Product description
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As a young boy, Link is tricked by Ganondorf, the King of the
Gerudo Thieves. The evil human uses Link to gain access to the
Sacred Realm, where he places his tainted hands on Triforce and
transforms the beautiful Hyrulean landscape into a barren
wasteland. Link is determined to fix the problems he helped to
create, so with the help of Rauru he travels through time
gathering the powers of the Seven Sages.
.com
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The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time may be the greatest
single-player video game ever created in any genre. It's that
good. Those new to Nintendo's enormously popular Zelda series
will be glad to know this game stands completely on its own. Our
hero, Link, starts the game as a young boy living in a magical
forest village populated by elf-like children. But there is evil
lurking in the world. Strange monsters are appearing, and the
land is changing. It's up to Link to discover why, defeat the
monsters, and stop the evil at its source.
The game world's ever-changing environment looks like a fairy
tale come to life. Majestic waterfalls, towering castles, and
magical forests are a feast for the eyes and ears. Rivers flow,
rain falls, the sun and moon rise and set. There's even an
erupting volcano! Exploring this world is half the fun of the
game. Along the way, you learn musical tunes that you can play on
the flute-like Ocarina, a magical device that helps you teleport,
alter the weather, even control time itself.
Character interaction is important to gather clues. The fairy
princesses, singing frogs, and dragons you'll meet can be cute,
humorous, or somewhat terrifying. Sprinkled liberally throughout
the game are hundreds of secret treasures and enjoyable minigames
(one of which, the fishing game, would almost be worth buying by
itself). Game controls are easy to learn. There's even an
elaborate fight training course built right into the game.
Controlling the hero quickly becomes instinctive, and you can
concentrate on saving the world. To win the game, you'll have to
use not only Link's , but your mind as well. This game's
challenging and inventive puzzles really make you think. In fact,
to keep from getting stuck, it's worth spending a few bucks on an
official player's guide ( /exec/obidos/ASIN/1566868084/${0} ).
With The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Nintendo has come up
with an all-consuming adventure title that will provide days of
engrossing gameplay. --Eric Fredrickson
Pros:
* Best single-player video game
* Freedom to explore a rich, complex world
* Helpful fairy guide gives hints
* Charming, humorous, lighthearted, yet challenging
Cons:* Some puzzles can be frustrating
* Only one saved game per player--don't save when you're stuck!
* Much more fun with Rumble Pack
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From the Manufacturer
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Take control of Link, a young, mysterious boy with a promising
future, in The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time for the
Nintendo 64. Use your wits and physical skill (not to mention the
many weapons and items you gain along the way) to help you on
your quest to save the land of Hyrule. You will make many
friends, including your trusty horse Epona and a strange figure
that provides clues to aid you in your adventure. Not all the
inhabitants are friendly though, and you will have to fight your
way past many evil monsters and beasts. Travel through time by
using your musical Ocarina, and figure out many puzzles using
your brain and a few clues. The evil Ganondorf awaits. Are you up
to the challenge?
Review
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The Legend of Zelda is one of the most in-depth graphic
action/adventure games ever created for any gaming system. It's
as close to an interactive movie as you can get. The detailed
story unfolds as players achieve specific goals while guiding the
main character, Link. This tale of good versus evil involves
action, strategy, and puzzle-solving. The game is designed for
advanced players and requires over 40 hours to complete. There is
minimal violence, and no graphically depicted blood or gore. A
1999 Parents' Choice® Approved winner.
Reviewed by Jason R. Rich, Parents' Choice® 1999 -- From Parents'
Choice® (
/exec/obidos/subst/partners/marketing/parents-choice.html )
The Legend of Zelda is one of those magical series of games that
always cause huge as of excitement. It sprung onto the NES
scene in 1987, and it was a runaway success. Remember the chip
shortages that delayed the 1988 release of the Adventure of Link?
Or what about the first time you saw pictures of the Japanese
version of 1991's A Link to the Past? With the possible exception
of Mario, no Nintendo series has caused such a level of hysteria
or left behind so many great memories. Ocarina of Time definitely
follows in the footsteps of the previous games, and the result is
a game that can't be called anything other than flawless.
You begin the game as a child of the forest. But by the time
you're done, you'll be a fisherman, an errand boy, the hero of
time, and, yes, even a traveling salesman. The game is
chock-full of minitasks and subgames that run alongside the main
quest, saving Hyrule from Ganondorf's evil. This leads to an
extreme feeling of freedom, even though a good portion of the
game must be executed in a linear fashion. Stuck at the water
temple? Then why not go scout around for some extra heart
containers while you think about your dilemma?
