Full Review

I never owned a Nintendo 64, and thus missed a great deal of excellent games. Ocarina of Time was the foremost of these. Many times I visited friends and played through the first tenth of the story, but I never finished one. It was with great anticipation that I finally opened my copy of Ocarina of Time for the Gamecube.

Having played the beginning of the original game countless times, it passed rather quickly for me. I am pleased and somewhat displeased to report that everything is exactly as it was in the Nintendo 64 original. While I understand there are limitations in emulating a Nintendo 64, it wouldn't have hurt to update the graphics a little bit.

There are very few problems at all, especially if you don't care about better graphics. The game is exactly as it was, without any signs of slowdown. Heart containers are still as much of a joy/pain to acquire as before. The music is still incredible, and the rich depth of the Zelda universe shows.

The only major problem is using the controls, and only a few at that. The Ocarina is simply a pain to play any song which requires any button aside from the C-Stick. On the Nintendo 64 the C buttons, the A and B buttons were all close together. The Gamecube's C-Stick, while close to the A and B buttons, is a lot more clumsy. This makes switching between them and playing tunes more of a chore than the joy that it was in the Nintendo 64.

This aside, the game is as flawless as it was before. The gameplay is incredibly enjoyable. There is never a lack of interesting mini-games to participate in, and lose money to. Secrets are absolutely everywhere, and the plot constantly thickens.

The greatest reason for buying this instead of playing the Nintendo 64 version is the Master Quest. Following in the bold footsteps of the original Legend of Zelda's Second Quest, the Master Quest changes the dungeons drastically. Even veteran Zelda players will find these new challenges more than difficult. It follows the insane spirit of the Second Quest perfectly. On more than one dungeon you'll beat your head again your Gamecube, wondering why you can't get past a room.

Finally, this disc is better for serious Zelda players than the rest of the public. As cool as the revamped dungeons are in the Master Quest, few normal people will want to play through the game more than once in a while. For those who missed the Nintendo 64, this is an excellent chance to catch up. Yet even then the new Zelda Bonus Collection might be better, with four completely unique Zelda games as opposed to one and a small changed version of that one. In the end, it's better to just dust off your old Nintendo 64 and play it.