Classic Corner – The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Classic corner will be a recurring segment where I’ll either re-experience or inaugurally play a classic title and give my thoughts and impressions. Does the game still hold up after all these years? Does the game rightfully deserve its critical acclaim or animosity? Read more to find out!

Often regarded as one of the greatest games of all time, Ocarina of Time is an immediate classic that helped pave the current gaming world that we’re so enamoured with. I didn’t own any Nintendo consoles as a child, except for the excellent GameBoy Color; I was primarily a PlayStation kid, so I grew up playing Spyro and Crash Bandicoot instead of Mario and Zelda. Luckily Nintendo EAD and Grezzo made the smart decision to port and update one of the greatest Zelda games to the 3DS so people, like myself, can properly experience it for the first time. So does the Ocarina of Time live up to the insurmountable praise it has received over the last decade and a bit? Absolutely, but most of you knew that already. Ocarina of Time is a bonafide masterpiece and rightfully deserves its title as “one of the greatest games of all time”. Hell, it even joined the ranks of my favourite games of all time. The exploration is sublime, the puzzles are intricate but rewarding, and its implementation of time travel and item usage to access new areas is masterful. Its joyous musical score is simple, yet iconic and its innovating lock-on system forever revolutionized character interaction and combat in a 3D environment. Link first entered the 3D landscape of gaming back in 1998 and it still stands the test of time, continuously setting the golden standard for not just our favourite video games but the vast amount of titles to come.