Facebook – Top 100 FAVORITE Video Games: 13

13: Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
Developer: Nintendo
Year: 1998

Maybe my most cherished memory of this game is the easiest one to talk about; having received this game as a Christmas present, my older brother and I dashed and slashed our way through the temples over the next few days and finally went face-to-face with Ganondorf, only to be destroyed time and again by his awesome attacks. Defeated, we retired for the night, only to awaken – without plan and without one of us waking the other – early the following day, sit down, and topple the bastard once and for all. The joy of seeing that game’s ending washed over us, having put entire days into the game and finishing it in under a week. We were gods.

Of course, that’s just one moment in a game that is made up of solid gold (a joke, considering the cartridge could come in gold, itself) sequences, one after the other. I still remember the awesome-ness of the Spirit Temple, having to revert back into young Link to conquer the first few rooms and then become adult Link to tackle the others. I remember traversing the ugly and gross interiors of Jabu Jabu’s belly (which featured cows stuck in the walls if you play the Master Quest version). I remember duking it out with Dark Link in the Water Temple, only to beat him and suffer the intolerable water-level-changing puzzles even more. I remember the laughs, the frustration, and the copious amounts of good times had messing around, getting the Big Goron Sword, figuring out you could knock Ganondorf’s blasts back at him with a bottle instead of your sword, and making up Scarecrow songs.

Some might feel that this game’s exclusion from the Top 10 is controversial, and that’s fair. It really ushered into the world the understanding that a game that worked perfectly as a 2D title could in fact be equally awesome in 3D. It introduced us all to the now legendary “Z-targeting system” – and I say legendary because, let’s face it, its still used. And not only in Zelda games. It was epic, everyone was talking about it, and everyone had to play it. It balanced, perfectly, the action, adventure, and exploration we all longed for, better – I’d say – than in any other Zelda game (before, or since). And its easily the best game in the entire Nintendo 64 library (marred, a bit – in my opinion – by the atrociously over-celebrated Majora’s Mask being made from the same engine).

While TOoT doesn’t make it into the Top 10, take away the knowledge that I have ranked it as the second best game Nintendo ever made (“Oh, Jesus! What could be better than this in his opinion?!” is what you should be thinking to yourself, right now). And, to be really straight with you, I feel like the next four games are really interchangeable within the list. So, take some solace in that, too.

All in all, this is the best Zelda game ever made. Yes, yes, this is a list of my “Favorites” and what have you, but I really don’t think anyone would argue that any game is much better than this one within the franchise. At least, not seriously (I await, now, someone coming in and saying “ZELDA 2!” so that I can go “Taken” on their ass). Memories are formed, expectations have been raised, and stories can always be told. Some video games represent, for me, pure examples of love and greatness. This is one such game.

Classic Moment:
Aside from the one I listed, I love Bongo Bongo. I don’t even know why. For some reason that fight sticks out in my mind as one of the best the franchise has ever produced. He’s creepy as sin, has an interesting arena do battle him in, and is actually challenging. While he isn’t as funny as Twinrova, odd as Morpha, or epic as Ghoma, Bongo Bongo has real character. I love that bastard and his whole damn Temple.

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Added April 10, 2017
I tried to get through Master Quest about a decade or more ago and it didn’t go my way. Got to Water Temple and just wanted to die. Flat out die. I hate that place.
I’ll get around to replaying it, eventually, but for now, just know that this is a great title and one of the best Zelda games ever made.