life and Ocarina of Time release and not do 20 year anniversary threads.  

[best3444]

Amazing game and memories. 

[ort]

Will thou get the girl? Or play like one?

 

Wow, did that commercial age poorly.

 

But yeah, Ocarina... what a game that was. I took a week off work to play it and I spent the whole week doing nothing but playing it. True story.

[SaysWho?]

5 minutes ago, ort said:

Will thou get the girl? Or play like one?

 

Wow, did that commercial age poorly.

 

But yeah, Ocarina... what a game that was. I took a week of work to play it and I spent the whole week doing nothing but playing it. True story.

 

80% of that week was spent with this dude.

 

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

Like I said, 1998 was unquestionably the most significant year in gaming history.

[Pikachu]

First game I paid for using my allowance. $65 well spent.

[ort]

I miss the feeling of seeing a game like this and just being floored by how much it moves gaming forward. We don't really get games like this anymore.

 

Games today are better than ever, but when was the last time you played something that didn't even feel possible a few years earlier? I remember people seeing Ocarina and being gobsmacked. Seeing it and not believing that a game like that was even possible.

[ort]

This was also the last game I ever pre-ordered.

 

I wanted the gold cartridge version and I put in my pre-order at Babbages (remember that place??) Anyway, I showed up on release day, before the store opened and got in a big ass line... I don't remember specifics, but the store sold hundreds of preorders and only got a few dozen gold cartridges in. Most people got the grey cart and we're pissed. I was pissed.

[Brick]

Truly the greatest game of all time. 

[Captain Pickle]

I whistle Saria's Song almost every day at some point.

[crispy4000]

Compared to the later 3D Zeldas, OoT really respected your time.  Even with reused environment assets as adult link, there was very little padding.  By the last few dungeons, the game felt even better paced and incredibly fleshed out.

 

I actually think Skyward Sword came closest to hitting that mark again.  The pacing was spot on almost the entire time.  It wouldn't have taken much to address the few significant pacing issues it had. (the water jug sequence, 3 imprisonment fights, Fi not shutting up)

 

[ort]

This was the last Zelda game I truly enjoyed and played through. I bought and played both Majora's Mask and Wind Waker, but never finished either and burned out on both. Have not played any Zelda titles since for more than a few minutes.

 

At some point I'll pick up Breath of the Wild, but my son has showed almost no interest in it, so I'm still waiting since I know I don't have the time or desire to put the time in to play it right...

[cusideabelincoln]

This was the only game I played for an entire summer break from school.  

 

34 minutes ago, crispy4000 said:

Compared to the later 3D Zeldas, OoT really respected your time.  Even with reused environment assets as adult link, there was very little padding.  By the last few dungeons, the game felt even better paced and incredibly fleshed out.

 

I actually think Skyward Sword came closest to hitting that mark again.  The pacing was spot on almost the entire time.  It wouldn't have taken much to address the few significant pacing issues it had. (the water jug sequence, 3 imprisonment fights, Fi not shutting up)

 

 

What disappointed me the most about SS was the bug/flaw of not being able to skip dialog boxes that you already read.  Anytime you reset the game and collected an insect (or other crafting ingredient), it would shove that unskippable dialog box in your face acting like it was the first time you ever found one.  If only the Wii allowed game patches they could have fixed this - or maybe they fixed it in a later version of the disc.  Or better yet, an interface overhaul where they could just keep a feed in the UI off to the corner whenever you collected something, and not have notifications be forced front and center.  Playing the game in small chunks of time was quite annoying because of this.  Besides this, and the terrible wrist-mangling tilt-based flying, the game was pretty great.

[Reputator]

Truly one of my favorite and most fondly remembered games of all time.

[XxEvil AshxX]

1 hour ago, SFLUFAN said:

Like I said, 1998 was unquestionably the most significant year in gaming history.

 

You beat me to it. I remember that year well since it was the year I graduated high school and began art school. Art school was gaming geek mecca in 1998.

 

That was back when anime was still cool, before America got ahold of it. 

[crispy4000]

1 hour ago, cusideabelincoln said:

What disappointed me the most about SS was the bug/flaw of not being able to skip dialog boxes that you already read.  Anytime you reset the game and collected an insect (or other crafting ingredient), it would shove that unskippable dialog box in your face acting like it was the first time you ever found one.  If only the Wii allowed game patches they could have fixed this - or maybe they fixed it in a later version of the disc.  Or better yet, an interface overhaul where they could just keep a feed in the UI off to the corner whenever you collected something, and not have notifications be forced front and center.  Playing the game in small chunks of time was quite annoying because of this.  Besides this, and the terrible wrist-mangling tilt-based flying, the game was pretty great.

