We’ve celebrated many anniversaries on the site, and each one we’ve talked about is special in one form or another. Specifically, the games we’ve celebrated are often the ones that have helped “set the standard” for video games to come and are still referenced in titles to this day. But today, we’re celebrating what many have called one of the greatest games ever made from a franchise that is still writing its legend. We speak of Legend of Zelda Ocarina Of Time, which turned 25 years old today. The game stands as one of the peaks of video game development, and we will honor it properly.
First, you might ask, “Why was The Legend of Zelda Ocarina Of Time such a revolutionary title?” The answer is that while this series was doing incredibly well on the NES, SNES, and Game Boy, all of those titles were 2D in one form or another. But this title, which was on the N64, forever changed the game by having a vast 3D world to explore.
Even by today’s standards, the world was pretty big. It wasn’t as “open world” as we’re used to now, but there were big things and little things you could do to help feel how alive the world was. Yes, the graphics might not hold up to today’s standards. But back in those days? Those graphics were rather revolutionary.
Another thing that the game did well was the story and how the characters were portrayed. Many fan-favorite characters came from this title. Including Saria, Epona, the humanoid version of Ganondorf, the Gerudo, Twinrova, Shiek, and more! Oh, and Princess Ruto, too, she was there.
When you add that to the tight gameplay and how everything flowed from one setpiece to the next, it’s easy to see why so much that we have now in the Legend of Zelda franchise is rooted in this title.
Heck, if you look at the two Nintendo Switch games from the series, you can see direct references to the N64 title with how some things are done. It may be true that some would put the Switch titles over the N64 title because of how it “elevated everything to a new level,” but the N64 game was the one that did it first.
Regardless, the game stands the test of time, pun intended, and we’ll continue to honor this game for taking such big swings and hitting every single one of them. Well, except for the Water Temple.
