Sunday, July 12, 2015

A tribute to Satoru Iwata


  So I haven't written a blog post in awhile. My life has been fairly busy lately, and I've had to take a bit of a sabbatical from my Zelda series retrospective. While I intend to finish the series eventually, today I'd like to take a moment to talk about Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, who sadly passed away on July 11th, 2015.
  I'll keep this short. I won't bother listing Iwata's myriad successes and failures. Anyone bothering to read this knows who he was. And I'd bet that he was just as special to you as he was to me and millions of gamers worldwide.
  What made Satoru Iwata so beloved? Sure, he was charismatic, fun, and charmingly weird. But he also fundamentally understood something about games and the people who love them. He understood that games aren't just soulless products created to make money; that the successes of a company weren't only measured by its profit margins. Games can be profitable, sure, but to Iwata profit seemed almost ancillary.
  Games aren't just a series of 1s and 0s. They aren't just delivery systems for DLC and micro-transactions. They can be so much more. Games can bring us joy. They can help us form friendships. They can provide hope in dark times. They can take us to new worlds. They can help us better understand ourselves and the world we live in. Iwata understood that. He understood the power that games have. He wanted to bring people together. Boys and girls, the young and the old. Iwata's Nintendo wanted everyone to have fun playing games together. I believe that Iwata found great happiness in the fact that the games he helped create brought joy to millions of people across the world.
  Iwata was clearly passionate about the games his company created. That passion was contagious. A genuine love of the medium is sadly a very rare thing in today's profit driven game industry. Iwata's Nintendo was a bright spot in a bleak world. I will miss him dearly.
The games your company has made have brought me and so many other so much happiness. Thank you very, very much.
  Sayonara, Iwata-san. I'll play you off:



Monday, May 18, 2015

Master Quest: Majora's Mask


Previously on Master Quest:

Majora's Mask
Released April 27th, 2000
-You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?-

  Majora's Mask sounds like shit on paper. The game had a development cycle of roughly a year (Skyward Sword, by comparison, was in development for five years). Its graphics are composed almost entirely of reused Ocarina of Time art assets. There are only four dungeons. The game's central time travel gimmick promotes large amounts of repetition. Not to mention that the previous game in the series, Ocarina of Time, had sold over 7 million copies and had quickly established itself as one of the most beloved and iconic video games ever made. Making a quality sequel to OoT in 12 months is a task that would be almost impossible even for the mighty Hercules, especially since Hercules doesn't have any game design experience.
 
  The odds seemed stacked against Majora's Mask, but the end product may be the most focused and fully realized work of art in the entire Zelda library. Every game mechanic, every piece of music, and every aesthetic choice grind together like gears in service to Majora's Mask's artistic vision. MM personifies the wise words of composer Leonard Bernstein: "To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time."
This quote not only describes MM's development process, it essentially describes the game's central design philosophy. The Legend of Zelda: Not Quite Enough Time would be a much more accurate title if it doesn't quite roll off the tongue. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I should probably actually tell you what this game is all about.
  Majora's Mask begins as it should: with the video game equivalent of a punch in the teeth. Link is riding through the (presumably lost) woods on his horse, Epona. He looks rather downtrodden, and the opening text informs us that he has left Hyrule in search of a "beloved and invaluable friend" who "parted ways when he finally fulfilled his heroic destiny". I assume this refers to Link's fairy companion in Ocarina of Time, Navi, who appears to part ways with Link in the final scenes of the game. This has always kind of bugged me. First, I've never been sure why Navi left you in the first place. Second, why would Link go a quest to find Navi? Navi is annoying as fuck. "Hey, Listen!" she'd say. "You should go to Death Mountain." "You should go to Death Mountain." "You've been playing too long, you should take a break. Also you should go to Death Mountain." SHUT THE FUCK UP! I'M TRYING TO PLAY THE FISHING MINI- GAME, YOU ASSHOLE! If Link wants a friend, he's got a ton of options. Is Zelda still hanging around? There's also Saria or your bro Darunia. What about Princess Ruto? She's pretty cool.
  Regardless, Link's being all somber and shit when he gets horse-jacked by some dickhead named Skull Kid. Skull Kid steals the Ocarina of Time and dashes off on Epona. Link chases after him but ends up falling down a hole that teleports him to a new land called Termina. Link eventually catches up to Skull Kid, who informs Link that he has "gotten rid" of Epona. Skull Kid then proceeds to turn Link into a Deku Scrub and leaves Link for dead, laughing manically all the way. What an asshole. Link may be a mute cypher, but you can't help but feel sorry for the little guy. His friends are gone, his horse is gone, he's lost in a foreign land, and he's been unwillingly turned into a creature that looks like the love child of an octopus and a horseradish root. If that doesn't give you sufficient motivation to kick Skull Kid's ass, I don't know what does.
  Once you escape the hole Skull Kid left you in, you meet the outrageously creepy Happy Mask Salesman.



  He informs you that Skull Kid has stolen a powerful artifact called Majora's Mask. In order to stop him, you'll have to find him and get back your ocarina. Sounds simple enough, except for a small caveat: the moon is going to crash into Termina in three days time. Considering every in-game hour lasts roughly 45 seconds, you have 54 real world minutes to complete this section of the game or Link gets vaporized. This opening is so brilliant for a couple of reasons:
  It establishes the game's tone and setting. Anyone who has ever played a Zelda game before can pinpoint what Majora's Mask is all about a mere 15 minutes into the game. Its narrative, visuals, and gameplay all contribute to making it far and away the darkest and most unique Zelda game.
  The developers, confident that the player was familiar with Ocarina of Time, immediately set out to defy your expectations. OoT certainly had its dark moments, but it can't even begin to compare to the oppressive, pitch-black atmosphere of MM. The extensive use of time as a mechanic is totally new, and to my knowledge has never been done before or since, at least on this scale.
Its almost like Eiji Aonuma and Shigeru Miyamoto are the Skull Kid, laughing at your confusion and discomfort. "Did you like Ocarina of Time?" They sneer. "Well, how about you play as a Deku Scrub for a while, you stupid bitch!"
  Termina itself is a beautifully drawn setting. MM mostly reuses OoT art assets, so the populations of OoT and MM are nearly identical visually. It become very clear, however, that despite seeming similar on the surface, Hyrule and Termina are very different places. Termina is a world filled with people contemplating their own eminent demise. Some of them are in denial. Some are angry. Some are melancholy. Its a rare example of a game that brings the player, the player characters, and the NPCs together with the same thought: "There's not quite enough time." Not enough time to live. Not enough time to be with the people they love. And in Link and the player's case, there just isn't enough time to save them all. The setting, like everything else in the game, contributes to an atmosphere of dread, sadness, and even a little bit of hope.
Speaking of atmosphere, if you would indulge me for a second I'd like to show you one of the most brilliant uses of music in video game history.
  The opening Deku Scrub sequence takes place entirely in the game's central hub, Clock Town. Here's Clock Town's theme:


  It's a pretty conventional Zelda town theme: warm and upbeat. It reminds you of home. What's cool about Clock Town is that each one of the three days has its own musical theme. Here's day two:


  I love the subtle differences between day one and two. They're very similar, but day two has a slightly faster rhythm. It may not seem like a lot, but this is a subtle reminder that you're running out of time. The moon's going to crash, hurry the fuck up! This leads us to the best of them all: Clock Town Day 3.


