Can we all agree that the title screen for this game is guaranteed to give you the feels?

Ocarina was such an amazing experience when it came out. Spent untold hours just living in that world and exploring every nook and cranny. The fact that it still holds up so well is really a testament to how fantastic it is.

The "unique targeting system" was actually true as Ocarina of Time was the first game to ever allow you to lock in your enemies.You'd be surprised at how revolutionary Zelda and Mario have been for the gaming industry (specially the 3d era).

Unique targeting system is not a generous way of putting it… Ocarina pioneered that lock on combat with Z-targeting.

Ocarina is one of the 2 cornerstone games that made us all aware how much of a literal game changer it was gonna be jumping from 2D to 3D. The other is Super Mario 64.

One of the greatest games ever made.

I can’t believe there are hardcore gamers that have skipped OoT. It just feels beyond my understanding.

Fun Fact: The gold cartridge version of the game had Gannondorf bleed red rather than the green of the gray cartridge.

The N64 was actually a more powerful system than PS1, it was the memory limit of N64 cartridges vs discs of PS1 that caused things like the cutscene discrepancies you referenced in Spider-Man.

I love to revisit OoT every couple of years. I was 10 when it came out, and my younger brother and I spent most of our Christmas break in ‘98 trying to figure how to get into Dodongo’s Cavern. It spawned the tradition of my younger brother and I playing a Legend of Zelda game during the Christmas season. It’s my favorite Zelda game, with Twilight Princess being a veeeeerrrry close second.

It's such a privilege to have played this game in 99. I was so young that I didn't really make any progress, but a few years later I picked it back up and those core memories were already implanted. Experiencing Kokiri Forest and Hyrule Field as a little kid (when these were the best graphics around) was m a g i c a l Edit: I'd like to add that the 3DS version is supreme. I hadn't played it until I bought my first 3DS this year.

They dont make gamers like they used to... I played this on N64 when I was like 8 years old. It was tough, but so satisfying. Aside from the water temple, every dungeon was a joy to traverse. Timeless classic.

I didn’t expect to be watching a Zelda ocarina of time video today but here we are. Pleasant surprise

Twilight Princess is my personal favorite, but Ocarina changed the game. We didn’t get a game changer again till breath of the wild. Almost 20 years later.

Much better game than BOTW. More focused and less tedious.

Ocarina of Time blew me away on how fluid it is given the N64 era. It's CRAZY how it holds up.

After this game was released, for about 15 years it was considered, by a vast majority, to be the greatest game of all time. It's only been the last 5 or 10 years that a large swath of people may argue it's a different game that deserves that status. There has never been a game that has been that close to unanimously considered the "greatest" since.

Man this game defined my childhood I swear haha. Think it's why I love third person adventure games so much more that multiplayer fps type games

Very, and I mean VERY few games can match to the legacy, impact, & reception OOT has. Even 25 years later, it's still considered the very best of the best. THIS is the game that cemented Zelda as truly the greatest game series of all time!

Everytime i went to Cuba to visit my older brother I would ask him to play this while i watched and he ALWAYS delivered completing the game right before my eyes in one sitting . I made him a speed runner of ocarina of time before speedrunning was even a thing….good times. I don’t know how he got the game in Cuba but the N64 was mine and i sent it to him. In the end he sold it in Cuba along with the toys i would send him and made enough money to legally migrate to America and reunite with me and the fam!

You only got three hearts by phantom Ganon!? You only grabbed the boss hearts that's not a fair complaint to be honest about dying

I feel like no video can ever describe how this game made me feel as a kid. This game was amazing and is a legendary classic for so so many reasons. This and BoTW will always be my top 2 Zelda games and possibly my all time favorites.

An absolute crime that you have gone this long without playing the best game of all time!

Also you gott collect heart pieces to increase your health. If you just run on 5 hearts and faires an potions, you will get destroyed.

