| Ocarina Of Time |
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is an ''. The game starts out with the series' trademark Silent Protagonist , Link in the land of Hyrule . Link sets out on a long and perilous quest to stop Ganondorf , the ''Zelda'' franchise's prime Antagonist , from obtaining an item called the Triforce , a magical object made of three golden triangles which grants whoever touches it whatever he wishes for. To stop Ganondorf, Link travels back and forth through time using the Ocarina Of Time , the game's namesake. Throughout the game, Link acquires several weapons and items, which are used to fight monsters and solve puzzles. Link traverses several large, labyrinthine Dungeons , teeming with dangerous creatures and complex puzzles. In addition to the main quest, there are several side-quests to choose from, as well as several collectable items scattered throughout the game, though all are optional and do not need to be completed in order to complete the game. Within six months of its release, ''Ocarina of Time'' sold more than seven million copies,1 and since its release, 7.6 million copies have been sold.2 In addition to its commercial success, ''Ocarina of Time'' is also considered one of the greatest games ever made by critics and fans,3 and received extremely high ratings from reviewers.45 It was recently voted as the greatest video game ever by the magazine '' Edge '',6 and it also came in second on the reader's choice edition of IGN's 100 greatest video games of all time.7 ''Ocarina of Time'' is the first video game to be awarded a perfect score from Famitsu . 8 GAMEPLAY using Z-targeting to battle a Wolfos .]] See Also: The Legend of Zelda series weapons and items ''Ocarina of Time'' is a 3D third-person Action-adventure Game with Role-playing and Puzzle elements. Rather than leveling up with experience points, strength and abilities are improved through the collection of items, weapons, and heart containers (to increase health). Though the basic controls for controlling Link are common today, at the time they were quite revolutionary."Ocarina of Time is an epic undertaking shining with tight control, ingenious level design and intuitive play mechanics. It remains one of the all-time most innovative adventure outings to date."IGN.com Top 100 games of all time list.http://top100.ign.com/2005/001-010.html Link usually attacks enemies with a sword, as seen in the picture to the left, though some enemies can be defeated by projectile weapons. The added dimension of height in this game makes the use of projectiles more challenging, except for a feature introduced in this game; ''Ocarina of Time'' introduced a feature called "Z-targeting", named for the fact that it is activated by pressing the Z button on the Controller . This allows the player to keep camera focus on an enemy, person, or item of importance and let Link focus his attacks or attention thereon. Like all games in the series, ''Ocarina of Time'' features several Side Quests , minor objectives that the player can embark on at his discretion. This game popularized the trading sequence, an extensive side-quest in which Link trades various useless items for other useless items until he receives something useful. The trading sequence in ''Ocarina of Time'' features ten separate items, culminating in the acquisition of the Biggoron Sword . In certain areas of the game, the player is encouraged to use stealth, a situation not normally seen in the series. If Link is seen by the guards in Hyrule Castle or the Gerudo Fortress , he is thrown out the gate or thrown in jail. To avoid being seen, he must hide behind walls and behind the backs of the guards. Near the beginning of the game, Link gains an Ocarina . This is used in certain places to solve the music-based puzzles scattered throughout the game. The ocarina is played with the C buttons (C-stick on the GameCube controller) and the A button. Each button produces a different tone, which can be made a sharp or a flat with the L and R buttons. Approximately halfway through the game, Link gains an upgrade to the ocarina called the Ocarina Of Time , which the game is named after. In addition to helping with the aforementioned musical puzzles, this new ocarina gives Link the ability to travel trough time to a certain extent. This is used to solve the time-based puzzles in the game. This ability is limited in a few ways; he can only travel back and forth between the present and seven years in the future, and he can only travel while in the Temple of Time. There are several subtle differences between the present and the future, which often are clues as to how to solve the puzzles. Also approximately halfway through the game, Link can gain the ability to ride a Horse , a new ability that has become a common element in the series. While this feature is optional, it does make traveling from place to place much faster, as the horse can run much faster than Link can. It also makes certain side quests possible, such as the aforementioned trading sequence to get the Biggoron Sword. While on the horse, use of weapons is limited to the arrows, though this would be expanded on in later games. PLOT Setting and characters and Princess Zelda as children.]] The game takes place in Hyrule , the fictional kingdom in which most ''Zelda'' games take place. It is a vast, medieval-styled land with a diverse topography. From Hyrule Field (generally known as the Overworld ), Link can access virtually every important area featured in the game. Hyrule is inhabited by a variety of intelligent creatures; the Hylians, Gorons, Zoras, and Gerudo being the most influential on the storyline. The Hylians are arguably the most populous and influential race in Hyrule, and hold rule over the majority of the land, with other races such as the Zora having their own royalty or other forms of rule to govern their people. Each are