  Holy shit. I love how the main thing we're hearing is the standard Clock Town theme, but beneath that we've got this weird, unsettling droning noise. The game is trying to fill you with dread with this track, and it totally nails it. The end is nigh! Run for your lives! Finally, on midnight of the final day with only 6 hours left until the apocalypse, this plays:


  I love how this track isn't even fast paced anymore. Its less "Hurry up!" and more "Well, you're fucked." You did all you could, buddy. Time to hold your loved ones close and pray for a quick death. Thinking about how good this game is gives me fucking goose bumps.
  Damn, I was supposed to be talking about how good the opening is. Anyways...
  It introduces the new gameplay "gimmicks". After the first five games established the core Zelda formula, Majora's Mask is the first game to really shape things up.
The first main "gimmick" is the time mechanic. Eventually you *SPOILERS* meet back up with Skull Kid and recover the Ocarina of Time. As a 10 year old, I figured the whole "3 Day" thing was just a neat concept for the opening, and that the rest of the game would play out in standard Zelda fashion. In a fantastic twist, Link plays the Song of Time and travels back to the beginning of the cycle. As it turns out, Link's Deku Scrub escapades didn't accomplish jack shit. The moon is still going to crash into Termina in three days. The rest of the game plays out like this. You start with 54 minutes. You have to accomplish as much as you can in that time before you start the cycle over. Link will keep certain items he acquires during his journey like the bow or hookshot. The game is designed in such a way where if you had, say, the bombs you can bypass certain parts of the game. This is how progression is handled. You keep going until you reach certain "checkpoints", at which point you travel back through time, bypass the area you just did and proceed to the next. Admittedly, this can make you feel like you're not really accomplishing anything, but I think that's kind of the point.
The second "gimmick" is that Link can assume various forms by equipping masks. Once you've gotten back your ocarina, Link changes back into a human but can return to his deku form at any time. The forms are basically "super items" with completely different control schemes and abilities. This obviously allows for some interesting puzzle and level design, and I think they're a great addition overall. Link forms are:

  Deku Link: Deku Link is my favorite form for some reason. His main ability is that he can burrow into these big pink flowers you find in various places throughout the world. When he pops out of the flower, he flies up into the air and slowly glides down using two big flowers. This actually lets MM pull off some pretty cool platforming sections.
Deku Link can also skip on top of water and blow bubbles made out of...snot, I guess?

  Goron Link: Goron Link is a pretty cool guy. His schtick is that he can curl up into a ball and move really fast, Sonic the Hedgehog style. His other abilities include ground pounding and punching people in the face.

  Zora Link: Zora Link can...uh...swim pretty fast. Not super exciting, but Zora Link may have the best swimming controls ever. Its a lot of fun to just glide through the water really fast dodging enemies and obstacles. Zora Link also has an electric shield and can throw his fins like boomerangs.

  MM has some really fun, unique gameplay elements, but what makes it really special is its narrative. Like OoT, MM's plot structure is fairly minimalist, but the overarching narrative is, in my opinion, a lot more interesting than OoT's plot. There are a lot of themes being dealt with here: loneliness, loss, redemption, and friendship. Also like OoT, MM has some really strong NPCs. There's the weird hand that pops out of a toilet, begging your for paper. There's a circus troupe leader drinking away his sorrows at the milk bar. And we can't forget MM's most (in)famous creation: Tingle, a 35 year old man wearing green spandex. MM has everything I want from a Zelda narrative: smart, profound, funny, and delightfully batshit in that uniquely Japanese way.
  Honestly, I don't have much more to say about Majora's Mask. My OoT review covered Zelda's leap into 3D, and since the two games play almost identically you could go check that review out if you want to see my thoughts on the controls. MM's main problem is that it has roughly twice the items OoT has, meaning you have to pause a lot more. That's a problem shared by all Zelda games, though, even if it is particularly bad here.
  If you haven't already figured it out, Majora's Mask is my favorite game ever. Does this mean its objectively the best Zelda game? No. It can be really cryptic sometimes, which will probably scare newer players away. Its super dark tone and general weirdness may also sit badly with series veterans. To be honest, I've given up trying to be objective about the Zelda games. They're so entwined with my own history at this point that I find it almost impossible to look at them from an outside perspective. Something about Majora's Mask just clicks with me, and I'd imagine most fans have similarly vague reasons for loving their favorite Zelda.

-Majora's Mask 3D-

  Let me show you two pictures of an item called "Garo's Mask".


  The one on top is from the original. The one on the bottom is from the 3DS remake. A Garo is a ninja like enemy you meet in the horror themed Ikana Canyon. The original mask looks like a standard Garo. The 3DS mask is based on a mini-boss variant called a "Garo Master", so they're both correct from a lore perspective. This is obviously a very minor change that in no way affects the gameplay, but it does make me ask a very important question:
  "Why?"
  Why take the effort to change something so seemingly insignificant? Look, I'm not the kind of super nerd who would get pissed about something like the Garo's Mask change in a vacuum. It's just that the Garo's Mask is the most obvious visual representation of the almost George Lucas levels of pointless changes made to Majora's Mask 3D.   Two of the kids you have to find near the beginning of the game have had their locations changed for seemingly no reason. The banker has been moved from West Clock Town to North Clock Town. Deku Link now sprouts a weird root thing out of his head when he spins. The Happy Mask Salesman gives you the Bomber's Notebook now, which doesn't even make sense. The Stone Mask has now been moved to a new location, making it more tedious to acquire. Zora Link can now only swim fast when he activates the electric shield. The bosses now all have gigantic, obvious eyeball weak spots and some of the fights have been significantly altered.
  Again, I know I'm nitpicking, but what is the point of changing so much shit? I liked OoT 3D because it because it gave me a superior way to experience a game I already loved. MM 3D isn't even the same experience anymore.
  Do these changes make MM 3D more accessible? They do, and I'm not against accessibility, but Majora's Mask was never meant for a general audience. It's Zelda's greatest "deep cut"; its meant for hardcore Zelda fans that want a challenge and an unconventional narrative. By making Majora's Mask more friendly you've changed the fabric of its DNA. Was it worth snapping the game's bones in order to cater to the people who would've hated MM in the first place?
I mentioned in an earlier review that I didn't like Dark Souls. If they remake that game in ten years packed with a shit load of alterations made for the sake of accessibility I'd be just as pissed as everyone else. Dark Souls just wasn't made for me, and I'm not going to demand that the game be changed so that I can be accommodated. Art isn't obligated to be appealing to everyone, and I can still look at games I don't particularly enjoy and see the artistic merit in them.
  This leads to the question of what the point of a remake like this actually is. After some thought, I've come up with two potential purposes a remake could have:
  1. Preserve the original game. With the constantly changing array of consoles, some older games have become increasingly hard to find. With the advent of digital services like Steam and the Nintendo E-Shop this has become less of a problem. Still, a major re-release like this could help the game find new fans, which I'd count as preservation of a sort.
  2. Enhance the game in an unobtrusive way. OoT 3D nailed this. It improved the UI while leaving the rest of the game pretty much intact. I want to be clear here, I don't even think most of MM 3D's changes are bad. However, in my opinion MM 3D goes far beyond its intended purpose. Some people would argue that the changes to MM 3D improve the game significantly, and maybe they're right. You could also make the argument that colorizing Casablanca would be an improvement, but that would show a blatant disrespect for that film's heritage and place in history. To me, something about MM 3D just doesn't feel right, and I think I'm going to stick with the original.
  If my negative experiences with this game have taught me anything its that I am now officially a grumpy old man. Hooray.

