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Zelda man obsessed with besting Ocarina News
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Robert Purchese
Eiji Aonuma has said he won't stop making Zelda games until he's done one that surpasses the renowned Ocarina of Time. He's obsessed. But in a good way.
"I'm happy that a title I worked on some time ago remains highly praised to this day, but that also shows how none of the subsequent games in the series have surpassed it," Aonuma told Nintendo Everything.
"As someone who is still working on the series, I have mixed feelings about that. Because I haven't yet surpassed it, I can't quit. Surprisingly, that simple motivation may be the reason I continue to work on the Zelda series."
Ocarina of Time was the first game Eiji Aonuma worked on in the Zelda series, which he now co-oversees with legendary Nintendo inventor Shigeru Miyamoto.
"Ocarina of Time was the first title I worked on, and I was continuously tackling challenges every day during its development, so I think this is the title I feel I impacted the most," said Aonuma.
"I believe that experience made me what I am now. I always think about what we couldn't do and what didn't work well in the previous game when we start a new title, but there's no game that I would want to actually change as such.
"I have to say though, the first Zelda game that I played and felt potential in was Link to the Past," he added. "I'm actually very interested in what it would be like if we remade that title as a 3D game."
Ocarina of Time is the most highly rated game of all time on both Metacritic and GameRankings. But what did anyone know back then?
You can relive those 1998 glory days by downloading Ocarina of Time from the Wii Virtual Console.
Nintendo, incidentally, has made no secret of new Zelda and Mario games being in development for Wii. When we'll hear anything more than that, though, is unknown.
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Related Games
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Majoras Mask
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Poster
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Part of the appeal of Ocarina was that it was fresh. The first 3D zelda and the puzzles and dungeons were just the right length. The side missions were fun (race the postie anyone) and you always felt like you were making progress.
Subsequent Zelda games have all simply copied Ocarina almost lock, stock and barrel. Wind waker introduced a more interesting travel mechanic (the ship) but, left the sea as a barren blue wasteland. There were precious few side quest islands to find and when you did, they didn't give you anything you needed. No special weapons or super upgrades. Just rupies that you could find simply by walking about a bit. If Eiji Aonuma really wants to progress Zelda, then I would encourage him to take a look at the old Ultima series. The later ones (the guardian trilogy) introduced tragedy, betrayal and sacrifice ina story that I still look back on with feeling, even today. Such concepts would be a welcome addition to the series and if you could see your way to killing off Zelda herself, that would be most welcome. Let's face it, she seems to be the single source of the kingdoms woes in every game. It's her so called wisdom led choices that starts the calamities to begin with! Anyone remember the idiotic quest that started Ocarina "Link go get the master sword". You even get an option to say no!I don't know about the rest of you guys but, I knew the first time I played the game and got the choice that "No" was the correct response. Pity she had an infinite beg loop until you said yes! |
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Carpathian
26/11/08 @ 14:18
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Have to agree - any time a new Zelda comes out the first thing I think of is OOT.
It's just what my brain consider to be Zelda and is always what I return back to. |
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Vice.Destroyer
26/11/08 @ 14:25
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Ceatlan, I think that you have been spoiled by HD graphics. Either now or at the time. The N64 was not the most powerful machine available at the time, but the game itself was incredible. I think the reason it stands out more than any of the others is because it has the distinction of being the first 3D Zelda title. The subsequent ones may have a few othe tricks up their sleeves, but OOT was first. And in my mind, the best Zelda in the last 10 years.
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I thought Majora's Mask was better in some respects, but ultimately there just weren't enough dungeons (even though the amount of out-of-dungeon content somewhat compensated for that) and it lacked an epic final battle. In fact, every Zelda game where Ganondorf isn't the antagonist lacks an epic final battle.
