I don't think I could review this game without mentioning the fervor and hyperbole which has surrounded it ever since its development was announced over two years ago. After that moment, Nintendo 64 owners have had to play an exhausting game of anticipation, as release dates were pushed back and delays occurred more frequently and spontaneously than pregnancies at an Ozark revival. During that period, a great wave of what we gamers call "hype" sprung into being, with the game then called "Zelda 64" labeled as everything from "the savior of the N64" to "the greatest disappointment ever." Every two-bit commentator in the videogame journalism business had an opinion on the game, and, for several months prior to its release, it became decidedly vogue to bash a game most folks had yet to play.
Why was that? Because most of us gamers knew in our heart of hearts that this game was going to be something special. Shigeru Miyamoto, the game's often-lauded mastermind, frequently referred to the then-underway Zelda project as potentially his greatest videogame accomplishment yet. On top of that, the Zelda series of titles from Nintendo have rarely disappointed (although opinions on 2 are as various as the colors on N64 controllers, and I'm probably the only person alive who didn't think A Link To The Past was all that scorching), and the Zelda N64 release figured hugely in Nintendo's plans for re-emergence in the Japanese marketplace. It's often considered to be a sort of elevated countercultural hipness to denigrate that which will inevitably be popular.
Unfortunately for the nay-sayers, Zelda turned out great. Really great. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is certainly not the videogame equivalent of a Hanson album or a James Cameron epic; Zelda: OoT is videogaming at its most excellent, where it stands out as a work of quality art rather than a successful demographic venture. Zelda spans mere demographics and delivers, in powerful form, an eminently playable experience that will draw the gamer, regardless of tastes, into a fully-realized world.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, for those of you living under a rock these past three years, is the latest installment in Nintendo's venerable "Zelda" series of games. In this title, stated to be the official "beginning" of the storyline which runs through the Zelda series, the player assumes the role of the original Link, the savior of the land of Hyrule, as he confronts the evil plans of Ganondorf Dragmire, the series' predominant villain. Princess Zelda, whose rather eclectic choice of moniker graces the games' titles, again plays a key role in Ganondorf's plans to conquer Hyrule and the Sacred Realm. In the process of defeating Ganondorf, the player will find himself controlling Link during two stages in his life: at ages 10 and 17, first when the Deku Tree of his village sends him out to find the source of the evil threatening Hyrule, and later when Ganon's evil has usurped the land. Along the way, the player, as Link, will travel from the peaks of Death Mountain to th e depths of Lake Hylia, witness the land of Hyrule in fill 3D for the first time.
And, boy, is it beautiful. Graphically, the game, for the most part, is absolutely captivating, although the trademarked "muddy" textures are still in abundance, thanks to the low resolution necessary to store them on cart and the use of texture filtering. Still, the Nintendo 64's high-quality alpha channel translucency effects and superior graphics horsepower combine to bring us some very captivating environments heavy with atmosphere and and an involving sense of location. From the shimmering reflections on the walls of Zora's Domain to the infernal flames of the Fire Temple to the thick fog of the Forest Shrine, not a single place in all of Hyrule remains indistinct or unmemorable.
Character design and animation is equally well-done, with each sporting reasonably detailed polygonal bodies and a full set of textures. Of special note or the impressive boss characters, which range from the eerily ethereal (Morpha, the almost anthropomorphic amoeba) to the shockingly enormous (King Dodongo, the "infernal dinosaur"; and Bongo Bongo, a gargantuan shadow demon). Sporting rather cinematic and extensive introductory animations, these baddies among baddies are sure to wow you. On the good guy side, Link and his horse, Epona, move with graceful fluidity with nary a hitch or awkward jerk. Overall, the graphics are guaranteed to please even the most nit-picky of gamers.
If I have one small qualm with the graphics overall, it lies in the choice of static cameras inside certain buildings and the Hyrule market. Although you have the choice of two camera angles (side and top down), it's rather obvious that these areas are not the fully-realized 3D environments seen in the other 99.9% of the game but prenedered, scrolling backdrops (with a few effects added to make it marginally more convincing) ala Final Fantasy 7. Yuck. This oddly-inconsistent design choice is the only real mark against the overall package, and I can't think of a good reason for it, since nothing overly complex is being displayed. Although I would've loved to explore the Hyrule market and dinked around inside Link's home in full 3D, this bizarre design decision hardly impacts the overall graphic experience to any significant degree.
Sonically, Zelda: OoT is very solid, but hardly superlative. The music, while well-composed, is rather short on instrumentation and has an almost SNES-like fell to it, lacking the richness and depth of the CD quality sound much of us are accustomed to. The music tracks are, as stated above, well composed, and evocative, which is definitely a plus. On top of that, since the sound is not streamed from a CD but processed on the fly, the music has a cool dynamic element, changing when danger is near subtly at first, and becoming more ebullient as the threat becomes more manifest. This effect is very well implemented, but, ultimately, it cannot conceal the rather 16-bittishness of the overall musical package.
