Beginning with the Famicon Disk System, The Legend of Zelda has encountered many Legends and undergone many journeys. In this version, The Ocarina of Time marked the world of gaming as one of the most anticipated games of the Nintendo 64 era and possibly the most anticipated game of all-time. There's no doubt in my mind that Ocarina of Time is the best Legend of Zelda to this day. On top of that, in the wonderful world of Vizzed, Ocarina of Time is the most popular N64 game. Released November 1998, I remember having this game per-ordered for Christmas and when I first saw that gold cartridge, I thought that was way cool. I was so absorbed into the game when I finally had an opportunity to play it. This legend is the icon and the pinnacle of The Legend of Zelda series.

Overall: 10
One of the many joys of playing this game begins with the controls and game play. It was easy to master the controls which left out a lot of the frustrations that games, to this day, still have trouble with. The game play was a cut above anything I had ever seen. This took Legend of Zelda to an all-time high and even higher than the Mario games with it's flawless quality. I'm also going to add that when you played Ocarina of Time, you jump right into the fun and it keeps you hooked until you defeat your long time rival, Ganon. You're not bound to any tutorial and if you know what you're doing you can make a mad dash for the things you need to do with no effort.

The quality of this game is legendary. Taking into consideration the quality in graphics, quality of the music compositions, the story and much more, Legend of Zelda is the game to beat for this franchise. It set the bar high. Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword of the WII fell short of that bar. They were still great games but they weren't equals to the Ocarina of Time. One of the reasons I say this is due to the high expectations set from playing Ocarina of Time. After completing Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, they just didn't equate to the greatness, you know?

I remember, as a kid, having Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as a Christmas present but forced to wait until my dad played and finished the game. What was funny was his excuse. He would always say "If I let you play it now... by the time I finally start playing it you'll already have it played and beat". What sucked was being made to wait a couple weeks because my dad was slow and I don't think he ever made time to finish the game

Sound: 9
Can you believe that the sound and the music of this game was absolutely great? Starting with the sound effects, nothing was ever too much or too annoying, at least, not to me. This game, compared to other games of the N64 was fairly better. I liked each of the songs you'd play on your Ocarina and I thought those were pretty amazing. I also liked the music for each of the levels. I think whoever composed them really did an outstanding job. Anytime I see a Goron I think of the Goron City song that's always playing in the background. Of course Hyrule field was probably the most memorable music because every time you needed to go some where, you had to travel across Hyrule Field. I did like the Gerudo Valley theme though, that was pretty amazing and I probably spent too much time there being stupid,

The only thing I thought was annoying was Navi... "Look" "Listen" "HEY!!!!" NO! That fairy would get on my nerves and all I wanted to do was trap him in a bottle and through it into the dark depths of the Shadow Temple. I never needed the fairy's help and I never wanted any help. Just because you sense shadows hanging on the ceiling doesn't mean I can't see that shadow on the floor right?? Aside from this little set back, the quality of the sound and music was still great!

Addictiveness: 9
I think a large part of the addictiveness of Ocarina of Time formed from it's predecessor A Link to the Past. People were just hooked on the Zelda franchise. If you grew up with parents who bought you Legend of Zelda games, you probably spent every second of your free time as a child completing whichever game you had. Like I had A Link to the Past, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, Ocarina of Time and so forth. That's not to say that Ocarina of Time isn't addicting on it's own, because it is. A Link to the Past blew people way and Ocarina of Time really blew people away. The game was just so much fun.

Whether you were battling enemies or you were solving puzzles, Ocarina of Time has something in it that everyone can enjoy. It has a great story, tons of action, several puzzles, adventure, mystery and great music. There is something here that everyone can enjoy. If you're into creepy things, well there's 1 thing in particular that takes the cake... This game was creative and it easily paved a path for future gaming. One cool thing I always liked was the hidden Easter egg. It's not technically hidden but it's in a place that you only visit once in the game. When I saw it as a child it made me wonder whether or not Mario was in the game too. I later realized I was stupid haha.

Story: 10
Before I begin, I wanted to state that I've liked that for the most part, each Legend of Zelda game has a different kind of Link. It's kept things interesting over the years. One of the things I find cool about this franchise is that the story is still an evolving story. It's like the land of Hyrule is set to shuffle on a play list and each time you play a game from the series it's like playing the same game, but it's a totally different game with different elements. Honestly, I'd like to see a story from this series that actually takes that concept and apply it to a game to take the never ending legend and merge the storylines into a bigger much more epic story on a more grand scale. Also throwing this out there, I really hated the owl because he talked too much and he was everywhere. He just wouldn't leave me alone.

With Ocarina of Time, the story is easy to follow and easy to get into. Link is a lost boy who never had a fairy and when you begin the game, that day is the day that Link finally gets a fairy (Unfortunately this fairy needs a fairy muzzle... Note to self: Worst day of life). Link begins an adventure to uncover relics needed to open the Door of Time. When he does, Ganon takes power from the Triforce. With the help of a sage you are transformed and that's when your true adventure begins. There's more to the story but spoilers are still spoilers. You'll have to play the game to find out more.