-Like A Boss-

-Woodfall Temple-

  Woodfall is a great first dungeon. Considering Majora's Mask only has four dungeons, the game doesn't really have time to fuck around. Woodfall is comparable in difficulty to OoT's Forest Temple, which was that game's fourth dungeon. While the four dungeon thing is a common complaint about the game, I kind of like the "all killer, no filler" approach. The fact that Woodfall dungeon doesn't hold your hand also really contributes to MM's "hardcore" vibe. Majora's Mask does not play around, mother fucker.
Woodfall is also cool because it puts a unique spin on the standard "forest" theme of almost every Zelda's first dungeon. It is instead swamp themed, and poisonous swamp water plays a big role in its design. Woodfall isn't terribly interesting, but I'd say its just a solid dungeon overall.
  Odolwa: Odolwa is so fucking weird. Its not everyday a game asks me to fight a chubby giant in a loincloth. Weird appearances aside, this fight is actually really cool. To illustrate a point, here's an excerpt from Odolwa's article on Zeldapedia:

  "Link can shoot Odolwa with his Bow to stun him, then attack with his Sword. Odolwa is capable of deflecting Link's Arrows. He is most vulnerable while he is dancing or attempting to summon insects. Link can also harm Odolwa in Deku form by shooting out of the Deku Flower found in the center of the room. Odolwa is also vulnerable to Bombs or any explosive object, such as the Blast Mask or Bomb Flowers, which can be found along the edges of the room."

  Here's an excerpt from the article about Wind Waker's first boss, Gohma:

  "To defeat Gohma, Link must wait for an opening to grapple onto Valoo's tail, which dangles from the roof, while avoiding Gohma's pincers. When Link swings to safety, part of the chamber's ceiling falls on Gohma, cracking her armor. After repeating this process several times, Gohma's armor will completely fall off. At this stage, Link grapples Gohma's eye so he can access it with his sword. Once the eye is in range, Link must attack it with his sword until the boss perishes by hardening and exploding."

  There is exactly one way to defeat Wind Waker Gohma. There are roughly six billions ways to defeat Odolwa. Generally, I just block his attacks and use "quick spins" (a button shortcut that lets me use a spin attack without charging it) when he's vulnerable. Another player could have a completely different method of defeating him. Its not like I don't like the later game's fights, I just prefer the more organic, non-linear approach to bosses.

-Snowhead Temple-

  Snowhead is the game's second dungeon, and its probably about as difficult as OoT's later dungeons. Snowhead revolves around a central tower, and a large pillar that can be moved up and down in order to access different parts of it. It's a fairly unassuming dungeon, but it's cleverly designed and generally enjoyable.
  Goht: Goht is some sort of...demonic goat robot. I also have no
clue how to pronounce his name. Is it just "Goat"? "Go-hit"? "Gawt?" Who fucking knows. Repardless, Goht is one of my favorite Zelda bosses. He runs around on a circular track, and you have to chase after him by rolling around as Goron Link. Its one of the most fast paced bosses in Zelda history. There's a primal satisfaction to be had in rolling off of a ramp at mach speed and slamming down on to the back of an evil robotic goat. The only fight I can really compare this too would be Twilight Princess' Stallord, another one of my favorite Zelda boss fights.

-Great Bay Temple-

  So a lot of people don't like Great Bay temple. Personally, I've never had much of a problem with it, and I think its leagues better than OoT's Water Temple. To be fair, I do think Great Bay is MM's worst dungeon, but its not significantly worse than the others.
Great Bay has a "water flow" theme, in that you need to turn on various pipes to change which way water is moving. This means that the entire dungeon has an "engine room" aesthetic, which is a lot more unique than the Water Temple's "bland hallways filled with water" thing. I can see why people hate it, but I find that if you just follow the pipes around it isn't too confusing.
 
  Gyorg: I like MM's bosses...with the exception of Gyorg. First of all, his name sounds like a donkey vomiting. GEEEEEEYOOOOORG. Second, this boss fight just wasn't thought out very well. One would assume that a fight designed around Zora Link would involve movement of some kind, but instead you stand on a platform overlooking the water Gyorg is swimming around in. This means that 90% of the boss fight is spent trying to actually find where Gyorg is. Fun. Another annoying aspect of the fight is that the platform is too large. I think you're supposed to find Gyorg and hit him with your fin boomerangs, but the lip of the platform is so large that the boomerangs just end up hitting the ground whenever you try to use them.
  So instead you run around looking for Gyorg. Then you shoot him with an arrow. He becomes stunned. Put on the Zora mask. Jump in the water and use your electric shield to damage him. Dolphin jump back on to the platform. Rinse and repeat. Gyorg sucks.

-Stone Tower Temple-

  I didn't really realize it until my last playthrough, but Stone Tower is hard as balls. It has it all: a shit load of mini boss fights, difficult puzzles with unconventional solutions, navigating floating mine fields as Deku Link. All the fun stuff. Once you get the light arrows, you can use them to flip the entire dungeon upside down. At this point you have to go through it again while walking on the ceiling. Lest we forget, you only have three in game days to finish it or you're screwed.
  This is an amazing dungeon, and it feels almost like a Zelda level design dissertation. If you can make it through Stone Tower without a walkthrough, then I congratulate you. You, sir or madam, are a Zelda badass.
  Twinmold: So you can fight Twinmold with arrows...if you're crazy. You get an item before the fight called the Giant's Mask. Put that on, turn into Giant Link, proceed to beat shit out of Twinmold. This fight is super easy but is also a lot of fun. I presume the developers wanted to give the player a break after the grueling Stone Tower.

