The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

 Nintendo 64
User Score
9.0

Universal acclaim- based on 8290 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7,394 out of 8290
  2. Mixed: 307 out of 8290
  3. Negative: 589 out of 8290
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  1. ExterminatorOG
    May 5, 2022
    10
    Es un juego increíble ya a pasado más de 20 años y cada vez que lo juego me divierto un montón. Ojalá Nintendo saque otro Rimake. La verdad muy recomendable.
  2. Fantasymaker
    May 8, 2022
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is an awesome adventure, and at the same time not boring and not repetitive. This is great and worth for playing even 24 years later (now)… Expand
  3. Pizarrator
    Nov 4, 2022
    10
    UNA OBRA MAESTRA!!! y que quede bien claro. Este juego dejó el listón muy alto. Cualquiera que lo haya jugado tendrá la misma sensación.
  4. eduhBRPS5
    Mar 27, 2023
    10
    So many years have passed and still everyone wish for a remake, if it happens it will raise bars again, and mark time as another masterpiece
  5. ThatCat54
    May 25, 2022
    10
    One of the greatest Zelda games of all time! Managed to take a great series to the next level with the 3rd dimension. Absolutely amazing!
  6. Tampasco
    Dec 13, 2022
    10
    Just the best game of the world, after 24 years, I continue playing this game and is soo cool
    Nota Final: 10
  7. GDsReviews
    May 27, 2022
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Ocarina of Time launched the Zelda series into 3D and set a bar for video game excellence that has stood the test of time to this day. This game is the video game equivalent of The Godfather movie it is that excellent and brilliant. Like The Godfather, it did not just make waves, it made a tsunami still being felt today.

    When I booted it up and saw the title screen for the first time, I realized immediately that Ocarina of Time would be absolutely historic before I even started playing it. When I started playing it, the game completely blew me away with its excellence, and kept topping itself over and over again all the way to the end. After beating it for the first time, the feeling I had at that moment was to replay the whole game from start to finish all over again. The key to this game’s greatness and timelessness is its story. It is so solid, that most movies have worse plots than this game. The plot of Ocarina of Time was clearly intended for it to be the keystone game of the Zelda series for everything that came before and after it, well before Nintendo came out the official Zelda timeline. When Nintendo came out with the official timeline, Ocarina of Time was placed as the keystone game of the series in it.

    The rest of the game is just as solid as the story. The soundtrack is an all-time great, The villain in Ganondorf is extremely intelligent akin to a real life dictator, despite being mostly third person felt first person in immersion, and has easily some of the most powerful women warriors and leaders in all of fiction; topped off by a princess in Zelda that disguises herself as a reclusive warrior boy called Sheik for 7 years, and is never a damsel in distress. As I have grown over the years, it is that latter I have the greatest respect for in this game because it is still extremely rare. While Zelda/Sheik is the most notable woman warrior and leader in Ocarina of Time, there are many other powerful woman warriors and leaders in this game as well. Princess Zelda literally gets trained to be a warrior by her caretaker in a warrior woman in Impa. There is also a strong willed but bratty Zora princess and sage in Ruto, your forest friend and later sage in Saria, and a tribe that consists of nothing but powerful women warrior of color in the Gerudo. One of them in Nabooru gains the courage to defy her evil leaders in Kome, Kotake, and Ganondorf, and pays the price for it only to be revealed as a sage.

    This Gerudo tribe portion is by far the weakest point in Ocarina of Time. I have massive respect for the Gerudo tribe being powerful women of color, but the way you defeat them I recoiled in racist disgust. You have to stun them by taking pot shots with arrows, and it was exacerbated by Link being white, blond, and blue eyed. Despite this cringing way of winning over the Gerudo, the game still shows extremely powerfully how their own leaders in Kome, Kotake, and Ganondorf abandoned and betrayed them, with Nabooru proving to be the only Gerudo Leader with a moral compass to care and believe in her own people. This racial factor also led me to conclude that Princess Zelda is only member of the Hyrulian Royal Family with a moral compass because she is the only one not imperiously detached from the rest of the kingdom, and saw it all as Sheik. (An extremely rare occasion where the material redeemed itself by the masterful and perfect execution of the story around the Geurdo Tribe, Nabooru, Kome, Kotake, and Ganondorf.)

