When I think of Zelda OoT, I don't just think of the game itself. Rather, I fondly recall the time, the experience.
I bought the N64 for the original South Park game, which came out at the same time as Zelda. While the latter was out of stock everywhere, SP was not, so I bought the system just for that game. After quickly realizing it did not warrant a whole system purchase, I put aside South Park and went to two other cities to get my prize: Ocarina of Time.
And what a night it was. Right from the opening piano tune, I was hooked. Watching the sun rise over Hyrule, even just in the opening demo, took my breath away. The graphics, although great at the time, weren't the cause of my being so in awe of the Zelda experience. Rather, it was the simple joy of anticipation. If I could magically erase my memory of a game and enjoy that first-time playing experience all over again, Zelda Oot would be one of the first I would choose. Just to press start, be wowed and enthralled by a new immersive world, and just KNOW that there would be loads of secrets and memories to make..... Man, that's what games are all about.
And now that I've waxed joyful over it, let me tell you why OoT is so good. The aforementioned graphics, while of course showing their age, are still colorful and detailed today, making it by no means an overly dated game. The music is beautiful, albeit missing the main Zelda score that we all know and love (and were happy to see in the slightly disappointing Majora's Mask).
The controls are fantastic, making travel and combat a snap. The auto-targeting feature was a blessing and one I was glad to see become a Zelda mainstay. And as for the quest? Well, the story isn't too new, although lots more personality is injected thanks to the sheer number of people Link finally gets to interact with. But the dungeons,
which are absolutely brilliant, take up about 70% of game time and are a blast to play. The reward system is keen enough to keep you coming for that great new item that's Juuuuust a little farther along. The final battle is awe-inspiring stuff, too. To sum up OoT, the best way to explain it is this:
The game just does everything right. It's not perfect, no game is. At points it's a drag, sometimes even too slow or confusing. But as a whole, the parts that make up this game- the graphics, sound, control, motivation, etc.- they're all done very well. This makes for a solid, SOLID playing experience. And while I may not pick it as my favorite game of all time, It's definitely one of the most finely crafted, well executed, and just plain FUN games that was ever released.
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