Sound effects are excellently done and help immerse the player aurally in the realm of Hyrule. Appropriate ambient noises, such as howling wolves, croaking fogs, and chirruping crickets are appropriately understated but intelligently placed, ensuring that the background of sound as the player explores is always conducive to his/her suspension of disbelief without being obtrusive or unnecessary. Occasional voice, such as that of Navi the fairy or NPC greeting, also adds a cute touch. Besides that, the package includes the expected repertoire of clanks, grunts, and groans as per any decent action/RPG, and you, the player, will never feel any noticeable void created by the omission of the expected sonic feedback.
At this point, some mention of the game's use of the Rumble Pack should be mentioned. Although I feel that most games' use of the Rumble Pack is purely gimmickly and irritatingly unnecessary (actually, I feel that way about the RUmble Pack in general, with the notable exception of its use in this game), in Zelda: OoT, it actually works to add to the feeling of immersion. Of especial note is its use with the fishing game in Lake Hylia; the tactile effect when a fish is snagged really makes the mini-game more immersive and more fun. Kudos here to Nintendo for making such a normally pointless gimmick useful and demonstrating its worth when implemented properly and in fitting context to all of the cynics kin to myself out there.
The control, while having a small learning curve, is supremely intuitive and intelligent. As expected, the analog stick is used to control Link, while the A button is used as sort of contextual "Action" button, whose usage depends entirely on where Link is and what he is doing at the time. The B button is used to swing Link's weapon, and the R button is used to block with his shield. The top yellow button switches to a first-person view for scoping out the terrain manually, without the camera getting in the way, and the other three yellow buttons can have objects assigned to them for convenient usage. Lastly, the Z button, the most intelligent control innovation found in recent 3D gaming development, is used to "lock" Link on to enemy, enabling you track it without losing sight of it and fire special weapons on it without manually sighting. Using the Z button is a key element to solving many puzzles and defeating most (if not all) of the game's bosses and mini-bosses. When not in a combat situation, the Z button can be used to keep the camera fixed on the back of Link, eliminating many of the problems inherent in a 3D roaming camera (slow rotation during a puzzle, getting stuck on walls, etc). Since you can quickly flip to a forward-facing perspective with a quick touch of the Z button, the camera issues which plagues Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie are neatly dispensed with, making Link a joy to control and making the exploration of Hyrule's diverse environm ents pleasantly hassle-free. I consider the truest test of a game's control scheme to lie in the answer to the question, "can I play it fully without ever picking up the manual?" Needless to say, my Zelda: OoT manual still remains in the box, pleasantly untouched.
Miyamoto's brilliant game design shines through in all aspects of the game. From dungeon layouts which both seem large yet allow the player convenient and quick access to the boss after dying at it, to the manifold little touches such as rocks which reveal scuttling, tiny Tektites when lifted and cleverly integrated mini-games, Zelda:OoT is a work of genius which any contemporary game designer could learn a great deal from. IF Miyamoto's intention was to bring into the home a vast adventure replete with rewarding elements of exploration and clever puzzles, then he has succeeded admirably. If anything, Zelda: OoT deserves its praises simply for maintaining such a religious attention to detail all the while remaining completely consistent in presentation and in game play. Zelda: OoT challenges, but never frustrates beyond a level where an equal degree of reward is returned for the effort. This is Miyamoto's true gift: supremely well-considered game design. One never gets the feeling when playing his better games (this one, Yoshi's Island, Super Mario World, Super Metroid) that the superior graphics are the sum of the game's excellence; no matter how good the graphics or explosive the effects, they always take a back seat to the clever game play.
Despite my rather vociferous laudations, I do not feel that Zelda: OoT is a perfect game. Besides the few graphic flaws, odd (albeit miniscule in impact) design choices, and the weaker aspects of its sonic presentation, there are many areas in which Zelda: OoT could be improved. Spoken dialogue, of a quality similar to that found in Konami's Metal Gear Solid, could have really improved the cinematic elements presented within the game. There are also times where the low resolution textures, coupled with the ever-present texture filtering effect, muddy the graphics unduly and draw the gamer out of the environments. However, a hallmark of a great game is certainly in evidence when critics such as myself can find so few flaws that they must resort to suggesting improvements afforded only by greater technology. Still, one could only wonder how much better the presentation of this game might have been had Nintendo opted to use a CD format for their current game console.
Taken altogether, Zelda: OoT is perhaps the best game released this year. Featuring unparalleled 3D environments, a deep and involved quest, brilliant and intuitive play controls, and a well-developed cinematic quality that enhances rather than overwhelms the whole game experience, Miyamoto's latest soon-to-be-classic title deserves to be played by each and every person who might deign to consider themselves a fan of great games. Forget the hype and over-the-top phraseology of the erstwhile bleeding-edge pundits; Zelda: OoT needs to be experienced in order to truly appreciate how intelligent and comprehensive a work of game design it is.
The Bottom Line: The best game of 1998 should not be missed by anyone. Period.
