Ollie Reynolds, Staff Writer
Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life
I never owned an N64, instead spending the late ’90s and early ’00s playing the likes of Metal Gear Solid, Spyro: Year of the Dragon, and Medievil on my PS1.
It wasn’t until The Wind Waker launched on GameCube that I first experienced Ocarina of Time, with the UK release containing a bonus disc housing the original game and its Master Quest iteration. I played WW and OoT in tandem, jumping between the two every couple of days or so.
Hyrule Field understandably felt somewhat quaint in comparison to The Great Sea, but I could still recognise why OoT had gained its strong reputation. In fact, I recall enjoying its opening hours more than WW’s, largely thanks to the latter’s horrible Forsaken Fortress dungeon. After sneaking around in that sodding barrel, Dodongo’s Cavern felt like a welcome change of pace.
Gavin Lane, Editor
Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life
I want to say I first played Ocarina like many people – Christmas 1998 after unwrapping it. However, I’m pretty sure I actually got it for my birthday the following February.
The memory of my grandfather saying “Violent little chap, isn’t he?” while watching me leap around Kokiri Forest, swinging my new sword with multiple ‘hyup!’, ‘hup!’, and ‘hyah!’s doesn’t include the Christmas tree next to the telly. So I played my first ever Zelda game a couple of months after release, in early 1999.
There’s nothing to add about my first impressions that hasn’t been said a thousand times before, but let’s mention the title screen once again. After all the bombast of other games’ Press Start screens — even other Zelda games, as I would later discover — OoT’s plaintive intro signalled a very different type of adventure to anything I’d played before. Just wonderful.
Mai Ladyman, Video Producer
Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life
My experience with OOT is a bit of a funny one. Back when I worked at GAME, I had acquired a 3DS XL, so I decided to pick up some games, and one of them was the 3DS remake of Ocarina of Time. At that time, my only experience with Zelda was playing my friend’s copy of Link’s Awakening in bursts at lunchtime on my trusty GBC. I didn’t get very far. I think I got into the Deku Tree and couldn’t figure out what to do next, so I gave up and traded it in (along with the 3DS XL) a couple of years later when I needed the dosh.
Fast forward a few years later, when my Switch obsession was in full swing alongside my love for Breath of the Wild. I found the Master Quest GameCube version in a charity shop for super cheap and thought it was time to give it another try… Shortly after, we were hit with the COVID-19 lockdowns here in the UK, and I bought a 2DS XL for £20 and OOT on 3DS. I decided then and there that I wanted to play the games side by side for comparison’s sake, and I’ve never looked back. Some say I was just torturing myself; I say it was research and something that came in handy for the job I have today!
Matthew Reynolds, Acting Deputy Editor
Image: Zion Grassl / Nintendo Life
My first exposure to Ocarina of Time was the same as pretty much every other game in the 90s: through CVG magazine, where – as a PlayStation owner – I read its 5/5 review with a considerable level of jealousy.
It wasn’t until I had an N64 (and enough credit at my local second-hand games shop to pay for it) that I could finally ask for Ocarina of Time’s gleaming gold cartridge behind a counter. And it was better than I expected! As someone on a diet of mostly pre-rendered RPGs like Final Fantasy, experiencing an adventure as dynamic and filled with this many clever details and secrets as this was mind-blowing.
After that, I had to play future Legend of Zelda games on day one. Unfortunately, I had to skip Majora’s Mask at the time – I couldn’t quite afford an Expansion Pak – but I absolutely made sure to get a GameCube well in time for Wind Waker, which also remains an all-time fave.
That’s all of our firsts, but what about you? You can let us know where you first encountered Ocarina of Time in the following poll, but then take to the comments to share the full story.
Where did you first play Zelda: Ocarina of Time? (607 votes)
- N64
- GameCube
- Virtual Console
- 3DS
- NSO
- Switch 2 will be my first
- I’ve still never played it!
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