The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D preview

by Andrew Yoon on Jan 20th 2011 9:32AM

Nothing does a better job of upgrading a game's graphics than your memory. There's something about the PS1/N64 era of games that makes us remember them better than they actually looked. The 3DS version of Ocarina of Time is unquestionably a better looking game than its predecessor, with new textures, new character models, better lighting, and a new widescreen aspect ratio. So, why does Ocarina of Time still look so dated?

Although Nintendo has updated the visuals of the N64 classic, it hasn't changed enough to shake off the N64 origins -- and the new sheen of paint can't help it compete with the other games that were present at the 3DS preview event, like Resident Evil. The 3D effect also seems relatively muted, even with the toggle set to the maximum settings. Its shortcomings make me realize that I wouldn't mind seeing a more thorough remake, one that truly pushes the 3DS' graphical capabilities.

But for most, Zelda isn't about the visuals, and the gameplay is just as you remember it.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (1/9/11)

It doesn't take long to transition from "Z-Targeting" to "L-Targeting," and you quickly figure out how the C-buttons are mapped to the rest of the face buttons. The touch screen inventory is, arguably, an improvement over the original, letting you quickly switch between items. (This should come in handy during the Water Temple!) However, the UI of the bottom screen still felt cluttered, and not really optimized for a touch interface. Imagine touching this while you're in the middle of a boss fight:

If you're looking for extras, it doesn't seem like Nintendo is bothering to add any with this port. So far, there's been no mention of any additional temples or content, other than the ability to use the motion sensor when you're in first-person mode. Is it cool? Yeah. But is it a practical feature? Not really. Nintendo has crafted a terrific analog stick for the 3DS, and I intend on using it.

Ocarina of Time 3D is as by-the-numbers of an update as Super Mario 64 DS. That's not particularly a bad thing; Ocarina of Time remains one of the most beloved games ever released. Still, it's hard not to wish for a little more effort and creativity to go into this opportunity.

Tags: 3ds, ds, nintendo, the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time, zelda

Reader Comments (94)

I think Nintendo wanted to slightly change the graphics, while keeping the nostalgic feeling of the original OoT game. Doubling the framerate, however, is a welcome change in my opinion. The game looks really good to me.

@therandomizer
Wouldn't doubling the frame rate be necessary in order to produce a 3D image? Either that, or you would essentially be playing the game at half the frame rate if you play in 3D.
So, did Nintendo quadruple the frame rate (making it essentially doubled when playing in 3D mode), or simply double it so that when played in 3D it's still the same frame rate as before?
Also, where does it say that the frame rate was doubled?

@beano311

The 3DS doesn't rely on shutters, so the frame rate doesn't need to be doubled in order to achieve 3D. Each frame does need to be rendered twice, at slightly different angles, but they are displayed at the exact same time.

I assume if they say the rate has doubled, it has legitimately been doubled.

@beano311 Look how smooth the gameplay is compared to the original version. The original N64 version was about 15-18 frames per second, but the 3DS version looks to be at about 30 frames per second. the videos are in 2D since one wouldn't be able to see it 3D. Watch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2NxfInOQ3E you can clearly tell it's double the fps in 2D and 3D modes.

If you can't enjoy Ocarina of Time because it looks "dated", you should probably stop playing videogames.

@aMac
i regret that i have but one upvote to give you.

@Punkrawk Bbob

Consider me a second upvote.

That has pretty much been my main argument against ppl bashing Wii's graphical abilities.

@aMac

I'm going to defend Andrew here. We can all enjoy OoT with dated graphics, but we can all play the original for $10 on Virtual Console, or less on emulated platforms.

If this game is being reintroduced as a $50 launch title for the 3DS platform, it is perfectly reasonable that we would expect the title to showcase the graphical capabilities of the handheld (3D + higher resolution). From Andrew's preview, it doesn't sound like the game accomplishes that.

@aMac

That had a kind of poetry to it.

@aMac
I agree with that.
However it's not much to ask that Nintendo add a couple of shaders here and there, have better lighting and other changes like that. It is a great game and the video looks beautiful at 60fps.
But still it's a 13 year old game on a console 3 generations on and its not just a direct port, so why not spend a little more time on those graphics? I just would have expected better. Is all.