The control really holds the game together. Most 3D game
designers still haven't mastered the art of controlling
characters in a 3D environment, but that's not the case here.
Link moves beautifully, and controlling his various actions is a
breeze. Essentially, your B button will always attack with the
. The A button, however, acts as an action button,
performing every non-item-related task in the game. At various
times, A lets you climb, grab, dive, talk, and lots more. Three
of the C buttons are used for items, any of which can be assigned
to any of the three buttons. The top C button zooms in to a
first-person perspective, which allows you to look around. The R
shoulder button is used for blocking with the shield. The Z
trigger is perhaps the most important button when it comes to
dealing with enemies in the 3D realm. Hitting Z while looking at
an enemy will cause you to lock on to that nent. From there
you can circle-strafe around them, hop from side to side, and
always block in their direction. This is key to fighting all but
the most basic of enemies and is extremely well conceived.
While there are some tough monsters, the main enemy in Zelda is
the puzzle aspect of the game. Ocarina of Time forces you to
think before you act, with numerous puzzles spread throughout the
entire game. Some puzzles must be solved simply to exit a room,
while other, larger puzzles sometimes cover an entire area. Some
of the game's puzzles are totally optional, usually rewarding you
with a piece of a heart container - which you'll need, but you
won't have to collect every single one as long as you're quick
with the Master .
The game's items are the usual assortment you've come to expect
from a Zelda game. The boomerang is an invaluable tool for young
Link, as is the sling. These weapons are mere toys for Link's
adult body, however, so you'll be using the bow and the hook
(or grappling hook) for most of the game's latter portions.
Bombs, of course, come in handy no matter how old you are. The
ocarina is probably the most-used item in the game. Throughout
the entire game, you'll learn various tunes for the ocarina.
Playing these tunes does a lot of different things, such as
turning night to day, opening certain doors, calling your horse,
and warping from place to place. In a world as large as Hyrule,
warping is an extremely useful time-saver.
Time plays an important role throughout the game. As you proceed,
time passes, and day quickly becomes night. At night, the fields
of Hyrule can be a dangerous place. Time travel also comes into
play, allowing you to jump seven years into the future and back
again. The two times act similarly to the light and dark worlds
in the SNES Zelda game, A Link to the Past. Things you do as a
child will affect locations, and a few puzzles require the use of
both time periods.
Graphically, Ocarina of Time is simply unmatched. Everything
about the game just looks fantastic. You can see Death ain
in the background of some portions of the game, complete with
various smoke effects depending on what stage of the game you're
in. The cinematics, which, of course, use the game engine, look
absolutely spectacular, and the effects used (the time travel
sequence is especially sweet looking) really give the game a
spectacularly majestic look. The game's sound is also really
quite amazing. Every tune in the game perfectly relates to the
onscreen action. Even the songs you play on the ocarina are
hummable. The sound effects are also perfect. The speech consists
of mostly laughter, ps, and battle yelps (heavy on the
"hi-yah!") and works very, very well. The game also takes your
location into consideration. Dungeons and large canyons sound
appropriately echoey, while underwater, noises are nice and
warbled.
In a way, Ocarina of Time is a textbook example of retro done
right. It manages to combine small aspects from all the previous
Zelda games, giving you the same Zelda feel but in an entirely
new way. Even in its huge, fiercely 3D world, the game retains a
truly classic feel. This is a sequel at its finest, expanding on
previous themes and bringing plenty of new stuff to the table.
Even if you're specifically looking for it, it's hard to find
fault in Ocarina of Time. OK, to be fair, there's a slight bit of
slowdown in a couple locations, such as the water temple, but it
isn't frequent or harmful enough to even matter. The game offers
a nice challenge, a stunningly well-told story, and the gameplay
to back it all up. This game is the real thing. This is the
masterpiece that people will still be talking about ten years
down the road. This is the game that perfectly exhibits the
"quality not quantity" mantra that Nintendo has been touting
since the N64 was released. In a word, perfect. To call it
anything else would be a bald-faced lie. --Jeff Gerstmann
--Copyright ©1999 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction
in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written
permission of GameSpot is prohibited. GameSpot and the GameSpot
logo are trademarks of GameSpot Inc. -- GameSpot Review
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