Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's gorgeous remake retains the original's soul
Nearly 30 years after the original, Nintendo has remade The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It’s an unquestionable fan favourite that’s shinier, but retains the soul of a game that isn’t made like this anymore.
Improved controls, modern visuals do justice to the seminal 1998 adventure game
Anand Ram · CBC News
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If you loved the original The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, chances are you don't remember the moments that were clunky, hard to control and kind of ugly, because the good stuff outstripped the bad by a longshot.
Now, Nintendo has remade and rebuilt the 1998 classic from the ground up, for the Switch 2 console. In doing so, they've managed to recreate the good memories from this iconic game, but with modern improvements to the visuals, responsive controls and much more.
In other words, they've avoided making this stroll down memory lane a cringe-inducing slog. The end result will feel like a comforting hug to many gamers, but its world will welcome anyone who hasn't visited before.
WATCH | What you can and can't do in the new Zelda remake:
Ocarina of Time is better than you remember
11 minutes ago|
Duration
2:06
Back — and not bigger than ever. That's a good thing. Nintendo's remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a better-looking version of an adventure that still holds up in 2026.It looks way better
What hasn't changed is the classic story of the balance between good and evil. Ocarina of Time tells the interweaving tale of Zelda, a princess burdened with dark, prophetic dreams; Ganondorf, the manipulative power-hungry thief; and Link, a boy with a mark of destiny who must grow up quick — figuratively and literally, thanks to time travel — to meet the challenge.
As Link, you still navigate the Kingdom of Hyrule: a beautiful, wide world full of puzzles, weapons and enemies.
The blocky, polygonal graphics of the original version meant some of this epic storytelling had to be done in our imagination.
But on the Switch 2, the rays of the sun shine, the dust flows, the water glistens and the characters — even the weird ones — have gestures, emotions and faces with more discernable features.
Link stands in front of the Great Deku Tree. Fireflies, light and mist swirl about, showing off the graphical sea change from the original to the remake. (Nintendo)
From the stained-glass texture of your fairy companion Navi to the latex skin of the fish-like Zora people, Ocarina feels like it's giving you reasons to pay attention to details in this era of second-screen distractions. There are no graphical hiccups or bathroom-break loading screen times here.
The tools and weapons essential to your journey are colourful and responsive, from deflecting monster projectiles with your shield to the hissing of a lit bomb that you'd better throw soon.
Unlike the original, which would automatically throw Link over pits and edges, jumping now has a button, giving the player more control over combat and traversal.
It sounds the same (that's a good thing)
Speaking of those tools, they are a driving force in one of the best parts to any Zelda adventure: the sound design.
The shlink of a sword, the hyaah of our otherwise silent protagonist, the clunk-thunk of iron boots and the creak of opening a treasure chest are all still here. Nintendo has done little to improve the sound effects other than making them sound less tinny.
Yes, that includes the symphony of squelching as you navigate the insides of Jabu-Jabu, a giant fish-like creature.
Link holding the titular Ocarina of Time, with his fairy companion Navi beside him. (Nintendo)
The titular ocarina is still a satisfying woodwind to play, but now you can hum the tunes in case you forget (or don't want to bother remembering) the exact note combinations. Songs are key to game progression, and if you don't want to sing aloud, simple button presses will also work.
The musical score is just as lovely and supportive of the grand adventure as before. The castanets and guitar got me vibing through the deserts of Gerudo Valley, and I loved how the tempo slowed down as night fell over the canyon.
New voice acting and a slightly reworked script helps boost moments so you're not just mashing buttons to hurry along boxes of text on the screen. Thankfully, the melodrama of that acting and writing never overstay their welcome. Ganondorf is wonderful in brief menacing monologues, but the forest dwelling would-be-tough-guy Mido steals the show.
It feels bigger, but is actually faster
Ocarina benefits from quick pacing elsewhere, too. While it takes up more than 20 gigabytes of storage — more than 2023's Tears of the Kingdom — this adventure isn't heavily beset with tasks and side quests.
Early on, you might think the tall, vast, gorgeous world before you feels endless. But you'll quickly realize that few treasures are hidden in the walls, and slashing at shrubs won't uncover much more than a couple of rupees.
Link gets ready to ride his horse Epona. Though your horse helps the speed of traversing the map, it's a tiny world compared to modern Zelda games. (Nintendo)
But that's a good thing.
The last two Zelda games on the Switch — Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom — took the franchise into an exhaustive open world, a feature of modern games that try to keep you in these environments for dozens of hours.
Ocarina of Time, however, is focused on good level design and clever mechanics to get through them. In the later temples, for example, it's all about switching between your tools to figure out a path through a unique set of rooms.
That means this game doesn't take as long to beat — and this may be the one downside to staying true to its roots.
What used to be semi-challenging puzzles in the original now feel a little dated and are over before you know it. The same goes for the epic set-piece boss battles that you can finish in a few hits, making you wonder what all that dungeon-crawling was for. (Thankfully, another modern improvement is the ability to replay boss fights for bragging rights.)
But like some good, old memories, it's not worth interrogating. The Ocarina of Time remake is short, sweet and worth reliving — or worth making the memories for the first time.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time releases Nov. 5 on the Switch 2 and retails for $84.99.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anand Ram is a reporter and producer with CBC's science and climate unit. He's worked as a reporter covering technology, business and the environment and as a producer with The National.
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