The Legend of Zelda the Ocarina of Time is easily one of the most anticipated and hyped games ever. How does it stack up? While Zelda is truly an incredible game, no game is perfect and too many people think if a game like Zelda (that is hyped up for years before its release) isn't perfect, it is a disappointment. Without having the hype in mind, I will review Zelda.

The game has probably the best 3D graphics I have ever seen in a videogame. It animated very smoothly (it seems like 60 Frames per second) the detail paid to almost everything is incredible. All of the characters look awesome to the townspeople to Giant bosses. There is also some amazing things done with the lighting in the game. Like if you look at the sun sometimes a glare appears which really impressed me.

The gameplay is incredible. Many games when making the jump from 2D to 3D turn out to be weak in terms of gameplay depth in comparision to their 2D brothers. However, Zelda managed to keep more or less the same feel to it while in 3D. The level design in Zelda is amazing. There are lots of things to do. There are huge dungeons loaded with very well thought out puzzles. The bosses in the game all have a trick to defeating them that you have to figure out. The overworld has a night and day system where time passes. There are more enemies at night and certain things are only accessible at certain times. Time does not pass in towns or dungeons however. There are loads of interesting weapons and items to find as well. Zelda also has several mini games such as a training game and an awesome fishing mini game as well. There are several side quests which allow you to do things like sell masks around hyrule or another to get a very powerful sword. Zelda the Ocarina of time is far and away the deepest fully 3D game I have ever played.

The music in Zelda is rather impressive as well. While some people may complain that the music in Zelda is completely new (no remixes from past games).The music really does fit the tone of the game very well. Some of the songs that Link plays on the ocarina are so catchy they got stuck in my head. This has one of my favorite soundtracks on cartridge game.

The control in Zelda is also impressive.While it takes a little while to get used to it Zelda has probably the best 3D control system ever. You control Link with the analog stick and attack with B.3 of the 4 C buttons are used to assign items to while the other is used to talk to Navi the fairy. When in battle you use the Z button to target an enemy so that you are locked on and can attack MUCH more easily. Also when you are locked on to an enemy you can do a variety of new moves as well.

The story in Zelda is fairly predictable. Link is told by the Deku tree of the forest that he is chosen to remove a curse. As the game moves on Link meets Zelda and a character called Gannondorf (aka Gannon) who is a Gerudo thief and has been causing trouble all over Hyrule. Zelda does not trust Gannondorf and sends Link to collect the spritual stones. Without going into too much detail, the story is fairly good. There are several great surprises in the game however. The character development is also only so so. The story is not bad nor is the dialogue. It just isn't anything special.

Overall Zelda is an incredible game with deep gameplay, incredible graphics and music and is just a lot of fun to play. Zelda is a true classic and is far and away the best N64 game and in some ways is my favorite game ever. The game is huge in terms of game length, size and depth and is a must have for all hardcore gamers.