I never had any trouble with Ocarina of Time's controls. Then again, it was one of the first 3D games I ever played (together with Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie), so maybe that helped a little. And about that part of you restarting the game in Kokiri Forest, yes, that was normal for older Zelda games. Every time you save, quit and restart the game, you always start at one of only a few possible locations. In OoT's case, those locations were Kokiri Forest (as Young Link) and the Temple of Time (as adult Link).

You joked that calling the targeting system unique was being generous but at the time it really was unique. This game invented lock on targeting.

The complaint seems weird that you saved the game and were surprised you spawned without your stuff. Save before boss, and reset the game when you die.

As a kid I had my cousin play this in front of me so much times I was able to beat it eventually, but the Water Temple was the one that literally took me days of trial and error. My favorite parts were the bosses, I actually loved the Phantom Ganon fight, you have to be precise in shooting back his attacks, and my favorite dungeon was the Shadow Temple. Definitely my favorite N64 game.

I finally completed Ocarina of Time for the first time on the Switch recently. For me, not only did it show me why it is one of the greatest games of all time, but it managed to work its way into one of my favorites of all time. Personally, I think the original stands the test of time for the most part. I agree that it could benefit from updated controls, but I honestly adapted to them fairly quickly. I will say that the benefit of playing it on the switch was being able to create those suspend points. While it definitely did feel like cheating in a way, it was so beneficial creating a save point right before a boss or as you finish playing. I got to retry the boss without having to lose my items, and I didn't have to start every play from Link's home. It felt like a nice way to incorporate a simple modern mechanic into the classic game. I would love a new remaster of this game. It's honestly surprising they haven't done a full remake yet for the Switch. Maybe they will for the next Nintendo console? I can't wait for Tears of the Kingdom!

I had the gold cart and prima guide, I'd give my self a week of being stuck before I was allowed to consult the guide for a solution. The deku tree took so long I really thought I'd completed the game when I finished it... if only I knew 😂

It's strange hearing someone talk about this that didn't grow up with it. N64 was during my prime gaming youth so things like the controls and the targeting feel second nature. I commend you for sticking it out 👏

That’s awesome you finally played it; but it almost sucks that you missed out on fully experiencing it in your childhood. It is it’s own experience in of itself.

I've been playing the 3DS version, after being surprised at how low res the textures were and the control issues you mentioned were on N64 original. It's been great.

If you enjoyed OoT’s narrative I would highly recommend Majora’s Mask, just cranks the story quality up by 11 and adds a lot of side quests and optional narratives too!

You’ll have to try out Majoras Mask next Matty :)

The targeting system is a little finicky but the trick is that there is a minimum distance before Navi actually targets enemies and a minimum distance before the target lock disengages. Many first-time players just mash the target button without ever noticing that she hovers over things when she can target them, they also don't notice that the camera always keeps the target and link in focus or that tapping the target button resets the camera behind Link. The movement difficulties can be minimized by using softer joystick inputs or in the case of stationary context-sensitive actions stopping all movement and then pressing the buttons. OOT is a lot like an old car, there are some little things that you can do while driving to minimize the problems. Of course, I've beaten the game ten times and figured these things out after hours and years of playing. It's definitely not a perfect game but the sum of all its parts fit perfectly together.

The 3DS remake is pretty much the Metroid Prime Remastered treatment for this game. Updated visuals and better aiming. It'd be nice to see it ported in HD

I love Ocarina Of Time 😭 I had played A Link To The Past beforehand but OOT is what really solidified my love for the Zelda series. And also the music! The song of time, song of storms, forest temple, spirit temple, Sarias song, the opening music, the market music...Its such a great and iconic game. I also love Majoras Mask, so much so that I have a tattoo of Majora's Mask on my chest lol. Some of my favorite music is in MM with Ikana Castle, Stone Tower Temple, and the elegy of emptiness. Ah I'm so jealous. Experiencing OOT for the first time and flipping through the strategy guide. 😭 (EDIT: OMG. You gotta play Majora's Mask next! Please! 😭 When you do talk to the scarecrow and keep in mind it's hints!)

