Legend of Zelda: Master Quest Review

Being that this is a free pre-order only special, and that pretty much everyone wants the Wind Waker, there is absolutely no reason for any GameCube owner not to pick this one up, its FREE! Considered by many to be Nintendo’s great achievement, this game is an absolute joy to play. If for some reason you missed out on this game on the N64, you definitely need to check this one out. This game was awarded game of 1998, as well as countless other awards. At the time of its release, it was absolutely revolutionary. Many people complained about the new 3D perspective, proclaiming it would never work (such as 1st Person Metroid Prime and the new cel-shading in Wind Waker). But they couldn’t have been more wrong. The end result of years in development was N64’s best game, and one of the greatest games ever created. This review may be somewhat pointless, seeing as the game isn’t even purchasable, but to those curious, read on to see how good Ocarina of Time and the awaited Master Quest are on the Nintendo GameCube.

Presentation

The bonus disk comes in a GameCube case, complete with instructions. It basically looks like a normal game, minus the top GameCube tag normally put on game covers. Upon booting up, you’ll be given 3 choices: Ocarina of Time, Master Quest, or preview videos. The preview videos are of released or soon to be released games, including Wind Waker, Metroid Prime, F-Zero, and others. You can choose between the 2 games right off the bat. Most will probably go with the remixed Master Quest, but you do have the opportunity to replay the original version. The menu in the game now looks slightly pixilated, but the general calm and cool mood of the opener is still present. There is no opening movie, per say, but the intro cut scene is decent. The storyline involves a young boy of the forest, who is the chosen Hero of Time. In the beginning he is given a helper fairy named Navi. He is sent off to collect the 3 stones so that he can open the gate of time, to stop the world from the games villain, Ganondorf. The story goes through a roller coaster of events eventually ending with one of the greatest endings you could experience in a video game. Menus are decent, and include great bonus preview videos. The classic menus look a bit outdated. The story is of epic proportions, and will always be.

Graphics

Perhaps it’s unfair to score this game against other current GameCube games, but the outdated graphics have little affect on the end overall score. Back in 1998, this game was considered ahead of its time. It was an absolute shock to see a game so beautiful. It’s now 2003, and in as little as 5 years, these look horribly outdated. Although it still holds up fairly well, it’s no longer a sight to behold.

The textures are probably the most noticeable shortcoming. They are as blurry as could be. The fact that the game runs in hi-resolution now further exploits the poor textures. Polygons are minimal. The characters in game have squares for hands and feet, and everything else about them is pointy. The worlds all have minimal pop-up. You can literally see Death Mountain from miles away. The animation still looks as fluid and great as ever. The particle effects and real-time lighting are impressive for a game of this era, and still hold up.

The charming graphical style within this game is what keeps the game still enjoyable to look at. Everything has a cartoonish look to it, yet it never strays too far from realism. The game takes place during some type of pre-medieval fantasy time. The characters are all distinguished and have their own look. The different locales are imaginative and range from complete opposites in just 10 minutes of travel. The evil areas truly look and feel evil as well. The great graphical style still holds up to this day, but it’s still simply a hi-res version of the N64 classic.