Time Capsule #2

Time to open the Time Capsule! This series of articles will be posted once every week to discover what is kept within the capsule. I will review games of the past as well as the movies. Make sure to pay attention each week as a new one is posted.This week I am looking at dun dun dun!... Zelda: The Ocarina of Time for the N64!
The day was November 25, 1998; the game, Zelda Ocarina of Time. This game was the benchmark for interactive entertainment. Zelda: OoT was the fifth installment of the Zelda series. The game was so enjoyable i spent hours on end playing this title with very little sleep under my belt. It is extremely rare that you find such an amazing concoction of game play, sound and graphics that make even the most cynical gamers admit that Zelda: OoT is a great game. It immerses you in the world where you refuse to exit.
Like all its predecessors, this game follow Link, a Kokiri boy, who just awoke from a dream, involving a princess and Ganondorf (later to become Ganon), in his village behind the Lost Woods. He meets up with a winged Navi, and sets out for an epic adventure. On his way to save princess Zelda, OoT leads players through dark dungeons, picturesque villages, into the heart of a volcano, to the bottom of a lake, through a haunted desert, deep into a magical forest, into a giant tree, the belly of a beast, and even through time. Each area you discover of Hyrule, you are enthralled in the game and amazed at the level of detail the game displays.
The controls, at first, are much like Super Mario 64, the inventor of 3D platformers. One noteworthy difference is that there is no jump button. The jump action is not essential to the game play. Instead the game features an auto-jump feature where when you go the to end of a ledge, at the last moment, Link will jump. It may sound ridiculous, but it works quite well for this game.
Familiar fans of the series will enjoy the old objectives of pushing walls to find hidden rooms, using bombs to uncover secret passages, shooting arrows at certain objects to open doors, and blah blah blee blah. With the use of the ocarina (a clay flute), players need to play certain melodies to solve riddles or warp to new locations, and even engage in numerous games of Simon says.When you bring out the ocarina, the controller's button layout actually mirrors a real ocarina, with the Z button acting as the bottom hole on the flute. The designer also added a pitch modulator, used with the analog stick, to bend the pitch of the flute..err...ocarina.
The Ocarina lets you travel forwards and backwards in time, much like the light and dark world of OoT's predecessors. It lets you talk to adolescent Link who tells you of a boy who had an ocarina and did something seven years earlier. Then you go back in time and actually do it. It also incorporates a fishing game with a rumble pack feature and realistic fish behavior. Also there is a horse that you can ride and jump over fences or hours on end! There are involving sword fights where the enemies block with their shields, a shooting range, hook shot ability, secrets with the sunlight and mirrors, capturing ghosties in bottles, changes in daylight and weather that affect game play, ability to wear different masks, rumble pak vibrations that give away the locations of hidden caves. Oh yeah this game has it all. Did i mention teasing the chickens? Haha, yep that's right. This game is simply amazing.
The camera follows Link in a style similar to Mario 64. Like Mario, the camera also zooms out to reveal Link's surroundings at times, but that's where the similarities end. The camera also can go behind Link simply by pressing Z.When you see a character or an object that interests you or you're being attacked by an enemy, press the Z trigger. This will bring up a rotating yellow cursor that locks onto your target. Now, as long as you don't press the Z button again (or turn away to break your lock), the camera will stay on your target, retaining its over the shoulder position. This allows you to circle your enemies and slash at them while side-stepping, back-flipping and shielding yourself from the onslaught. Your fairy will also be by the head of the enemy you are locked on.The upper C button will let you either switch to an alternate camera angle, or zooms in to let you look around.
Pressing B will make Link draw his sword. Press it again to slash at your enemy once. Press it three times to swing the blade from the bottom to the top. Press forward and B to slash downward. Turn the 3D Stick in a circle to do a roundhouse slash. After finding the power up you can hold B then unleash a slash that devastates your enemies. The lower C buttons allow the use of items that you can set to any of the three. The A button allows a diverse assortment of actions. Simply by standing next to an interactive item you can jump, dive, swim, read,talk, climb, pull and push.
Simply to beat the game it will take about 30 hours, but if you involve yourself to find every nook and cranny it will take you over 80 hours.
There is no doubt that Zelda: Ocarina of Time is an amazing game that raised the bar for 3D rpgs everywhere. If you have not played this game go out and get it if you can find it. If you don't have an N64, buy one for $5 at a thrift shop. This game will not disappoint. This game gets an overall 9.9/10 from me. that .1 is because i don't like to give out 10's. Haha :).
Time to close up the capsule and revisit it another day. Make sure you check this out next week when i review another game from dun dun dun! *echoed deep voice* The Time Capsule!!!Always and Never
~Pyro

P.S. If you have an old game you want me to check out and review for the Time Capsule, e-mail it to me at Nemeisis15@yahoo.com. Thanks