This game changed me as a kid. I had played Zelda 1 on the NES and dabbled in Link to the Past (didnt have a SNES), my weird, compulsive mother brought this game home for me randomly because she found a deal where it came with a free Zelda T-Shirt at whichever store. She gave me the game and I was like "wtf is this?" Popped it in and became one of my all time favorite games. My friends and I used stay up and beat it in one playthrough. Then as we got older, we got together once a year and beat the game. Tradition.

I respect the frustration with losing all of your items after dying and the difficulty of the dungeons and how punishing the smallest mistake was. But for me I think during the time this is what made the game so endearing and immersive. It felt real, the time spent exploring and perfecting the game (going through the paces essentially) was what made it so magical.

I’m glad you showcased just how much of a piece of art that guide is. It really is gorgeous and was definitely something I read over and over and OVER as a kid. I would just stare at the pages, transfixed and transported. The days before Hyrule Historia were something else, man.

Used to spend hours pouring over the pages of the OoT issue of Nintendo Power while my older brother played. An all-time masterpiece with memories I’ll always cherish

Why didn’t you play this on Switch with 720p/60fps output??? Lmao

25 years this November. Crazy. I loved this game on the n64 back in the day.

Its crazy that OoT basically invented targeting in 3D games

This one changed gaming for me. I was 8 years old when I finally beat it around 2000. I was stuck on the second part of the Gannon fight for almost 4 months before i finally beat it. I was so proud lol

I was 18 when this game came out. I spent hours living in hyrule and its truly one of the greatest

Playing Ocarina of Time as a kid (I was born in 93) was like stepping into another world. Not only was the game massively elevated by simply being a carefree child with a massive imagination, but you couldn’t just hop online and spoil the game. I had no idea how long the game would be, and it straight up took me months before I even got all three spiritual stones. I seriously thought the game would end after getting all the spiritual stones, so becoming an adult and finding out I wasn’t even half way done with the game was just such an incredible mind blowing experience, it’s something that I don’t think can ever be achieved by a video game again, or atleast not for me now that I’m an actual adult. That being said I spent six hours tonight playing Tears of the Kingdom and maybe it’s just the “honeymoon period” and “hype” clouding my judgement but getting off the floating island straight up made my jaw drop. All the new mechanics are so creative (even more so than something like Portal 2) and if the game keeps this momentum throughout its campaign then it may not just be the best Zelda game ever made but one of the best video games ever made. I shit you not. And this is coming from someone who liked (but didn’t totally love) BOTW. I always thought that it BOTW was able to have actual traditional dungeons and also be able to be super dark and legitimately creepy (like Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask could be) it would be the best Zelda game. I refuse to spoil TOTK but if TOTK ends up having actual dungeons and incredible side content, then my social life is gonna be totally dead for the next few weeks. So excited to see how the world reacts to this game this Friday.

Ocarina of time is the very first game I’ve ever played. What got me into gaming when I was in like 1st grade

Ocarina of Time was my first favorite game of all time. Over the years other games have passed it but it still remains in my top 5. I remember being ten when it came out and my mother renting it for me. It was rented so much she finally went out and bought it for me. Lol. I got so lost in that game, and the soundtrack always brings me back to that time period.

5:10 it was a unique targeting system at the time. it was the first to do it well, and many games today still use this same system for targeting. one of the many reasons why this game was so massive and still is to this day

The targeting system in this game was revolutionary for 3D video games. Calling it “unique” at the time was apt, not “generous.”

My fave zelda game of all time is 4 swords adventures. Back then my friends mainly played the pokemon gba games, while I played the yugioh ones. Once I got this game new, I then bought 3 more cables for 4 player co-op. This was my summer of 2006 ❤

You will now randomly say “SKITE!” When swinging literally any objects in your house and “HYAAA” for max spinning damage.

