Review #3 - The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D

Hello there!

Welcome to Hedgehog Reviews, where I, Thomas, review the latest and greatest Nintendo games, movies, and very rarely TV shows and comics series. Last month, I reviewed Kid Icarus: Uprising for the 3DS (which I'm playing as I write this, heh) and this month, I'm coming right at ya with a review of another 3DS game: The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D. Of course, there are a few things I'd like to clear up first. At the end of the last review, I said I'd either be reviewing this game, the Amazing Spider-Man movie, or Sonic Lost World for Wii U. I decided on this game because I haven't been in a very Sonic-y mood lately, and since I'll be watching the Amazing Spider-Man 2 movie at the cinema this Saturday at the time of writing, (the UK gets the movie sixteen days earlier than the US :D), I thought it best to wait until I've seen the sequel, so I can maybe tie the two together. Anyway, without further ado, let's begin!

Okay, so I can't remember if I've mentioned this yet, but I'm actually quite a young gamer (I turned thirteen on 25th April 2014). My first video game ever was New Super Mario Bros, a Nintendo DS game, but I've never let that stop me from exploring the classics that were made ages before I was around. One of these being Ocarina Of Time. Now, I haven't actually played the Nintendo 64 version of the game, but I know about the major differences, so this will be a review for both the 3DS and N64 versions of the game.

Now, before I talk about the actual game, let me tell you a quick story. The 3DS remake of the N64 game came out about midway through 2011, a few months after the 3DS was released. I didn't actually consider picking up the game until about April 2012, when I had enough money to buy an extra game or two for my birthday that year. After watching a trailer for the game at HMV (a UK media store), I instantly knew this was the game for me. I got the game, and boy, I have absolutely no regrets. It was my first Zelda game, and was a perfect choice for introducing me into the series.

Even though I've never played the N64 version of this magnificent adventure, I've still seen videos and pictures of it, and I have to say, the graphics in the 3DS version are a very big improvement over the original (although this is to be expected from a remake released thirteen years after the original). And of course, being a 3DS game, the game can be played in 3D. I truly think that this is a 3DS game that really shows the potential of 3D video games. Whereas the 3D doesn't make much of a difference in some 3DS games, this is one game that definitely benefits from it.

Next up: the music. Wow. Just wow. This game (and the whole Zelda series, really) has amazing music. I often find myself with my earphones in, listening to music, or remixes of music, from this game. From the very first minute of the game, to the very last, the music is brilliant. In fact, I'd even recommend just buying the soundtrack to this game, to gamers and non-gamers alike.

Okay, next we have the story. In fact, one of the many reasons I love Nintendo is because their games have such great stories, and I really like games that have a good plot. I'm pretty sure all Zelda games are renowned for their great and memorable storytelling, but this game's story is well known to practically anyone who's played the game. Obviously, I won't talk about all of it, because nobody likes spoilers. Now, the game starts with Link (or whatever you named your character) in his tree house in Kokiri Forest, the place in Hyrule where nobody grows up (literally, the children in Kokiri Forest don't age). Link (or whatever you named your character) is having a nightmare. He dreams of a shadowy, evil man on a horse, chasing a young, scared girl who is also riding on a horse. He is rudely woken up by a character you will soon learn to love to hate (or not, I secretly kind of like her) called Navi the Fairy, who was sent by the dying Great Deku Tree. Our hero is no longer known as the Boy Without a Fairy, and after finding a sword and shield, sets out to save the Great Deku Tree by going inside him.

These Stalfos enemies can be tricky to hit. 

Inside, Link (or whatever you named your character) must travel through what is known in the Zelda series as a 'dungeon'. It's not a dungeon as in 'Throw him in the dungeon!' but instead, a place that you must explore and make your way through by solving tricky puzzles, and fighting dangerous enemies. At the end of each dungeon is a boss that you must defeat to officially complete the dungeon. There will also be keys in dungeons that you get by doing certain things, which are needed to unlock the next door. There is also a boss key in each dungeon that, well, unlocks the door to the boss' room. Remember, the 'KEY' to success in Zelda is to try everything. Geddit? 'Key'? No? Aww, c'mon! You're 'LOCK'y I take the time to think of these puns.

