Prerelease:The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time/Sword on A (Part 1)

This is a sub-page of Prerelease:The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

October 1997

Specifications

It’s believed the game is based on an day/night system, as sunsets and differentiating screen-shots have shown.

Fights occur in realtime, and are not turn-based.

Release Date

Zelda 64 was again stated by Nintendo Power to be slated for a Japanese release at the end of the year, only a few months away at the time of the magazine's publishing. This estimate was surprisingly optimistic, considering the game had recently undergone a storyline overhaul, with the time travel mechanic being added to the game. The American language release was forecasted for the spring of 1998.

64DD

Four months after the last update on the 64DD version of the game, it was again confirmed that the disk expansion would serve as an add-on that would update and alter the cartridge game.

Camera

Fans were treated to the following details about the function of the game’s camera:

"Camera angles are dynamic. The camera is believed to move on its own, picking the best view to see the action from, but also enables gamers to pick and choose their own. The camera will often pick the most dramatic viewpoint, either overhead, appearing at foot level or a few close to an isometric perspective." - N64.com

At right, the first-person bow perspective is visible.

Actions

Spin Attack

Prototype	Final

In October, 1997 footage we saw Link pull off the spin attack move for the first time. Only the effect for charging it existed in this point of time and it looked rather weak compared to the effect of the final game.

Shield

Oct '96	Oct '97

Link's shield was still active if you stood still. No need to press R.

Recoil

Whatever surface Link's sword hit, it'd cause him to recoil. In the finished game recoil is limited to specific surfaces only e.g. boulders, torches, Dodongos and Stalfos.

Knockback in air

Prototype	Final

Prototype	Final

Link had no air knockback animation, so his damage animation in the air was same as on floor.

Director and character designer Koizumi later recalled that the advent of Child Link meant that he was burdened with the task of having to create double the number of animations. Fortunately, the developers were able to make use of a simple trick. By applying a scale of a certain value to Adult Link's model, existing animations could be re-calibrated and repurposed for Child Link.

Not all the animations made the transition smoothly, however. Some had to be reworked for Child Link. In the end, Koizumi made 1.5 times the number of animations for the younger version of the protagonist.

All in all, the game contained about 500 animation patterns that were combined to form an even greater number of possible actions for Link. Koizumi credits the Nintendo 64's ROM cartridges as the reason that the developers were able to include so many animations in the game.

One of the animations that Miyamoto hoped to include was Link raising his sword above his head. In the end, however, this wasn't possible on the N64, and the idea was revived for Skyward Sword, which used Wii MotionPlus technology.

Interface

Adult Link

Aug. '97	Oct.’97

GUI	The GUI functions remain unchanged. The button's appearance has gone from a gradient to solid and embossed.
A Button	Link is only seen with his sword equipped to A.
B Button	B still serves as the action button. When Link has the option of getting off Epona, it reads “おりる” (Get Down). When Link rides Epona, it reads “むち” (Whip), which was localized to “Faster” in the English version of the game. It seems to defaults to "ナビィ" (Navi), as seen in the screenshots featuring Child Link.
C-Left	Adult Link is shown with a bow and 16 arrows equipped to C-Left.
C-Right	Adult Link has the Ocarina of Time equipped, inset with three Spiritual Stones.
C-Down	Adult Link has 16 bombs set to C-Down.
Hearts	Link has ♥♥♥♡♡♡♡♡ hearts.
Rupees	Adult Link carries 10 rupees.
Magic Meter	The magic meter is now full.

Child Link

GUI	The GUI is identical to Adult Link's.
A Button	Link is only seen with his sword equipped to A.
B Button	B serves as the action button. It seems to default to "ナビィ" (Navi).
C-Left	Child Link has a slingshot with 1 unit of ammo equipped to C-Left.
C-Right	Like Adult Link, Child Link has the Ocarina of Time equipped, inset with three Spiritual Stones.
C-Down	Child Link has a Deku Stick set to C-Down.
Hearts	Child Link has ♥♥♥ hearts.
Rupees	Child Link has 00 rupees.
Magic Meter	The magic meter is full.

Link's Model

October marked the first time that Child Link was unveiled to the world. An article on IGN.com revealed details on Link’s character and appearance, referencing coverage by Japanese gaming magazines Dengeki Nintendo 64 and The Dream 64.

Child Link

It wasn't until October 1997 that Child Link first appeared on the scene, wielding his child-sized sword and standing at the foot of Death Mountain. The magic meter is quite small compared to the final version of the game when you receive magic from the Great Fairy on Death Mountain as well as Link only has 3 hearts.

Hair	Child Link’s hair is a shade of blond identical to Adult Link’s.
Face	His blue eyes and facial features did not change from their inception.
Outfit	Child Link wears a bright green tunic and cap. His final garb has a darker hue. His hat also extends further down his back in these early shots.
Sword	Link wields the dagger that would come to be known as the Kokiri Sword. It has a green gem inset into it, rather than the released game’s red gem.
Scabbard	On his back is a blue and gold scabbard.
Shield	The Deku Shield, bearing the insignia of Link’s people.

Adult Link

IGN described Adult Link as “a sword-wielding 18-year-old with an earring”.

Aug. 1997	Oct. 1997 - Front

Hair	The shape of Link's hair changed, his bangs now divided into two sections.
Outfit	The sleeves and tights under the hero's tunic turned from gold to white. His boot's color is brown, rather than red, with a lighter rim. The texture on his tunic has changed from a more circular one to an angled "V" shape.
Sword	His sword does not appear to have changed.
Shield	The front of his shield has been updated from the Triforce and flourish design to its final look, with the red bird insignia. However, the back is still metallic, rather than wooden.

