The Best Nintendo Game Every Year 1983 - 2024
27. 1998 - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
As previously noted in the PlayStation list of the same type, 1998 was one of gaming’s best. No matter what console you were on, you were spoilt for choice. In fact, the N64 had several great titles but if there was ever a “nailed-on” entry for this entire article, it was surely Ocarina of Time.
If you know anything at all about video games, you know how important and beloved this game is. Ocarina is a title that entered the Video Game Hall of Fame on its first nomination, has been given endless retrospective rewards and is the single highest-rated game on MetaCritic with a near-perfect score of 99. Whilst time may not have been kind to its visuals, and the franchise has arguably iterated Ocarina into redundancy, there is still a beautiful spark in Link’s first 3D outing.
And that is the spirit of adventure, a wonderment clearly felt by the artists and developers who produced it that they were breaking new ground. The world of Hyrule felt diverse, huge and full of secrets that - whilst recognisable to what came before - required the player to think in new ways. It’s truly astounding how much the team got right on the first published attempt, as Zelda would use Ocarina as a blueprint - heck, so would a lot of other adventure games - for the next two decades.
With both of Nintendo’s mascots translating over so well, the era of 3D had truly arrived.