Nintendo’s “Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” was released in 1998. Now, its remake has some fans giddily reliving their childhoods. Nearly 30 years after its release, Nintendo’s hit video game, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, returned on Thursday brighter, smoother and more intricate than its main character, Link, could have imagined waking up for the first time from a prophetic nightmare that begins his adventures.
Though the latest release is nearly a one-for-one remake, game stores and the internet have been abuzz with excitement, nostalgia and glee about the return to the kingdom of Hyrule, where many began their video game journeys decades ago. “Something that Zelda fans have always wanted and dreamed of, and probably never thought they’d get, is a more realistic, non-stylized version of a Zelda game from Nintendo,” said John Hopper, a video game reviewer whose Tik Tok account, Blue Thunder, has more than 2.5 million followers. “It’s absolutely stunning,” he added. “Right off the gate it somehow manages to capture a very similar feeling of nostalgia you remember as a kid.” When Ocarina, the first 3-D Zelda game in the franchise, hit shelves for the Nintendo 64 in 1998, it was lauded for its gameplay, storytelling and graphics. Players navigated the world as Link, who traverses dungeons and biomes, and travels through time with the help of an ocarina — an ancient wind instrument — to battle foes and save the princess Zelda. In the late 1990s, Ocarina even caused a surge in sales of the instrument.
Now, it is widely considered to be one of the greatest games of all time. In the decades since, Nintendo has released a slew of new Zelda games, as well as a remake of Ocarina in 2011 for the 3DS console. Two of the most recent entries, Breath of the Wild (2017), and its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom (2023), were celebrated for their vast explorable maps and narratives.
Why, then, would Nintendo focus on a remake in 2026 instead of a new title, at a time when marquee games like Grand Theft Auto VI are also slated for release this month? “It’s the same reason we don’t watch the ‘Mario’ movies for the story,” said Joost van Dreunen, a marketing professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business who writes about video games. “It’s mostly a 90-minute roller coaster ride. For Nintendo, in itself, it reaffirms and solidifies the value of its brand.” “Is that going to be a bad idea because G. T.
A. is around the corner?” Dr. van Dreunen asked. “They have two weeks to make this a party, and it taps into a whole other set of feelings and sensibilities than what G. T. A. will do.” Exact sales figures are not yet available, but the Ocarina remake by Saturday had surged to the No. 1 best seller on Nintendo’s online shop.
In an interview with Nintendo before the game was released, its developers discussed how far the game had come in the decades since the first Zelda installment was created. As they mulled how to celebrate that milestone, Eiji Aonuma, a producer of the series, could not shake Ocarina from his thoughts. “Many of the team members who work alongside me on Legend of Zelda games today have only experienced developing the more recent titles,” Mr. Aonuma said. “That led me to wonder, ‘Do they truly understand just how significant The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was to the series as a whole?’” Aside from the enhanced graphics and 60 frames-per-second performance, the remake includes quality-of-life improvements such as auto-save, a more intuitive inventory system, and optional guidance for puzzles. The game remains faithful to its source material, preserving the original’s iconic dungeons, musical score, and emotional beats.
For long-time fans, it’s a chance to revisit a world they loved; for newcomers, it’s an introduction to a landmark title that shaped the action-adventure genre. Nintendo has not announced whether this remake will be a one-off or the start of a broader revival of classic titles, but the strong initial response suggests there’s a market for revisiting the past — especially when done with this level of care and polish.
Source: New York Times Business · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing