Now, before I go any further this very thread is tainted with spoilers,
and huge ones at that. If you wish to play these two games, but wish to leave
everything as a surprise, then turn back now. I repeat, THIS THREAD CONTAINS SPOILERS. By reading any further, you agree that if you read a spoiler and didn’t want to know about it, then it was your own responsibilities that lead
you to this action. However, I will on purposely leave the conclusion section
(named “Conclusion:”) spoiler-free at the end for you to read if you wish to
know my opinion. Ok, let’s begin. I will separate this into several categories,
such as, controls, graphics, music, and so on and so forth. Let’s start with
the opening:

Ocarina of Time:

The game starts with a draw bridge of Hyrule being lowered as some
mysterious black figure (obviously Gannondorf), is riding on his horse, in
which passes a little boy in green (obviously Link), with a close up to his
face, and then flashes to white. This opening is good, as it feels like you are
being told a great story of a great legend, and it keeps you in suspense. Then
the Great Deku Tree tells Navi to find the boy without a fairy, and start a
quest that the entire world depends on, which gives you more suspense. After a
timeless flying scene of the Kokiri Korest, Navi wakes up Link. Boy, I would
sure be annoyed if some ball of light came into my room and tried to wake me
up. The rest is game play to have the plot thicken.

This opening is great as you instantly fall in love with the game, and
gain great motivation to play the game.

Skyward Sword:

The game starts with this odd black thing in a forest roaring, and then
it cuts to your home place: Skyloft. The camera rotates around until it gets to
a giant statue with a girl playing the harp and singing Ballad of the Goddess
(which, funnily enough, is just Zelda’s Lullaby backwards) until a giant bird
lands next to her and gives the bird a letter. Then it cuts to our hero Link,
floating in some limbo with that odd black creature we saw earlier below him,
and above him is a weird jewel lady saying how you have some great destiny to
fulfil, and then you wake up to that giant bird popping it’s head through your
window, and spits the letter at you. Hilarious. You read the letter saying how
it’s the Wing Ceremony today, and she wants to see you before it starts.
From....Zelda? Wow, so is Zelda just an ordinary person in this game? Yeah,
what I’m I thinking, she’s bound to be kidnapped sooner or later. After that,
you can control Link, and the rest will thicken the plot for you.

Now this opening is quiet different to Ocarina of Time. Ocarina of Time
has that adventurous feel to it, and this seems a little unsubtle and “everyday
life” sort of thing. I am motivated to play, because of the fantastic music of
Ballad of the Goddess near the start, but I think Ocarina of Time wins this
round. One point to Ocarina of Time. But with almost every Zelda game, there is
a companion, as far as I’m concerned. Let’s look at Links assistant in these
games.

Ocarina of Time:

Navi is the fairy that aids you in your quest. You are pretty much
stuck with her from the very beginning. If I had to sum her up in one word, I
would have to say “annoying”. However, I must lengthen it to four words,
“annoying and almost useless” She is good on giving you quick tips on enemies
(apart from some in which she replied “I really don’t know what his weak spot
is”), but that’s just about it. Apart from that, she annoyingly says “HEY! HEY
LISTEN!” in which you must reply to her or it’ll never stop....ever! And when
you do, she gives you a hint that you already know about. She told me to check
out the Time Temple
when I already checked it and was in the middle of Death Mountain
trying to get the Goron Ruby! Why do I need to go all the way back to check
something I already know about and I am already taking care of! Near the end of
the game is a nightmare, as her advice is constantly “just keep moving”…..And
how to I get passed this part!?! You’re telling me to keep moving? The
frustration is never ending, and had to be one of the very few flaws in this
game.

Skyward Sword:

Fi is the jewel lady....or is she just blue? Anyway, after Zelda gets
kidnapped, you get some rest, until you are woken up to a noise. You follow the
blue figure to the giant statue, the door opens, and you speak with her. She
asks you to draw the sword to make a contract to make Fi your servant. Oh and
she lives inside the sword, by the way. After which, you obtain the Goddess
Blade. And you are now companions. This is a big improvement to Navi. In fact,
it was the assistant I always dreamed of, she is very formal, gives helpful
advice, and gives most of her advice in percentages. Although she does seem to
want to have her say in everything, and I mean everything. A door won’t open,
she appears and suggest you find a key, you find some tumble weed in a chest,
she pops out and helps you find some more by yourself, you  enter a room and most probably already know
what to do, and she pops out and suggests something that could help you get
passed the room, which just slows things down. I think they tried to make it so
people wouldn’t get stuck, by spelling everything in front of them, letter by
pain-staking letter.

