Ocarina of Time: A Kid at Heart

The other day, while reading Robert's latest entry over at Skewed, I was reminded of why we play video games. As he so eloquently deduced, we play these games because they remind us of the glory days of our youth. And then he committed a cardinal sin. He mentioned the name of Ocarina of Time, but then glossed over it and moved on. This cannot stand.

I have to right his wrong.

You see, I’ll defend nearly to the death that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, is the best video game ever made. Released on November 21, 1998 (in Japan) for the Nintendo 64, Ocarina of Time went on to sell over 800,000 units in Japan in 1998. Pretty impressive for a run of just over one month. I picked up my copy on Black Friday 1998. I remember standing in line at the store with my mom, helping her Christmas shop. She wanted me to pick out the games with the understanding that I couldn’t play them until Christmas. I was cool with that. At least I was getting what I wanted.

We got back out to the car and began loading the bags. Once in the car, she held up the two games I had picked out, Ocarina of Time and the first Turok release, and said, “Pick one.” I was puzzled for a moment and then pointed to Ocarina of Time. “Here, Merry Christmas.” I didn’t see that one coming. But I knew for certain that my next two weeks of school were pretty much shot.

Once back home I cracked open the game box, forgiving the misspelling on the back cover, and pulled out the instruction booklet. A cursory glance told me all I needed to know about the movements of the game’s protagonist, Link. I deftly set the game cartridge in the console and powered everything up, unaware that my gaming life was about to change forever.

The game's intro was at once beautiful and awe-inspiring. I had personally never seen a game like it. My previous gaming experience had been limited to the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Playing games like the Super Mario Bros. series, Duck Hunt, Anticipation, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Excitebike, which I just downloaded onto my Wii last night, and already I feel like a kid again. I never played an NES Zelda game, though,

But now I had an N64, the most powerful Nintendo system yet. And Ocarina of Time was the perfect example of what that system could do. I watched the majestic opening sequence. I selected my name, LINK, as I now do every time I play a Zelda game for the first time. Then the game began.

I remember watching Link awaken in his treehouse in Kokiri Forest, and then following the adventure as he gained the weapons necessary to enter the Deku Tree and defeat Gohma, the first boss of the game. As is common with the Zelda series, each dungeon features a weapon necessary to defeat the boss of that dungeon. In the Deku Tree, that weapon was the slingshot. Before you leave Kokiri Forest with the first Sacred Stone, the Kokiri’s Emerald, be sure to swing by the Lost Woods for a little target practice that will net you a larger seed bag.

Once you left Kokiri’s Forest, on the orders of the Great Deku Tree, you made your way to Hyrule Castle Town. Along the way you gain the Fairy Ocarina. In Ocarina of Time, songs play a huge role. You have to know certain songs to open certain doors, to sway certain characters to your side. Learn the songs. Once you reach Hyrule Castle and make friends with Malon you proceed to the castle and a fateful meeting with titular character, Princess Zelda.

Zelda sends you on a mission to find the other two Sacred Stones, first to Death Mountain, home of the Gorons. After making peace with Goron big boss Darunia, you enter Dodongo’s Cavern. In this second dungeon Link earns the bomb bag, one of the most useful inventions in video game history, though probably not OSHA approved. Once Link takes out the boss of this dungeon, King Dodongo, and gains the Goron Ruby, he advances to Zora’s River. A quick swim to Lake Hylia and a fish-in-a-bottle later, Link finds himself inside the Zoran God, Jabu-Jabu.

Bottles are worth more than anything in the Zelda series. In Ocarina of Time you can collect four bottles. These are handy for keeping fairies, which replenish hearts. But back to the story…Link enters the belly of Jabu-Jabu to save Princess Ruto, of the Zoras. He gains the boomerang and defeated Barinade, an electrified anemone. Ruto gives Link the Zora’s Sapphire and sends him on his way.

Returning to Hyrule castle, Link sees Zelda and her caretaker, Impa of the Sheikah, fleeing on horseback. Zelda tosses an object into the moat behind Link. Once Link turns around, he meets the main antagonist, Ganondorf, face to face. Ganondorf casts Link aside with a magic attack and chases off after Zelda. Retrieving the object Zelda threw to him, Link finds the game’s titular object, the Ocarina of Time.

Links goes to the Temple of Time, in Hyrule Castle Town, and places the three Sacred Stones on the altar and plays the Song of Time. The heavy stone door opens and Link sees the Master Sword resting in its pedestal. He pulls the sword from the pedestal, opening a gate to the Sacred Realm, home of the Triforce. But Ganondorf follows him, taking the Triforce and corrupting Hyrule.

Link awakens seven years later, in a form able to fight Ganondorf, who has thoroughly changed Hyrule for the worse. Link has within him the Triforce of Courage, as the Triforce split when Ganondorf touched it. Ganondorf gained the Triforce of Power, the only thing he desired. The Triforce of Wisdom went missing. Link is told by Sheik, the last surviving Sheikah, to awaken the Sages who inhabit five temples around Hyrule.

Link leaves the Temple of Time and escapes what amounts to a zombie-filled Castle Town. Link proceeds to the Forest Temple, only after gaining the Hookshot from Kakariko Village. Entering the Forest Temple, Link fights off several enemy characters to gain the Bow and Arrow. The Temple’s boss is a Phantom of Ganondorf. Link defeats the Phantom, but is assured by the real Ganondorf that he will not die so easily. Saria, Link’s childhood friend, is awakened as the Forest Sage.

