PHOENIX — Nintendo’s remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time arrives Thursday on the Switch 2, and an early review from NPR calls it superb, streamlined and safe.
The original game came out in 1998 and is widely considered one of the greatest video games ever made. The remake comes 28 years later.
NPR’s reviewer wrote that the new version brings the game up to modern standards while mostly keeping its soul. The remake swaps the original’s fixed camera angles for an over-the-shoulder camera and adds new jump and sprint buttons that make moving around the world feel more natural.
Combat is smoother, the review said, though switching between targeted enemies is still not as easy as in some modern action games. Players can now swap items in a quick menu, a system the series introduced in 2023’s Tears of the Kingdom.
The story is unchanged. Link sets out as a child to save the land of Hyrule, then wakes up seven years later as an adult to find his world ruined by a villain’s lust for power.
Despite the impressive production, the reviewer said the game left them feeling “oddly bereft,” noting that Ocarina of Time plays on nostalgia both in its story and for longtime fans.
The remake is one of the biggest holiday releases for the Switch 2, which Nintendo launched in 2025.
Sources: NPR. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Evan-Amos / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