Also mooooooof.

@aMac On the other hand, there seems to be no real reason to play this "update", considering they put close to the minimum amount of effort into it.

Also, I personally can't play Ocarina of Time because I simply don't care for it next to the SNES Zeldas, but I'm fairly alone in that sort of opinion.

@Punkrawk Bbob

AND MYY UPVOTE!!

@aMac
I've already enjoyed Ocarina of Time numerous times on the N64, and even have it on the VC for the Wii. It's fairly disappointing that Nintendo has put such a small amount of effort in this for the 3DS. Slight graphical update with a bit better framerate and that's it? Why should I buy this game again just for that? At least when they made Mario 64 for the DS they tried adding some stuff in.

At least, that's how I feel.

Instead of a more 'thorough remake', I'd rather see them putting their resources into a brand new 3DS-optimized experience.

... and I'm thinking I probably won't be disappointed.

"it's better in the Bahamas-" damn ads! it was exceptionally longer than the video!

@OmegaSpartan08

Yes these ads are getting out of hand!

http://adblockplus.org/en/

@OmegaSpartan08

Well it's true. It is better here! :)

how was mario 64 ds a "by the numbers remake"? it had 3 new characters, new moves, 30 new stars.... it seems like that's exactly what you want this remake to be

@shabby329

Bingo, and that's what i was kinda hoping for. Not too radical new content, but they could afford to toss in some bonus sidequests, bonus dungeons (in the vein of the Gerudo Training Grounds), and some extra weaponry

They could at least fix the reward for getting all the Golden Skulltulas to be something a little less pointless

@shabby329 I was about to make this same comment. SM64DS did add a good bit of extra content and that comment kinda contradicts the prior line where they said no new dungeons...oh well. Here's to hoping it's got some extras hidden away.

Will I go to hell for noticing the Great Fairy's boobs aren't pointy cones anymore?

@sparkster

The great fairy always dressed like a ho.

@sparkster Nah, I also notice it. Perhaps one of their "visual enhancements"of the 3DS.

@sparkster

They originally had the pointy boobs during development, but sadly one of the playtesters on the 3D platform ended up losing an eye.

@sparkster

We'd no more fault you for noticing that something is off about the girls in Dead or Alive.

@sparkster
No more than I am for immediately rushing up to watch the video after reading your comment.

Watch out Ganandorf i'm coming for you!!

@Rizraz
again....

"Ocarina of Time 3D is as by-the-numbers of an update as Super Mario 64 DS."

Really? Three new characters, entirely new levels, multiplayer and (surprisingly great) touch screen minigames is 'by-the-numbers' now? Granted, playing Mario 64 with a d-pad was terrible, but Nintendo genuinely did put some effort into that one, whereas this just seems more like an enhanced port.

Anyway, I still think Majora's Mask would have benefited from a 3DS remake much more than Ocarina (it's much more naturally suited to the 3-D effect, plus I think it deserves another chance to shine), but I'm still hella down for this. Too bad it couldn't make launch though

You shouldn't have done that...

Did I just sit through a 20-second ad for 5-seconds of game video? Wtf, Joystiq?

@leftysrevenge

Thanks for the warning. I won't click on that link now.

@leftysrevenge
And THAT'S why I love Adblock.

It doesn't just look dated, it looks worse.

It reminds me of those really early PSOne games where game developers and designers were just starting to grasp of the concept of polygons and textures in relation to making a game.

@Calatia Here you go: http://www.nicagamerz.com/v6/news/226/zelda-ocarina-of-time-3ds-vs-n64 Perhaps this will once and for all stop people like you from making asinine assumptions.

And If you still think the 3DS has crappy graphics, watch this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUl2cUFP0q4 I'm pretty sure PSX games didn't have HDR or dynamic shadows and lighting.

@therandomizer The N64 version is superior. Everything is much crisper in those comparison shots. The 3DS version looks like someone ran the watercolor effect in Photoshop on the whole game. It's blurry and out-of-focus for the sake of not being sharp and polygonal.

@therandomizer The problem with the Nintendo 64 was that it critically lacked the memory, necessary for detailed Textures, sound or any memory intensive media.

