With the rerelease of several classic N64 Zelda titles on the 3DS, I haven’t been able to help reminiscing about my past with that system. The N64 was a vital bridge of the gap between retro and modern gaming for a lot of people, including me, and the Zelda games available for that system were integral to that transition. I got my N64 simultaneously with the release of the Ocarina of Time, knowing that I could no longer put off the inevitable. Anyone who knows me knows that Zelda titles are must haves for me. Looking at the N64 after I unboxed it was vastly confusing to someone who was used to the Super Nintendo. The way you held the controller…so bizarre! But I soldiered on, my mother watching indulgently as I shoved my golden Ocarina of Time cartridge into my new N64 and got ready to hack and slash away. You can imagine how surprised I was when I stopped staring at the opening sequence in awe and got down to the nuts and bolts of the game. It was nothing like any game I had ever played before, even ones with Zelda in the title.
I spoke of this particular afternoon to my mother a while back, and she asked me to be more specific about it, as she has watched me play dozens of games. I reduced what was an amazing experience for me to a vague statement about climbing a huge tree to kill a giant spider. Given that we both suffer from arachnophobia, I figured that she would remember it. Her eyes brightened immediately and she smiled. That should have been my first warning. She said, “Oh, I remember that game. That was the one where I watched you fall on your face for an hour straight.”
It’s rather disconcerting to know that after all these years, one of the most poignant memories of my gaming youth could be condensed to that. Not my first moments riding a horse, not my hefting the Master Sword, not even beating the game. It’s also quite true. Despite the fact that I have tried to excise this memory from my brain over the years, my first moments in the 64 bit era were horrifying. Having a witness to my first tentative forays into such an open world was not, perhaps, my best idea ever. I remember being awed by the sheer scope of the land around me, which is almost laughable considering the size of the game worlds available today. My depth perception in this brand new world was nonexistent, and I fell more times than I can count. I can’t hear Link’s landing grunt without cringing. I walked through every room tentatively, like a kid trying to sneak out of the house when they know they’re grounded, afraid that a creaking floorboard will give them away. Attacking was nerve-wracking, and jumping was downright terrifying.
As someone who has beaten the Ocarina of Time at least half a dozen times since then, I find this kind of nervousness in the first dungeon humorous, but ultimately understandable. It was present when I first played Super Mario Brothers. It was present when I played my first game on the current generation of systems. The AI is smarter, the controls more precise, but I am the same old me, which means that I need to up my game. All modern handholding aside, the need to adapt is still the same, and in the beginning we are all fish out of water. Some of us are just more ridiculous looking than others, I guess, and feel the need to have an audience. Hopefully I’ve learned my lesson since then.
I haven’t given much love to the N64 on this blog, which is a shame, particularly due to the fact that it had such a profound impact on my life as a gamer. This transitional experience was important, if not more than a little embarrassing. Not only did this system help pave the path between retro and modern gaming for me, it also possessed one of my top five favorite games. Yes, I do mean the Ocarina of Time. I look back on it now as one of the very few games that I have ever played that may very well have attained perfection. I do not say that lightly. Hopefully the people who are reading this have gotten a chance to play the Ocarina of Time on the N64 back in the day. If not, why are you still reading this? You clearly have more important things that you need to be doing.
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