The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake launched on the Nintendo Switch 2 on November 5, retelling the 1998 Nintendo 64 classic. In a review, the critic wrote that the remake is “a dream come true” and argued that Nintendo’s team turned “one of the best games of the 1990s into one of the best games of the 2020s,” while the game plays similarly to the original with voiced cutscenes, expanded dialogue, and reworked camera and movement controls.
How the Remake Updates the 1998 Nintendo 64 Game
Nintendo built the new version from the ground up for Switch 2, overhauling visuals and adding a symphonic orchestral score, according to Nintendo. Producer Eiji Aonuma, who worked on the original, told BBC News that enhanced graphics and lighting unintentionally made the Skulltula House “too scary” during test play. “When we carried out the test play, the testers were telling us, ‘Oh, this is too scary,'” Aonuma said. The team adjusted the final product to retain the balance of the original, which Aonuma said strove to add “a touch of the comical” to scary elements.
The Water Temple, a dungeon roughly two-thirds into the game, received significant changes. Aonuma told BBC News it was what he personally wanted to change most due to its reputation for being “very, very difficult.” Players can now easily switch the heavy boots item and use camera orientation to tackle the dungeon with “a greater facility.”
I interviewed Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi about passing on generational knowledge, what makes a Zelda game, and the time Shigeru Miyamoto told Aonuma: "Hey, Mr. Aonuma, you know you can't really cut a wooden crate with a sword, right?"https://t.co/cQUHaiuxMl
Producers Discuss Passing the Game to New Developers
In an interview with IGN, Aonuma and producer Hidemaro Fujibayashi said a main reason for the remake was to pass the original game to younger developers. “There are much younger developers who are working on this game, and I do think this is a really valuable experience for them to familiarize themselves first with the original Ocarina of Time and then have their own reinterpretation of it,” Aonuma said.
Fujibayashi told BBC News that modern graphics express ideas that once required player imagination. “When you compare the games in the past and the games in modern times, so to speak, the norms of what people expect from a game have evolved naturally,” he said. “In the past, games where the users may have needed more imagination to fill the blanks or the gaps are now clearly expressed through the graphics that they see on the screen.”
The remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is out today for Switch 2 – cannot wait to jump in. pic.twitter.com/z63DwNPlEn
Fujibayashi added that even if the game looks different, the team “maintained the essence that the original developers wanted to and hopefully conveyed through the original Ocarina of Time.”
Critics and YouTubers Praise the Meticulous Detail
Zeltik, a YouTuber with 893,000 followers, said “the level of detail and charm” in the remake stood out.
Remake Already Boots on Jailbroken PS5 and iPhone 17 Pro Max
According to TechPowerUp, the game is already running on a jailbroken PlayStation 5 and an iPhone 17 Pro Max. On PS5 firmware 12.40, user Vampinity posted that the game loads a save and Link can walk into Kokiri Forest at 15 to 20 FPS, but it runs out of memory after a couple of minutes with heavy white fog and missing geometry. Vampinity called it “nowhere near playable.”
Developer Joe Jiang showed Kokiri Forest running on an iPhone 17 Pro Max, claiming his method peaks at 3.4 GB of memory when loading scenes despite the game wanting about 9 GB. Jiang said the approach could bring any Switch or Switch 2 game to iOS, iPadOS, Apple TV, Android, and HarmonyOS, though he has not released it yet.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time launches today for Switch 2. pic.twitter.com/20zEIg4R5v
Ocarina of Time Remake FAQ
What is ZELDA NOTES in the remake?
Nintendo offers a free ZELDA NOTES service through the Nintendo Switch App that lets players see daily accomplishments, challenge themselves to find in-game locations, create and share music scores via QR code, and take an Ocarina of Time quiz.
Can I play the remake on PlayStation 5 or PC?
TechPowerUp reported the game runs on a jailbroken PS5 and iPhone 17 Pro Max using emulators, but the PS5 version is unstable and “nowhere near playable.”
A legend that began in 1998 for Nintendo 64, expanded with Master Quest on GameCube, entered a new dimension for Nintendo 3DS and now finds itself reborn on the Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026… The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a timeless masterpiece for all generations. pic.twitter.com/YMXFgKLVqZ
Will Nintendo remake Ocarina of Time again in the future?
When BBC News asked Eiji Aonuma if Nintendo might remake the game again in 30 years, he laughed and said, “I will be long retired.”