If the Nintendo 64 was a disk based system like the Playstation I think (based on what Ive seen so far, which admittedly isnt much) that it would probably have featured better graphics than even the 3DS, its a credit to the Nintendo 64 that it managed to create such vibrant crisp visuals with so little memory compared to that of the playstation.

Saying this, I have no doubt that the 3DS is a much more powerful system, as it effectively has to power three screens at a higher resolution and frame rate than the 64 ever had to. But with these same demands I imagine the 3DS will perform like a slightly underpowered Nintendo 64 with a huge reserve of memory that the old system could never hope to harness. :)

@ll features ll

As for the lack of fog.....

Have you ever considered how crappy that would look in 3D? The Ninteno 64's fog was just a semi transparent block, that had no depth, The last generation of consoles couldnt even generate convincing 3D fog so I doubt it was an option for the 3DS

I would imagine that the fog was removed reluctantly and replaced by a brighter art style due to the technical limitations of 3D.

Now that I think about it, swimming through water may have the same visual problems in 3D?

@therandomizer:

That's not a good set of videos to use as comparison, since it's readily apparent that the video for N64 is produced using an emulator, making the clarity and resolution look much higher than it actually is on the console. The N64 version on an actual N64 is much, much blurrier, and not nearly as high in resolution.

@therandomizer

Whoever put that comparison together is, no offense, an idiot. Those "N64" shots are from an emulator with high-res textures and framerate. What the hell kind of a comparison is that?

Here is a better one using actual N64 screens: http://ds.ign.com/articles/112/1124739p1.html

*Now* tell me the N64 version is superior, Calatia.

@Calatia Are you really THAT blind and oblivious? The N64 could only push out 150,000 polygons per second. The DS pulled off roughly the same polygonal power as the N64. The 3DS is reported to output around 10 or so million polygons/second. The fact that you're stating a 1998 sixth-gen old game looks better than an 2011 eighth-gen game is disturbing and downright stupid.

Let's compare the two, shall we?

N64 Version:
- Link and NPCs have flippers for hands
- The game's frame rate is 18 FPS.
- Textures are flat/bland due to 4kb of texture cache
- No bump-mapping, dynamic lighting, etc
- Swapping items drives people to insanity during the Water Temple

3DS Version:
- Link has REAL hands, not skin-colored flippers
- Game's speed is clocked in at 30 frames per second not 18.
- Dynamic shadows and lighting
- 3DS has an exponentially larger amount of texture cache
- Textures look more like the real thing this time around (i.e the vines look like REAL vines and not something from a heavily compressed JPEG).
- Easier to swap items, esp. during the Water Temple

And after reading this and look at the comparison images you STILL think the N64 version looks better, you must be more doped up than I thought.

@therandomizer The comparison link you posted, as well as the screenshots on Joystiq look like shit.

Bighouse posted a comparison and the difference is clear there.

Why is there such a disconnect between the images? How is the game really going to look when you play it for real?

@Bighouse That looks a hell of a lot better. So what the hell is with the screens on Joystiq and those comparison shots from the other link? Why such a big disconnect? What is the game really going to look like when you play the game?

@Calatia That's fairly simple. The image on Joystiq is captured from a video which increased the size of the resolution of the footage and compressed the hell out of it.

It's going to look more like the images on IGN when you play the game, and trust me, it looks MUCH better in motion

@Calatia Oh, SOOO sorry for "posting the wrong comparison shots". Well, at least you can tell the difference now, so that's good I guess.

I wish they'd redo Mario 64 DS. That actually DID have a plenty good bit of new content, but it was ruined by the DS not having an analog stick.

@Doctor Otis
I'm fully expecting Mario 64 to return again, or a true sequel for the 3DS.

Or just Mario Sunshine.

It's Mario and a Nintendo console.

If there's only one game I buy for the 3DS, it'll be this one. Ocarina of Time is just that good. But who am I kidding? I'm gonna buy ALL the 3DS games! Except for Sims 3, those stupid Rabbids, and any of those other crappy titles.

Bring on Wind Waker 3D with Tinkle on the touch screen! You could touch Tinkle. You bad person.

@TCJJ

Don't tinkle on the touch screen. It voids warranty.

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