Review - The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS

“Life is more fun if you play games." - Roald Dahl

Video games are a  big part of life. If I had said that maybe ten, or even five years ago, you would probably have enough debating ammunition to prove me wrong. You would of said things along the lines of "video games are for nerds" or "only teenage boys play video games". But thanks to the creation of the smart phone, and Nintendo, that is no longer the case. That's right! Nintendo's "Wii" was the very first gaming console to stop focusing on the hardcore teenage male market. The "Wii" attracted the old, the young, and in general, a more diverse gaming market to the 'video game party'. Also the release of the smart phone, has made video games more accessible to those who would have previously had no interest in video games what-so-ever. With these two influential giants in mind, well Nintendo, I decided I would voice my opinion on "The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D" a modern, revamped classic from the N64 days of Nintendo. A game so incredible influential, it still holds the title for my favourite video game of all time, as it does for most.

When the 3DS was first announced, I was excited. Nintendo let the world know it would create the first ever 3D gaming console that didn't require glasses to achieve the 3D effect. However, when launch day came, so did the lack of titles. This dry-ship of video games left the 3DS looking sparse and bare, and although I wanted one, I decided to wait patiently until I could find a strong enough selling point to buy one. "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D" was the answer. A remaking of the classic with new graphics, new modes, new controls and all new 3D got me stupidly excited. I thought "this is the reason I should buy a 3DS", so I did. I also picked up a copy of the game and played it, and well, it did not disappoint one single bit.

As soon as the title screen of "OoT 3DS" popped up, my mouth gaped open. The lush Hyrule background stretching far into the distance, made me feel like I had dropped into the 3DS and landed right on Epona's saddle. I was amazed by the strength of the colours, the sharp graphis and the always incredible Zelda tunes playing fantastically through the 3DS speakers...and that was only the title screen.

The first and arguably the most noticeable difference in "OoT 3DS" was the 3D effect. It was the first game I had played on the 3DS so my attention was drawn towards the feature instantly. Not only because of how amazing it is, but just how well it's executed. The 3D is not some lame feature, or gimmick, it's a truly innovative piece of technology, after playing the 3DS for 5 months, it still makes me stop and think about how incredibly far technology has evolved. "OoT 3DS" is probably still the best example of the 3D effect on the console. Sure, "Super Mario 3D Land" and "Mario Kart 7" have great 3D visuals, but I think Zelda utilises the effect more efficiently. You can tell that when they made the game, they wanted the 3D effect to be prominent and blatant, and they achieved that aim flawlessly. However, there are parts of the game where the 3D becomes a hindrance, but I'll touch on that later.

One of the only things that is left unchanged with "OoT 3DS" is the storyline. Which, frankly, is a great thing. The story line of "OoT" is one of the most amazing in video game history. In fact the recent "Guiness World Records 2012: Gaming Edition" voted "OoT's" ending as the third best in history. Not bad going for a 15 year old video game. In the 3DS version, the storyline is enhanced with the new addition of the "Master Quest" version of the game. Once the normal mode is completed you unlock the harder and more complex version of the game, which will test even the hardest of Zelda fans. You thought the water temple was annoying on normal? Well the master quest equivalent is like trying to beat a rubix cube with a blind fold. The 3DS version offers a helping hand however. Throughout the game there are "Gossip Stones" a tunnel-type passage way that allows link to crawl through to find hints on what to do next. A handy tool to use if you become stuck. The addition of the "Boss Mode", activated by going to sleep in Link's house, is also a welcomed addition that beefs out the length of the game. Not that lengthening the game is necessary, the main story alone will probably take you 20+ hours. You get quantity and quality when you buy this game.

Another fantastic addition to the game is the use of the 3DS' gyroscope. You can, for some weapons such as the Bow, use the gyroscope to physically move the 3DS to make Link mirror your movements. This feature, although innovative and immersive, can become a hindrance (like I mentioned earlier). The 3D on the 3DS only works when you hit that 'sweet spot' and moving it around can lose the effect making the images on screen 'ghost'. It becomes a comprise of having to either turn the 3D effect off, or use the circle pad to aim, and although it's not that big a deal, it would have been nice to come up with some solution to aid both of these issues. 

Controls in this game are flawless. You move with the circle pad, attack with the B button, roll with the A button, amongst interacting with people and the environment. The X and Y buttons are used to assign items. In the original "OoT" you had 3 buttons to assign items and although two is more than enough, sometimes it feels like it would be nice to have that extra option. You can assign two items to the touch screen, but this is just distacting to use, and quite difficult for certain items, like the Bow, when you want to fire off multiple arrows, touch the screen, aiming and then touching the screen again becomes frustrating. Apart from this small matter the controls flow beautifully.

"Listen", as navi would annoyingly say. "The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3DS" is a prime example of Nintendo on top form. This game shows off the 3DS' incredible capabilities, from its sharp graphics card to its gyroscope features. "OoT 3DS" not only builds on the incredible original but improves on it. The nostalgia remains for the old gamers, whilst offering enough for newcomers to get involved and find out what all of the fuss is about. The first game I bought for the 3DS is still my favourite, and has still racked up more play time than any other game I have. If a few of the tiny problems had been ironed out, this would be a perfect game However, "OoT 3DS" is still the nearest game to perfection that I have come across yet.