Removed Bomb Bag Model

Aug. '97	Oct. '97

Link used to have a visible bomb bag model attached to his model when bombs were used. This was seen in August 1997 to October 1997 promotional material and it was no longer seen in April 1998. References to this could be found from the leaks documenting some of the removed display lists.

The Art of The Legend of Zelda Master Class 2017

Adult Link's Model

Adult Link's and Ganondorf's early models were shown at an event Nintendo held in 2017. This event was called "The Art of The Legend of Zelda Master Class" and in this event they showed bunch of concept art for Zelda games alongside these models.

In modeling terms, Link's model used to use so-called "normal skeleton". This means he was constructed from many different pieces like Super Mario is from Super Mario 64. In March 1998, this skeleton type was updated to a "flex skeleton". What improvement flex skeleton brought to the table was that Link started to look less pieced together, but this didn't come without any drawbacks. Link's hat wasn't ever updated to retain its more realistic physique, which it used to have in its normal skeleton days. Ocarina of Time's remaster Ocarina of Time 3D recreated this movement he used to have in 1997 for his hat.

This Link model is identical to the October 1997/November 1997 model (Spaceworld 1997 demo), however some discrepancies exist regarding some of his textures and equipment.

• The brown Master Sword model is from April 1997, but its scabbard texture is from August 1997/November 1997 when it wasn't meant to be brown anymore.
• Shield model is from April 1997/August 1997 era because it's missing the blue stripes seen in October 1997/November 1997 screenshots.
• Link's gauntlet textures are from August 1997.
• Link's boot textures are from August 1997 and not October 1997/November 1997.

Prototype	Final

Prototype	Final

(Source: Xiartic & ZeeRoX)

Ganondorf's Model

Prototype	Final

Ganondorf doesn't grin in any of the final drawbridge cutscenes. Phantom Ganon does however.

Items

An article on IGN.com revealed a little more information on Link's items, as well as introducing new ones. The site reported that there would be differences between the items available to Adult and Child Link.

Master Sword

The name of Link’s legendary weapon was not yet revealed at this point. IGN mentioned that it would only be useable by Adult Link.

Bow

IGN mentioned that it would only be useable by Adult Link.

Ocarina of Time

The Ocarina of Time was both named and introduced in October.

Because the Ocarina was controlled in-game using only the four C buttons and the A button to produce notes, composer Koji Kondo mentioned in a 2005 Nintendo Power interview that creating the game’s famous warp songs was a challenge.

"I had to create all of those memorable tunes with only five tones of the classic do-re-mi scale. Specifically: re, fa, la and ti (and the higher-scale re). Since each of these songs, like Zelda's Lullaby and Epona's Song, had a particular theme, it was quite challenging, but I think it all felt really natural in the end." - Koji Kondo

The Ocarina of Time has a primitive texture and play animation. It rests atop Child Link's hands. When he plays, a black letterbox appears on the screen, but the interface does not disappear. The C-button icon shows three spiritual stones embedded in the ocarina. This old ocarina icon and the spiritual stones themselves can be found in the SW97 overdump.

Kokiri Sword

Like Adult Link’s blade, Child Link’s sword was known only as "the dagger" at this point in time. IGN mentioned that it would only be useable by the protagonist’s younger self. N64.com stated that Link would be able to use a vertical and horizontal attack when wielding the weapon.

Slingshot

The slingshot was not yet known as the “Fairy Slingshot”. IGN mentioned that it would only be useable by Child Link.

Slingshot Coverage Effect

When Link's slingshot seed hit something, a cool looking coverage effect occurred. This effect was removed for the final game and all you get is a white flash effect.

Deku Stick

The Deku Stick was known only as “stick”. IGN mentioned that it would only be useable by Child Link.

Bomb Flowers

Aug. '97	Oct. '97

As in the released game, Bomb Flowers produced an unlimited supply of bombs. Bomb Flowers in August 1997 used to look like final but with orange leaves, however in October 1997 they became rainbow-hued for a short amount of time.

Named, Not Seen

Several items were not depicted in October’s screenshots, but received a mention in the IGN article. These were the Hookshot, known as the “grappling hook”, the Megaton Hammer, simply called “hammer”, the Lens of Truth, dubbed “glasses”, the boomerang, and the Deku Nuts, known only as “nut”.

IGN listed the “Whip” as another item in Link’s arsenal. It's unlikely that this was ever an inventory item. Chances are that it was included after the editors saw the word "むち" (Whip) on the B button in screenshots depicting Link riding Epona. This word was localized to “Faster” in the English version of the game.

Famimaga interviewed Shigeru Miyamoto after the game was demoed at Spaceworld 1997. When the interviewer asked about the carrots. Miyamoto said it wasn't always a carrot, but a whip instead. He says it was shown in previous screenshots but no screenshots exist where they weren't carrots, so he may be mistaken here.

https://archive.org/details/famimaga-64-issue-28-january-1998-600dpi-ozidual/page/n23/mode/2up
Basically, it's a "carrot-and-stick" type situation in which the carrots come into play. Everytime you use the whip, you give them a carrot. Well, if you're just using a whip, you'd feel bad for the horse... So, compared to previous screenshots, we just changed the whip icon to a carrot icon.

Translation: CDi-Fails

Also listed was an item known as “Ink Stone”, which has never been talked about before or since. Its identity is unclear.