On the back of the PAL version it says: "256 megs of intensive action-adventure gaming." That's HUGE !! Actually the N64 was more powerful than PS1 but there wasn't enough room in the cartridge for prerendered cut scenes or voice acting. All the cut scenes in OOT are done with the game engine, which doesn't take that much space. In retrospect that's a good choice. Nowadays people don't want the cut scenes and the gameplay looking entirely different. In FF VII they have at least 3 completely different looking character models, which felt really weird when I played FF VII for the first time, after I had already played FF X. In the early PS1 the actual graphics were still pretty primitive so cut scenes were a way to show that the games were now next gen.

"Unique targeting system" isnt generous, it's very reserved. They pretty much invented the concept of targeting enemies and characters in a 3d environment

I had a 64 when it released and never played this or any Zelda game before until last month. Ocarina of time lived up to the hype for me. I absolutely loved it.

YESSS!!!! Matty’s finally giving Zelda a shot! I’m really happy to see this.

Ocarina is my favourite game of all time, played it when I was a kid and have gone back numerous times over the past twenty years

Man I played this for the first time in 2016. God damn what a masterpiece.

The dungeons are the core of the game. If they’re made convenient or easy, then it detracts from the game significantly out of proportion. It would be like if you had infinite lives in Super Mario Bros.

I'm playing this with my 6 year old. I'm helping her read the text. I want her to get older and remember beating this very special game. This will be her first game to ever beat.

For funsies I pulled my JP boxed copy off the shelf to compare the backs, 3 pictures instead of 5 and the all the pictures of gameplay are different. Though it also has a picture of Link and the Dodongo but he's running away from it instead of facing it. Along with a shot of the Temple of Time and Link riding Epona through the field.

Getting Game Over in the middle of a dungeon and having to restart from the dungeons' entrances is irritating, but OoT does have Farore's Wind to warp you as well as most dungeons revealed shortcuts to the second half/boss room is usually near entrance so you didn't have to retrace everything. And luckily right outside the Forest Temple is a Red Fairy Fountain to restock bottles quickly.

I have played this game so much for so long that playing it on anything BUT an N64 controller throws my mind for a loop!

And thanks to your video I just pulled out my OoT 3D and 3DS to start playing it again and hopefully 100% this time. I last played in June 6, 2011! 12 years ago! I had at least maxed hearts and armor. Well I'm playing it again and maybe I'll do Master Quest. I love this game. I wish I could say I prefer MM 3D over MM N64, but some of the changes in the remake REALLY hurts the experience that the original is just better. Anyway, back to OoT!

I'm really quite envious that you're experiencing this for the first time. Shame that there's not a red pill or blue pill that would enable this first time with Zelda oot experience for myself but alas 😢

Yeah i dusted my old N3ds XL off and bought a grip for it, and planned to do the 3ds games. And now im playing Majoras mask for a good 12 hours or so, after having finished Ocarina of Time. What a blast im having now that i can understand English fully. I dropped the game when it first came out (MJ), because these games can be quite hard as a young lad who could't read English good at the time, and the time limit from Majora's mask was probably a factor why i stopped.

This game was my childhood for sure - even if it took me an entire year to reach the adult timeline

I beat it during the pandemic. I legitimately thought at that time I was the only gamer over 25 to have beaten OoT for the first time. So cool to see someone else go through this. When I was a kid, I too never played much beyond deku tree either!

As a fellow Matty, I love Retro Rebound dude, these videos are top-tier. Ocarina of Time vibe wise feels like it was interpreted from an ancient epic into a game.

