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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed games.
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Universal acclaim
Based on 22 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 726 votes
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Game Info
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Genre(s): Adventure
Players: 1
ESRB Rating: E (Everyone)
Release Date: October 31, 1998
Summary
Considered by many to be the greatest single-player video game ever created in any genre, Ocarina of Time features young Link who lives in a magical forest populated by elf children. Link must defeat strange monsters lurking in the area and stop a growing evil spreading in the complex land.
Also On Metacritic
GAMES: Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time / Master Quest, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Cheat Codes & Hints: Cheat Code Central Game Revolution GamePro GameSpot GameSpot Guide IGN IGN Guide
Also On The Web: Official Website
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
GameSpot
A game that can't be called anything other than flawless...This is the masterpiece that people will still be talking about ten years down the road.
Read Full Review >Weekly Famitsu
10 / 10 / 10 / 10 - platinum [first ever perfect score]
GameShark
This is, without a doubt, one of the all-time greatest games made. 50 years from now people will still be playing and enjoying this game... thoroughly.
Read Full Review >IGN
Call us crazy, but when the final version of Zelda 64 arrived in the IGN64 offices, we stopped working, locked ourselves into a room with a big-screen TV and a surround system and played 17 hours straight. After only a few hours of sleep, we were back for more and we couldn't stop until we finished the game. Then, we started over again to find all the secrets.
Read Full Review >All Game Guide
The amount of secrets and little things will astound you if you take the time to fully appreciate the vast world that lies before you. No matter how skeptical you are, do yourself a favor and try this title for five minutes. That's about how long it will take to get you completely drawn into this incredible adventure.
Read Full Review >Electronic Gaming Monthly
An epic adventure that is among the best N64 games. [Jan 2004, p.189]
Games Domain
A truly remarkable achievement. Nintendo have created a beautiful game world and breathed life into it with puzzles, secrets, enemies, and loveable characters that will completely engross gamers around the globe. Stunning attention to detail is present throughout the game and is constantly evident in the visuals, audio and gameplay.
Read Full Review >Game Revolution
The N64 is a 3D workhorse, and Zelda proves it with great textures, lighting, tons of little environmental effects, and smooooth framerates with no slowdown. Faces, the toughest graphical challenge on 3D characters, are fantastic in Zelda. Characters blink, look around and change expressions with surprising grace.
Read Full Review >Nintendojo
[Review Score = 110] What’s significant about this convergence of audio, graphics and gameplay is that you are COMPLETELY IMMERSED in Zelda’s world. Why? Because everything is meticulously thought out. Each character and event plays a role in a storyline that sprawls like a J.R. Tolkien masterpiece...It's certainly the game of the decade.
Read Full Review >Adrenaline Vault
Ocarina of Time is the complete package appealing to one and all, and is the definitive accomplishment in game design.
Read Full Review >GamePro
This is Zelda supreme. It's fun. One hitch, however, is that the skill level gets progressively harder - so hard that casual gamers might give up rather quickly.
Read Full Review >Cincinnati Enquirer
This Zelda adventure will undoubtedly withstand the test of time and take its place as one of the best games to ever grace a home system.
Read Full Review >Game Critics
High praise goes to them for also managing to fit joy, creativity and discovery into the game and doing so without the use of Full-Motion Video (FMV) and the CD soundtrack his critics said was needed. This game is simply the most complete experience of any game ever made making Ocarina Of Time the game I've always dreamed of playing.
Read Full Review >Nintendophiles
My favorite game of all Time. It is the perfect example of a perfect and polished game. Every aspect of the game is virtually flawless.
Read Full Review >Electric Playground
Perfect. Epic. Unstoppable. Unbeatable. Irresistible. Sensational...The best videogame I have ever played. It is the crowning jewel of the industry. It is Nintendo's finest achievement.
Read Full Review >Nintendorks
The biggest, most heartpounding and awe-inspiring quest of all. Oh yes, Zelda 64 does indeed own your soul.
Read Full Review >TotalGames.net
When it comes to what people will now demand of a top videogame, Nintendo has moved the goalposts off the pitch, into a lorry, down the road, into the airport, onto a plane and halfway round the world to a different continent entirely.
Read Full Review >Gaming Age
Featuring unparalleled 3D environments, a deep and involved quest, brilliant and intuitive play controls, and a well-developed cinematic quality that enhances rather than overwhelms the whole game experience, Miyamoto's latest soon-to-be-classic title deserves to be played by each and every person who might deign to consider themselves a fan of great games.
Read Full Review >My Gamer
The player will be drawn into the Zelda fantasy world from the moment the opening sequence bursts onto the screen, and the game won’t let go—not even after finishing the quest.
Read Full Review >Happy Puppy
Realism is one of the major reasons this title is so amazing. After playing for a while it feels as though you have actually been to Hyrule.
What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this game is 9.2 (out of 10) based on 726 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Chris D. gave it an8:
An incredible game for it's time. Incredibly innovative, lush graphics for it's time and an awe-inspiring story. 9/10 , great game, but not my favorite of all time.
Brandon J gave it a10:
Best and longest story line of its time still holds the record for the highest metacritic rating, and who can post bad about it?
Justin c gave it a10:
Just brilliant, JUST OMG AWESOME STORY! I kept playing this for like 23th times and still haven't get enough for this. It brought back memories of classic zelda :3
Jesse R gave it a10:
I don’t really see how it’s possible for this game to score under a perfect 10. The first 3-D Zelda game is also arguably the best of the whole series, with an amazingly rendered Hyrule, numerous side quests, and a classic story. The child-adult system allows for another take on the Light World – Dark World sytem of A Link to the Past, and overwhelmingly succeeds. Both Ocarina of Time and its sequel Majora’s Mask are hands down the best Zelda titles, and among some of the top video games out there. If you have a Nintendo 64 odds are you already own this game, and if you have a Wii then by all means buy it from the online store.
Steven S gave it a10:
As a gamer who celebrates this game's birthday with friends, I have to say I will forever love this game. I have gone through the game over 50 times and collected every item at least 15 times. It will forever have a spot in my heart.
Phil Mad gave it a10:
Simply the greatest game of all time, with engaging story, enemies and puzzles this game will have you being nostalgic fr the rest of your life.
Winter C gave it a10:
This game is one of the best games ever created. It just disappoints me that so many people who play games on the Xbox360 or PS3 find this game as crap because of the graphics. They don't realize that this game came out in 1998.