Story

IGN, quoting N64.com, unveiled for the first time that the game would feature a time travel mechanic. Much like A Link to the Past’s protagonist used the Magic Mirror to travel between dimensions, the site stated that Zelda 64’s Link would use the "Tower of Time" and the "Ocarina of Time" to travel between eras.

In addition, the article relayed that Link would receive the ocarina fairly early in the game, but would need to locate "four" magic stones before he could use it. It is likely that this information is a mistranslation of the fact that Link would have to retrieve four items in order to travel through time: the three Spiritual Stones, and the Ocarina of Time.

Nintendo Power restated the story information it had revealed in September:

In Zelda 64, Link is given a mission to find the Triforce, but Ganondorf, king of the thieves, is also hunting the powerful artifact. With the help of Zelda, three magic Ocarina Stones, and Navie the wood fairie, Link sets off on his greatest quest ever. - Nintendo Power #101

Spiritual Stones

The "magic Ocarina Stones" moniker mentioned in Nintendo Power owes to the fact that the Spiritual Stones were originally inset into the Ocarina of Time, as depicted in the ocarina icon. This terminology is even present in the map select of the Ocarina of Time: Master Quest Debug ROM:

Map 27: だいようせいのいずみ (Great Fairy Fountain)	Cutscenes: Link is granted a magic meter and the spin attack, a larger magic meter, and double defence. Exit: Exits to Death Mountain.
Map 28: とびこみようせいあな (Fairy Hole You Dive In)	Cutscenes: Link is granted Farore's Wind, Din's Fire, and Nayru's Love. Exit:Exits to Zora's Fountain. Notes: As the fairy fountain in Zora's Fountain is entered via a cave, rather than Link diving into it, this map name no longer applies.
Map 29: まほうせきのようせい (Magic Stone Fairy)	Cutscenes: Link is granted Farore's Wind, Din's Fire, and Nayru's Love. Exit: Exits to Zora's Fountain. Notes: Identical to Map 28 in everything but name. It appears that there was a fairy who had a relationship to the Spiritual Stones at one point.

Characters

Navi

N64.com noted that Navi would help players determine which direction enemies were appearing from.

Epona

Though still unnamed, at long last, Link’s mount made her debut. N64.com mentioned the possibility of Link having to capture and train her himself. This was later clarified in Nintendo Power #103, which stated that there was a "suggestion" that the horse may not always have been Link’s trusted steed, and might need to be captured and trained before he could ride her.

Nintendo had been talking about including a horse in Super Mario 64, but the idea never materialized. Instead, the concept was incorporated into Zelda 64.

Designer Keisuke Nishimori later stated that the development team studied the motions and behaviour of real horses to aid in the creation of Epona. According to Miyamoto, adding the horse to the game wasn't smooth sailing. He had thought that having Link ride a horse was a distant dream, but the animators and modellers did their best, and in the end, the staff finally got Link's steed working.

Epona was originally named Ao, which director Aonuma felt was a natural name for a horse. It was Koizumi who came up with the idea of calling the horse Epona, which is the name of the goddess of horses and fertility in Celtic mythology.

When Epona was introduced to Miyamoto, all he said was that he wanted to see the horse jumping from below. He suggested having it jump over a valley, with the camera looking up from the bottom of the valley, against the light. The developers commented that it was unlike Miyamoto to make specific requests regarding visuals, and this instance was the only example that they could recall. They speculated that the producer's interest in the horse might have owed to his personal interest in horses stemming from western movies and country music. Miyamoto's request was later incorporated into the cutscene where Link escapes from Lon Lon Ranch on Epona.

Like Link, Epona was able to automatically jump over obstacles. This was due to the fact that Miyamoto asserted that Zelda games didn't need difficult actions. However, the producer chose to incorporate a carrot system into the horseback riding mechanic, as he believed that simply riding a horse around wouldn't be very fun in terms of gameplay, and wanted to put in some sort of action.

These weren't the only ideas Miyamoto had for Epona. He also hoped to include mounted archery and horseback sword combat.

While the latter didn't make it into the N64 game, it was included in the GameCube sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, released 7 years later.

Environments

The developers poured their resources into designing Zelda 64's environments. Miyamoto has described The Legend of Zelda series' environments as "miniature gardens." Accordingly, it took the team around 2 years just to cultivate the overworld, which the producer described as vast plains dotted with towns and other diversions, in which a child named Link stood alone. Questions that they faced included what colour the sunrise should be, how long a game day would last, what events would only occur at night, and how long the nights would be.

Miyamoto wanted to ensure that players could get a lot of playtime out of Zelda 64, outside of the main plot. It was for this reason that he made it so Link could travel to a variety of locations, right from the early stages of the game.

Revisited - Ranch

A road surrounded by fences and fields disappears into the horizon. The map was found in the 1997 overdump. There are several different-colored pinwheels that seem to suggest the area was used for archery testing.

Link's House

Link's House was first shown in October 1997 footage. Link's bed was rather uncomfortable to sleep on. The top-down pre-render survived the flashing of F-Zero X.

Kokiri Forest

Link climbing down the ladders of his house. This old Kokiri Forest map seen in these October 1997 era screenshots was discovered in the iQue repository leak a while back.

Prototype	Final

Mido wasn't Link's bully in the beginning, but instead a friend just like Saria is. Here he's greeting Link outside his house. Unused texture found from the Late 1997 Overdump makes it evident he was planned take the role of the Shadow Sage. His model in this screenshot matches the model found unused in the final game.

