To this day, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time is considered by many as one of the greatest video games of all-time. I definitely side with that mentality. I even gushed about it before on this very blog. With that said, the Nintendo 64 original and Gamecube port don’t look so hot by today’s standards. The textures are a blurry mess, everything is overly blocky and they both only run in 480i resolution. It would have been a shame if this classic got lost in time. Thankfully, Nintendo is breathing new life into it with a 3DS iteration that’s a bit more than a port.
Nintendo has put in some extra effort to optimize the game for the platform its on. It uses the second screen for a map and item management. On the main screen, the graphics have been cleaned up quite a bit. The textures have been redone and I think certain characters and stage elements have higher polygon counts. Maybe I’m not one to speak to the technical aspects of this, but it looks really pretty on the 3DS screen. I’m playing it mostly with the 3D off to conserve battery on my commute, but the 3D effect is neat. As an added value, this version of the game comes with the master quest featured on the Gamecube port.
It’s never too late to experience a classic. For many, it’s not too late too late to experience it again. The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time 3D does a great job of cleaning up the visuals for modern times. This has been a great addition to my library and is currently a my go-to game for my subway commute to and from work. Here’s to hoping that the upcoming Wind Waker HD remake on Wii U gets the same level of love that this one did.
Buy The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D now on Amazon.com
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