The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time review – A classic reimagined for Switch 2

Nintendo's ‘The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’ brings a much-loved classic to the Switch 2 with improved visuals, smooth performance and modern gameplay elements. While its nostalgia and design stand out, easy combat and limited additional content disappoint.

Hyderabad: 1998’s The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has often been called one of the greatest role-playing games of all time. Released for the Nintendo 64, the game was praised for both its brilliant story and its marvellous design.

With nearly unanimous 90-per cent-plus scores across reviewing platforms, it is often considered the game to beat by most game designers.

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2026 marks 40 years since the debut of the original The Legend of Zelda in Japan, and with the launch of the Switch 2, it seems hardly surprising that Nintendo turned to one of its iconic games for a remake.

Exclusive to the Switch 2, the game is a hybrid experience: it seeks to enhance the charm of the original by blending it with some of the mechanics it has perfected with Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

The game is gorgeous to look at and by reusing most of the sound effects and background score from the original, it serves nostalgia from the very first minute.

In terms of performance, in both the Switch 2’s docked mode and handheld mode, the game runs with no delays whatsoever and maintains a steady clip of 60 frames per second. It maintains a uniform 1080p docked and shuttles between 720p and 1080p in handheld mode.

Tech specs aside, there is an old-school charm to the game as it takes you to Kokiri Forest and not just leaves you with Link and his friends, but also transports you into a simpler time when games sought to preserve their players’ innocence.

The voice acting is top-notch, and both Navi and other characters like the Deku Tree, Princess Zelda, and other NPCs are very well detailed. They still preserve their appearances from the 1998 game, and while Hyrule gains new open-world possibilities with its open fields, the overall experience is in many ways that of an old wine in a new bottle.

Combat and movement are smooth and quick, puzzle-solving and mysterious pathways in dungeons are just as surprising, and a variety of opponents to fight keeps things from getting too monotonous.

For those of us who game, Nintendo has never seen India as one of its markets, and therefore, it won’t be surprising if most of us never played a Zelda game before Breath of the Wild. Even now, the Switch 2 isn’t officially sold in India, but if you do own one, make sure to give the game a try.

Best remake of the year – not quite. Best cohesive experience – definitely!

Sneak Peek:

Title: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Developer: Nintendo

Game Type: Single-player action-adventure

Platforms: Nintendo Switch 2 Exclusive

Price: USD 59.99 on the Nintendo Switch Store

Verdict (all scores out of 10):

Innovative Gameplay: 8

Game Handling & Quality: 9

Value for Time: 9.5

Value for Money: 8

Overall: 8.62

– What Stands Out

* The ground-up remake is not only true to its roots, but also a careful blend of modern game mechanics and the expansive style of the new Zelda games.

* The classic sounds, music, and charm are very well preserved.

– Fails to impress

* The difficulty hasn’t been scaled up to modern standards. Combat and puzzles are a bit too easy.

* The remake lacks additional post-game content or expansion on the main plot. The Hall of Foes addition, while fun, is too limited.