The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time / Masterquest
[Gamecube]

The Legend Of Zelda series has always come off to me as a bit lacking. I honestly can't explain why but I'm always a little nervy when I pick one up to purchase it. Don't get me wrong, I adored A Link To The Past. It didn't do anything to totally blow me away, but I do remember it so in my book that means it was a good game. When they remade this this one and included the Masterquest version, I was very curious as to why they chose one of the two games from the Nintendo 64 system rather than one of the many other noteworthys from the Nintendo and Super Nintendo. My friends, there is no more debating to be done because Ocarina Of Time is nothing short of breath taking.

You are Link, a small elf boy that never ages, and lives in the forest which is forbidden to leave. One day your master calls for you, gives you a fairy of your own, and tells you to venture out past the forest, because you aren’t like the rest. That's where it begins, and learning you’re the only hope for the land you were raised in is only a portion of the burden Link carries trying to prove his heroics through out the game. An excellent story that doesn’t stray too far from the rest of the games, but adds in a twist with a time traveling sword and a warp enabled instrument. And of course, Link must find his Princess Zelda.
OoT, as it is so often referred to, is a game all about getting information on who is who and collecting pieces to the puzzle that will get Link powerful enough to defeat the evil demon known as Ganon. The sheer amount of diversity in basic enemy combat strategy, boss strategy, and puzzle solving is enough to make the game deep alone. Some of the strategies implemented in defeating a boss will blow you away. Just the fact that these things could be done in a game for an older system is mind boggling, but that they haven’t been reproduced on newer systems is even more confusing. The puzzle elements are sometimes head scratchers, but when you figure them out you’ll feel accomplished and acknowledge the cleverness of them. The basic enemies are various and some of them you’ll love while others you’ll shudder to encounter. They’re all pretty familiar to the series as well. Even after all this has been said, I’ve still not even begun to break the surface. The depth of this games mini-games and extras are amazing. Stealing a horse from a ranch to more easily trek across the land of Hyrule is something I’ve never seen matched. Trying to catch the 10 lb. fish, collecting gold skulltulas to release a family of a curse, hunting ghosts while shooting arrows on horseback, throwing massive boulders to gain new magic spells...it's near endless.

The gameplay itself is a bit sporadic. Some fights and platforming require quick hand eye coordination and the camera system, most of the time does a good job, but sometimes it just doesn’t fit the bill. You’ll find yourself looking at the other side of a wall or in to the top of a boss occasionally but for the most part the auto targeting and quick zoom behind trigger work well. The other feature I didn’t care for was the automation of Link's moves. When approaching a ledge, he hangs on, and this is good or I would have fallen to many more deaths than I did. The negative to this is that Link automatically jumps and pulls himself up as well. So, many times you’ll find yourself quickly avoiding something only to have Link pull you back up and be hit by it anyways or the famous jump off a cliff in the wrong direction. This all comes in to play with the action button which is the A button. When you encounter something that’s interactive, it’ll pop up and tell you that you can do this or that. Sometimes, when on a timed mission, this can cause issues because the interaction button can be stubborn.

The graphics are good for the time they came out, but now are just fond memories. The draw distances are decent, and it does have facial expressions which caught me off guard. They’re actually good ones too. All other gripes are too small and petty to even bother with so Ill leave this at that.

Ocarina Of Time is no different from the newly featured version of itself but no matter what, this game is indeed a "Master Quest."

9/10

---Frayed