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Rating: Awesome After finding myself strangely unsatisfied with such high-profile games as Metal Gear Solid recently, I put The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Zelda 64) into my Nintendo 64 with just as much fear as anticipation. Sure, I was looking forward to the game after waiting over two years for it, but I also afraid that I wouldn't like the game, that something had gone wrong with my brain, that I couldn't enjoy blockbuster games like everyone else does anymore. After playing Zelda 64 extensively, I was relieved to find that my brain is in working order and this is one heck of a game. The first thing many people will notice about the game is that it is based on the same engine as Super Mario 64. Well, if you're not down with that, I've got two words for you: Who cares? Who cares that Zelda 64 uses the Mario 64 engine if the gameplay experience Zelda offers is radically different from Mario (or any other game on the market, for that matter)? I don't care, that's for sure. Mario 64 is an action/platform game at heart, which helps to eliminate the inevitable comparisons since the platform jumping in Zelda is all handled automatically. I would suspect that anyone who calls Zelda 64 a clone of Mario 64 has never played Zelda for more than ten minutes. I would also think twice before calling Zelda 64 an RPG due to the fact that it doesn't have any of the traditional turn-based combat found in RPGs; instead all of the combat is handled in real-time. However, this is really not a problem since the combat is so well-executed, especially the intense bosses. The combat is especially amazing considering that you're in a full 3D environment, where it could potentially be very difficult to move around while still keeping the enemy in sight. With the simple press of the Z button, the camera targets the enemy and you're still granted the freedom to move anywhere you'd like during the battle. The camera is almost never a problem in combat, and in general the camera is rarely ever a source of frustration. In fact, I would say that it's the best camera yet seen in a 3D game. And on the rare occasion that the camera leaves you disoriented, you can simply press the up-C button to switch to a first-person view, then switch back and the camera will be behind Link. The game's control interface is also brilliant. All of the inventory, equipping, map, and save options are handled in convenient sub-screens that can accessed at any time by pressing start. You can save your game to the cartridge at any time, and it only takes about three seconds to pause the game, save it, and unpause it. You can bind certain items to three of the C buttons, which allows you to use those items at any time with the push of a button. Lastly, the A button is the action button, and it has a different function depending on where you are and what you're doing (the A button's current function is always displayed at the top of the screen). This interface is simple, elegant, and clever. More importantly, it allows you to forget about having to fiddle with the control and lets you concentrate all of your attention on playing the game, which is where the focus should be. Zelda 64 is an extremely immersive experience. I know it's "just" a video game, but the world of Hyrule really feels like it's alive when I'm playing Zelda 64. With breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, plants that grow back after being sliced, and puzzles that are hardly ever illogical, Zelda's environments feel much, much more real than most game's. The sound only further pulls you into the game, with catchy tunes and great sound effects which are much better than they probably should be on a cartridge. With gameplay this immersive, Zelda 64 sucks you into its story and never lets you go until the game is finished, and you're going to have your emotions manipulated all the way through to the end. I think you understand what I'm trying to say here. While I think it's way too early to be calling Zelda 64 the greatest game of all time, one thing is for sure- it is a magnificent product that every gamer should own.
© 2001 ivan@mastergamer.com