It’s hard to objectively write about a title that I played repeatedly in my childhood. Many of us have memories playing through Ocarina of time over and over again… Or maybe I was the only lonely kid that wasted his summer doing every side quest I could get my hands on.

My usual hate of ports made the play-through of Ocarina an interesting experience. Normally I find nothing more frustrating than buying a brand new game console, and finding the best title available is a port of an old game. You can then understand that it was with great trepidation that I unwrapped my review copy of Ocarina on Thursday. It’s even harder for me to write the rest of the review because I’ve had nothing but fun since I started playing it again. This game in no way is boring or overly familiar.

I can’t play the game in 3d it makes me sick, like all other 3DS games I get headaches and vertigo, so I left the 3d effect on as long as I could to get a good feel for it. It looked phenomenal… gorgeous… wonderful, then i was ready to puke so it got turned off. The 3D is done in this game in such a way that it doesn’t seem to simply be an after-thought. It’s also not put so in your face that it comes off as tacky. The game itself is definitely more than a simple port, it is a remastered conglomeration of Ocarina of Time and The Master Quest, rebuilt for someone who simply loves Zelda. The imagery on the game itself looks much better. The more crisp imagery, and increased polygon count take away the feeling that the game is a simple port, and truly a reimagining. This is going to sound flowery, and I’ll probably label myself as a fan boy by saying this, but I instantly fell in love with Ocarina all over again by playing the 3DS version.

The controls on the 3DS were edited slightly to utilize the touch screen for inventory management, and the accelerometer is put to use aiming your sling shot, bow and arrow and hook-shot. Contrary to my initial worries the accelerometer made it easier to hit targets with the projectile weapons, especially on the midway style shooting games.

The soundtrack to the game is nothing new, but still one that takes my breath away. The music fits the game play perfectly, and is beautifully mixed, orchestrated, and integrated into the game. If I had a gripe, it’d be the consistent yelling of adult Link while I hack at enemies, but even that is me splitting hairs.

From temple to temple I found myself becoming re-enthralled in the Ocarina story line, and obsessing over the next free moment I would have to play the game. The nerd-rage fueled gamer in me would like to be upset that Nintendo chose to port Ocarina instead of developing a brand new Zelda title for my enjoyment. However, the fun-loving side of me refuses to put down the 3DS. I’m a hypocrite, I’ll admit it, but I love this game. The only disappointment I really found was the lack of connectivity to the standard 3DS features, (tag-mode, etc.) I would have loved to maybe tag data to other systems, or even share my latest Poe catch with a friend, that aside.. It’s a killer title.

This game is worth every penny, and a necessity for anyone owning a 3DS. With the dry summer ahead this has the promise of giving plenty of replay, and hours of extra questing.

I’d love to know your thoughts on the matter, comment below:

Score:

• Graphics : 9
• Audio: 10
• Controls: 10
• Replay: 9
• Overall:9.5