The only real problem I have with Fi is with the boss battles. When you
want to know their weak spot, then she will say she has inadequate information
to tell you what to do, and will tell you latter some information on this boss,
which takes some time. Now, this is good, to encourage people to work out how
to kill it themselves, and if you are really stuck on what to do, then she will
help you, but normally I just can’t be bothered to go through that wall of
text, in which I normally work it all out before she has a chance to speak a
word. It’s almost pointless to me, and slows me down a lot. Other than that,
she’s great. One point to Skyward Sword! But how are the controls? Does the 1:1
motion compare with the classic Joystick?

Ocarina of Time:

The controls, simply put, are amazing. They seemed to have mastered a
sleek and fluid control system made for the N64 controller. Being able to use
the C-Stick for items instead of having to pause and select them is simple a
joy to use. Locking on to enemies and running around is about as realistic as
it can get back then. Controls so engaging you felt you were in the game, that
you were the hero of time. The use of the slight shot and the fairy bow is a
little stiff and takes a little practice to get used to, but when you do, the
effect is amazing. And to get to point A to point B quickly, you have to
constantly roll forward, which is a little annoying, but not problematic. I
tried doing this in real life, and I got too dizzy to continue, and running was
faster. How does link keep at it all day long? Sword combat is easy to execute,
and using your shield can easily be used to block after a sword attack. Awesome
to say the least.

Skyward Sword:

Incredible! Amazing! This is spectacular. At first, you just get to
control Link without any sword or bow or bug net, but it’s like an entirely new
game. You can run, saving yourself the constant rolling like the previous
games, but this takes out your stamina meter. It replenishes on its own rather
quickly, but if you use it all up at once, you’ll be exhausted, and you’ll walk
really slowly for a little while, unable to defend your self. You can run up
walls (parkour FTW!), climb along ledges, and even throw yourself up ladders!
This link is really acrobatic. This is really easy to perform after a short
tutorial given by one of your teachers. But the fun really starts when you get
the sword. The feeling is just like holding a real life sword, only lighter.
The 1:1 motion reacts to your every movement, you turn your hand, Link follows,
you raise your arm, Link copies, you wave your arm around slowly….well, the
reaction makes you look like someone who doesn’t know how to use a sword. Where
you slash, the direction is the same way you slash it at, which makes for
precise attacks. The nunchuck is used for the shield, which not only makes a
lot of sense, but also plays really well in combat.

Then you get the bug net, which is almost the highlight of the game.
It’s just like the sword, only it’s a net. It reacts to your every movement. I
found myself giggling like a little school girl when I have the bug net out.
Capturing bugs and birds holds endless satisfaction. Then you get the bow, my
new favourite item in the Zelda games. Simply put, incredible. I will make
endless “arrow to the knee” jokes with this out and primed. The only problem I
can find with it is that if you point the Wiimote at the screen long enough,
the accuracy gets out of focus, and I find myself constantly having to press
the down button on the D-Pad to re-center the cross-hair when playing Pumpkin
Pull. The way they executed it so perfectly makes it win this section. One
point goes to Skyward Sword. I feel no Zelda game isn’t complete without a
musical instrument. Which one is better? Does the ocarina beat the harp?

Ocarina of Time:

You receive the ocarina fairly soon in the game, and learn a total of
12 different songs, six of those are teleporting spells. You can use different
songs for different purposes, such as using the song of the sun to make day
time night and vise-versa. There are many different songs for different
purposes, in fact. Being able to get out your ocarina and play a song to make
something happen is just amazing. There is something about solving a problem
with music that seems so enchanting. Sometimes, you might come across a spot
where sight seems to emit from it. If you play a certain non-teleport spell
(different for each spot), a “super fairy” will appear, healing you of all
health and magic. This is a really good feature if you’re low on health or
magic. The only bad thing I can find with this ocarina is that there is no
free-style mode to play around with without accidentally playing a song.

