The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Overview

Ocarina of Time follows Link through a quest to stop Ganondorf, the leader of the Gerudo, from seizing the Triforce from the Sacred Realm.^[1] Players control Link both as a child and as an adult, fight with a system for targeting enemies and meet the Goron and Zora tribes, the features series producer Eiji Aonuma listed when he introduced the remake in September 2026.^[22] Nintendo EAD developed the original, with Shigeru Miyamoto as producer and five directors sharing the work.^[18][14] It sold 7.6 million copies worldwide, Aonuma said in a talk at the Game Developers Conference in 2004.^[13] The game has been remade twice: as Ocarina of Time 3D for the Nintendo 3DS in June 2011, and as a Nintendo Switch 2 game released on Nov 5, 2026.^[19][1] As of Nov 7, 2026, the Switch 2 remake holds a Metascore of 96 from 86 critic reviews.^[7]

5:38 The remake inside the Great Deku Tree Eiji Aonuma locks on to a Deku Baba, hears Navi's warning, stuns another with a Deku Nut and climbs to the chest that holds the Fairy Slingshot, in Nintendo's demonstration of Sep 8, 2026.

Development

The project began with one theme, bringing chanbara, the sword fighting of Japanese samurai films, into a Zelda game, according to Nintendo's Iwata Asks interviews with the original staff.^[15] Toru Osawa and character designer Jin Ikeda started it as a pair, and Yoshiaki Koizumi joined as the third member after finishing Super Mario 64, bringing ideas for a sword-fighting Zelda he had kept since experimenting with a polygon Link alongside Miyamoto.^[15] Of the five directors, Osawa was the oldest and acted as a general director while also writing the script; Aonuma joined last and designed six of the early and middle dungeons and most of the enemy and boss battles.^[14] The game was first planned for the Nintendo 64DD disk drive and moved to a cartridge, and an expansion for the 64DD later became the basis of Master Quest.^[18] Miyamoto said the game arrived almost a year after its planned release at the end of 1997, and that the team built the game's systems before fitting a story to the cartridge's memory.^[17]

Gameplay and Z-targeting

Ocarina of Time is best known for Z-targeting, which holds the camera on one enemy while Link moves around it. Osawa, Koizumi and Ikeda found the idea at Toei Kyoto Studio Park, where a ninja show had a samurai catch a sickle on a chain while the ninja circled him, and Osawa pictured an invisible tether of that kind between Link and his target.^[16] Koizumi noticed that the hero of those staged fights beat attackers one at a time, and the system was built so that one foe is marked while the others wait.^[16] The documentary channel Legendary Adventures points out that earlier games, among them Tomb Raider, already had lock-on aiming, so the idea was not the first of its kind.^[25] Link fights with swords, shields, a slingshot, a bow and a Hookshot, and his ocarina plays songs that open paths and turn day to night.^[1] The quest moves through towns, fields and dungeons in a set order, which Aonuma contrasted with the go-anywhere design of Breath of the Wild.^[22]

12:01 Where Z-targeting came from Legendary Adventures tells how a trip to Toei Kyoto Studio Park's samurai and ninja shows gave Osawa and Koizumi the idea for Z-targeting, and notes the lock-on systems that came before it.

Story

The story opens in Kokiri Forest, where Link is the only child without a fairy until the Great Deku Tree sends him Navi.^[18] Princess Zelda warns him that Ganondorf wants the Triforce, and Link gathers the three Spiritual Stones that, with the Ocarina of Time, open the way to the Sacred Realm.^[18] When he draws the Master Sword in the Temple of Time, he is sealed away for seven years and wakes as an adult in a Hyrule that Ganondorf now rules.^[18] As an adult he frees the Sages from a series of temples, traveling back and forth in time between his child and adult selves, before he faces Ganondorf.^[18] Nintendo's page for the remake describes Link's task as becoming the Hero of Time, with the Master Sword and other tools he gains as he grows older.^[1] The remake keeps the story and adds new and expanded dialogue, along with a tapestry that fills in to record the player's progress.^[1]

