Early Ocarina of Time set in single castle

By Fred Dutton Published 27 June, 2011

Miyamoto recalls Mario 64-esque structure.

The original concept for N64 classic Zelda: Ocarina of Time saw the game play out entirely within the confines of Ganon's castle, according to creator Shigeru Miyamoto.

Speaking in the latest Iwata Asks Q&A on the Nintendo website, he explained that players would then access different areas via portals in its rooms.

"I thought about putting in all kinds of adventures into the different rooms, like making a dark meadow or an ocean - like in Princess Peach's Castle in Super Mario 64.

"In the worst case," he added, "Link wouldn't have been able to go outside the castle!"

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata then asked if that decision was fuelled by a lack of confidence in being able to create Hyrule Field with the limitations laid down by the N64 hardware.

"Yes," he replied. "I thought so from the perspective of the hardware's processing abilities while making Super Mario 64. At first, I didn't mind making the game complete within a single building as long as I got to make Link in 3D. In other words, it might have turned out like Zelda II: The Adventure of Link."

The decision to attempt a more ambitious structure and take 3D Link out into the open was born out of Miyamoto's desire to have the game's hero ride a horse.

"Making a broad landform that you could ride a horse across weighed down the processing, so we took it out for a while," he explained. "And after awhile I returned to work with the production team and launched a huge campaign to regain the grassland!

"We started by testing whether we could have two horses out at once. We thought if we could do that, then we could make other forms of play for that grassland. It went well, so we made a demo video with two horses. We showed that at Nintendo Space World, and I was like, 'Now that we've shown this, there's no backing out!'"

The finished game launched to massive critical acclaim in 1998 – a response as good as matched by the 3DS remake released earlier this month.

Take a look at our Ocarina of Time 3D review for more.

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (19) Latest comment 11 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • JeroenZM #1 11 months ago

    That would've been the best Castlevania ever. Glad they didn't go through with it though.

  • Hantheman #2 11 months ago

    I'm tempted to get a 3DS just so I can finally play this game.

  • polymorph #3 11 months ago

    @Hantheman, snap, but i have played it before, on the 64, then on the disc that came with wind waker, but its payday thursday, a 3ds and zelda for me i think!!!!!!
    edit, its that good that i will buy new hardware to play it again, allthough new software would be nice!!
    Edited by polymorph at 27/06/11 @ 23:43

  • Mister-Wario #4 11 months ago

    I loved the structure of Mario 64: a huge castle filled with secrets. It was a world that expanded more and more as new areas were unlocked and it's probably my favourite hub in the series (although Mario Galaxy's Cosmic Observatory, with the option to stare off into the depths of space, was wonderful too).
    I'd love a new game, not necessarily a Mario one, with a big, fantastical building like that: a more complex one with lots of secrets to find.

  • Nevflinn #5 11 months ago

    Enlightening. So before Miyamoto was thinking with horses, first he was thinking with portals.

  • mooseti #6 11 months ago

    Am I the only one here who spent £197.19 of my hard-earned on a 3DS JUST to play this game?

    I have no regrets. And there are more games to look forward to..

  • NewbieZilla #7 11 months ago

    "Am I the only one here who spent £197.19 of my hard-earned on a 3DS JUST to play this game?

    I have no regrets. And there are more games to look forward to.."

    Incongruity.

  • Crovax20 #8 11 months ago

    I bought the 3DS specifically when this game came out. As I had never played Ocarina of Time, and it is the first title on the 3DS that is worth playing.

    The future seems to hold many more interesting titles though!

  • snick #9 11 months ago

    Can you stop talking about Zelda please. Its burning a ~£200 hole in my pocket.

  • mooseti #10 11 months ago

    @NewbieZilla What?

  • ZuluHero #11 11 months ago

    @snick

    Well it is a zelda thread, but seeing as this is eurogamer we can probably talk about anything you like! ;)

  • tassletine #12 11 months ago

    Ocarina is still as amazing all these years later and the 3D looks like it was designed for the machine. It staggers me a game can hold up this well.

  • Lukree #13 11 months ago

    Should have my 3DS delivered today and hopefully Ocarina soon too!

    Bought 3DS solely for Ocarina as I have never played it. I'm a bit eager to finally play it!

  • fizzyfish #14 11 months ago

    What exactly did he mean by "it might have turned out like Zelda II"?

  • linksdad #15 11 months ago

    I smell BS somewhere. While the original design may have been based in a single castle, the Ultra 64, based on SGI technology was promised to provide almost "unlimited draw distance". I cant find the quote unfortunately.

  • StriderRex #16 11 months ago

    @link'sdad

    It probably did say it somewhere, before it launched they promised it could do stunning things, remember the pics and tech demos they used to show of what it could do (I have very old magazines upstairs with all this in them), but as it got closer to launch and cost considerations came in they cut back on quite a bit.

    The funny thing is, if you play any N64 game on an emulator now it looks stunning, pin sharp, wonderful textures etc, I honestly believe this is what Nintendo and the developers wanted players to see but sadly if they had done that the console probably would have been prohibitively expensive.

  • Jimjamyaha #17 11 months ago

    @mooseti

    He basically meant that what you said was at odds to the general consensus.

    While there was nothing too wrong with the first part of your post, however more accurately many people bought in on the 3DS in hope by now there would be more reasons to buy one than just OoT remastered.

    The second part about many more good games to come seems a little far fetched.

  • TudeScud #18 11 months ago

    @Jimjamyaha It has nothing to do with general consensus.

    Incongruity (lack of sameness) was reflecting the fact that he seemed to go back on what he said right after he said it.

    "JUST to play this game? . . . And there are more games to look forward to."

    Therefore what he's really saying is he bought the 3DS for OoT and it's potential, not JUST for any one thing.

  • Saxo #19 11 months ago

    I also bought a 3ds when this game came out, and Ocarina was also the main reason, 13 hours in now and i love it. Cant belive i havent played this game yet. however experiencing it all for the first time in 3d is nice.