-Finale-


  Majora: So, if you've gotten every mask in the game, you can trade them in before this fight to get the Fierce Diety's Mask. This mask lets Link transform into an incredibly over powered form that kind of resembles Adult Link. This form totally wrecks Majora's shit. You basically just Z-Target Majora and shoot energy projectiles out of you word until it dies. To be honest, I've never done this fight without Fierce Diety's Mask, so I can't really speak to its difficulty. So...uh...this fight is really easy?

-Hey, Listen!-

  Like OoT, MM has a great, atmospheric soundtrack. What better way to celebrate the Zelda series' most beloved dark horse than with a deep cut off of its soundtrack? I've always been very partial to "Ikana Valley". Its creepy as fuck.





Next time: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Master Quest: Ocarina of Time


Previously on Master Quest:

  So this article is about a week late. I apologize. Reviewing Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask has been quite the odyssey. I began playing the games on my Zelda Collector's Edition disc for the Gamecube. I played Ocarina up until the final dungeon, at which point my save corrupted. Being the professional that I am, I shrugged my shoulders and said "good enough". I then began playing through Majora's Mask. I had just finished the game's second dungeon when my save file corrupted yet again. Using my deductive skills, I concluded that my Gamecube disc was officially fucked.
  I then proceeded to purchase the 3DS version of both games as replacements. After some research, I discovered that Ocarina of Time 3D actually included Master Quest (if you don't know what that is, I'll explain it in a bit). Seeing as how I had never played Master Quest, I decided to also play through that so that I could discuss it. Of course Nintendo, being dumb asses, decided to lock Master Quest mode until I completed the base game. So I played through Ocarina of Time *again*, then beat Master Quest. For the less mathematically gifted amongst you, I played through Ocarina of Time THREE FUCKING TIMES IN A ROW for the purposes of this review. The things I do for you people.
  Majora's Mask was another story. I played through about half of the 3DS remake, but I had gradually become so annoyed by the remake's myriad of changes to the original game that I threw my 3DS down and refused to play Majora's Mask 3D anymore. In retrospect, this was extremely petty, but what can I say? I'm kind of an asshole.
  I *then* proceeded to purchase the original versions of Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask on the Wii Shop. I was finally able to finish Majora, and now here we are. Again, I apologize for posting this review so late.
  As an additional note: astute readers may realize that this installment of Master Quest covers one game as opposed to the usual two. There's a simple explanation for this: The Ocarina of Time review's length has spiraled out of control, George R.R. Martin style. In the interest of not creating a blog post roughly the length of a novella, I have decided to split Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask into two separate posts. Fear not, dear reader! Majora's Mask is currently being worked on and should be available shortly.
  With that out of the way, let's discuss Ocarina of Time.

Ocarina of Time
Released November 21st, 1998
-The fate of the forest, nay, the world, depends upon thee!-

  "So what do you do with your spare time?" A coworker asked me.
  "I write a blog." I responded.
  "Oh? What about?" He feigned interest.
  "Uh...its about Zelda."
  My coworker gave me a quizzical look. He said nothing.
  "Have...uh...have you ever played a Zelda game?" I asked.
  "No." He said. After a moment, an expression came over his face as if he was remembering something. "Oh, yeah. I did play Ocarina of Time."
 
  Ocarina of Time. In any discussion about the series, Ocarina of Time is always the 800 pound Octorok in the room. For people my age, Ocarina of Time is less of a game and more of a cultural touchstone. Since its release, OoT has cast a long shadow over every subsequent entry, and its influence is still felt today, both in the context of Zelda and video games in general. Why is this game so beloved by my generation?
  Honestly, I'm not really sure. The obvious answer is "because its good", but that can't be the sole reason. My first Zelda was A Link to the Past, but I've discovered that most people started playing games when they were a little older. With the rise of the Playstation, gaming was beginning its journey towards the mainstream in 1998, and for a lot of people OoT would have been their first Zelda game. Perhaps it was just a case of right place, right time?
  I'm not really here to speculate about OoT's popularity, though. I'm here to review it, so let me get this out of the way: Do I love OoT? You're damn right I do. Do I think its the best game ever made? No. I wouldn't even say its my favorite Zelda, but that doesn't mean OoT isn't a great game.
  If someone played OoT today for the first time, I imagine it would feel rather ordinary. "What's the big deal?" They might ask. I'm not saying a modern day player couldn't appreciate any of OoT's numerous positive qualities, but I think they'd miss experiencing the game in its original context.
  OoT was the first 3D Zelda game, and it's a minor miracle that the 2D Zelda formula translated so well into the third dimension. OoT is a lot more impressive when you realize how bad Nintendo could have fucked it up (Mario 64 is also impressive for this reason). Designing a Zelda game for the Nintendo 64 was a significantly different beast than anything Nintendo had attempted before, and a lot of games from the 16-bit era were simply never able to effectively translate into 3D (Sonic the Hedgehog and Castlevania being two notable examples). OoT's success can be credited to two very smart design decisions:

  Z-Targeting: OoT was one of the first 3rd person action games to use a lock on targeting system, and this feature has reappeared in everything from Fable to Bayonetta. You just have to have a feature like this in a 3D action game, and its amazing that the designers figured this out on their first go. Without it, the game's combat would have been a sloppy, inaccurate mess, and flying enemies like bats would have been almost impossible to hit. Its kind of hard to explain in words why a lock on targeting system has to be in a game like this, and I honestly don't really need to. If you've played any games at all over the last decade you've probably used plenty of games with a feature like this, and you know how useful it can be.
  To be fair, OoT's Z-Targeting system isn't perfect. It can be a sort of clunky to use, since there seems to be a delay between when you press the button and when the lock actually takes place. Since the N64 controller only had one control stick, there also isn't a reliable way to change which enemy or object you're currently targeting. This would have have been a great use of the N64 controller's D-Pad but, alas, the D-pad isn't used for anything at all. What a waste. You could have let me map some items to it or something.

