ore than five years after the release of Link's Awakening, fans of the series began to get antsy. Imagine only having a selection of four games to play for that length of time. Pretty tough to handle, hunh? As the release of The Ocarina of Time creeped nearer, a record number of preorders were made to ensure that they would be guaranteed a copy of the game. WhenNovember 23rd finally came, thousands of gamers flocked to their local electronics store making The Ocarina of Time the fastest selling game in history. Five months later, it was revealed that more than six million copies had been sold worldwide, making it one of the top selling games of all time.
 
 

Saria teaches Link her very own Ocarina song!

The Story:

Civil war had struck Hyrule. The seven races fought furiously against each other, attempting to gain power. As a result of one battle in particular, wildfires broke out on Hyrule Field, and forced a young Hylian mother too flee into nearby Kokiri Forest. Badly burned, and physically exhausted, she laid at the roots of the Great Deku Tree pleading for it to protect her son. As she took her last breath, the ancient tree sensed something special in the infant, summoned the children of the forest to take them in as one of their own and to never speak of this day again.

Ten years later, a great leader united the people, and was given the throne of Hyrule. Meanwhile, the Hylian infant had grown into a boy named Link. He had befriended the other children, who remained indefinitely young, save one soul, Mido. Link was teased by this local bully insistently because he did not possess a fairy of his own, which troubled Link greatly; however, this soon changed. As the evil King of Thieves grew in power, The Great Deku Tree began to worry. Knowing that his time was near, he summoned Link by means of the fairy Navi. Telling him of his predicament, the young Hylian boy started on an adventure that would forever change the people of Hyrule and their descendants...

The Game:

Probably the most noticeable difference from the rest of the series is that The Ocarina of Time is a fully three dimensional world to explore, where as its four previous incarnations took a top two dimensional view. One might worry; however, this hardly detracts from the gameplay value. In fact, lessen the tension in fighting your enemies, an innovative feature was introduced to the game known as z-targeting. By pressing the Z button, a target is fixed onto the nearest enemy or object and Link will now face this target at all times allowing the ability to circle and strafe.

The graphics in The Ocarina of Time are amazing. While the textures hardly compare with those found in games such as Banjo-Kazooie, it is the large polygonal environments and bosses that are the most impressive. For example, while standing in Hyrule Field, you can literally see for miles, from one end to the other. In the water temple, the boss known as Morpheus is simply a large puddle of water; however, any part of it can extend out to reach you. Trust us, it is much more spectacular than we make it sound. Overall, you'll rarely be dissappointed with the visuals.

Perhaps the one thing about The Ocarina of Time that many gamers are dissappointed about is the selection of music. While the music is above par, very few of the classic themes from the previous Zelda games return. That really shouldn't matter, but oh well.

Overall, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time is a great game. While some have been rather dissappointed with it considering the hype surrounding the game, most others agree that it is truly the best game of all time. The best way to decide for yourself of course is to play the game yourself. If you don't already have a copy, get one.