Skyward Sword:

The harp is received after getting it from Zelda from the Temple of Time, so roughly a quarter of the game
in you get the musical instrument. And what can you do? Just strum the strings
back and forth. I tried to make individual notes from the harp, but as far as
I’m concerned, it’s impossible. Unless you are really skilled and can somehow
do it. So strumming it is. Unlike the ocarina, you can’t use a song to make it
do different things. In fact, the only thing you need the harp for is to open
up a door for a trail, and to make gossip stones appear. Now, in Ocarina of
Time, you could get a mask to make these stones talk to you, but the annoying
thing was you could only get the mask after getting all three stones to open
the Temple of Time with. And what was more; you could
only wear this mask as young link. So to read all of the stones wisdom, you had
to go back to know what they said. If you were like me and wanted to advance
further in the story, then you would most likely have just ignored them. In
Skyward Sword, however, all you need to do is strum the harp a few times by a
gathering of Blessed Butterflies and a gossip stone would appear, giving you a
treasure in the process. Those guys are awesome. This is good as you have to go
to each place again anyway, and you can get the gossip stones en passant. One
thing that this game offers is a harp game at the Lumpy Pumpkin, where you have
to strum at the right time for rupees. Although this is nice, the ocarina was
more multi-purpose and was more enjoyable to play. One point goes to Ocarina of
Time. Let’s look at the all important graphics. Which holds a better portrait
of the Zelda world?

Ocarina of Time:

Now, of course, graphics in a N64 can’t compare with the graphics with
the Wii, so this will be at the time. I have to be honest; the graphics in the
Kokiri forest were a little dull and dark. But when you leave, it gets
brighter, and you can see the beauty in Hyrule. The day to night transition are
a work of art. The way the clouds move is a nice touch to the sky. The
movements and animations of everyone made you feel you were in Hyrule. It
seemed everyone you saw had emotions, and were not just a pile of pixels. The
one thing to mention is the flying scenes. There are three, as far as I’m
concerned. The beginning one as Navi, on top of Death
Mountain, and in Lake Hyria.
These are one of the few moments I know about that simulate flying really well.
I often just go there to get a ride from that giant bird and admire the
scenery.

Skyward Sword:

The graphics are certainly interesting in this one. They are
impressive, and when you’re flying with your Loftwing, I often feel the
sensation of flying, even if the full sensation is misted by the dull void of
clouds. I like the scenery of all the areas, and the change of colour when you
go into a trail makes an eerie atmosphere. They clearly worked hard on the
graphics. I’m often left speechless when it comes to this. I say Skyward Sword
wins this. Ocarina did have some amazing graphics for it’s time, but I just
prefer Skyward Sword’s one. One point to Skyward Sword. Now is the music. Does
Skyward Sword have a better melody than Ocarina of Time?

Ocarina of Time:

The music is very fitting to each and every situation, but two pieces
come to mind. First off is the music that plays when you meet Shiek. The music
sets the mood so well, as he says very philosophical things - that if ushered
by anyone else, it would only make them look lame – and have stunning backgrounds
as it rolls. There is one word for this scene: beauty. A more perfect setting
for this situation could not be asked for. I almost cry every time I see one of
these scenes. And then Link learns a new song, they play together….it’s all
very touching. The next is Zelda’s Lullaby. This is a remarkable piece of
music, but I think it’s a tad overused. At the end, many different versions of
this song were played. It’s a great piece to listen to, and it is kinda the
theme for this game, but could you perhaps use a different piece, just one
different song in the credits? Despite this, the music played by the ocarina is
very enjoyable to listen to, even if you don’t need its effects.

Skyward Sword:

The main theme, Ballad of the Goddess, like I mentioned before, is
Zelda’s Lullaby backwards. This raises a question. Does this mean that when
they wrote Zelda’s Lullaby, they had Ballad of the Goddess in mind? And if
that’s true, does that mean they had this game planned 17 odd years before it
came out? With this line of thinking, I can only guess they were being lazy
with the music, but damn, is it a good piece to listen to. All the other music
is very fitting to the surroundings and areas. I really like the boss music in
this game. It brings out the feeling of adrenalin of fighting something three
times your size. Overall, I think Skyward Sword wins this one. One point goes
to Skyward Sword. But what about bosses? It’s nice to have a good boss at the
end of a tricky dungeon. What do these games hold?