  OoT embraces verticality: The most obvious change between 2D and 3D is that developers have an entirely new axis to play around with. OoT loves the new dimension, and is constantly doing interesting things with the new perspective. There's a puzzle in the first dungeon where you have to climb to the top of a room and jump down on to a web on the floor, breaking it and allowing you to proceed. The aforementioned bats (Keese, technically) hover just above your reach, swooping down periodically to attack you. You use the boomerang to hit a switch on the ceiling. Again, this all seems very elementary now, but the leap to 3D really brings Hyrule to life in a way the 2D games weren't really able to.
  One of my favorite little flourishes is how at the very beginning of the game the camera is locked in the classic overhead view. This was actually the first 3D game I had ever played (I specifically got a N64 in order to play it) and I just assumed the rest of the game would look like this, a la Metal Gear Solid. In a neat little trick, as soon as you exit your house, the camera pans around Kokiri Forest before eventually settling into the now standard behind the back camera angle. My 9 year old brain exploded.
  Since we're discussing the camera, let's talk about the gameplay. I'll start with the things I like:
  I like the way Link controls. Nintendo did such a good job on the controls that the next two 3D games would control almost identically to this one (three games, technically, if you count the Gamecube version of Twilight Princess). The B button swings the sword, the A button is a context sensitive action button (also a new concept at the time), and the left, right, and down C Buttons can each have an item assigned to them. Despite the fact that three different items can be hot-keyed (a first for the Zelda series), the myriad of puzzles that require items to solve make inventory management in OoT significantly worse than its predecessors. I'll go into this topic a little bit more when I talk about Majora's Mask (where this issue is arguably at its worst) but suffice it to say that the frequent shuffling around of items is probably the Zelda series' most glaring weakness, since everytime you need to equip a new item you have to pause, killing game flow.
  Also, here's a pro tip: If you're designing a game, please do not make successive combat rolls a faster method of traveling than running. If you do make rolling faster, please do not make the character make a sound everytime he or she rolls. One of the worst things about this game is that Link's constant screaming drowns out the otherwise excellent music and sound design.
  Speaking of the sound design, its really charming and memorable. Like A Link to the Past, a lot of the sound effects are just inexplicably burned into my memory, and I'd occasionally find myself inadvertently making the sounds as they occurred. There's the weird, ghoulish little cackle that plays when a poe appears, the quizzical grunt the Gorons make when you talk to them, or the blood curdling scream you hear when you meet a ReDeads gaze. Some of the sound choices are a little more weird, but they only add to the games charms. Gold Skultulas emit a noise that sounds like a fat man rolling around on a bed of potato chips. Link appears to be wearing tap shoes for the duration of the game. Whenever Link takes fall damage he makes the same sound I imagine he'd make if he got kicked in the balls.
  While the sound design has aged like wine, the graphics have aged like milk. I'll be blunt: OoT looks like shit. I try not to be too harsh on older game's graphics, since the developers were limited by the then current hardware. But look at Mario 64, which released two years earlier. Mario 64 looks bad from a technical standpoint, but it compensates with strong art direction and good use of colors. OoT's visuals are just...lacking. The art direction is decent, but it can't begin to compare to the unified aesthetic visions of The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, or even Majora's Mask. Its color pallet is also really drab, which means a lot of the environments don't pop to life like they should. Check out this side by side comparison:

  The one on the left is the original, the one on the right is the 3DS remake. Again, I get this isn't really fair, but even if you disregard the 3DS's massively improved texture work the remake is just a lot more visually appealing. Look how muddy and dark the original screenshot is. Its drab and lifeless, and Mario 64 already proved that an N64 game didn't have to look *this* bad.
  But enough with this technical mumbo jumbo. How's the narrative? The short answer: its really solid. The long answer: OoT's narrative structure is very similar to that of A Link to the Past. There's a basic plot "skeleton" that generally sits on the back burner, only really progressing during several key scenes throughout the game. The real "meat" of the narrative is through various optional sub-quests involving the denizens of Hyrule.
  Like the best Zelda narratives, characters are more important than plot in OoT. It says a lot that a plot involving gods and time travel is significantly less interesting (to me, at least) then all the weird NPCs you'll meet on your journey.
  The lady that owns a bunch of chickens despite the fact that she's allergic to them. The creepy hunchbacked gravedigger. The vengeful stable boy who thinks his boss is a lazy piece of shit. The weird scientist who loves eating frog eyeballs. The used car salesman type who runs the local fishing hole.
  This might just be a personal thing, but I'm not really motivated to save Hyrule because I'm The Hero of Destiny (TM). I'm motivated because I like the people living in Hyrule and I'd prefer it if they didn't all die. You learn to love the place you're trying to save, and that's a significantly more personal motivator than if the plot simply demanded it. I think this is one of the reasons why the original Legend of Zelda doesn't really have a strong effect on me. Besides the random old man that gives you the occasional vague hint, LoZ's Hyrule feels barren and devoid of charm or life.
  "Ganon's going to destroy a hellish wasteland filled with pig men and evil ghosts! You have to stop him because...he's the bad guy!"
  I think its also worth noting that OoT is the first Zelda game Eiji Aonuma worked on. While the Zelda series is often (rightfully) associated with Shigeru Miyamoto, he's always been more of a mechanics kind of guy. Aonuma has always been more heavily involved in Zelda's narratives, and he's probably the closest thing Zelda has to a central authorial voice. As an example of this dynamic, here's a transcribed version of a Gamepro interview with Aonuma and Miyamoto from 2002:


Q: Where does The Wind Waker fit into the overall Zelda series timeline?

Aonuma: You can think of this game as taking place over a hundred years after Ocarina of Time. You can tell this from the opening story, and there are references to things from Ocarina located throughout the game as well.


Miyamoto: Well, wait, which point does the hundred years start from?


Aonuma: From the end.

Miyamoto: No, I mean, as a child or as a...


Aonuma: Oh, right, let me elaborate on that. Ocarina of Time basically has two endings of sorts; one has Link as a child and the other has him as an adult. This game, The Wind Waker, takes place a hundred years after the adult Link defeats Ganon at the end of Ocarina.


Miyamoto: This is pretty confusing for us, too. (laughs) So be careful.


  I'm not sure why, but I find the concept of Aonuma explaining Zelda's timeline to a fairly confused Miyamoto to be hilarious. This proves that Aonuma is as big of a Zelda nerd as the rest of us. I think Aonuma's involvement is one of the major reasons why OoT's non-gameplay elements feel so much more focused and developed compared to the earlier games (Link's Awakening excepted, of course).
  Some people seem to not really care much about the plots in games. This is fine...I guess. Most of OoT's narrative is optional, which means that people who just want to play the game can ignore almost all of it. This is also nice for repeat playthroughs, particularly in the 3DS remake where the scroll speed on text has been made much faster. Its the best of both worlds: the narrative is there if you want it, and its very easily ignored if you don't.
  Ocarina of Time is packed to the brim with memorable characters, locations, and events. My favorite part of the game is when you enter the Temple of Time.