Prototype	Final

The Ocarina of Time used to look puffier and featured yellow paint around the holes to symbolize the C-buttons.

Prototype	Final

Child Link stands in a bare and primitive Kokiri Forest.

Prototype	Final

He is also seen playing the ocarina in front of his house, which lacks the treed background of the final game.

Hyrule Field

Oct '97	Late 1997 Overdump (Nov '97)

xxx

Oct '97	Late 1997 Overdump (Nov '97)

October 1997 Hyrule Field didn't have fences around to block the access to unfinished areas of the game. These were added in November for the Spaceworld 1997 demo.

Oct '97	Late 1997 Overdump (Nov '97)

xxx

Oct '97	Late 1997 Overdump (Nov '97)

Epona rears as the drawbridge lowers at midday. There are no short stone walls hemming in the drawbridge, but a long, smooth wall stretches from the city tower in the background, rather than the usual cliff.

Oct '97	Late 1997 Overdump (Nov '97)

xxx

Link rides around a markedly different Hyrule Field. Lon Lon Ranch is missing.

Hyrule Castle Town

Prototype	Final

Prototype	Final

This version of the pre-render is something we'd have if that one Nintendo employee didn't overwrite the cartridge with F-Zero. The Town was noticeably more depopulated and few NPCs that ended up in the cutting room floor were seen wandering around. The man's object name is object_oA6 and the woman's is object_oB3 which happens to be an earlier model of the character who ended up being used as Carpenter boss' wife.

Temple of Time Exterior

Oct '97	iQue (Same as April '98)	Final

Temple of Time Exterior in October 1997 used to feature stairs that look closer to the final pre-render design wise.

Death Mountain

Adult Link vies against a Tektite at the start of Death Mountain Trail. In the final game, the Z-targeting triangles are different and yellow where in this screenshot they are a bracket square reticle and red. Some red plants, perhaps flowers are growing on the mountain walls. They appear to be 2D textures using the billboarding technique to always face the camera. These were already removed in November which is the date of the Spaceworld 1997 map.

Prototype	Final

Link climbing up the Death Mountain and facing the camera. An early look at the directional sign object might be partially seen top left. It couldn't have been the flagpost as that remained in a different location almost the entire development time.

Prototype	Final

Child Link scopes out Death Mountain for himself. Two unknown objects which may be early rock models are seen in the distance. The details on the texture they use seem to align with the texture seen on this removed spear trap found from the iQue leak.

Prototype	Final

Dodongo's Cavern

The lava pit that surrounds the platforms in the Lizalfos mini-boss room uses a non-lava looking texture.

King Dodongo's Lair

Triforce symbol used to exist in boss rooms in October, 1997. If the first screenshot taken from this video footage is inspected carefully, seams for a plausible door are seen. Commit logs reveal that the unused Triforce transition was added around this time too by Hayakawa: 1997-10-03T14:20:07+09:00 z_fbdemo_triforce. This presumable triforce door could've potentially been an old way of exiting the boss arena before blue warps were created.

Gerudo Valley

The first screenshot of Gerudo Valley. This early idea of Gerudo Valley was later found in the overdump.

Gerudo Training Ground

Prototype	Final

Link stands at the entrance of the Gerudo Training Ground. The entrance seems to be a lot lower than it is in the final game. Two gold treasure chests sit in the background, as well as a sign. Two torches are lit and they use the object_fire texture.

Thanks to the overdump, we're able to finally know this room was part of the early Gerudo Training Ground. More specifically Link is fighting bunch of Poes in the "Maze Battle Course" section of it.

The key counter is to the right of the rupee counter, instead of above as in the final.

Enemies

Revisited - Poe

April '97	Oct '97

Poes get a graphical update to match the way they look in the released game and aren't just a 3D version of their ALttP appearance anymore.

The Poe in all available images seems to lean downwards much more. Their initial appear and damage animation still reflects this in the final version, the other animations seem to have been adjusted later during development.

Revisited - Stalfos

Stalfos are also updated to their final design.

Blue Tektite

A skinny-legged blue Tektite lunges at Link. The Tektite displays an early version of the model where the legs are more slender and missing the sensory hair(very similar to a spider's) that are on the final version's legs. After comparing this picture to the old Zelda64 trailer, this is most likely a reskin of the Tektites seen in that trailer. In the final game, you cannot find blue Tektites anywhere on Death Mountain, only the red ones. The background textures used in Death Mountain also seem to be different from the final version.

November 1997

To do: properly incorporate images possibly some more prerelease screens - 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8, from this CD-ROM Tim Stamper has a SpaceWorld cart and released a pic showing its title screen.

Nintendo SpaceWorld 1997 Coverage

SpaceWorld '97 Official Content:

• Nintendo SpaceWorld 1997 Guidebook - Contains OoT Content
• Official Nintendo SpaceWorld '97 Website

SpaceWorld '97 Videos:

• Japanese TV Program Covering Nintendo SpaceWorld 97 - Zelda OoT at 08:45
• HD SpaceWorld 1997 Zelda Demo Reel - at 11:00

SpaceWorld '97 Magazine Coverage:

• SW97 Coverage - N64 Magazine
• SW97 Coverage - 64 Magazine
• SW97 Coverage - Consoles Magazine
• SW97 Coverage - Official Nintendo Magazine
• SW97 Coverage - JoyPad French Magazine
• SW97 Pre-Show Coverage - N64 Magazine