    As for Ganondorf abandoning and betraying his own people, you can just see him lose all shreds of his remaining morality as the story progresses. He wanted to better his fellow Gerudo when seizing the royal throne, but in that timeless phrase “power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” he unleashes a seven-year long reign of terror. By the end of the game, he becomes an isolated out of control dictator seeking more and more power in a complete loss of morality, and completely abandons his own tribe. Ganondorf in Ocarina of Time reminds me vividly of real-life dictator Idi Amin of Uganda. They both seized power in a similar way in a coup, and unleashed a reign of terror and destruction of similar length that ended with them being forcefully removed. (Ganondorf 7 years and Idi Amin 8 years)

    Despite its racial flaws, Ocarina of Time remains a masterpiece of a game that has and will be remembered for decades to come as one of the greatest games of all time. You simply will not see all of video gaming, never mind Nintendo and Zelda until you play Ocarina of Time.    … Expand
  8. Nitode
    Jun 7, 2022
    10
    Was 12 years old when it released. Loved it ever since. Perfect game in so many ways. Thank you for this game in my childhood.
  9. 3N50
    Jun 9, 2022
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This video game is more than just action adventure. This game to me represents a feeling, an atmosphere. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time shows of life from childhood to adulthood like no other game does, in the most subtle way possible.

    Going into this game, I had high expectations. I've heard many claims that this is the best Zelda game of all time, or even the best video game to have ever come out. After finishing Ocarina of Time, I can tell why people like this game so much.

    I think that this game was designed to be special and revolutionary. One of my favorite parts of the game is it's veriaty. Ocarina of Time never fails to establish folk, lore and characters in the most thought out and polished way. I like every society of this game: From the Kokiri to the Gerudo. They're all distinct and intersting. Nothing like you would see in real life. I felt like I was a child again while playing this game. Once I played the game for longer, it hit me, and it hit me hard. That moment after you become an adult and arive at hyrule town, it's dark. And a lot of the dungeons want to convay that same level of unease.

    Talking of Dungeons, I liked every single on of these dungeons. Every dungeon works with the items you get in set dungeon. It's how Zelda began. But it goes beyond that. The dungeons work with levels. You need to climb up and down diffrent levels. You would think that you would get lost or overwhelmed, but no. Besides the water temple, every dungeon was straight forward but interesting. The puzzles are at times too easy to solve but dungeons like ice cavern or the water temple are challenging.

    If there was something that I personaly didn't like about this game, it is it's diffuculty. Every boss, even Ganandorf, is relativly easy to beat. But that's not necesseraly a bad thing. I think this game was designed for newcomers and veterans of the Zelda frenchise. It's learning-curve is perfect.

    If there's one thing I like about the bosses and enimies, it's there creativity. Every boss felt special and distinct. I exptremely liked Bongo Bongo Boss and the Twinrowas. Ganodorf/Ganon was so epic to fight. The music was confusing and uneasy, which is fitting.

    Alright, I think the music is my favorite part of this game. Koji Kondo has been the composer of many legandary Nintendo titles like Super Mario Bros. and composed the music for the first Zelda as well as A Link to the Past. He was familiar with the Zelda games. I think he reflected the gameplay and atmosphere with his composing skills perfectly. Probably my favorite tune was the Gerudo Valley theme and like I've stated before, Ganondorfs Boss theme. Even though Koji Kondo was limited with using MIDI'S only, he was doing a very good job. To this day it still sound amazing. Every song fits the enviroment and doesn't get anoying because of repetition. I like that music is so interactive in this game. You play the ocarina yourself and it's essential to the game. Tunes like the Song of Storm are breathtaking.

    There's still a lot of things I would like to talk about, however I don't have a lot of characters to write left.
    Simply put: this game,
    no,
    this peace of art is a master peace.

    It's pacing is perfect, it's length is perfect. There's just nothing I could critique really. Yeah I know, it's an old game so it's not the most fluent game, and it has a lot of glitches, but that's fine. Although that might sound cliché: to me it's more of a characteristic of the game. I think it has become my favorite game. This masterpiece is beautiful in every way imaginable. For me, it change how I look at games and at life even. It's not just some piece of entertainment: It's almost like a lesson of life.

    This is the only game I cried in. The ending was so emotional for me. I felt complete, but I was sad at the same time that the game has come to an end. I had to move on and play other video games.

    It's time for me to leave, but I will be back!