  Some shit goes down and you end up [SPOILERS!] accidentally traveling seven years into the future. You're informed that Ganondorf has taken over Hyrule during your absence. You leave the Temple of Time and are greeted by this image:


  DAAAAAAAMN. This may be one of the best examples of visual storytelling in video games. This single screen tells you everything you need to know about the world you've just walked into. The place you've grown so fond of has been transformed into a festering hellhole. The power of this moment is kind of stunted, however, when you enter Hyrule Field and realize it looks the exact same way it did seven years ago. As a matter of fact, future Hyrule field actually has *less* monsters in it than it did in the past. Say what you want about Ganondorf, but at least no one gets attacked by roving bands of skeletons outside the ranch anymore.
  Speaking of the time travel mechanic, it's used pretty well but never really lives up to its full potential. As an excuse to reuse environments you've already been to it really works. The magical forest you start the game in has been overrun with monsters. Zora's Domain is frozen over. Lake Hylia has been drained. Goron City is nearly empty and Kakariko Village is packed with refuges.
  OoT doesn't do too many cool things with the time travel concept, however. There's one notable exception, where someone is pissed about you playing a song in the past. He teaches the song to you, inadvertently causing the event he's so pissed about. This is really clever and I wish there were more things like this in the game. Compare this to Oracle of Ages, which had a similar time travel mechanic but it constantly asked you to do things in one timeline in order to effect the other.
  Despite OoT having some problems, after playing it *three* times in a row I've come to this conclusion: Ocarina of Time is just fucking delightful. Is it overrated to me, personally? Uh...kind of. There's no doubt that its a very important game, historically speaking. As I've said, its not my favorite Zelda, and I can see why some fans of the older games in the series might have been disappointed with it. As previously stated, OoT has cast a long shadow, and its in that way that OoT has harmed the franchise. There are some people that seem to want every game in the series to just be an OoT retread, and I couldn't disagree with them more. The constantly shifting and experimental nature of Zelda has kept the series fresh where so many other legacy series have stagnated. OoT will always exist, and it will always be brought up whenever a new Zelda is released, but I'm glad that Nintendo hasn't let this entry stop them from making innovative new titles.

-Ocarina of Time 3D-

 
  After discovering that I would have to play through OoT a second time in order to access Master Quest, I gave up on the idea. Out of curiosity, I decided to boot up OoT 3D just to see what sort of enhancements had been made before moving on to Majora's Mask. I then proceeded to play through the entirety of Ocarina of Time 3D. 
  I'll keep this short: OoT 3D is fucking amazing. Let's take a look at some of my earlier complaints and see if OoT 3D has addressed them.
  1) OoT looked like shit. Here's another comparison:


  The 3DS version on the right looks infinitely better. What I love about the 3DS' graphical overhaul is that the team was really able to capture the "soul" of each scene and bring it to life in an amazing new way. I don't think there was a single graphical improvement that seemed at odds with the original game's vision.
  This is the way OoT has always wanted to look. The screenshot above doesn't even really do OoT 3D justice, either. Seeing this stuff in motion is just incredible. It also helps that the original version's 20 FPS framerate has been increased to 30 FPS. In my opinion, better framerate equals better game in almost every instance. 60 FPS would have been amazing, but I'll take what I can get.
  Obviously a 3D mode has been added, and I'd just like to get something out of the way right now. I'm going to be talking about three 3DS games over the course of Master Quest, and I won't be talking about the 3D in any of these games at all for a couple of reasons. My eyes have an incredibly difficult time adjusting to the 3D, and once I finally do get it to work I can only look at it for maybe 30 seconds before my eyeballs feel like they're about to melt out of my skull. This is obviously just a personal thing, and I'm sure some people's experiences with these games will be greatly enhanced by the 3D effect. If you were hoping to get my opinion on the 3D effect for any of these games, then I apologize. Anyways, my second major problem with OoT was...
  2) You have to pause OoT too often. OoT 3D doesn't entirely alleviate this problem, but it comes very close. You can assign an item to the X and Y buttons as well as the two touch buttons on the bottom screen. These buttons are conveniently located on the right side of the screen, which essentially allows you to hotkey four items instead of three, which is already great. OoT 3D takes this a couple steps further, giving the titular ocarina its own dedicated button on the bottom left corner. Considering how often the ocarina is used, I almost always had it hotkeyed in the original version. This mean five items can be quickly used, drastically reducing the amount of times you need to pause over the course of the game.
  The iron and hover boots can also now be hotkeyed. Previously, these two items were "Equipment", meaning if you wanted to take them on or off you had to pause the game, navigate through several menus, move your cursor down to the "boots" section and press the A button. This is an absolutely brilliant change, and it significantly reduces the tedium of the Lovecraftian shrine to madness that is the Water Temple (more on that in a bit).
  Another new feature I really like is the new ocarina menu. Whenever you use the ocarina, a menu appears on the bottom screen that displays the "notes" to all the songs that you've learned so far. This basically means you don't have to memorize all of the game's songs anymore, which I'm personally a big fan of. Some purists might scoff at this, but finding the notes to a song involved pausing and navigating through some menus, so to me this feature really improves game flow.
  I really like how customizable the game is. Items like the slingshot and bow now have gyroscope controls, which can be turned off. You can *finally* choose between inverted and uninverted controls for the first person view. Sheikah stones have been added that provide walkthroughs to new players, but they can be easily ignored by veterans.
  There's one big problem I have with OoT 3D, and its actually a problem with the 3DS itself rather than the game. The 3DS' control "nub" isn't *that* bad, but my thumb keeps slipping off of it while I'm playing. I'm not sure whether that's just my giant hands or if there's a design flaw with the nub itself. This can make things like riding your horse unnecessarily difficult, but overall I wouldn't say it ruined my experience or anything.
  Nub or no nub, OoT 3D may very well be the best game remastering ever. It takes an already superb game and improves it in brilliant and, most importantly, unobtrusive way. OoT 3D is, in my opinion, the definitive way to experience the game, and I can't really ever see myself playing the original version again.