Depth: 9
I must admit that this game is pretty in-depth (for a non-strategy game). Overall, the game has a lot to offer. I think one of the biggest selling points is the number of items and equipment you can use. There's a lot you can do and each weapon is pretty valuable (with a few small exceptions). The other big thing in the game is running to many different places around Hyrule to find heart pieces that you missed. Collect 4 heart pieces and you can earn yourself another heart container and increase your life. To add to the fun, you also earn the right to use magic. Let's not forget the mini-games as well, those are pretty fun especially if you're in the mood for friend chicken. I'll also add in that you can pretty much explore wherever you like but there are some limitations.

I think people would agree with me on this... The temples/dungeons etc. Those were what made Ocarina of Time stand out. The Water Temple was a tricky temple for me. I was stumped on how to defeat the mini-boss and with the size of the temple and with so much you can do, it was easy to get lost. I must admit when I was younger I was also stumped on the Forest Temple; I didn't know what to do after some point and even quit playing the game for a year because I couldn't figure it out. It's a good thing I felt smarter 1 year later after giving up because I felt pretty dumb when I finally figured it out. There's also mini-games that you can enjoy that test your luck (I really hated that chicken if you know where I'm going with this) and test your skill with other weapons.

Difficulty: 7
The overall difficulty of the game doesn't really stand out. I had my problems here or there and some of the bosses proved to be somewhat difficult but all total, it was never really difficult. The game never really challenged me the way I'd like to be challenged. I mean we're talking a guy that runs around with a sword and shield so I'd like to see some steel on steel, sparks flying, epic battles, now that would make for some interesting play. Even though playing the game normally isn't all too difficult I do know that there are some challenges you can do on your own.

One of the challenges I know of is the 3 heart run. You begin the game having 3 hearts. Instead of collecting more hearts, you stay at those 3. This makes you re-think and actually apply a little bit of strategy to your game because you can't sacrifice a heart or 2 to get in a couple extra swings of your sword. You're still able to recover lost life by any other means but that's restricted by what you have in your inventory. To take it a step further, play the game without any life saving items and see how far you get. We'll just pretend you have 1 life to live.

Another challenge is to play the game without a shield. At some point of the game, your shield may become "lost" so don't replace it and see how far you can get without it. With finding heart pieces or without is entirely up to the level of difficulty you think you can handle. (Now remember that it is still required for specific parts of the game where you need to use a shield to progress. After that, "lose" the shield again and see if you can do it).

Wrapping Things Up
Legend of Zelda has grown fairly popular over the years and is one of Nintendo's icons in the gaming industry along side the long-term rival Mario. Ocarina of Time is a fun adventure where you can do many things (even go fishing). I'd recommend this game to anyone and everyone because it's friendly to anyone and everyone. This is a must play for anyone who even visits Vizzed because it's such an awesome game. I give high praises to the developers for creating this series because without people in this world to create ideas like this, our games would be boring or we wouldn't even have games. There's a lot you can do, a lot you can see and a lot to play in this game. Even if you're someone who just dislikes the franchise, you should give the game a try and see for yourself what you're missing. There's nothing better than a first hand account to playing the game. Playing is better than wasting time reading reviews!

Wow! There is a lot of detail in this review! I love your great introduction at the start, it really did entice me. The style in which that introduction was written is remarkable! Woah! I'm really, really impressed. Well done on that! I've actually never seen much detail and thought going into an introduction before in my whole time here on Vizzed. However, I don't think a huge introduction like this is really needed in a review and it really only contributed to the word count rather than the actual review.

There was so much descriptions in this review, very similar to your walkthrough I read earlier. There was so much details also, you gave evidence to support this detail which was extremely excellent. I really think you're a talented writer and I mean that. That should mean a lot to you as I don't really say that. It's the first I have ever said that actually!

I think putting the overall first is a bad idea. It gives away too much details at the start and by the middle the reader will already know what you think of the game and really just give up with reading it. That has happened to me before and I just didn't comment on the review. Luckily, because I know you're a talented writer, I read the rest of your review.

Ahh! Nice one. 'Wrapping Things Up' I thought that was an overall point of view but now I see why you put it there, pretty impressive stuff! Nice work, man! I really enjoyed reading this review and you should be proud of it.

Just wrapping things up now < see what I did there? . Okay. This was an excellent review, I see no errors bar the introduction. I would definitely tell you to continue writing reviews! Good Luck!

Dean2k13 : Thanks man, it means a lot to me. When I type up reviews, the best way to describe it is freely written. I type up whatever comes to mind and I also try to keep my reviews different so that if you read each of my reviews they're not necessarily saying the same things. I'm not a very creative person but I am very good at pin pointing the different details. I always welcome suggestions to improve though. Maybe some things are too much, others are too little or maybe it's just based on opinion and not everyone agrees but I strive for my best either way. Thanks for the support, it's greatly appreciated.

Very nice review if i never played this would entice me to play