SW97 - Early Hyrule Map	SW97 - Kokiri Forest & File Select
SW97 - Kokiri Forest & Title Logo	SW97 - Link's House
SW97 - King Dodongo & Text Box	SW97 - Various SW97 TVs
SW97 - Deku Tree - Nintendomanía	SW97 - Deku Tree, at the boss's door - Nintendomanía
SW97 Booth - Hobby Consolas Issue 76	SW97 - Kokiri Forest - VideoGames DE 1998-1
SW97 Booth - Hobby Consolas Issue 76	SW97 - Ocarina of Time Booth
SW97 - Shigeru Miyamoto	SW97 Booth - Hobby Consolas Issue 76
Deku Dungeon & Kokiri Forest - N64 Mag UK	SW97 - Stalfos Battle (Map in Debug)
OoT Booth from Show Entrance - EDGE 54	Various SW97 Screens
SW97 Dungeon Scenario - Club Nintendo 03/1998	Famitsu 0469 Dec 12, 1997

SpaceWorld 1997 Press Event w/ Shigeru Miyamoto (Nov 21-23)	SW97 Press Event w/ Miyamoto
Ocarina of Time at SW97	Another Cart at SW97
SW97 carts (Nov 21-23) Official UK Nintendo Magazine #64 Jan98

A new page has been written in The Legend of Zelda.

The charm of Zelda has always been its puzzles, and the diverse array of actions and items players use to solve them. Now, the legend has been reborn on the 64, and, not only does it include these familiar components, everything, from its beautiful visuals that ???, to its realistic sound, have been powered up!! Link's animations make use of motion-capture technology, and his realistic

「ゼルダの伝説」に、また新たな１ページが書き加えられた。 「ゼルダ」の魅力といえば、多彩なアクションとアイテム、そしてそれを駆使してのなぞ解き。６４で生まれ変わった「ゼルダ」は、これらの要素はもちろん、光と影を感じさせる美しいビジュアルや、臨場感あふれるサウンドなどすべてが○○(純粋?)にパワーアップ！リンクの動きにはモーションキャプチャーが使用されたりもして、そのリアルなアクションの数々は「ゼルダ」の世界にきっとキミを引き込むはずだ。操作が複雑か？っていうと、そんなことは全然ない。3D空間を自由自在に駆け巡るリンクはプレイヤーそのものなのだ。

もちろん迫力あるキャラたちも君を待ち受ける。戦闘の一つ一つが手に汗握る戦いだ。

愛馬を使って走れ！リンク！ なんと今回のリンクは馬に乗ってフィールドを移動することもある。馬の動きは本物そっくり。その疾走感を是非体験してほしい。しかもこの愛馬は、単なる乗り物としてではなく、ゲーム進行上の大きなカギを握っているみたいだ。

パートナーは「妖精ナビィ」 画面写真でリンクの周りを飛び回っている、羽の生えた光る球。実はこれはリンクの守護妖精。名前をナビィと言う。○○の途中でヒントを与えてくれたり、敵のサーチをしたりと、リンクをいろいろサポートしてくれる、とっても頼りがいのあるパートナーなんだ。

オトコでもない、コドモでもない、揺れる年ごろのリンクがさらに揺れる？ 「時間」。それは今回の「ゼルダ」の一番大きなキーワードかもしれない。この２つの画像を見比べてみるとわかるように、ゲーム中には青年時代のリンクと少年時代のリンクが、それぞれ登場してくる。過去と未来、２つの時間を駆け抜ける今回のリンク。オトナとコドモの使い分け、なんてなぞ解きも充分考えられるであろう。

November 1997 marked an exciting time for Zelda fans. This was because the first-ever playable demo of Zelda 64 debuted at Spaceworld '97. The exhibition, showcasing up-and-coming Nintendo hardware and game software, was held from November 21st to 24th, and saw 135,011 visitors. Western fans got to hear about the game vicariously through news outlets like IGN64.com.

The demo itself was a collection of test levels, put together just for the show. While the story and the magic system remained largely shrouded in mystery, Nintendo showcased the battle system, Link's large array of equipment, and a number of environments.

Features of Zelda 64 Spaceworld 1997 Demo

An account given by VideoGameSpot addresses the playable features and sequential layout for Zelda 64 at Nintendo Spaceworld '97.

Powering on demo: Exhibits cinematic cutscene of Princess Zelda fleeing Hyrule Castle Town on horseback.

Main Menu: Contains specialized menu created for the Spaceworld Expedition. The main menu contains three main categories, with a sub-menu for each category. The main categories are labeled Hyrule Tour, Dungeon Tour, and Battle Tour.

Hyrule Tour: This sub-menu contains four gameplay scenarios. They are described as being "Link's House", the "Hyrule overworld", a "River area", and "outside the castle - riding Link's horse".

Dungeon Tour: This sub-menu contains "three dungeon scenarios". Unfortunately, what these three dungeon scenarios were are not described in the eyewitness account. However, based on anecdotal evidence from the 1997 overdump, the three dungeons used seemed to have been the Deku Tree, Dodongo's Cavern, and the Gerudo Training Grounds.

Battle Tour: This sub-menu contains the option to fight Ghoma, Dodongo, or Stalfos.

World Map

Spaceworld 1997 map	Overdump map	Retail map

The overdump contains a version of this map.

Specifications

In an interview with Nintendo Power, Miyamoto mentioned that his team had set out to make a dynamic, virtual, 3D world that felt like somewhere Link would be able to live.

IGN64 reported that the game would run at frame rates of between 24 and 30 frames per second,, have a built-in EEPROM that allowed for three different save files,, and would not require a separate memory pak.

