The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (& Master Quest) 3D Review
Tuesday 18th October, 2011
I know this review is pretty late off the mark but I thought seeing as I have recently finished Master Quest I could speak fairly on the package as a whole.
Now it will likely become obvious to look around the site that I'm a fan of the Zelda series and the original game was one of my favourite games like many (although personally I think Majora's Mask is the better game but that's for another article, another time) others would say. However I was initially wary at buying a remake considering I already had the original along with 2 free copies of the game on the Gamecube courtesy of Nintendo. I'm delighted that I went ahead anyway though because the work that Grezzo has put into this remake is astonishing. They have taken a decade old game and polished to such a sheen that rarely if ever do you consider that it isn't a game conceived in the Uncharted and Skyrim generation.
The mechanics of the game hold up brilliantly and while Link may not be as agile as his descendants seen in Wind Waker and Twilight Princess the game does not suffer as a result. The boss battles and puzzles are still some of the best of the series and therefore of the genre with some of the 'new' puzzles found in the tougher Master Quest being nothing short of genius.
Alas Master Quest on the whole is not nearly as perfect a creation as the main game it is built upon and this is where the package as a whole falters slightly. For fans of the series there is no doubt that this second quest adds longevity to an already epic 30-40 hour main game (if you include the side quests) and it does provide some genius new moments in the altered dungeons but that doesn't forgive some of the cask-handed difficulty spikes as a result of the double damage enemies have and the 'puzzles' that involve you randomly striking walls with every item you have until eventually you hit the invisible switch in the top right corner of the room!
Moments of frustration in what is still a bonus addition aside, this game can still rightly take its place as not only a game of the year contender (for handhelds at least) but also brings forward many peoples "greatest game of all time" into a new generation excellently and its a title that all 3DS owners should have (and not just because there's nothing else out for the system (^-^)).
10/10
Now it will likely become obvious to look around the site that I'm a fan of the Zelda series and the original game was one of my favourite games like many (although personally I think Majora's Mask is the better game but that's for another article, another time) others would say. However I was initially wary at buying a remake considering I already had the original along with 2 free copies of the game on the Gamecube courtesy of Nintendo. I'm delighted that I went ahead anyway though because the work that Grezzo has put into this remake is astonishing. They have taken a decade old game and polished to such a sheen that rarely if ever do you consider that it isn't a game conceived in the Uncharted and Skyrim generation.
The mechanics of the game hold up brilliantly and while Link may not be as agile as his descendants seen in Wind Waker and Twilight Princess the game does not suffer as a result. The boss battles and puzzles are still some of the best of the series and therefore of the genre with some of the 'new' puzzles found in the tougher Master Quest being nothing short of genius.
Alas Master Quest on the whole is not nearly as perfect a creation as the main game it is built upon and this is where the package as a whole falters slightly. For fans of the series there is no doubt that this second quest adds longevity to an already epic 30-40 hour main game (if you include the side quests) and it does provide some genius new moments in the altered dungeons but that doesn't forgive some of the cask-handed difficulty spikes as a result of the double damage enemies have and the 'puzzles' that involve you randomly striking walls with every item you have until eventually you hit the invisible switch in the top right corner of the room!
Moments of frustration in what is still a bonus addition aside, this game can still rightly take its place as not only a game of the year contender (for handhelds at least) but also brings forward many peoples "greatest game of all time" into a new generation excellently and its a title that all 3DS owners should have (and not just because there's nothing else out for the system (^-^)).
10/10