A group of modders and fans recently released their take on a sequel to the N64 classic The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for other fans of the series to see and play for themselves. The group posted a trailer of their handiwork on social media, and other Legend of Zelda fans praised them for staying true to the spirit of the original Ocarina of Time while providing new content for long-time fans to see as they explore a take on Hyrule from an age long gone.
Originally released in November 1998 for the N64, Ocarina of Time is widely considered to be a killer app for the N64 console and one of the top games in the entire Zelda series. Since then, Ocarina of Time has seen numerous ports and releases on other Nintendo consoles, including a remake for the 3DS in 2011. As fans eagerly await the release of Tears of the Kingdom next month, a group of modders took it upon themselves to deliver a fresh take on the N64 era of Hyrule.
Released on March 23, and developed by three Zelda modders known as Junnosuke9, Col0Korn, and Shoopey, The Legend of Zelda: The Sealed Palace is a romhack of Ocarina of Time. Featuring the same graphical and sound style as the original release, The Sealed Palace looks to be a love letter to retro games of the 90s. It starts with players assuming the role of an adult Link, who must then escape the Hyrule Castle dungeon and discover why they were there in the first place. From there, players may set out to discover locations that were not part of the original release. Some of these locales include a snow-covered town and a strange underground cave system. Players interested in trying the romhack for themselves can do so in the description box of the YouTube trailer below:
However, the hack has a few requirements. Players that want to try out The Sealed Palace must supply their own ROM of Ocarina of Time as well as an N64 emulator to use on their device of choice. Once those prerequisites are met, players can enjoy The Sealed Palace as they see fit. According to the comments in the YouTube trailer, The Sealed Temple is comparable in length to Ocarina of Time, which should provide fans with plenty to delve into. Fans that want to play the original Ocarina of Time can do so on the Nintendo Switch Online N64 app.
Though Nintendo has not been kind to fan preservation and romhacking efforts in the past, as seen by the shutdown of the 3DS and Wii U eShops, the efforts of modders such as Junnosuke9, Col0Korn, and Shoopey have not gone unnoticed by gamers. Between The Sealed Palace and the imminent release of Tears of the Kingdom, Zelda fans have plenty to look forward to this spring.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is available now for 3DS, GameCube, N64, and Switch.
Source: GamesRadar