Release Date

It was announced that a Japanese release for the game could be expected in April, 1998, and that the price would be set at ¥6,800. (Around $53 USD, at the time.)

64DD

IGN.com reported that the 64DD add-on for Ocarina of Time, known only by its working title, Zelda DD, was being developed independently from its N64 counterpart by a completely different team. Miyamoto was quoted as saying that the add-on would likely be released in Japan before the end of 1998.

While the site stated that the game would be an action RPG, Miyamoto noted that Nintendo had not yet decided whether or not Zelda DD would be a completely new game, or an expansion which required the Zelda 64 cartridge to run and simply provided the original game with a new quest.

Camera

Z-Targeting

The editors of Nintendo Power #104 were most surprised by the presence of a targeting system for battles. When players pressed Z, a targeting box would appear around the enemy, similar to the lock-on target in StarFox 64. Locking onto an enemy during battle would allow Link to face the target and strafe sideways. He would also be able to perform a jump slash by pressing B to jump, then swinging his sword with A. It was reported that the hero could perform a backwards flip by pulling the analog stick in the opposite direction to which he was facing.

Cutscenes

In November, fans were treated to the first Ocarina of Time cutscene ever seen: Link’s fateful encounter with Ganondorf on the drawbridge of Hyrule Castle Town.

Miyamoto has always loved films and anime. Recognizing that he was not a professional moviemaker, however, he decided to adopt a cinematic approach when it came to the game’s development, rather than trying to make a movie himself.

Because the game featured the player interactively controlling Link in a world that functioned in real-time, one of the experiments the producer conducted was to use camera blocking to showcase Link as though he were in a movie.

Though the title ended up containing over 1.5 hours of cutscenes, Miyamoto denied that this made the game a movie, claiming that if someone were to edit the scenes and compile them into a video, it would be terribly boring to watch.

He credited the designers with the quality of the cinematic scenes, saying that it was their talent that allowed the developers to incorporate natural cinematic techniques into the game real-time, rather than his own.

Sound

The game didn't have much music implemented yet, but the overworld was filled with the sounds of bird calls, animal noises, and footsteps. The dungeon music was described as "ambient, with low, pounding bass notes and a siren-like string sound." IGN.com mentioned that the typical Zelda theme music had yet to be incorporated. (It never was.)

The site did make note of the sound effects, however, reporting that hitting the sword against different surfaces resulted in a cool metal clank or crunching noise. The bow sound effects were said to be convincing, while the screams of the Dodongo were "downright scary".

Actions

Thanks to the playable demo available at Spaceworld '97, for the first time, players were able to glean more information about the game’s controls, in addition to what Link was capable of.

According to IGN.com, Link would change his speed from a walk to a run, depending on how hard the joystick was pushed.

It was also noted that the action button allowed Link to perform a variety of maneuvers, including jumping, climbing, descending, pulling, pushing, mounting his horse, reading, opening, talking, swimming, pushing and pulling walls, opening chests and drawers, and hanging from ledges. As the final game has no drawers which can be opened, this item stands out.

Interface

According to Nintendo Power #104, the control stick was used for walking or running, while A, and C-right, C-left, and C-down were used for weapons and items. R operated Link's shield, while B activated special actions, such as climbing and jumping.

Adult Link

Oct.’97	Nov.’97

GUI	The GUI remains unchanged.
A Button	Link's sword is equipped to A.
B Button	B still serves as the action button. When Link has the option of getting off Epona, it reads “おりる” (Get Down). It now seems to default to "チェック" (Check).
C-Left	Adult Link is shown with 16 bombs equipped to C-Left.
C-Right	Adult Link has the Ocarina of Time equipped to C-Right, inset with three Spiritual Stones.
C-Down	Adult Link has 10 Deku Nuts equipped to C-Down.
Hearts	Link has ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ hearts.
Rupees	Adult Link carries 000 rupees.
Magic Meter	No magic meter is visible.

Child Link

Oct.’97	Nov.’97

GUI	The GUI is identical to Adult Link's.
A Button	Child Link sword is equipped to A.
B Button	B still serves as the action button. When Link stands next to an NPC, it reads “しゃべる” (Speak). When standing in front of a sign, it reads "みる" (Look). When a text box appears, it reads "つぎへ" (Next). When standing near a Bomb Flower, it reads "つかむ" (Grab). When holding a bomb, it reads "なげる" (Throw). When Z-targeting, it reads "ジャンプ" (Jump). When hanging off a ledge, it reads "おりる" (Get Down). It now seems to default to "チェック" (Check), though it occasionally reads "ナビィ" (Navi).
C-Left	Child Link is shown with a variety of items equipped to C-Left, including nothing, 16 bombs, the Boomerang, and Deku Sticks.
C-Right	Child Link is shown with a variety of items equipped to C-Right, including nothing, 16 Deku Nuts, and the Slingshot.
C-Down	Child Link is shown with a variety of items equipped to C-Down, including nothing, Deku Sticks, and 10 Deku Nuts.
Hearts	Child Link has a variable number of hearts, but the total is always 8.
Rupees	Child Link has 0 to 6 rupees, and the rupee counter is two digits.
Magic Meter	No magic meter is visible.

Minimap

In some areas, you could bring up a map in the lower left corner by pressing the L button. The early minimaps appear to be plain blue for inside dungeon rooms, and light blue topographical maps for outdoor areas.

Menu

As in the released game, pressing the Start button in the demo opened the menu, which consisted of several screens.