Ocarina of Time:

Not much to say on this one, the bosses are simple, yet engaging. Some
are interesting and bizarre, like the one in Juba Juba’s belly, and Morpha.
Normally, you find a new item in every dungeon/temple, and they test you with a
boss to see if you mastered it. My favourite had to be a tie with Bongo Bongo
and Gannon. The sheer erieeness of Bongo Bongo makes it very memorial, while
the tight battle with Gannon is amazingly epic.

Skyward Sword:

I have a lot to say about the boss battles in this game. The first boss
you fight is Ghirahim, which makes the most of the 1:1 motion-plus. It’s a
rather intense batter for something so early in the game. Then you have a lava
ball, some giant scorpion, an enormous black creature, some guy with six arms
with massive swords, the list goes on. All of these bosses are worth a fight;
each one is epic in their own right. They get better and better as the game
progresses, and the music could not fit the mood for a boss battle better. I
love these bosses, they are just amazing. Skyward Sword wins this. One point to
Skyward Sword. There is one last thing on my list to talk about, and that’s the
end part of the game. Do these games give a great climax at the end for a epic
final dungeon, final boss, and ending?

Ocarina of Time:

After collecting all the Sages seals, then a rainbow bridge appears in front
of Gannondorf’s allowing you to enter. This final dungeon is just a combination
of all of the six temples in one. You use a light arrow to break the seal in
that room, and you get one step closer to Gannondorf. These room are a neat
thing to end the game with, although the fire temple room is merciless. After
breaking all the seals, you climb a tower fighting some enemies including two
iron knuckles. As you get higher and higher, you start to hear some organ
music, and it get louder and louder the further you get up. Then, you are met
with a red carpet stair way with stain-glass windows, which creates a massive effect
for what your up against. Then you enter this room with a lot of pots, and
naturally, you break them and regain as much magic, arrows and hearts as you
can, until you enter the boss room and realise that the game heals you
completely before the battle with Gannondorf. Yeah, thanks for letting me know
after I break every pot down there. So then you fight Gannondorf, which is
about as hard as Phantom Gannondorf, ironically enough. Then he dies and the
screen goes white, and the entire tower is in ruins. I couldn’t help saying “You
missed!” at this point. So the tower is going to collapse and you need to get
out before the timer runs out.

That’s pretty epic, to have you fight the last boss, then have to
escape the tower. Very Metroid Prime. For some reason Zelda prohibits you from
using the ocarina, which is a pain, because there is one of those zombie guys
that attack me. Let me use the ocarina and use the Song of the Sun damn it!
After this, you walk away, but you hear a noise. You go to the rumble that was
the tower and then….Gannondorf breaks from the rumble in very much like that
time Agent Smith said “THIS IS MY WORLD, MR. ANDERSON!” from the MAtirx Revolutions. If
you play them at the same time, I’m pretty sure you’ll see the connection. So
Gannondorf transform into Gannon, in which has to be one of the greatest final
boss battles ever. With incredible music, intense game play and tight movement,
it surely is a great battle. After Gannon has been defeated via the Master
Sword, Gannon is sent to the Sacred Realms, Zelda apologises for getting Link
into this mess, and takes him back 7 years to get back the time he lost as a
child. This ending is really touching, and I nearly cry every time. Zelda’s
Lullaby makes the perfect mood for this, and made it one of my favourite ending
of all time. But wait a minute….

If Zelda sent Link back 7 years, then wouldn’t that mean that Link
would have to live through Gannondorf’s 7 year rein? And then wouldn’t there be
temporally 2 Links at once? Would Link think he had to do it all again and bump
into himself, causing some sort of crazy paradox? Well, this can only mean one
thing. The Zelda time line has been screwed up. The only explanation could be
to create a split timeline, creating two different series of games. But that’s
a different story. In conclusion to this games ending, Nintendo really did put
a lot of hard work into this, making everything that was epic, epic, what was
moving, moving, and what would be memorial, very very memorial in deed.

