“The flow of time is always cruel… its speed seems different for each person, but no one can change it… A thing that does not change with time is a memory of younger days…”

Today’s Retro Game: The Legend of Zelda; Ocarina of Time…….3D

Oh wait, OoT 3D isn’t a retro game you say? Well true, the 3D isn’t. The rest of the title however is truly a retro classic.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time redefined a classic franchise and created a whole genre when it was released on the Nintendo 64. It took what had become an incredible adventure franchise of a boy saving a kingdom from an unassuming top-down perspective and transformed it into an epic, sprawling third-person adventure.

First off, the gameplay. At first glance, OoT looks like another Mario 64 platformer with a fantasy twist, but in fact it has more in common with an RPG. You navigate Link through the 3D environment with a mere ‘attack’ button, a simple, contextual ‘action’ button and the ‘auto-jump’. You also have some dedicated item buttons, a shield button and the famous ‘Z’ button. OoT really revolutionized 3D gaming back in the day with it’s ‘Z-Targeting’ system.

Well OoT 3D for the 3DS keeps all of these classic gameplay elements intact and adds to them. Instead of three dedicated item buttons, you have two with another two buttons mapped onto the touch screen right next to your right thumb for easy reach. There is also a dedicated ocarina button and a Navi/first-person button on the opposite side of the screen. The center of the touch screen contains your map which is invaluable for navigating the game’s many dungeons. The touch screen makes item management a breeze compared to the N64′s clunky carousel interface. And for newcomers of the game, there’s a built-in hint system, using special Sheikah Stones, that give you “Visions of the Future” that are essentially mini-walkthrough videos that give you clues on what to do in various areas of the game. Very subtle and completely optional for those who want to stay true to the challenge.

But wait, there’s more! It wouldn’t be much of a remake if all Nintendo did was slap a touch screen on the game and call it a day. No, this is where the 3D part comes in.  Using the enhanced graphical power of the 3DS, Nintendo basically rebuilt all the graphics, textures and animations from scratch. No, seriously, the game looks way different than it did on the N64, but in a very good way. Link and many of the other characters now have much more detailed facial expressions(and they were plenty expressive to begin with.) Young Link also moves with a more youthful jaunt to his step and grown Link has a determined weight in his run. Walls and floors are littered with knick-knacks, paintings, cracks and other minor details that really breathe life into the environment.

Oh, right. The 3D. Well being a 3DS game, OoT 3D utilizes the upper screen’s lenticular display to render the game in a quasi 3rd dimension without 3D glasses. It’s a neat effect, giving the game an extra sense of depth. Unfortunately if you want to aim your weapon or view your surroundings using the gyroscope(physically moving the system around to aim or change your view), the 3D effect is lost and your left with a blurry mess(though you can use the analog stick to aim in first-person mode as well.)

The sound & music in the game are largely the same as the N64 classic, which is by no means a bad thing. Zelda purists may notice the game uses the non-chanting version of the Fire Temple theme rather than the original(though later runs of the N64 cart had this change as well.)

Also, something that should get old-school players excited is the fact that Nintendo actually kept most of the glitches and bugs found in the N64 original. So any of the cool glitches or comical bugs you found or read about as a kid are still present in all their glory.

And finally, two new modes for after you’ve beat the game. First is the boss mode, which lets you fight all the game’s bosses in sequence. Then there’s the previously Gamecube exclusive Master Quest. Once you’ve finished the regular game you can play the new version of the Master Quest where the dungeons and puzzles have been redesigned and/or mirrored.

So in conclusion, if you haven’t guessed already, Ocarina of Time 3D is a superb game and well worth every penny. If you remember playing OoT on the N64 then prepare for a wave of nostalgia because, aside from the handful of enhancements I mentioned, the game is exactly like you remembered it, only better. This is what you buy a 3DS for.

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