If they want to best Ocarina then they should build on some of the themes and ideas introduced in Majora. It was definitely the darkest and most atmospheric Zelda as far as I'm concerned. They should hurry up and put it on the feckin' virtual console already. |
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DugBriderider
26/11/08 @ 14:34
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Wow that is a can of worms, although OOT was the 1st Zelda I played,
Majoras Mask was better for Story, Wind Waker was better for Art and Music & Mechanics. TP was evidence that you shouldn't listen to you fans (it was a bit bland). |
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I preferred OoT to Majora's Mask (actually never finished MM because I got fed up with keeping track of the days). Would have to say my fav 3D Zelda is Windwaker though, with Twilight Princess joint second with OoT. Although it was shorter and easier (and had far too much sailing and object collecting), I'm just completely in love with the cel shaded style. Zelda games are about a little elf boy who travels with a fairy (sometimes) fighting monsters to rescue a princess from a villain trying to take over the world. Hardly realistic stuff, yet people complain that WW was too cartoony? For me it was the most well thought out and complete Zelda world yet, and the characters were far more expressive (Link especially) then in any other 3D Zelda. Was actually disappointed that TP went with a more "realistic" approach, I felt it was a step backwards, that Nintendo caved in to those who complained, rather then staying strong and going with more cel style. You only have to look at the beautiful Okami to see that "realistic" graphics aren't needed when you have a great story and game mechanics.
I'd love the next Zelda to go back to the cel style, but the game to be much longer, with less running around finding fragments of objects just to pad it out. Mix OoT's story telling and length to WW's graphics and TP's use of the Wii Remote and I'll be happy with that. |
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BadBoyBonner
26/11/08 @ 14:37
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12 year old gameplay, 12 year old graphics, terrible slowdown and super blurry textures, horrible camera system 5 out of...
BadBoyBonner removes The Mask of K-Reed-iness... Awesome game, was a true wonder of it's time that easily stands the test of time - just like a few other N64 games... |
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Thornhillboy
26/11/08 @ 14:44
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Need more side quests! It is those that keep me playing after finishing the game, and the lack of them was why I really wasn't impressed by Twilight Princess. Majora's mask was excellent for that though.
And in my opinion, the game that comes closes to matching OoT (with the exception of Majora's Mask which is probably as good) is Okami. Okami just felt a lot better to me than Twilight Princess ever managed. |
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Wind Waker kind of lost me around the time you start having to sail around collecting things. I had got to that point within three or so days of the game being released, but it then took me another four months to complete it. Still not got round to Twilight, but probably should.
Majora's did have less dungeons, but for me the atmosphere, the ability to change into different species and the Groundhog Day time thing really worked. I never found it to constrain your exploration all that much either; all I did was made sure I played the little ditty on the ocarina before I was due to head off somewhere and that gave me more than enough time. |
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It's my favourite game of all time.
It was the 1st Zelda that I had played so everything about it felt fresh. After finishing it, it tainted my subsequent gaming experiences for a long time afterwards because nothing could match it. For me, it probably took until Resident Evil 4 for anything to come close. |
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My Zelda history:
LTTP: Completed. Twice. OOT: Completed. Twice. MM: 85% completed. Gave up on a hard dungeon. Wish I'd finished it. WW: 85% complete. Gave up when I realised it wanted me to visit every island again. TP: ??% complete. I think I'm roughly half way through it. Funny, my other half completed it - his first ever Zelda game. |
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BadBoyBonner
26/11/08 @ 15:08
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Wouldn't mind if the new Zelda game used the same shading technique as Valkyria - unsure if the Wii could manage it though.
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@ Vice.Destroyer "The N64 was not the most powerful machine available at the time, but the game itself was incredible. I think the reason it stands out more than any of the others is because it has the distinction of being the first 3D Zelda title. The subsequent ones may have a few othe tricks up their sleeves, but OOT was first. And in my mind, the best Zelda in the last 10 years."
/High five. Ocarina of Time is the best Zelda in the past 10 years! |
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wanderingkid
26/11/08 @ 15:28
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LOL @ penhalion
It doesn't matter who causes the chaos to begin with! Whether it's Zelda or the civilisation of Links' world, without a problem there's no adventure! If you really didn't want to get the master sword then you should have ejected the game and played something else! |
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@ Interfector "they should make the next Zelda game *radically* different to the previous one so it will stick out in everyone's minds like zelda 64."
So very true. I wonder how Nintendo will make the next game radically diffrent part from altering the story or just adding motion plus controls. My mind is blowned! |
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illusiondance
26/11/08 @ 15:35
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hmm, who ever said the comment about 'the right time and place' seems to be onto the real reason for the massive fanbase of Zocarina.
