nlegacy's Full Review: The Legend Of Zelda Ocarina Of Time for Nintendo 6...
Gameplay
Zelda’s control and camera movement is very similar to Mario 64’s. The camera stays behind your character, Link, and movement is achieved with the control stick. The A button performs different actions, while the B button is your sword. Items are used with the C buttons. The controls are very natural and easy to learn.
Zelda is about navigating through dungeons and other areas, picking up important items and defeating numerous enemies. It takes place in Medieval times, and does not include a lot of violence.
Single Player
The game follows Link as he seeks out the three Spiritual Stones to open the door of time and the six Sage Medallions which can defeat Ganondorf, the King of Evil. You must collect additional items and songs to play on your Ocarina, a flute-like instrument. There are also numerous upgrades which must be earned.
There are a total of eight dungeons, and each has a different theme, including forests, volcanoes, lakes, and more. One even takes place inside a giant fish! There are a number of non-human enemies and allies you encounter throughout your adventure, and each is suited for his or her environment. For example, up the river you find a race of people who live underwater, and in the mountains you find a tribe that eats rocks.
The wide variety of play and the number of things you can collect to help you make this game a great one for anyone who has the patience. Action lovers may dislike the large amounts of text that characters say, but they add to the great story.
The ending is the best I’ve seen on the Nintendo 64.
Visual Aspect
Although not as realistic as Perfect Dark, Zelda’s graphics are very good. The cartoon-like graphics are very colorful, and there is a lot of detail. The different times of day look very impressive, especially sunrise and sunset. The shadows work well, and they even move with the sun. The character models are impressive, and the animation is top notch. The cutscenes use the in-game engine, so they look the same as the rest of the game.
Aural Aspect
The dialog is all done using subtitles, but the music is very good and suits the mood of the game. The songs you play on your Ocarina are very original. The noises Link makes whenever he gets hit can get a little annoying as time goes on, but it’s a very minor thing. The chickens sound great.
Replay Value
Although Zelda doesn’t have a multiplayer game, the single player never gets old. Thanks to all of the items you can collect like Pieces of Heart and Gold Skulltula Tokens (there are 100 of them), it takes a long time to master this game. Even after you master it, it is still fun to play through again. The only downside is you can only fight those incredible bosses once.
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