 

That was bad, but it was even worse in TP.  Same glitch there, but it happened with every blue/red/silver ruppee after a restart.

Ironic they missed the same sort of glitch twice in a row.

[legend]

1 hour ago, ort said:

This was the last Zelda game I truly enjoyed and played through. I bought and played both Majora's Mask and Wind Waker, but never finished either and burned out on both. Have not played any Zelda titles since for more than a few minutes.

 

At some point I'll pick up Breath of the Wild, but my son has showed almost no interest in it, so I'm still waiting since I know I don't have the time or desire to put the time in to play it right...

 

 

I had similar feelings about the subsequent Zelda games. However, BotW broke that trend and I really loved it. Perhaps the same will be true for you since we had similar responses.

[legend]

Also, here is a better version of the trailer. I watched this trailer so many times back then and it's one of my favorite game trailers of all time. Perhaps trailers have improved since, but for it's time it was amazing.

 

 

[CastlevaniaNut18]

It's really good, but not even my favorite Zelda.

 

I didn't play it on N64. My first experience was actually the 3DS game. I don't think I could deal with the N64 controller and ugly visuals now.

[dualhunter]

Controller-wise I miss the N64 original as the C buttons let you fire off Ocarina tunes rapidly but I at least need the resolution boost of the VC versions to deal with N64 visuals.

[Bacon]

I was 5

[Anzo]

My 18th birthday present. Birthday isn’t until next month so I had to wait a few weeks for it. Quite agonizing at the time!

[Xbob42]

6 hours ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

 

You beat me to it. I remember that year well since it was the year I graduated high school and began art school. Art school was gaming geek mecca in 1998.

 

That was back when anime was still cool, before America got ahold of it. 

Anime was never cool.

[legend]

On 11/21/2018 at 3:44 PM, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

It's really good, but not even my favorite Zelda.

 

I didn't play it on N64. My first experience was actually the 3DS game. I don't think I could deal with the N64 controller and ugly visuals now.

 

Which is your favorite OOC? Most typically when OoT isn't someone's favorite I usually hear them cite ALttP as their favorite. I think after BotW I might have to think about it. OoT was better for the time, but I think BotW might be the better game for me.

[crispy4000]

Link's Awakening is the best Zelda.

[gamer.tv]

I didn't finish OoT until I was 22, second year of university.  I had the game during my time with the N64, finished the Fire Temple and then never went back to it.  This is a reminder however that I have Majora's Mask half finished on the N64 and it might well be worth revisiting soon.

[CastlevaniaNut18]

1 hour ago, legend said:

 

Which is your favorite OOC? Most typically when OoT isn't someone's favorite I usually hear them cite ALttP as their favorite. I think after BotW I might have to think about it. OoT was better for the time, but I think BotW might be the better game for me.

ALttP, though BotW is probably my favorite 3D Zelda. 

 

I never played a Zelda game til TP, which was also the first one I beat. 

[Biggie]

On 11/21/2018 at 3:44 PM, CastlevaniaNut18 said:

It's really good, but not even my favorite Zelda.

 

I didn't play it on N64. My first experience was actually the 3DS game. I don't think I could deal with the N64 controller and ugly visuals now.

Yeah I’ve only played the 3DS version too. 

[finaljedi]

I pre-ordered that game at Toys R Us and skipped school to pick it up.  I still have a 35mm spool of that commercial sitting around that I made my dad snag me, no projector to play it on though.  Man I'm feeling old.

[Ghost_MH]

5 hours ago, legend said:

 

Which is your favorite OOC? Most typically when OoT isn't someone's favorite I usually hear them cite ALttP as their favorite. I think after BotW I might have to think about it. OoT was better for the time, but I think BotW might be the better game for me.

 

I don't even believe OoT is the best Zelda game in the N64. MM was the better game and even if the story wasn't as grand, the intimacy of it made for a more engrossing experience. That all said, yeah, I think BotW topped it for me.

[Mercury33]

Probbaly my favorite gaming memories are from this game. I remember waking up early so I could go to the temple of time before school. What happened blew my fucking mind and that was the longest day of my life waiting to get home and play some more. 

[Mercury33]

On 11/21/2018 at 10:39 AM, ort said:

I miss the feeling of seeing a game like this and just being floored by how much it moves gaming forward. We don't really get games like this anymore.

 

Games today are better than ever, but when was the last time you played something that didn't even feel possible a few years earlier? I remember people seeing Ocarina and being gobsmacked. Seeing it and not believing that a game like that was even possible.

 

Not quite the same but I got a bit of that feeling when I played GoW. From the single track shot opening the game to that first major fight. My mouth was open the whole time. Felt like a game worthy of the next jump.