The Greatest Zelda Ever Made
A very epic game, and revolutionary for it's time, and was (if I remember correctly) the first game on Gamespot to ever receive a perfect 10 score (thank you Jeff). Already 10 years have passed, and it's still the best. If you think this is gonna be more of a praise than a review, then I'll start talking about the different aspects right now.
Story: Link is greeted one morning by a fairy named Navi (oh, how so many HATE her), telling him that she's been assigned to be his guardian fairy, and that the Great Deku Tree wishes to speak with Link. After going through some hassles, Link meets the Deku Tree, and learns that a curse has been put on the tree. Link goes inside to deal with the threat and beats Queen Gohma, the creature responsible for the curse. Link returns outside, and the Deku Tree tells him about Ganondorf, who was searching for the keys neccessary to opening the gates to the sacred realm. Before the tree dies, he entrusts the Kokiri Emerald, the stone Ganondorf was after, to Link, and tells him to go to Hyrule Castle and speak with Princess Zelda. Once you leave the forest, the real adventure begins.
Controls: The controls are good. What was great about this game were to parts of the controls. The Action Button, which was where you pressed the A button in different situation, so you could say it was a context sensitive button for it's time. Another good aspect, was the Z-targetting, where you held down the Z button to lock on enemies and objects, and your attacks would be aimed automaticly at whatever you're targeting. Very revolutionary, and the system is still used today in every other 3D zelda game.
Graphics: These graphics were very impressive, and have defintetly stood the test of time. Very detailed character models and environments. In fact, I'm just impressed at the Ganondorf character model just because of HOW detailed it is, and I actually like how he looked ingame more than the offical art. This game definetely had the best graphics on ANY system from the 5th generation of videogames.
Sound: There is a LARGE variety of music. You got it for just about everything. In the forest, you got cheerful music with a beat (my personal favorite is hearing Saria's Song througout the Lost Woods). In the Goron Village, you got tribal music, and in Zora's Domain, the theme has the feel of serenity and peacefulness. they've got very quiet and low-pitch music for the dungeons (one of them which would be edited for later versions, due to it sounding like an "Islamic Prayer") Plus, the 6 warp songs you learn from Shiek are great. Also, know actual voice acting, but Link will always grunt and scream and make noises without saying a word.
Replay Value: There is enough replay value to keep you busy, even if you just want straight ahead through the main quest without taking the time to explore. There are tons of mini quests, plus a very large trading quest, which will get you a very neat prize. Besides that, take the time to look for Heart Pieces, and Golden Skulltulas. Maybe even upgrade the size of your quiver and other little minigames. Heck, so far, this is the only Zelda game I've played so far where I got virtually EVERYTHING 100%.
Overall: A very fun game, and epic. 5 stars.
But may I suggest, since there have been multiple versions of this game, by yourself an N64 and get the game for it. This is how the game should be played in it's original entirety. Dont just get it on the Wii Shop Channel, do what I did. Besides, it's probably not to hard to find a good working N64. Right?