relatively secluded, and do not commonly interfere with matters of others. Story The game opens when . He informs Link that he is cursed, and near death. As the tree begins to wither, he tells Link that the wizard that cursed him seeks to conquer the land of Hyrule, and that Link must stop him. He orders Link to Hyrule Castle, and then withers. After reaching Hyrule Castle, Link meets Princess Zelda , who explains that she has been having dreams about the future of Hyrule, and that she foresaw Link's arrival. She believes that Ganondorf , a king from the desert region, is trying to obtain the Triforce , a holy relic that gives its holder godlike power. Zelda's description of Ganondorf matches that of the wizard that killed the Great Deku Tree. To keep the Triforce from Ganondorf, Zelda explains to Link that he must obtain three Sacred Stones before Ganondorf gets them and uses them to enter the Sacred Realm , where the Triforce lies. Zelda plans for her and Link to use the Triforce to defeat Ganondorf. When Link retrieves all three stones, he returns to the castle to meet with Zelda again. At the gate, he sees Ganondorf pursuing Zelda on horseback. Spotting Link, Zelda throws the Ocarina of Time, another artifact required to access the Sacred Realm, into the castle moat. After Link retrieves the Ocarina, Zelda telepathically teaches him the "Song of Time", which, combined with the Sacred Stones, will open the door that leads to the Sacred Realm that houses the Triforce. Just beyond the door, Link finds the Master Sword , a magical sword forged to fight evil. But just as he pulls the Master Sword from its pedestal, Ganondorf appears, having followed Link into the Sacred Realm and seizes the Triforce for himself."Link retrieved the Ocarina of Time from the Moat and went to the Temple of Time. He pulled the Master Sword from the Pedestal of Time and was transported to the Temple of Light in the Sacred Realm. Link is kept there for Seven Years only to be awakened by Rauru, the Sage of Light. He tells Link that Ganondorf has taken over Hyrule and Link must stop him... since Link is the Hero of Time."http://www.zeldaguide.com/lordjabujabu.html Seven years later, an older Link awakens in an ethereal room and is met by an elderly man named . Rauru informs Link that he was frozen in time for seven years until he was old enough to wield the Master Sword and defeat Ganondorf. Rauru then reveals himself as the ancient Sage of Light, one of the seven sages who protect the location of the Triforce. He tells Link that if he can find the six other sages, they will be able to imprison Ganondorf within the Sacred Realm. However, the sages are unaware of their identities because Ganondorf has conquered Hyrule and transformed it into a land of darkness. Link must rid the five Temples of Ganon's monsters, so that the power in each temple can awaken its respective Sage. Link returns to Hyrule and is met by a mysterious character named Sheik, who appears periodically to guide him in his quest."The youth known as Sheik appeared in Hyrule after Link returned to the Temple of Time as an adult. Sheik always covered her face and muffled her voice to protect her identity, but Link soon learned that this helpful soul was in fact his good friend Princess Zelda. Her unusual dress and demeanor came from being raised as a Sheikah by her protector Impa."http://www.zelda.com/universe/pedia/s.jsp After awakening all of the sages, Sheik reveals himself as Princess Zelda in disguise. Zelda is the seventh and final sage. She tells Link that when Ganondorf took the Triforce, because his heart was unbalanced, that the Triforce split into three pieces according to an ancient prophecy. When this happened Ganondorf kept the Triforce of Power, Zelda gained the Triforce of Wisdom, and Link obtained the Triforce of Courage. Zelda bestows Link with the magical Light Arrows needed to defeat Ganondorf. Their reunion is cut short when Ganondorf traps Zelda in a crystal and transports her to his tower. After the remaining six Sages help Link enter the tower, Link engages in an epic battle with Ganondorf. At the end of the battle, Zelda and the other Sages use their combined power to banish Ganon into the Sacred Realm, taking the Triforce of Power with him."His reign came to an end when Link broke through the magical barriers to his castle. A fight took place at the top of it, where Link defeated the Dark Prince. With his remaining power and might, Ganondorf sent his castle crashing down. From the rubble emerged his more powerful, yet more primitive alter-ego, Ganon. Trying to use brute force to destroy Link didn't work, and with the power of the seven sages and a final blow with the Master Sword he was banished to the Sacred Realm."http://www.zeldaelements.net/5characters.shtml DEVELOPMENT A new ''Zelda'' was revealed with a technical demo shown at the 1995 SpaceWorld ,9 and originally planned for the add-on Nintendo 64DD , but later turned into a proper cartridge.10 The development crew involved over 120 people, including Stuntmen to capture the swordfighting and Link's movement.11 Release ''Ocarina of Time'' itself gained a large amount of hype before release; consequently, only those who had pre-ordered the game had any guarantee of receiving a copy. The first two ''Zelda'' games released for the NES had golden cartridges, rather than the standard gray-colored cartridges used for almost every other licensed game for the console. Keeping with the tradition, pre-ordered copies of ''Ocarina of Time'' were also golden. Also, the box cover had a thick, plastic card glued over the original cover. However, this was not the case in Europe where the game had a standard gray-cartridge owing to , had a golden cartridge in Australia, Europe, and North America. PAL cartridges are very noticeably different from NTSC cartridges. PAL, having a golden ''Ocarina of Time'' picture with a black