At each temple, or just prior to each Temple, Link is confronted by Sheik, who teaches him an Ocarina song that will allow him to warp to the entrance of the upcoming Temple. Link also needs to swing by Lon Lon Ranch, home of Malon, who he befriended earlier, to get Epona, his horse.

The next stop on Link’s tour is the Fire Temple. In the crater atop Death Mountain, Link found the entrance to this temple. He had to first gain a fire-resistant tunic. Inside the Fire Temple, Link began rescuing captive Gorons. He also found the Megaton Hammer, a weapon necessary to defeat the boss, a flying fire dragon named Volvagia. Upon the dragon’s death, Darunia is awakened as the Fire Temple Sage.

Lake Hylia appears next on Link’s radar, requiring visits to Zora’s Domain to get a tunic that allows Link to breathe underwater, and a visit to the Ice Cavern to get the Iron Boots. Link needs these boots, as the entrance to the Water Temple is under the surface of Lake Hylia. The Water Temple was, to me, one of the hardest temples in the game. There is constant, true-RPG-goodness, backtracking throughout this temple.

Link finally reaches the boss, Morpha. A battle ensues, requiring the use of the Longshot, a hookshot that fires twice as far. Link disposes of Morpha and awakens Princess Ruto as the Sage of Water. Leaving the Water Temple, Link is able to get the Fire Arrow, a magic arrow that burns what it hits, causing more damage.

The next temple Link must enter is the Shadow Temple. Located in the graveyard of Kakariko Village, the Shadow Temple is home to Bongo Bongo, a gigantic invisible drummer. Link needs the Eye of Truth, a magic lens that allows him to see invisible things, to defeat this boss. Also, early on in this temple, Link gains the Hover Boots, a pair of boots that allow him to hover for short times of chasms and pits. Defeating Bongo Bongo awakens Impa as the Sage of Shadow.

The last temple is the Spirit Temple, located in the Desert Colossus. Link must befriend the Gerudos, the race that Ganondorf hails from. He earns their respect and is allowed to pass into the desert. Once at the Desert Colossus, Link meets Nabooru, a Gerudo thief, and discovers that he can only enter the temple at first as a child. He returns to the Temple of Time. Placing the Master Sword back in the pedestal returns Link to his child form from earlier in the game.

He returns to the Spirit Temple and, after many enemies and dangers, gains the Silver Gauntlets. Without these gauntlets, Link would be unable to access certain parts of the temple. He once more travels to the Temple of Time and retrieves the Master Sword. As an adult once more, Link enters the Spirit Temple.

Along this dangerous path through the Temple, Link finds the Mirror Shield. Using the shield’s ability to reflect sunlight, Link opens doors and reveals the path to the boss, the twin witches Twinrova. Twinrova attacks Link as two separate entities up until a certain point, as which time they join into one creature with greater firepower. Link defeats Twinrova, though, and awakens Nabooru as the Spirit Temple Sage.

Link returns to the Temple of Time and meets Sheik once more. Sheik reveals himself to actually be Princess Zelda. Zelda gifts Link the Light Arrow, but is then captured by Ganondorf.

Link, chasing after the captured Zelda, finally goes to the old castle, only to find it gone, replaced by a giant lake of lava and Ganondorf’s Castle hovering above it. The Sages use their magic to create a bridge, allowing Link to assail the castle. Using the arsenal of weapons he has assembled, Link finally reaches the top of the castle, where Ganondorf awaits.

An epic battle ensues that eventually sees Link victorious. He and Zelda escape the rapidly collapsing castle. Once the dust settles, Link begins to walk back to the center of the castle. The Master Sword is then knocked from his hand and beyond the edge of a ring of fire that appears. Ganondorf floats up from the rubble, beaten and bloodied. He then angrily transforms into Ganon, a beast of raw power wielding two large swords. Link uses the Megaton Hammer to hold off Ganon until he can retrieve the Master Sword. Using the Master Sword, and Zelda’s magic power, Link finally puts an end to Ganon, and the Sages banish Ganondorf into the void. Zelda thanks Link for his effort in saving Hyrule. She then uses the Ocarina of Time to send him back to his childhood days, to let him live out his life in peace.

That’s a short synopsis of the game. Yes, that’s short. You have to understand that Nintendo gamers had never seen a game like Ocarina of Time before. The environment was massive, beyond anything ever seen on a Nintendo system. The graphics, given the capabilities of the N64, were nothing short of magnificent. The battle system was highly intuitive, with some enemies not affected by certain attacks.

The replay value was intense, as you could try tackling the temples in different order. I always go to the Fire Temple first, instead of the Forest Temple. Ocarina of Time also truly popularized the Legend of Zelda Three-Hearts Challenge, an ordeal set forth by Zelda gamers to complete the game with only the three hearts you have at the beginning.

The first time I played Ocarina of Time, I knew that I could never go back. I had seen a world of gaming that was just beginning to open up. Future Zelda games, like Majora’s Mask (N64, built off the same Engine as Ocarina of Time), Wind Waker (GameCube), Twilight Princess (Wii and GameCube, and Skyward Sword (Wii) have built off the concepts laid out in Ocarina of Time. A large environment, a challenging story, and ever-more-difficult enemies. A winning combination.