As with a few other people here i played it well past its first release and could only appreciate the design of the beast and none of its technical accomplishments. Therefore the freshness of windwaker appealed more to me (plus - the sailing is still really relaxing). I have yet to properly sit down to Twighlight Princess but look forward to it....if i Wii ever gets back in stock that is. So basically im glad that whatshisface behind the projects keeps trying new stuff in the series. this is a good ethos for a developer. Gambatte |
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Galvanizer
26/11/08 @ 15:40
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Im glad GTA4 didnt knock it off the top spot, what a complete travesty that would have been.
Best statement I've read on Eurogamer. Ever. |
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superdelphinus
26/11/08 @ 15:43
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"A game that can't be called anything other than flawless...This is the masterpiece that people will still be talking about ten years down the road."
the contemporaneous review from Gamespot |
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Doctor_What
26/11/08 @ 16:01
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This would explain why it feels like they're making the same game again and again and again. I've never once been grabbed by a Zelda game despite having tried with every one from the last 15-ish years. I always fell for all the hype 'these are the best games ever, everyone should experience their genius', bought them, then felt disappointed by the same weak feeling of contact with the world, the plodding pace, the limited combat, and the reused plot.
It's very refreshing to see that there are other people replying here that also were somehow passed over by the Zelda-is-awesome fairy. |
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BiscuitBase
26/11/08 @ 16:02
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Majora's Mask was much better than OOT. All the good stuff from OOT but much more polished and with much more to do. Unfortunately most people just didn't get the whole time control aspect of it.
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@BadBoyBonner
"12 year old gameplay, 12 year old graphics, terrible slowdown and super blurry textures, horrible camera system 5 out of... BadBoyBonner removes The Mask of K-Reed-iness... Awesome game, was a true wonder of it's time that easily stands the test of time - just like a few other N64 games... " I was just thinking that exact same thing myself. :) It's my favourite Zelda as well, it just seemed so fresh and new (because it was fresh and new I suppose) Majoras Mask is a close second for me though the 72 hours mechanism was great. They've followed the pattern a bit too much I think, although Wind Waker was a fresher breath of air (no pun intended) that Twilight Princess was. (I started on the SNES with LTTP, which is awesome as well, first game I bought for the Wii although I already have it on SNES somewhere that's why it seemed fresh and new). @Vanmunt Zelda needs a total revamp... go to dungeon get boomerang, go to dungeon get bow and arrow, go to dungeon get heavy boots and so on.. Link to the Past was the best, OOT was amazing as it was in 3D, been a downward spiral since. Twilight Princess was a really poor Zelda game. I wouldn't say it was really poor, I would say it was really standard though. They just ticked the boxes and that's pretty much it. I think you can consider the wolf bit to be pretty much ticking the "New shtick" box; the Ocarina in OOT, the Masks in MM, the Baton in Wind Waker, the Wolf in TP. I do think the series could do with a kick up the arse though, but how much change is too much change? It's a tricky one. |
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then felt disappointed by the same weak feeling of contact with the world,
You must not like a lot of modern games. Despite the fact that the Zelda series suffered from the jump to 3D in terms of world interactivity, it's still head and shoulders above almost anything coming out these days where the world is basically just a pretty background to the ever increasing focus on battle, battle, battle. |
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OOT was a "proper" "hardcore" (hate that term) game...
MM and TP were both cut down simplistic games to appeal to the mainstream fps fan... Too easy, too short.. too obvious what to do next.. no need to do side quests, etc etc etc. OOT had me playing for weeks maybe months.. TP i completed in a few evenings. |
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OOT got me back into gaming after a 10 year break. I picked up a secondhand N64 with OOT, MM and GoldenEye for 150 quid as a present for my younger brother just before Christmas. When I got home I thought I'd better check to make sure everything worked. Two months later I finished OOT. I'm not sure if I replaced present, or even turned up for Christmas day for that matter .
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Zelda doesn't need a complete overhaul. All of the games feel different from one another, and what's wrong with a bit of familiarity anyway? Finding [insert weapon or tool here] and using it to progress further both in and out of dungeon is a huge part of Zelda.
Twilight Princess was a little overfamiliar, sure. But that's only because Nintendo were looking to please the whiny little bitches who moaned about Wind Waker. The game has its fair share of original ideas anyway. To suggest that Nintendo are just remaking the same game over and over again is an exaggeration of gigantic proportions. |
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