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Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time




Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Expected Release: Nov.23, 1998
Origin: Japan

The Story:


This legendary adventure starts with FMV of young Link under the shower of rains. His face shows a deep worries as he watches a big knight leaves Hyrule Castle with Zelda, the young elves princess, on horseback. Link runs to save her, no matter how big the knight is compared to his size. However, the knight is not the only enemy present at that time. Our beloved enemy, Ganondorf, the greedy-big nosed-thief, blocks the way out of the castle. Then, the great adventure begins. Sounds cool, right??? Yeah, I can't wait to see it myself!!!

The Game:


Many people has given hope on the future of N64 RPG's after SquareSoft released FF7 on the PlayStation. Well, those who still have faith on the N64, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time will be great news.


Here's the scoop on some interesting features on this game:


The Camera:


Unlike Super Mario 64, the camera in this game follows our hero as he follow the journey with your help. As you see an enemy or object, press and hold the Z-button to bring up a cursor and locks on to the target. Keep holding the button, the camera will stay on target as you circle the target while side-stepping, back-flipping or shielding yourself from the onslaught (R-Button). When the target mode is active, a letterboxed will show up on your screen, and your fairy, Navie, will hover over the target's head. The upper C-button allow you to switch to an alternate camera angle or zoom in as you look around.

Attack System:


The A-button stand for Attack. Press it once and Link will draw his sword. Press it twice and Link will slash his enemy once. Press it three times and swing the blade from the bottom to the top. As easy as 1-2-3. Press jump and A to slash downward. Turn the 3D stick in circle to swing the sword over Link's head. Press and hold A to charge the sword; when it start to glow, release it and you'll get a cool circle slash that will make the enemies wish not to be created at all. Similar controls are available for other items using the lower three c-buttons. Press the key once to draw the weapon or item and press it again to use it. Simple, isn't it???

Action Button:


If A-button is for attacking, what's the B-button for??? Yup, it's the action button. There's an action display on the top of the screen, showing what kind of action you can perform if you press the button. When Link stand near a ladder, the display will change into climb/ descend. If Link runs, the display change into jump. When you stand near a sign, it will change into read, etc. etc... You better find out by yourself!!! There is also a nice auto-jump feature that prevents you from falling from platforms when attempting to jump across a crevice.

Graphics


With framerates between 24-30 frames a second, Zelda 64 shows endless landscapes with gorgeus view, and not-so-gorgeus enemies. The towns look so cool. Voila, if you don't know better you might think it's another sequel of Final Fantasy. For a better image, read these statement from Peer Schneider, the person who sees Zelda's demo in person: (Gosh, I envy him!!!)
"For the first time, Nintendo shows off real light-sourcing in one of its titles. Both the enemy creatures and Link himself are lit according to the environment they are in, and even cast varying shadows into the appropriate directions. And how about this: If you carry your sword in your hand (the left one, of course), Link will swim with only one hand, or struggle a bit to climb up a ledge." Whoa... That's awesome.

Other Features:


There's not many information on the sound effect. From what I know, no soundtrack has been released. However, the sound effect is brilliant. You can hear the sound of Link's weapon hitting the enemy's metal armor, the footsteps, or even Naive's "Konnichi-wa" as she greets other creatures. The setting and the atmosphere are inseparatable. You can feel the warmth of the city or the spookiness of the dungeons. Naive is not your only friend, but also the horse. A great big brown horse with strong legs, not the littlecute pony your sister dreams about. The weapons and armors are also amazing.
Well, I can say this game will be one of the best games in 1998/99. Due to its Japanese release date, Christmas 98, I hope it won't take much more time to be released in the US and then here in Ireland. So, for those people who still have faith and stick with their systems, congratulations!!!


Yakumo's Dream Station


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