One screen was an extensive map system, one was an item screen, one was an equipment screen, and one was "a special item screen that showed items that could only be used at certain moments in the game."

Players could equip items by highlighting the item they wanted and pressing the C button they wished to assign it to.

Story

Miyamoto related in a 1998 interview that, while he thought games with multiple plot threads and endings were fun, he found himself asking what "fun" really was. He related that the Ocarina of Time was not truly open in terms of progression, and felt that having options during the course of a game was better than having multiple endings. He linked this to his experience reading Choose Your Own Adventure books, during which he would find himself peeking at the results of both story branches, resulting in boredom.

でも、色んなイベントを並列に並べて、人によって思い入れのあるイベントが違う、というのが本当のマルチだと思うんです。例えばこのダンジョンは得意だけど別のダンジョンで酷い目 にあった。それが人それぞれ違う。そういうところがマルチの楽しさであり、思い入れに繋がるん じゃないでしょうか。

あと、このゲームは何度も遊んで欲しいと思って作ってます。普通２度目を遊ぶ場合はデータをリセットしますが、ゼルダは途中の状態で何回でも遊べるようにできています。

The producer offered a detailed response when asked by Nintendo Power where he came up with the idea of using time travel in Ocarina of Time:

“The story was more of a supplemental element we incorporated into the latter part of the design. We really wanted to describe Link's development of abilities as he grows from a child to an adult, so we used motion capture technology. We thought game players would want to play as an adult Link, even though in the previous games, with the exception of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Link was always a child. For those who were accustomed to the earlier games, we accommodated them with the inclusion of a young Link. The concept of young and old Link matched other Zelda games, since they usually had some sort of parallel world for Link to travel between. The parallel world in this case just happens to be a time shift--going back and forth between times. I thought that worked well with the overall theme of the Zelda games.” - Shigeru Miyamoto

The Spaceworld ’97 demo started with cutscene sequence in which Link stands in a pounding thunderstorm, watching in fear as Impa and Zelda escape from Hyrule Castle on horseback. Link then runs to the lowered drawbridge and attempts to cross the castle moat, only to find his path blocked by Ganondorf.

Items

Players were capable of assigning items to C-left, C-down, and C-right. IGN64 complimented how seamlessly Link's equipment interacted with the environment, gushing that "you can try to hit anything you see with your sword, bow, boomerang, hammer, or stick."

Sword

Link carried his sword in his left hand. Pressing the A button to draw the sword would only cause Link to take it from its sheath, while pressing it again would cause Link to swing the blade horizontally. If the button were pressed three times, Link performed two swings and one downward slash.

Link was capable of swimming with his sword out, and climbing up a ledge with sword in hand would cause Link to struggle a bit.

Holding down the A button would make the sword glow, and Link would perform a spin attack upon its release. Turning the joystick in a circle and pressing A would also allow Link to perform a similar, less-powerful attack.

Apparently, some of these actions were slightly different for Child Link, who carried a dagger instead of a sword.

In the released game, pressing the B button causes Link to draw and slash his sword immediately (except for the Giant's Knife/Biggoron's Sword). He is unable to swim with the sword, and will automatically sheathe it when the player enters the water. Trying to climb a ledge with the sword drawn does not slow the hero.

Shield

As in the released game, Link was able to use the R button to block enemy attacks with the shield. However, he could not swing his sword while he was protecting himself.

Bombs

Oct. 1997	Concept Art

Pressing the button the bombs were equipped to caused Link to take out a bomb and ignite it. It was possible to walk around with it, and Link could either put it on the ground in front of him, or walk in a certain direction to throw it. Holding it too long, however, and something bad would happen.

Revisited - Bomb Flowers

Bomb Flowers were not rainbow-ish anymore in November 1997.

Bow

• If Link uses the bow while Z-targeting, press the C button and he will shoot.
• If Link uses the bow during regular gameplay, the camera will zoom in for a behind-the-bow perspective.

Deku Stick

• Link can use the stick like the sword and hit things that are far away.

Hammer

• The Megaton Hammer can pound things into the ground.
• It also works as a weapon, but you have to be close to the enemy.

Deku Nuts

• Link can throw a magic nut that explodes in a flash of light and blinds his enemies.
• Link can now easily attack them without getting hurt.

Boomerang

• It leaves a cool trail when it is thrown.
• It returns to Link whether or not it hits its target.
• If Link is in the middle of a jump and not ready to catch the Boomerang, it may hurt him.

Rupees

• Link can collect green and red rupees that are left over when he defeats an enemy.

Items in each of the Tours

Young Link↓

Link's House (Hyrule Tour) - Inside the Deku Tree (Dungeon Tour):

• C-Left - Deku Stick

• C-Down - Deku Nuts (10)

• C-Right - Boomerang

Gohma (Battle Tour):

• C-Left - Deku Stick

• C-Down - Deku Nuts (10)

• C-Right - Slingshot

• Boomerang could be equipped from Pause

Hyrule Castle (Hyrule Tour):

• No items

Death Mountain (Hyrule Tour) - Dodongo's Cavern (Dungeon Tour):

• C-Left - Deku Stick

• C-Down - Deku Nuts (10)

• C-Right - Slingshot

• Boomerang could be equipped from Pause

King Dodongo (Battle Tour):

• C-Left - Bombs (16)

• C-Down - Boomerang

• C-Right - Slingshot

• Deku Nuts could be equipped from Pause

• Deku Stick could be equipped from Pause

Adult Link↓

Hyrule Field (Hyrule Tour) - Special Course (Dungeon Tour) - Stalfos (Battle Tour):

• C-Left - Bow (16)

• C-Down - Bombs (16)

• C-Right - Megaton Hammer

• Young Link had Small Wallet and Adult had an Adult Wallet. Small Wallet would've been the wallet you start the game with, but they chose not to ever mention it in the final game.

