Sorry. I can never stop those Disney references from popping out.
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The N64 controller. It looks like a Batman accessory. |
Anyway, like I said before, I'm going to take this opportunity to talk a little bit about Ocarina of Time and some of the exciting new features it brought into the Zelda series.
First, and most obviously, Ocarina of Time is the very first 3D Zelda title. This absolutely revolutionized the series, giving the developers the opportunity to totally change the way that the game was played. Ocarina of Time's 360 degree view allowed puzzles to be infinitely more complex and challenging, and on several levels. Link can't jump freely like he could in Link's Awakening with the Roc's Feather, but he
does automatically jump over gaps now (to a certain length.) He can also push, pull, and climb on blocks now. Rather than being instantly trapped by a ledge, Link can climb up to a certain height. There are now little tunnels that Link can crouch and crawl through commando-style (on his elbows, not without underwear!)
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| Link uses Z-Targeting to accurately Hookshot an enemy. Keen! |
Sword fighting becomes a lot more complicated in this game with the introduction of the "Z-Targeting" system. The N64 had a famously complex controller, like nothing that had yet been seen in gaming to that point. It featured an analog stick for movement, four small, yellow "C" buttons, an A+B button, a start button, and a tiny, barely-used D-Pad. It also had two shoulder buttons and a "Z" button, which was on the
back of the controller, where your index finger naturally rested when properly holding the controller. This gave the general impression less of a controller and more a jet fighter control system.
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The carrots represent how many times you can get
Epona to go faster. Once you use them up, you have
to wait until they regenerate before you can gallop again. |
Anyway, by holding down "Z," Link can lock on to targets, people, and objects in order to aim arrows, slingshot bullets, boomerangs and to assist in dueling with shielded enemies. He can also "Z" target certain objects to get information about them from Navi. By holding down "Z" and the right shoulder button simultaneously, Link can strafe and circle around the enemy with his shield up. More buttons held down result in more movements, like backflips, side jumps, and awesome jump stabs. In the words of Church from Red vs. Blue, the buttons in this game are kind of like Voltron - the more you hook up, the better it gets.
There are tons of mini-games and two main sidequests in Ocarina of Time - one is a Link's Awakening-style trading quest, and the other allows you to get your very own horse, Epona. This is possibly the coolest thing ever, as you can shoot arrows from her back
like a boss. (Twilight Princess lets you have awesome sword duels from Epona's back, but that's not until later.) There's a lot of NPC interaction, and in fact Link has some pretty in-depth conversations with several NPCs. There are four new sentient races in Hyrule - the Kokiri, Gorons, Zora and Gerudo - who flesh out the world nicely and add a bit of flavor.
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| The Spiritual Stones |
The dungeon scheme is very similar to A Link to the Past's. There are three beginner dungeons in which you obtain the three Spiritual Stones, then five full dungeons in which you obtain the Sage Medallions. That makes it a little bit shorter than A Link to the Past, but there are also a couple mini-dungeons that flesh out the game and lots of things to do to break up the monotony of the quest.
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| Young Link |
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| Adult Link |
The game's "gimmick" is, of course, the ocarina. Link can learn 13 different songs through the game which all do different things, from making it rain to teleportation to different regions of Hyrule. You receive two ocarinas in the game, one of which is the Ocarina of Time. This ocarina is the key to travelling back and forth through time.
This leads us to the coolest part of Ocarina of Time - the inclusion of both an adult and child Link. You start as child Link, and at a certain point in the game are sent seven years into the future to a Hyrule ruled by Ganondorf. This opens different items and dungeons, and you need to travel back and forth to complete the game. Some sections can only be done as a kid; some only as an adult.
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| The Ocarina of Time |
I could probably talk about all the features of Ocarina of Time for several more posts, but this is a basic overview of some of the more interesting additions it makes to the series. The next couple of chunks will be discussing a little bit more about Master Quest and its differences from the original game, although I might decide to come back to Ocarina of Time and talk about it a little bit more.
I hope you enjoyed, and I'll be back soon with some Master Quest fun!
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