-Master Quest-

  For those of you who are unaware, Master Quest is sort of a "remix" of Ocarina of Time that was originally given to people who preordered the Gamecube version of the Wind Waker. Given the limited window of availability, Master Quest is kind of a difficult game to acquire. Nintendo has included Master Quest in OoT 3D, which is a really neat way to round out an already excellent package.
  To my understanding, there are a couple of key differences between Master Quest 3D and the original:
  1) The entire game has been mirrored, meaning things that were originally on the right side of any given map are now on the left and vice versa. It should be noted that the only difference between "vanilla" OoT and Master Quest is the dungeon layouts. The overworld, including side quests and heart piece locations, has remained unchanged. This is obviously kind of disappointing, so I assume mirroring the entire game was an attempt at making the overworld seem fresh. Personally, I find it more disorienting than anything, but someone less intimately familiar with the game probably wouldn't have this problem.
  2) When playing Master Quest, enemies deal double damage. This sets up Master Quest as OoT 3D's "hard mode" (though I still never actually died during Master Quest). I'm not a big fan of this, actually. In the interest of accessibility, I think "hard mode" should have just been its own option. This would allow veterans to play the original OoT with double damage, and newer players could experience Master Quest's content without the difficulty restriction.
  Speaking of accessibility, is there any reason why Master Quest isn't unlocked as soon as you boot the game up? I'd understand if OoT was a new game, but it isn't. By the time OoT 3D entered into my life, I had probably beat the original over a dozen times. Enabling Master Quest and a harder "Hero Mode" from the start would have been a great way to give veteran players a fresh Ocarina of Time experience.
  In terms of Master Quest's actual content, I honestly don't have much to say. It may be because I was totally burnt out on OoT by the time I started Master Quest, but none of the new dungeons struck me as being particularly great. Contrary to what I said in the previous paragraph, I think the Master Quest dungeons could have made for some really badass post game content for the main game. Considering Master Quest already basically makes you replay the entire game to access the new dungeons anyways, I wouldn't have had a huge problem with this. Maybe when you beat all the Master Quest dungeons you get some kind of awesome aesthetic item? Perhaps an alternate costume you can wear on subsequent playthroughs? I'm really just spitballin' here.
  If I had to describe Master Quest, I'd say its neat but ultimately inessential. If you're considering going out of your way to play it, I'd personally say it isn't really worth it. At best, its a really good excuse to play through OoT again, which most certainly isn't a bad thing.

-Like A Boss-

  This section is going to be a little bit different this time. With the jump to 3D, Zelda dungeons have gotten significantly more complex and sophisticated. As such, I'll be talking about both the bosses and the dungeons in depth.

-Inside the Deku Tree-

  Inside the Deku Tree...good times. Considering how many times I started this game and never ended up finishing it, I've probably completed Inside the Deku Tree about 30 times. As such I could probably complete this dungeon blindfolded.
  Inside the Deku Tree may very well be the finest "baby's first dungeon" in the series. Its simple enough for newer players to complete, but the dungeon is clever enough that a Zelda veteran won't fall asleep halfway through it. The aforementioned puzzle involving jumping down onto webbing is cool and forces a player to think outside of conventional Zelda wisdom.
  This is also the first Zelda dungeon to have a strong visual theme. Dungeons in the first four titles were generally either giant labyrinths or cave systems. A dungeon set inside a tree was pretty novel at the time and helps give Inside the Deku a distinctive visual flare.

Gohma: Gohma had actually appeared in Link's Awakening as a mini-boss, but OoT marked her triumphant return as a legitimate dungeon boss.
  This is a really well designed boss fight. I like that a new player could conceivably have a somewhat difficult time with her, but a veteran player can kill her in about 30 seconds if they knew what they were doing.
  Gohma walks up to you. She rears back, ready to attack. Her eye turns red, at which point you throw a Deku Nut at her. She becomes stunned, and you stab her a couple times. At this point Gohma crawls up onto the ceiling. This is the part where the new/veteran player divide occurs. Gohma starts laying a bunch of eggs, which hatch into Gohma Juniors. A new player would probably kill all the Gohma Juniors, at which point Gohma herself would descend and begin the process again.
  The cool thing about the fight is that Gohma's eye actually briefly turns red again as she's laying the eggs. If you pop her in the eyeball with your slingshot, she'll fall to the ground and be stunned for a much longer duration which will give you enough time to kill her right there. I always like it when there's more than one way to defeat a boss, and this is a great example of that.

-Dodongo's Cavern-

  This dungeon is fairly "bleh" to me. It's definitely the least imaginative of the Young Link dungeons, considering its just another big cave. I don't really have much to say about it. Its just a fairly linear dungeon where you get the bombs. Despite the bombs being a classic Zelda item, their puzzle solving capabilities have always been fairly limited, thereby constricting the Cavern's design somewhat.

King Dodongo: Dodongo is back in a battle almost as lame as his original appearance. Sometimes he'll open his mouth, at which point you throw bombs in it. As in the original Legend of Zelda, King Dodongo doesn't really seem too concerned with attacking you. Sometime he'll lazily roll around the arena, but if you use your shield properly he basically can't do anything to you.
 Like his big brother Helmasaur King, King Dodongo sets a new standard for implausible boss arenas. The center of the room is covered in lava with a very narrow stretch of land on the edge of the lava pit. One could assume that King Dodongo could walk on the lava, yet at the end of the fight he accidentally rolls into the center of the room and burns to death. Who is keeping this poor creature in a room he can't even turn around in? This arena is the giant dinosaur equivalent of one of those gestation crates they keep pigs in.

-Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly-

  This may very well be the Zelda series' most beloved dungeon, and for good reason. Obviously the concept of setting a dungeon inside a giant fish is a really fun idea, and the developers really went all out in terms of the details. The idea of a living creature's innards being a fully constructed dungeon filled with switches and platforms is already pretty funny, but the fact the the entire dungeon shakes when you hit a wall with your sword is just delightful.
  This is also the first dungeon in OoT to feature a design gimmick, and its a great one. You eventually find the Zora Princess Ruto, who has entered Jabu-Jabu's stomach looking for her missing sapphire. She accompanies you throughout the dungeon, helping you press switches and the like. What really sells this mechanic is the fact that Ruto doesn't just follow you around; she demands that you carry her. The developers could have made this a unique animation, but instead Link just hoists her fat ass above his head as if he was carrying a crate. This is hilarious (particularly since you can also throw her all over the place), and it also serves to characterize Ruto as your typical pampered princess. This is so memorable that Ruto's intro cutscene from Hyrule Warriors makes reference to it.



Barinade: I'm not really sure what Barinade is supposed to be, but he's a pretty cool dude. At first his tendrils are attached to the ceiling. During this phase, he'll shoot lightning at you as you attempt to detach him using the boomerang. Once that's accomplished, Barinade starts spinning around, blocking your attacks with the jellyfish attached to his body. This part of the fight superficially resembles A Link to the Past's ARRRRGHUS, since you have to kill each of the jellyfish in order to damage the boss.
  Barinade isn't an incredible boss or anything, but I enjoy that the fight feels like a...well, an actual *fight* as opposed to a glorified puzzle.

-The Forest Temple-

  This is the first of five Adult Link dungeons. These dungeons aren't as imaginative as the Young Link ones, but they're significantly more complex so I suppose its a fair trade off.
  The Forest Temple is interesting because it goes for more of a horror theme, in that Link channels his inner Bill Murray in order to hunt ghosts in what appears to be some sort of abandoned mansion. I'm not sure what ghosts have to do with the forest, but the dungeon has a great atmosphere to it. Its significantly more interesting than a generic forest theme, certainly.

Phantom Ganon: I always thought this fight was kind of lame, considering Phantom Ganon is basically just an easier version of the final boss battle. In retrospect, Phantom Ganon fits the ghost theme really well, and there's a couple of mechanics that separate it from the climatic showdown. The coolest aspect of this fight is the first phase. Ganon rides a spectral horse and begins jumping in and out of paintings on the walls. As Ganon emerges from the paintings you have to shoot him with your bow or he'll shoot energy balls at you.
  Eventually Phantom Ganon dismounts, and the fight turns into another Aganhim style battle. Overall, I like this fight a lot.