    Sincerely,
    3N50    … Expand
  10. Leviata_Reis26
    Jun 10, 2022
    10
    "Zelda : Ocarina of Time" Jogo do ano em 1998 . Jogo divertido , graficos que na epoca era o top , belas musicas , jogo caprichado da Nintendo com detalhes do cenario e a gameplay em geral . Tem uma certa dificuldade , que me fez travar alguns meses , e por causa desse jogo e "Majora Mask" , essa franquia se tornou minha preferida dos jogos . Bem melhor jogar esse jogo sem revista e sem"Zelda : Ocarina of Time" Jogo do ano em 1998 . Jogo divertido , graficos que na epoca era o top , belas musicas , jogo caprichado da Nintendo com detalhes do cenario e a gameplay em geral . Tem uma certa dificuldade , que me fez travar alguns meses , e por causa desse jogo e "Majora Mask" , essa franquia se tornou minha preferida dos jogos . Bem melhor jogar esse jogo sem revista e sem video tutorial . "Zelda : Ocarina of Time" 10/10 .… Expand
  11. Konnor1224
    Jun 12, 2022
    10
    Absolutely the best game ever made. Completely revolutionary mechanics and graphics of the time. Fun and creative, I could make an essay of me just shouting it's praises. Try it!
  12. Potreen
    Jun 14, 2022
    10
    When i first played this at release as a kid and thought I was close to the finish i had barely scratched the surface. Great gameplay, story and sound. To solve the puzzles you needed to talk to other random kids on the bus as there were no complete walkthroughs on youtube. This is an example of how games used to be. A legend that i will forever remember.
  13. Prokar
    Jun 13, 2022
    10
    Best game of all time. A truly enjoyable experience right from the moment the game begins all the way through the ending!
  14. Wh0g
    Jun 15, 2022
    10
    People that rate this game below 9 just probably didn´t give it enought time or had enough interest, even if you didn´t played it as a kid doesn´t mean that people rate it based off of their nostalgia, it´s just, objectively, the best game of all time. I understand an 9 or even a 8 but bro, a 0? are you rating OOT or **** morbius(morbin time)
  15. Guypoe
    Jun 18, 2022
    10
    Usually, most parts of games are good, but some parts are bad. But this game, no matter if your in the first half, or the second half, you will not find anything bad.
  16. Gustavo19
    Jun 26, 2022
    10
    O jogo simplesmente é sensacional, perfeito e a história dele... Maravilhosa e as músicas nem se fala todas são perfeitas, sem dúvidas O MELHOR JOGO DO MUNDO!!!
  17. joadson
    Jun 27, 2022
    10
    The best game I have ever played in my life, a masterpiece this game is incredibly perfect I would choose this game to play for the rest of my life there are no words to specify how magnificent this game is simply the best game ever made in the world The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time will always be in my heart.
  18. Mellow41
    Jul 5, 2022
    10
    This game is amazing. You can’t say anything else. My pick for the greatest game of all time. And apparently people agree with me. There is nothing bad about this game. The realism, the gameplay, the story, these are all superb! And if anyone tells you that the game is worse because of it’s heavily outdated graphics, tell them to get over it and realize that doesn’t make a game. Or tellThis game is amazing. You can’t say anything else. My pick for the greatest game of all time. And apparently people agree with me. There is nothing bad about this game. The realism, the gameplay, the story, these are all superb! And if anyone tells you that the game is worse because of it’s heavily outdated graphics, tell them to get over it and realize that doesn’t make a game. Or tell them to play Ocarina of Time 3D for the 3DS for a graphics upgrade. There is seemingly nothing bad about this game!… Expand
  19. Tomplexthis
    Jul 7, 2022
    10
    A game from a time where developers actually finished, and released a full 100% game.
    This is peak gaming at its finest, 1997-1998, was one of the best years for games
    It just cannot be matched, Graphics are great, but its not fun. they are not everything.
  20. lol456
    Jul 7, 2022
    10
    ~I AM ANNOUNCING MY IMMINENT MASTURBATION. I am aware that the announcement of imminent masturbation has been a serious reocurring issue lately, and I am here with my bottom-level social skills to ensure that it will only worsen. I hope that this server full of mostly male members will appreciate the fact that I will soon be cumming, and offer me that coveted high-five that I so surely~I AM ANNOUNCING MY IMMINENT MASTURBATION. I am aware that the announcement of imminent masturbation has been a serious reocurring issue lately, and I am here with my bottom-level social skills to ensure that it will only worsen. I hope that this server full of mostly male members will appreciate the fact that I will soon be cumming, and offer me that coveted high-five that I so surely deserve. As the announcement of imminent masturbation is NOT in the current ruleset, I will continue to toe this line. Any and all action taken against me by the mod team will be considered extra judicial and I will retaliate by mobilizing my army of alts. If any males want to provide me a high-five or emotial gratification, please do so. If any females wish to provide me sexual gratification, ew. Thank you, and please remember: I AM NOW MASTURBATING~… Expand