Skyward Sword:

However, if you thought Ocarina of Times part of the game near the end
was good, then you haven’t seen anything yet. You arrive at the Sacred Temple,
seeking the three Triforce pieces. This temple is by far the best last dungeon
I have ever seen, for the main reason because it is one big sliding puzzle. You
heard right. There are some spots where you can slide the rooms around to
change the layout of the temple. This blew my mind, and when I saw triangular
pieces on the map, I instantly knew you could accurately collect the Triforce
pieces. Physically collect and hold in your hand pieces of the Triforce. This
isn’t just an 8^th of the Triforce like the NES game, or collecting
the Triforce of Courage like in Zelda 2, but collecting all three pieces,
Power, Wisdom and Courage, one at a time. This blew what little was left of my
mind, and I could not comprehend this. The final dungeon is a joy to play, and
after you collect the Triforce, you are teleported outside to the Statue of the
Goddess, and you wish for Demise’s death, which happens by….landing the Statue
of the Goddess on top of Demise…..I expected something less….physical and over
the top. But it’s one way to do it, I suppose.

After of which, the seal that Zelda created is no longer needed, she
awakens, and everything’s alright. It’s not like a certain someone who wanted
to revive his master is going to pop-out of no-where and kidna- *Ghirahim
appears* I spoke too soon. So Ghirahim kidnapps Zelda (finally….), takes her to
the past to revive Demise (who isn’t dead yet). So you follow him, and he is at
the bottom on the pit. He blocks the path, and summons a ridicules amount of
monsters to give him time to perform the ritual. Epic! So you race down the
slop, literally slashing your way through an army of monsters to get to Zelda.
When you do, Ghirahim challenges you to one last battle, but this time with his
entire body with that hard black skin. I have no idea what happened to my mind
afterwards, it was just…..urrrrrrrthisgameissoawesome! The music for this
battle and the mood set is incredible and extremely amusing to play. After you
defeat him, he finished the ritual, as he was continuing it as you were
fighting, and Demise eats Zelda soul. Demise comes back to life and….gasp! Ghirahim
was Demise’s sword? Much like Fi? It even looks like The Master Sword, only corrupted.
Anyway, Demise admires your courage, and challenges you to a fight. You follow
him to fight him and the true final battle begins.

This battle has even better music and better game play than Ocarina of
Time. The surroundings, the atmosphere, the battle, it’s just one big formula
for pure epicness, and this is not just gush. After you get half his health
down, he gets really annoyed and gets a lightening sword out, so you have to be
patient with your attacks. After you get his health down to very low, you can
land a fatal blow on him and finish him once and for all. He dies, with his
last words cursing you that his hatred will be renewed time and time again in
which Links bloodlines will suffer. This could be the cause of Gannon in the
first place. Demise then goes into the Master Sword to when one day he will be
completely dissolved in the sword. Luckly, Demise was killed before Zelda’s
soul was completely consumed. Link heads back, he places the Master Sword in a pedestal
in which will break the contract between Fi and Link. Fi says a very touching
speech about what she had learnt, Zelda and Impa say their goodbyes, and Zelda
and Link decide to live together watching over the Trifroce. Although this
ending droned on for a little long, it is as touching as the ending to Ocarina
of Time. But wait a minute….

If Demise is now in the Master Sword, what’s going to happen to the
present? In the present, Demise was killed by the Triforce. But he was also
killed in the past, before he got killed by the Triforce. So now Demise won’t
get killed by the Triforce because he’s in the Master Sword? What kind of sense
is that? That just makes the entire journey seem almost pointless. If I had
known the Master Sword would absorb Demise, I would have let Ghirahim take
Zelda, then I would kill Demise, then collect the three pieces of the Triforce
and wished for something different. Or at least wish for the death of both
Ghirahim and Demise at the same time. So does this create yet another split
time line? That’s another story. Skyward Sword wins this section. They put a
lot of hard work into this, making Ocarina of Time’s ending stages to look like
simplified RGPs. This blew my mind on so many occasions. One point to Skyward
Sword.

Conclusion:

I didn’t think I could find a game greater than Ocarina of Time. I
though it would be the timeless piece that none would be better. But Skyward
Sword didn’t surprise me. I expected this game to be amazing, speechless, and
timeless. And that’s what it is. Now, overall, I think Skyward Sword is a
little better than Ocarina of time. There is quite a bit of ground I missed out
here, but I picked out what seemed the most important to consider. It feels a
bit like taboo, calling Skyward Sword better than Ocarina of Time. But maybe
that’s because Ocarina of Time had the chance to age well into a masterpiece.
Skyward Sword might have this charm one day, but that doesn’t change the fact
that it’s a great game. Both games are worth playing, but if you forced me to
choose, I would choose Skyward Sword over Ocarina of Time.