-The Fire Temple-

  Visually speaking, the Fire Temple is the blandest of the Adult Link dungeons. It's like...a building with lava and shit in it. Like its little brother Dodongo's Cavern, Fire Temple just doesn't do a lot to differentiate itself. There's a gimmick that involves saving Gorons, but this is really just a overly complicated method of obtaining keys. The Fire Temple isn't bad, per se, but after the excellent Forest Temple it just kind of falls flat.

Volvagia: Do you remember how I described A Link to the Past's Lanmola fight as a glorified game of whack-a-mole? Well the Volvagia fight isn't even a glorified version; it is straight up whack-a-mole. Volvagia pops out of various holes in the floor, at which point you crack him over the head with your hammer. Volvagia then flies around the room trying to drop rocks on your head. This repeats a couple of times, then the fight ends. Its a decent fight that's elevated by Volvagia's cool design.

-The Water Temple-

  Oh lawd. A lot of fans hate the Water Temple...and they're right for doing so. The Water Temple is awful. It is hands down the worst dungeon in the game. Its awfulness can be summed up in a couple of problematic design decisions:
  A) The dungeon has no sense of progress. It essentially revolves around a bunch of paths branching off of a large center room. Generally, you'll go down a path and either receive a key or find that you can't progress any further, at which point you return back to the center room. Because of this design, there's no real path forward. The Water Temple devolves into a tedious slog where you're forced to arduously explore each hallway branch until you figure out where the dungeon arbitrarily wants you to go next.
  B) Changing the water level is a massive pain in the ass. The dungeon features a system where you can change the water to three different levels, meaning that each path basically has two versions: one filled with water and one that isn't. This means that you'll often have to explore each path twice. The main problem here is that switching the water levels is way more complicated then it should be. The levels can only be adjusted in a linear order, so if the water is at level one you have to raise it to level two before level three. The levels can also only be adjusted at specific spots by playing Zelda's Lullaby on your ocarina. Depending on how long it takes you to beat the dungeon, you may end up playing this same song over a dozen times.
  C) Equipping or unequipping the iron boots requires menu navigation. This is fixed in OoT 3D, but about half the time spent in the original Water Temple involves navigating the menus. The iron boots sink you when equipped in water, but they slow you down significantly while on land. Its sort of hard to describe, but suffice it to say that the dungeon's design wants you to put on and take off the boots A LOT.
  Fuck, this dungeon sucks so bad that Eiji Aonuma actually apologized for it. The sole saving grace for a lot of fans is the Shadow Link mini boss, who quizzically appears here instead of the Shadow Temple. Honestly, I don't really get what the big deal about this fight is. Its not bad or anything, but I usually just spam my attack button until he dies.

Morpha: A shitty dungeon ends with a mediocre boss fight. Morpha isn't the worst boss in the game (that would probably be King Dodongo) but its simplistic mechanics and visual design leaves a lot to be desired. Morpha seems to be some sort of amoeba that can possess water. You basically dodge its attacks, use the hookshot to pull the amoeba out of the water, then hit it with your sword until it dies.

-The Shadow Temple-

  Without a doubt my favorite dungeon in OoT, The Shadow Temple succeeds mostly because of its fantastic theming. Its got everything you could possibly want from a horror themed dungeon. Walls made out of human bones? Check. Guillotines? Check. A floating boat made to transport the souls of the damned? Check. A spinning statue of a grim reaper holding a scythe? That's oddly specific...but yeah, its got that.
  The developers had already blown their load on the "ghost" theme for The Forest Temple, so they opt instead for an "illusion" concept here, which is cool. There's a ton of invisible shit that you can only see with the Lens of Truth, and their are plenty of dead ends and traps made to fuck with your mind. It works great in a dungeon based on the concept of shadow.

Bongo Bongo: I'd like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to my good friend Shawn. Check it out, Shawn! I'm talking about Bongo Bongo on the internet! Shawn loves Bongo Bongo, and its easy to see why.
  First off, Bongo Bongo's design is straight up fucking weird. He initially seems to be a poor fit for the frightening Shadow Temple, but I think his unsettling design and ability to turn invisible match up with the "illusion" theme really well.
  Second, true to his name, the fight actually take place on a giant drum. Bongo Bongo makes these weird, guttural sounds as you fight him. This boss is so strange. Instead of describing him with words, why don't you just watch this other guy fight him. It needs to be seen to believed:



  Bongo Bongo may not be the most mechanically interesting boss ever (he's essentially just a Gohma remix) but the sheer weirdness of the fight definitely makes him one of my favorite Zelda bosses ever.

-The Spirit Temple-

  Designing a dungeon around a vague concept like "Spirit" is rather difficult, so the developers just gave the dungeon a general desert/Middle Eastern theme. I think this is really cool, since you don't see stuff like this too often in Zelda. I'd say this is my second favorite dungeon in the game, if only because of its super badass musical theme:


 This dungeon doesn't really have a central gimmick or design element. You have to complete the dungeon's first half as a child, which is neat, but I wouldn't say that it really adds much to the dungeon's design. It's really just a well designed dungeon with solid visuals and a kickass soundtrack. What's not to like?

Twinrova: Twinrova is a pretty standard fight. One of the witches shoots ice, one shoots fire. Use your Mirror Shield to deflect the witch's attacks, hitting the ice one with fire and the fire one with ice. After they take enough damage they'll fuse into a single being.
Twinrova then proceeds to shoot either ice or fire bolts at you. When you block these bolts, you actually charge up your Mirror Shield with the respective element. Once you charge your shield three times with the same element, you can shoot a laser at Twinrova, stunning her. At this point your stab her a bunch of times. Its not an amazing fight, but its use of the Mirror Shield is fairly clever and the fight itself is pretty fun.

-Ganondorf-

  After you go through a short final dungeon its time to face off with Ganondorf. His fight is basically just a retread of the earlier Phantom Ganon fight. Knock his projectiles back at him, shoot him with a Light Arrow, hit him with your sword. Once you defeat him, the real fight begins.
  Ganondorf transforms into Ganon, his pig form, and engages you in a one on one sword fight. You have to weave around his attacks and hit him in the tail. These fights aren't that interesting, mechanically speaking, and I'd say I liked the Link to the Past Ganon fight more. However, these fights are staged really well and feel like a suitably epic conclusion to the game.



-Hey, Listen!-

  OoT's soundtrack is fantastic. It isn't quite as good as A Link to the Past, but it still contains tons of great music. My favorite track would have to Gerudo Valley.


Next time: Majora's Mask