The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is by far, the greatest gaming experience on ANY format. The game is flawless in its delivery and is as close to perfection that you can get. In fact I pity ANY game that tries to capture the magic that Ocarina so exceptionally did, as it is impossible. It takes a gamers dream and recreates it to the point of being called a "Masterpiece". Impossible to criticize, impossible to dislike, this game has everything.

The plot is as "fantasy-warrior" as you can get, as it tells the dark story of a young boy that is in a forest to which he doesn't belong. A boy that is different to his fellow peers and has a need for adventure. Asked by a mysterious fairy named "Navi", LINK soon starts a magical adventure that see's a dark lord "Ganondorf" slowly destroying Hyrule. Through the help of his time travelling instrument, the Ocarina of Time, he must travel from child to adult in order to stop what Ganondorf is planning. The story is perfect, a flawless plot that has in it the potential to capture everything a fantasy-obsessed human needs, and boy does it deliver.

Starting with the graphics, well, in short, they are AMAZING. Keeping in mind this game is 8 years old, the graphics still stand up to any game out today. The breathtaking scenery of hyrule is almost POWERFUL in its emotion. Riding your horse through the field of Hyrule, you feel incredible; Watching the sunset go down at Lake Hylia, you feel spellbound and gazing at the beautifully detailed towns makes you FEEL like you're living in the town of Kakoriko. The literally jaw-dropping scale of the land you explore, and the monsters you slay, never ceases to leave you holding your breath. The graphics are beautiful and polished to say the least, and not "Just for an N64 game", but for any video game.

The combat system, action AND the weapons and items you collect are anything you'd ever want, and more. You can find LOADS of ways to kill the 100's of different beasts and creatures courtesy of the 15 + weapons you can collect. Swords, Bow and Arrow, Boomerang, Hookshot, Megaton Hammer, Bombs,slingshot etc. are just a few of the weapons on offer. The combat system is, and I know I use this word a lot when describing OOT, perfect. You literally just go in there and find whatever way you can to kill whatever is attacking you. The action is intense, epic and dramatic. Whether it's running in and out of the way of a giant fire breathing dragon, or hacking at a phantom that comes rapidly out of one of many paintings, you'll be kept on your toes at all times.

But it's not all non-stop action, Ocarina of Time requires you to think a whole lot. The dungeons are literally packed with brain-bending puzzles that needs complete focus to figure them out.

The music is beautiful and enchanting, absolutely perfect for the gaming experience that it provides. Its dark and mystical, the scores that are created are some of the best around, and is made even better by your own personal Ocarina that you can play. The music is deep and emotional and provides hugely towards the emotion you feel towards the game. For example, while strolling through the town of Kakoriko and Lon Lon Ranch, you feel happy and relaxed, as the music is lazy and slightly upbeat. Through Hyrule field you feel intense and ready for action, as the music is fast and...well... "Warrior"-Like! When your in dungeons and bosses however, the music is dark and slightly disturbing in places, suiting perfectly the intensity and tension that is flowing through the game. The scores written on the ocarina are epic and dramatic and full of emotion and atmosphere, that is both moving and breath-taking.

But the game isn't only adventure, you can get yourself involved in a massive amount of fun and enjoyable activities. Horse Riding for example, is great. There is nothing better than experiencing the beautiful scenery on horseback. You can take part in many weapon-related games in towns, such as archery games, slingshot games and bombchu games and a big part of the game that will see you saying goodbye to a big chunk of your life is surprisingly, fishing in Lake Hylia. It sees you fishing in a relaxing, lazy environment as you stand there with a rod and try to catch a big fish. A nice break from the action that provides challenges in its own right. You can also take part in sub-missions, such as selling masks to a variety of different people, getting such weapons as the BigGoron Sword that is not needed in the main adventure (But is VERY handy) and you can even get your own cow.

The game has about 100 hours of gameplay, the main adventure taking about 40 hours and the rest of the game taking about 60, which you wouldn't find in games today. This game requires you to get approximately 70 pieces of heart, around 100 golden skulltula's, 4 bottles, 8 special poes, large wallet, full amount of arrows, bombs, deku seeds, bomchu's AND deku nuts, deku sticks, light, ice and fire arrows, about 20 different weapons, 3 different types of sword, shield, shoes and tunics, 2 types of gauntlets, 2 different ocarinas, around 6 hidden fairies that will provide a variety of different upgrades including 3 magical god powers (Dins fire, Nayrus Love and Fayroras Wind), double defense and the power to lift giant triforce blocks, a variety of different sword techniques and finally around ten different ocarina tunes. And you know what? I probably forgot a few things.

As long a review as this is, it doesn't do justice to this monumental, legendary gaming experience. This is as close to a masterpiece as you can get.