Legend of Zelda: Master Quest Review

Sound

Seeing as this game was released for the musically challenged N64, one cannot expect too much. The music, while wonderfully written, is all completely in low quality midi. The music is so well written; you’ll often be humming along with the tunes in while playing. One disappointment, though, is the lack of the over world theme featured in many other previous Zelda’s, such a Link to the Past. The sound effects still fare well against current GCN powerhouse games. Everything from footsteps, to Link’s grunts and screams, to the different sounds of his sword hitting various objects are well done.

Gameplay

This is the meat of the game. Ocarina of Time plays so incredibly well, you’ll never want to put it down. From the time you first boot the game up, until the final cut scene, you will be enveloped in Link’s world. Everything from the exploration, to the interaction, to the battle system is perfect. This is the classic style Zelda; everything takes place in Hyrule, and your mission is to save the world along with Zelda. The controls in game are very simple. You control Link with the main control stick. L and R swivel the camera view, but the camera pans back behind you as soon as you move.

Exploration and discovery play a huge role. You won’t be able to reach one area, without first completing an area before it. While it is fairly linear, they give you the feeling of complete freedom. Towards the end of the game you will be able to go wherever you like, and complete all the side quests/collect all items. In the game you’ll explore a deep forest, a volcanic mountain, and deep lake, a vast desert, and many more diverse locations. The people within each region are also completely different. You’ll meet many different races during your journey; including Hylians, Fairy People, Gorons, and Zoras.

Interaction with other characters in game is important to your progression and the optional upgrades to weapons and inventory. Going on the massive Biggoron side quest will reward you greatly. And helping out the cursed family by finding all of the Gold Skulltulas has many wonderful rewards. Along your journey you’ll meet more than 100 distinctive inhabitants of Hyrule, from shopkeepers to ancient Shiekah to desert thieves. You’ll also get to enjoy tons of mini-games that are incredibly well made and deep; such as fishing, archery, horse racing, and the bombchu game. There is plenty to do within Hyrule to keep you busy for hours upon hours.

The battle system, for it’s time, is revolutionary. It involves a Z-targeting systems (but for GameCube its now L-Targeting) with allows Link to lock on to one enemy at a time. The system works so that link is always facing the enemy, allowing the player to sidestep or move back and forth. There are several moves that can be executed, such as a jumping slash or a spin move, among others. Battling bosses is often a little different. The L-targeting will then focus on a weak point for you to shoot or slash at. It controls fairly easily, but may take a while to get the hang of. Exploration and interaction is the mainstay of the Zelda, and its all executed flawlessly for the first time in 3D. There is so much to do, it will take over 25 hours to complete the game, side-quests and all.

Fun

Lengthy games such as this one usually have periods of complete staleness, parts where you literally feel as if it’s a chore to get through in order to move on to the next, hopefully exciting, part of the game. Nothing such as this occurs in Ocarina of Time. You constantly have tons to do, and none of it is boring. You’ll never go through long periods of not knowing what to do. Everything in this game is executed to so well, that the only frustrating sections are when in dungeons, and not knowing exactly how to solve a certain puzzle. The battle system is so simple its fun, and battling huge enemies gives you a rush. You actually will feel like the Hero of Time. The exploration in game gives you something to look forward to. If you played the Ocarina of Time on N64, then the Master Quest will give you some new thrills with the newly designed dungeons. Everything is executed so well, there is never a dull moment. The feeling of being a legendary hero, exploring through dangerous dungeons and defeating huge enemies is indescribable.

Replay

While you may not want to completely restart the game after you have beaten it, there is still plenty to do after you have. Quests such as the Biggoron Sword, Golden Skulltulas, and collecting all hearts will take you hours upon hours. Many people in fact do restart the entire game, but usually only a hardcore fan would go as far as to complete the entire game all over again. Completing all side-quests and games will keep you playing for a long, long time.

Overall

This game deserves every bit of acclaim and recognition it as acquired. Anyone who considers himself an avid gamer should have at least played through this game once. If you missed out on this game for the N64 for some reason, this is your chance to experience it, in hi-res with minor improvements. It’s rare that a game actually makes you feel like you are involved in something important and urgent, but Ocarina of Time succeeds. The plot is deep and filled with surprises, leaving you eager to find out what happens next. Anyone ages 10 to 100 can enjoy this masterpiece. Although this game won’t impress you visually, everything else in it will. The only problem you may have with this game is the sometimes-difficult camera. If you still don’t own this game, try and get a hold of it soon, as quantities are limited to fewer than 1 million copies. Nintendo’s classic returns with the same great story, gameplay, control, and fun; only now with remixed dungeons. For the low price of nothing go and pick up your copy while you still can.