background on a gray cartridge, and NTSC having a normally colored ''Ocarina of Time'' picture with a goldish background on the noted gray, or golden cartridges. The Australian PAL versions also come in either gold or gray cartridges. ''The Wind Waker'' and ''Twilight Princess'' also have golden discs, following that of older ''Zelda'' games. ''Ocarina of Time'' contains development code and text that is not used in the finished product. Leftover Japanese text in the item banks reveals that there were two extra medallions called the Wind and Ice Medallions at one point in development. There is data that allows the medallions to be equipped as an item, though they do not perform any actions. An Arwing enemy can be found in the game code, with the attack and movement AI fully programmed. The model, sound effects and animations are taken from '' Star Fox 64 ''.12 AUDIO See Also: Songs from The Legend of Zelda series ''Ocarina of Time'''s Music was composed by Koji Kondo , Nintendo 's main Composer . The music is inspired by a wide array of influences, as exemplified in its diversity from cartoonish music in the Kokiri Forest to Spanish Flamenco in the Gerudo Valley. In some locations, the music is a variation of an important ocarina tune related to that area. The ocarina itself plays a very important role in the game. It is necessary for Link to play it in order to solve certain puzzles, access certain areas, and discover new treasures and items. The theme for the Fire Temple, the second temple Link must traverse as an adult, is most likely inspired by an Islamic prayer call, with a male chorus chanting in the second half of the song. Due to some protest, Nintendo changed this in later cartridges to a vague Gregorian chant. VERSIONS Several changes were made to the game after the initial release of ''Ocarina of Time'' in 1998. All of the gold cartridges that came out that year are Version 1.0. Version 1.1 gold cartridges began to be released in late 1998, in which Nintendo fixed a number of bugs and glitches from the first version. This was followed by a Version 1.2, which occupies most of the grey cartridges and has the Player's Choice Million Seller seal on the box. A very small number of the grey cartridges are Version 1.0, but 1.1 and Version 1.2 grey cartridges are more common. The most notable difference between Version 1.0 and the later versions is that Version 1.0 allows one to play the game without the Master Sword , by saving and reloading when it is knocked out of Link's hands for plot reasons. With no sword equipped, one can use any item on Epona, not just the bow. In Version 1.1 and 1.2, this glitch was corrected. However, there is a method that works on all versions. One must perform the "Ocarina items" glitch, which lets you play items like an ocarina, and play the Sun's Song after the Master Sword is knocked out of Link's hands, restart the battle with Ganon, do the "Ocarina items" glitch again, and warp anywhere. Another difference between the three versions is the coloring of Ganon's blood at the end of the game. In Version 1.0, Ganon's blood is red, in Version 1.1, his blood color depends on what tunic you're wearing, and Version 1.2 only has green blood. Finally, the original theme for the Fire Temple angered the Muslim community because it was the Muslim profession of faith in Arabic that translates to ", 2006 . In response, Nintendo reworked the theme for version 1.2 and the two GameCube versions. Another popular glitch that was corrected in later versions of the game was the ability to take the fishing rod outside of the fishing pond. You could make the fishing rod into a stick on the B icon, but trying to use the fishing rod outside of the fishing pond would freeze the game. Ocarina of Time was re-released in two different forms for the '' compilation discs. In both the ''Master Quest'' and ''Collector's Edition'', the game was an emulated ROM instead of a port. One significant difference in these versions is that Nintendo altered the original crescent moon and star symbol of the Gerudo to a design later used to represent the pirates in '''', again due to Islamic protest. '''' in North America, as well as in a special GameCube Bundle at Wal-Mart . In Europe and Australia the disc came in the same case as the initial pressings of ''The Wind Waker''. Also, in Europe only, it was available for a limited time through a special offer on the Nintendo website. The "Master Quest" in the title refers to a remixed version of the game that contained rearranged dungeons, much like the Second Quest of '' The Legend Of Zelda '' (although in that game the dungeons are also found in different locations; the locations of the ''Master Quest'' dungeons are the same). Both the original game and the ''Master Quest'' are available on the disc. The game was also re-released as part of the compilation '''', which was available in GameCube bundles in Europe and North America, as well as by registering hardware and software, or by subscribing to official magazines or clubs. The disc also contained ''The Legend of Zelda'', ''The Adventure of Link'', ''Majora's Mask'' and a demo of ''The Wind Waker'' as well as a ''Zelda'' retrospective. ''Ocarina of Time'' was released in Europe and Australia for the Virtual Console on Nintendo's new Wii console on February 23 2007 for 1000 Wii Points. It was released in North America on February 26 2007 , and in Japan on February 27 2007 .13 The only absent element is the rumble feature (this includes the use of the Stone of Agony). It should be noted that the Wii is capable of playing the GameCube versions of the game with the rumble feature working properly. The Virtual Console is Version 1.2 of the original game with the exception of the crescent moon and star symbol of the Gerudo, which was changed to the new design. RECEPTION AND IMPACT
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