Time Machine

Still making my way through Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Whilst I've been intimidated before, I'm actually enjoying how things are going so far. Indeed, if people hailed this upon release and are still enamored of it some thirteen years later then it's usually for good reason.

Although I never played them, I remember being aware of the Legend of Zelda throughout the days of the NES and SNES. Indeed, it was only years later that I was able to connect Link to his likeness. And for reason the non-existent romance between between Link and Princess Zelda had some appeal - sure their actual relationship is more speculative but I liked the idea of an elf rescuing a princess. Indeed, much like his Nintendo brother in arms Mario, Link can maintain attention as a character due to that everyman quality.

Many people would've played the Zelda games in their childhood days, having grown up with Nintendo and their various console incarnations - thus much of the love for the Zelda games usually stems from that wide-eyed wonder of discovering something new for the first time. Indeed, many people now can point to Ocarina of Time as being a key moment in their childhood.



Not for me though: Tales of my childhood usually involved playing games on the Commodore 64 and playing various iterations of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons - Pool of Radiance being one such title. Thus in that sense, maybe seeing the Zelda games through adult eyes may make for an interesting experience. Indeed, one thing I love about Nintendo is that many of their games have a timeless quality that can be enjoyed by both children and adults.
Now, I played the original Legend of Zelda and Link to the Past when I was well an adult (ages 27 and 25 respectively) and I thought they were great. Of course I could dismiss them for having an appearance that many would consider childish but why the hell would I want to do that? I loved exploring the world of Hyrule, finding various tools and building up a character that grew stronger with each step. And most satisfying of all, playing these games helped me in banishing memories of watching that wretched eighties cartoon.

So how does Ocarina of Time look through an adult perspective? Well some of graphics look dated (but being a fifth generation game that's hardly surprising), I the player have no control whatsoever over the camera and there are some elements that point towards 'kiddie' game. But everything else is good fun: The mini-games are amusing, the combat is great, the exploration factor is as strong as ever and it's really fun using various items, not least the Ocarina, at various points and seeing what happens.

So yeah, I'm enjoying Ocarina of Time - And so far so good....