A Link To The Past

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

Cultural nostalgia is a curious emotion, particularly for antiquated forms of technology. Washed out and overexposed digital camera filters. The artificial crackle on a FLAC file to simulate the experience of listening to a vinyl record. Blu-rays with faux distortion to emulate a VCR losing its tracking. This strange yearning for the imperfections from earlier days.

As I imagine it is with all gamers of my generation, I feel these nostalgia pangs most acutely from all things 8/16-bit [for example, Google's April Fools Day prank Google Quest]. I even harbor a certain amount of affection for the jagged polygons and low resolution textures of the Nintendo 64. Curiously though, I never feel compelled to replay games from the fifth generation of consoles.

The Gameboy Advanced and Nintendo DS will always be fondly remembered because they provided a platform for entire genres endangered by the transition to 3D. In a way, SNES games will never feel outdated because they represent an antediluvian art -- an evolutionary line run dry. Quite simply, they just don't make them like they used to. In contrast, the Nintendo 3DS has a harder sell as emulated Nintendo 64 games are just inchoate versions of contemporary blockbusters hamstrung by technical limitations (fog, anyone?).

The 2D side-scrolling platformer arguably reached its apex in 1997 with Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. The best 3D shooter is always waiting to be published. Why play Turok: Dinosaur Hunter when you can just wait for Halo 4?

With this in mind, The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time 3D plays a subtle game of revisionist history. As I started playing it, I was shocked by how good it looked and how well it played. It wasn't until I was cruising through the notorious Water Temple that I realized that Nintendo had not only upped the texture cache but had also altered the art direction to make the dungeon more easily navigable. It is a bizarre hyper-nostalgia: an uncanny feeling that maybe the past was actually better than you had remember it.

Yet what strikes me most 15 years later is how empty Hyrule Field feels now. In 1996, it was exhilarating to have the freedom to explore such a vast space. In 2012, it just seems like a waste of time.

Grade: B+