  21. BatYaggy
    Jul 13, 2022
    10
    It saddens me to see 500 negative reviews complaining about the graphics or the water temple. Of course the game isn't perfect but what makes a game good is the gameplay and Ocarina of Time has stellar gameplay. The invention of Z targeting and the new verticality in the dungeons have changed gaming forever.
  22. Chris1408
    Jul 18, 2022
    10
    Masterpiece, masterpiece, masterpiece, masterpiece, masterpiece, masterpiece.
  23. Ale083r
    Jul 18, 2022
    10
    Ocarina of time Capolavoro Capolavoro Capolavoro Capolavoro Capolavoro Capolavoro Capolavoro Capolavoro Capolavoro Capolavoro Capolavoro CapolavoroCapolavoro Capolavoro Capolavoro Capolavoro Capolavoro Capolavoro
  24. playwild2091
    Jul 21, 2022
    10
    This was my favorite game when I was in 1 min in the game. absolute MASTERPIECE!!!!
  25. mauretor
    Jul 22, 2022
    10
    Of one of the best that I Ever played.
    Stunning quests and the remarkable sound track.
  26. Claimh
    Jul 30, 2022
    10
    Juego de juegos, épico por donde se lo vea, un total antes y después en la industria. Hoy no hay juego de acción que no tomé inspiración de alguna forma en lo que definió Zelda. A día de hoy aun persiste en cuanto a calidad y entretenimiento.
    Sin duda uno de los mas grandes, en lo personal, el mas grande de la historia junto a Mario 64.
  27. Eduardo972
    Jul 31, 2022
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. O jogo é incrivel, ele foi quem criou a trava na mira oque deixa a jogabilidade na batalha 1000 vezes melhor, não posso deixar de citar as musicas deste jogo, que são incriveis, quando vou fazer uma tarefa ou algo do tipo eu sempre coloco essas musicas para ouvir. Os graficos não são tão bons para hoje em dia mais não posso descordar que na época que lançou eram incriveis. Agora vem um dos pontos mais fortes desse jogo, as cenas marcantes, tipo ele tirando a master sword do templo do tempo e indo pro futuro( que era algo que os jogos daquela época não faziam muito que era a viagem no tempo) mais agora vou falar algo que me fez fazer essa critica, que é: eu não passei raiva em nenhuma vez jogando esse jogo, oque os jogos de hoje em dia não tem feito muito, focar na diverção, hoje em dia os jogos estão querendo virar uma esperiencia, é sempre obrigatório você passar tanta raiva no jogo? Pois eu não preciso disso, então foi isso, recomendo todo mundo que está lendo isso, ir lá jogar agora,tanto faz se for o de 98 ou o remaster, você vai se divertir muito nesse jogo de qualquer jeito.… Expand
  28. ySallazar
    Jan 10, 2023
    10
    Just the best, and revolutionary game in the century.
    I really love this game, and this franchisee.
  29. Hakke-San
    Aug 5, 2022
    10
    This Game is for me personally, the BEST Nostalgia Game and one of the biggest Adventures that you ever experience. Mixed with the Perfect Music and Fantastic Open World, makes this game unforgettable for me. Thanks Grandpa for showing me the N64 with this Game together (Rest in Peace
  30. CollectorCarter
    Aug 11, 2022
    10
    Legend of Zelda ocerana of time is a game that makes me feel like I am in hyrule
    Amazing 10/10
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Awards & Rankings

1
#1 Best N64 Game of 1998
1
#1 Most Discussed N64 Game of 1998
1
#1 Most Shared N64 Game of 1998

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
99

Universal acclaim - based on 22 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 22 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 22
  3. Negative: 0 out of 22
  1. My Gamer
    Mar 24, 2016
    94
    The player will be drawn into the Zelda fantasy world from the moment the opening sequence bursts onto the screen, and the game won't let go-not even after finishing the quest.
    Read full review
  2. Happy Puppy
    Mar 24, 2016
    90
    Realism is one of the major reasons this title is so amazing. After playing for a while it feels as though you have actually been to Hyrule.
  3. Gaming Age
    Mar 24, 2016
    95
    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.
    Read full review
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