Release and earlier versions

Ocarina of Time came out on the Nintendo 64 in Japan on Nov 21, 1998, in North America on Nov 23 and in Europe on Dec 11, 1998.^[18] More than 500,000 copies were pre-ordered in the United States, more than three times the previous record for a game.^[18] On GameCube, Nintendo paired it with Master Quest, a harder version with rearranged dungeons, on a disc released in Japan on Nov 28, 2002 and in North America on Feb 18, 2003.^[18] Kotaku describes that release as sold in limited numbers.^[10] The Nintendo 64 version was among the launch games of the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack on Oct 25, 2021.^[20]

Grezzo, with support from Nintendo EAD Tokyo, developed Ocarina of Time 3D, released on Jun 16, 2011 in Japan and Europe and on Jun 19, 2011 in North America.^[19] IGN's review said virtually everything had been redone from scratch while the locations and dungeon layouts stayed the same.^[24] The 3DS version added touch-screen item management, gyroscope aiming, hint videos inside Sheikah Stones, a Boss Challenge and a mirrored Master Quest in which enemies deal double damage.^[19] It sold more than 6.44 million copies by December 2022.^[19] Its sequel, Majora's Mask, was remade for the 3DS as well, and Shacknews reviewed that version on Feb 4, 2015.^[21]

1:21 Ocarina of Time 3D's rebuilt graphics IGN's review of Jun 17, 2011 shows the 3DS version's redone textures, models and animations, made to match the original concept art, in the same locations and dungeon layouts.

The 2026 remake

Nintendo revealed the Switch 2 remake in its Nintendo Direct of Jun 9, 2026.^[3] In The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Direct of Sep 8, 2026, Aonuma said the team had made it for the series' 40th anniversary as a faithful interpretation using modern technologies.^[22][2] Nintendo describes the game as built from the ground up for Nintendo Switch 2, with overhauled visuals, orchestral music, voice acting and expanded cutscenes.^[1] Link now jumps with a button, where the original jumped by itself at ledges, and he can dash, swim faster and dive.^[22] The camera moves freely, ranged weapons can be aimed with motion controls, and time of day keeps moving in towns.^[1][2] A feature called Threads of Time shows the story so far and the next objective, and a player can hum a learned song into the console's microphone for Link to play it.^[2] Aonuma said the loading screens between certain areas were kept on purpose to preserve the essence of the original.^[22] Nintendo's article on the overview trailer of Oct 14, 2026 introduced the Hall of Fallen Heroes, where statues of defeated monsters can be studied or fought again, and the store page now calls it the Hall of Fallen Foes.^[4][1] Metacritic lists Nintendo as both developer and publisher.^[7]

2:53 Jumping at the press of a button Aonuma shows Young Link jumping a gap and jumping again, calls button jumping a major change from the Nintendo 64's automatic jumps, then swims faster and dives underwater.

Price, editions and extras

The remake came out on Nov 5, 2026, on Nintendo Switch 2 only.^[1] In the United States the digital edition costs $59.99, and in Japan the download costs 7,980 yen and the package 8,980 yen, tax included.^[1][5] The first print run of the physical edition has textured foil cover art while supplies last.^[2] Version 1.1.1, released on Nov 4, 2026, added support for Zelda Notes and fixed several issues.^[6] Zelda Notes, a service in the Nintendo Switch App, adds daily records, Gossip Quests that reward finding places shown in images, a virtual ocarina and a quiz of more than 2,000 questions.^[2] Young Link and Young Zelda amiibo, due in 2027, unlock retro-style masks in the game.^[2][1] The game is for one player, and Nintendo's US store listed its download at 24.9 GB on Nov 7, 2026.^[1] A Nintendo Switch 2 console edition with a Triforce design for the 40th anniversary came out on Oct 29, 2026, a week before the game.^[2]

2:30 Ganondorf's claim and the release date Nintendo's trailer of Sep 8, 2026 ends on Ganondorf declaring the world and the Triforce his, then the end card with the Nov 5 date and the first print run's special packaging.