And now it's time for... Trivia Fact of the Month!
Did you know that in early versions of Ocarina of Time, the music from the Fire Temple (one of the game's 'dungeons') was considered highly controversial, and later removed from the game because it seemed to contain Muslim chanting? 

The controls are very similar to the original with the L Button used to target certain people/objects so you can speak to/pick up/investigate them. This is known as 'L-Targeting', and was known as 'Z-Targeting' in the original, simply because the Z Button was where the L Button is on the 3DS. While L-Targeting, your buttons do different things; whereas A would normally be roll, it is a jump-forward-with-your-sword-attack when L-Targeting. Whereas B would normally be a horizontal sword slash, it is a vertical sword slash while L-Targeting. There are loads of button combination moves to discover, especially while L-Targeting. Learn all these, and you'll be the ultimate
swordsman. The game also allows you to use your shield to defend yourself. There are different swords and shields to discover in the game, each with strengths and weaknesses.

One of the game's more time-consuming but
engaging sidequests: a fishing minigame that will
reward you with a piece of heart if you
catch the biggest fish. 

In the Zelda series, sidequests are aplenty, meaning that there are tons of things that are optional for you to do while going through the game. If you want to finish the game with one hundred percent, you're going to have to collect thirty-six heart pieces (every time you collect four you get a heart container, which gives you an extra heart, giving you more defense in battle, plus there is a whole heart container to collect after every boss), all one hundred gold Skulltulas (when you kill one of these creepy spiders, you get a gold Skulltula token. The more you collect, the better the prizes you can unlock by visiting the Skulltula house in Kakariko Village) and all items (which you keep in your inventory). You can get a lot of these collectibles by doing things such as helping people out or playing mini games.

There are lots and lots of characters to meet and talk to, and lots and lots of places to check out, be it Death Mountain (what a nice name), Gerudo Valley (the home of the game's main antagonist, Ganondorf), Kakariko Village (which comes with killer chickens, yes you heard me right, and a graveyard that lets you go grave digging) or Zora's Domain (with what may be the most relaxing, heavenly music in the game).

You can even travel around Hyrule Field, the game's main hub,
faster by riding your faithful steed, Epona. 

One major difference between this and the original version is the menu. In the original, there was only one screen to play the game on, meaning that every time you wanted to choose a different item, or check how many gold Skulltula tokens you had, you had to open the menu, look for what you wanted and close the menu, which takes longer than it sounds. Because the 3DS has two screens, you now use the top screen for the main game and the bottom screen for your menu and map, meaning you don't have to pause the game every time you want to change an item or check something. The start button is instead now used to save and continue/quit.

Another major difference is the 'Sheikah Stones' that can be found scattered around Hyrule. These let you watch hint videos that show you what to do next if you're stuck. Don't expect any help with collectibles though; you're on your own when it comes to that.

And, if you found the main quest easy, after completing the game once you unlock 'Master Quest', a much harder version of the main game. This features more enemies and harder puzzles to solve in dungeons, so try this if you really want a good challenge.

One of the few negative points of the game is that it has no multiplayer whatsoever. I mean, just imagine being able to go on a beautiful adventure through an amazing fictional world... with a friend. If Nintendo ever remakes this game again, that's something that I personally think they should focus on.

All in all, the game was a masterpiece when it originally came out, and still is to this day. Check it out if you're looking for an incredible fantasy quest.

I hope you enjoyed this review, I was a little shaky since it's only my third and I haven't written one for a few months (last month's review was a draft I had saved for a while). Join me on June 15th 2014, where I'll be reviewing LEGO Marvel Super Heroes for Wii U, a game I got last week as I write this (On Thursday 10th April 2014, to be precise).

Goodbye for now.

Overall Score: 97% 

+ Great story 
+ Easy/hard gameplay, whichever you want
+ Amazing music 
+ Lots of sidequests and extra things to do
- No multiplayer or use of internet