Thats crazy that you havent played through it till now. Better late than never i suppose. You should play Majora's Mask, and Wind Waker too. Majora is my favorite due to its originality, deviation from the standard formulaic zelda gameplay, strong melancholy atmosphere, stronger characters, stronger quest design, and the ability to play as deku/goron/zora. Some people hate the time mechanic but i think the game gives you plenty of time to do things and it adds a lot of depth to the game because everyone has a life and schedule. Play all of them, they are all good

Back in our era in the 90s. Using your imagination was a BIG thing in those days. I appreciate the art and booklet size. Now, it’s very different. Not much imagination

Great video dude. I played thru this last year on Switch Online. The save state funcion makes it's a much better experience 👌

How has this man not played this game yet

This is actually the craziest title I’ve ever seen from a well respected video game critic. Happy you got to experience one of the greatest games of all time.

I don't think there will ever be a paradigm shift like OoT vs 2D Zelda. I'm glad I was there to experience it. It wasn't just that Zelda or action games went from 2D to 3D. They nailed it. It's obscene how well Nintendo laid the ground work for 3D action games.

Ohh to be you sir. You lucky guy Matt. If only I could relive this gem for the first time ever.

Matty saying he played a classic game for the first time……makes me feel old. It’s easy to forget how young these bloods are on the World Wide Web.

Oh boy have you missed out Matty, can't wait to see your thoughts on this one :)

Ocarina of time hands down still one of my favorite games ever. I just introduced this game to my 8 year old daughter and it was amazing to see how much she loved it. We finished the game last week and she has become a die hard Zelda fan. We are currently playing majora's mask and plan on playing all the other games in order. I was her age when I got ocarina of time when it came out and it’s awesome just to see her go through the same wonderment I did almost 30 years ago.

Imo greatest game ever created...and deserve a full remake before i freaking die

This game is a true classic

Being born in 98, I grew up playing this and donkey kong. LETS GO MATTYYY!

I replayed my saved file (still works till this day) as it’s saved ready for the final battle. I usually just explore the whole world as kid link or adult link. Soooo many wonderful memories.

I just played the 3DS version for the first time and the aiming is so much better, especially with the gyro. Ocarina of Time was already one of my favorite games of all time and the 3DS version fixes the few complaints I had with the game barring a few nitpicks.

About missing the items like fairies when you die, if you say no to save when dying you don't miss the items.

how did u miss this! OoT came out when I was 9.... I'll never experience a game like I did back then, pouring over the guidebook... There are still some experiences like it with games like Elden Ring, but man, what a special game. My personal GOAT!

You gotta save before bosses with full hearts and fairy bottles and if you die you choose not to save, quit to the menu and reload

5:06 Unique in 1998 Obviously. As far as i know, Nintendo invented this style of lock-on targeting we take for granted today.

My brother in Christ there was a remake of this game already on the 3DS and yes most of the problems are fixed and it’s awesome.

I really wished you played the the robin Williams commercial for the tv intro

It bothers me more than it should that most people now think it's pronounced "ockarina"

Ngl I feel asleep, but I technically watched the whole vid, gave you a like, and commented. 👍

I don't know bruh, I barely died playing this even on my first time when I was eight years old in 98. This is the first time I've heard ANYONE make that complaint.

I remember my brother getting the gold edition of this game the day it came out. This was my first Zelda game and really what made me love video games

I can't imagine playing this masterpiece in 2023 compared to 1998. All the games that have come after it probably tainted its magic for you.

1998. 10 year old me and my bro are in the van while my mom is getting gas. Says she has a surprise for us when she gets in. Proceeds to tell us we are going to toys r us to pick up the new Zelda game. Me and my bro were so excited cuz we grew up on link to the past and the original Zelda on nes. Called my older cousin to tell him and he already had the game. Amazing experience and top 5 game of all time

"Ganondork.." How have I never thought of that!? Lol

Shocking that you haven't played it, because you're a bona fide gamer. It's interesting that you note parallels between OoT and the newer games. OoT had a lot of influential, perhaps revolutionary mechanics. Like Z-targeting. And the way you climb up ladders and vines. And the way you swim. It was one of the pioneers of 3D games. And now we have Breath of the Wild where you can climb mountains and paraglide. And Tears of the Kingdom where you can practically fly. It's like the innovation just continues.