Reception of the original

Famitsu's four reviewers each gave Ocarina of Time 10 out of 10, a perfect score that placed it above Super Mario 64 and Tekken 3, the magazine's previous best at 10, 10, 10 and 9.^[12] Peer Schneider gave it 10 out of 10 for IGN in 1998 and opened his review by calling it the new benchmark for interactive entertainment.^[23] On Metacritic it scores 99, and Guinness World Records noted on May 28, 2025 that it was the only game with that score as of Mar 28, 2025, ahead of SoulCalibur and Grand Theft Auto IV at 98.^[11] It won six awards at the second Interactive Achievement Awards, among them Game of the Year and Console Game of the Year.^[18] Aonuma said in 2004 that its targeting and smooth sword fighting made the most of the Nintendo 64 controller's Z button, and that he was put in charge of the series after it.^[13] Revisiting it in November 2025, an IGN host said the game had for a long time been considered by many to be the greatest ever made.^[23]

0:18 The only game with a 99 IGN's Is It Still Fun Today? opens on Ocarina of Time as the highest-rated game on Metacritic and turns to Peer Schneider, who gave it 10 out of 10 in 1998.

Reception of the remake

Reviews of the remake went up on Nov 4, 2026, a day before launch.^[9] TheGamer, which gave it 5 out of 5, called it comfortably the highest-rated game of 2026 for the time being; Destructoid also gave a perfect score, and GameSpot gave 9 out of 10.^[9] As of Nov 7, 2026 the remake holds a Metascore of 96 from 86 critic reviews and an OpenCritic Top Critic Average of 95, with 100% of critics recommending it.^[7][8] OpenCritic lists 9 out of 10 from IGN and Nintendo Life and 5 out of 5 from Eurogamer.^[8] The common complaint was what the remake leaves out: Kotaku reported that early reviewers found no Master Quest, and that RPG Site missed a Hero Mode.^[10] Kotaku noted that Nintendo had added free content to other Switch 2 games after release, but the only update listed for the remake as of Nov 7, 2026 is version 1.1.1, which adds Zelda Notes support and fixes.^[10][6]

Developer

Nintendo EAD (1998); Grezzo with Nintendo EAD Tokyo (3DS, 2011); Nintendo (Switch 2, 2026)^[18][19][7]

Publisher

Nintendo^[1]

Released

Nov 21, 1998 (Nintendo 64, Japan); Jun 16, 2011 (Nintendo 3DS); Nov 5, 2026 (Nintendo Switch 2)^[18][19][1]

Producer of the original

Shigeru Miyamoto^[18]

Genre

Action-adventure, single-player^[11][1]

Metascore

99 (Nintendo 64); 96 from 86 critic reviews (Switch 2)^[11][7]

Copies sold

7.6 million (Nintendo 64, as of 2004); more than 6.44 million (3DS, as of December 2022)^[13][19]

Price of the remake

$59.99 digital in the US; 7,980 yen download and 8,980 yen package in Japan^[1][5]

1. 1998-11-21 Release on the Nintendo 64 in Japan.^[18]
2. 1998-11-23 Release in North America.^[18]
3. 2002-11-28 GameCube disc with Master Quest in Japan.^[18]
4. 2011-06-16 Ocarina of Time 3D on the Nintendo 3DS.^[19]
5. 2021-10-25 The Nintendo 64 version joins the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack.^[20]
6. 2026-06-09 Nintendo reveals the Switch 2 remake.^[3]
7. 2026-09-08 The 40th Anniversary Direct dates the remake and shows its gameplay.^[2]
8. 2026-11-04 Reviews and update 1.1.1 arrive.^[9][6]
9. 2026-11-05 The remake comes out on Nintendo Switch 2.^[1]