• Young Link had Kokiri Sword and Deku Shield on the Equipment screen.

• Adult Link had Master Sword, Giant's Knife (didn't break in this demo but did in the E3 1998 demo) and Hylian Shield on the Equipment screen.

• Both only had Kokiri Boots and Kokiri Tunic to choose from.

(Source: Xiartic)

Characters

Revisited - Navi

• Navi hovers over Link's head and greets NPCs with "Konnichiwa!"
• When you Z-target an enemy, Navi flies over to the target and turns red, pointing out its location.
• So far, Navi is the only speaking character seen in the game.
• She often shouts advice about what to do when battling.

Revisited - Epona

• Use the B button to mount the horse.
• Link can use the joystick to ride in any direction at varying speeds.
• The horse can be whipped to run faster.
• Every time you whip the horse, you deplete one carrot from your carrot meter.
• The need for this is currently unknown, but it is likely that there will be some sort of race.

Saria

The first sighting of Saria. This screenshot shows an early version of her model, in which she has buttons going up her back. The gesture she is performing, in which she appears to curtsy and raise her hand, is unused. Both the early model and animation can still be found in the game's files.

Japanese	English
アタシは　コキリ族のサリア！ よろしくネ…ジャラ！	I'm Saria of the Kokiri Tribe! Nice to meet you... jara!

Saria is introducing herself to Link, contrary to the final game, in which they are longtime friends.

To understand the meaning of "jara", it is important to note that, in the Japanese script, the Zora and Goron peoples have regional accents. Zora end their sentences with "zora", while Gorons end their sentences with "goro". This quirk has generally not been carried over into English translations. The only exception in the 64-bit Zelda games is the Goron traveller in Majora's Mask who shares a name with the player. His accent was not erased, as it plays a role in his subplot.

This screenshot indicates that the Kokiri Tribe may have originally used "jara" at the end of their sentences. However, there is only one instance of this accent in the final game. Showing the Keaton Mask to Saria prompts her to slip into her Kokiri accent, which embarrasses her. This tidbit of information was removed from the English translation entirely.

Japanese	Translation	English
なんか　楽しい気分になるジャラ！ 　あ、コキリなまりが　出ちゃった…	I can't help but be amused, jara! Oops, my Kokiri accent slipped out...	That makes me feel...happy...

Two more instances of "jara" exist, though they are never normally seen by players. The stage select feature in Ocarina of Time's map select has two options:

Japanese	Translation	Function
おひる　ジャラ	Day jara	Sets time to day.
よる　ゴロン	Night goron	Sets time to night.

Likewise, the stage select feature in the map select of Majora's Mask has three options:

Japanese	Translation	Function
あさ　ジャラ	Morning jara	Sets time to morning.
おひる　ジャラ	Day jara	Sets time to day.
よる　ジャラ	Night jara	Sets time to night.

November 1997	Nintendo Spaceworld 1997 Demo

For the Spaceworld '97 demo, Saria was moved inside Link's House to introduce you to the demo.

Kokiri Girl

This screenshot shows an unused female Kokiri design, which can still be found in the game. She has dual Kokiri symbols on her breast. Originally, all of the Kokiri were supposed to get unique designs, but the final game changed this to only Saria, Mido, and Fado having their own models. The camera specifically in this screenshot is unusually zoomed in, something impossible to reproduce in the final game. Something that could explain this is if you could zoom in closer. Unused duplicate sounds exist for the camera sounds suggesting there were more zooming options available.

Castle Guards

Prototype	Final

The Hyrule Castle guards don't arrest Link for trespassing. Instead, it appears he is able to converse with them, as the action button reads "Speak".

Environments

• There is real light-sourcing.
• Both enemies and Link are lit according to their environment.
• They cast varying shadows in the appropriate directions.

• There are huts, treasure chests, friendly and unfriendly characters, signs, and fairies that whizz through the air.

Revisited - Hyrule Field

Prototype	Final

The bridge to Hyrule Castle is drawn, and the stone wall to the right of the castle is a grassy wall instead. There are no trees or signs.

Link and Epona block out a view of alternate scenery behind Hyrule Castle Town. This version of the map was found in the 1997 overdump, with fences added to prevent Space World players from bypassing the boundaries of the show floor demo.

Prototype	Final

Another view of the fence and the missing tree. The bridge across the moat seems to be flat, rather than rounded.

Prototype	Final

A long fence stretches across Hyrule Field, cordoning off the entrance to Kakariko Village. It appears that this location was unavailable in the Spaceworld demo. The same fence is used behind Kakariko's windmill and in front of the Shadow Temple entrance in the final game.

The cliffs here are more diverse than a flat wall.

Iwata: You were making the game as if putting together a puzzle.

Miyamoto: Yeah. And as we were making it, we were able to have Link walk across a broad landform like a grassland.

Iwata: Did you make that broad landform because you wanted Link to ride a horse?

Miyamoto: Yeah. Koizumi-san made the horse. But making a broad landform that you could ride a horse across weighed down the processing, so we took it out for a while. And after a while I returned to work with the production team and launched a huge campaign to regain the grassland! (laughs)

Iwata: Right. (laughs)

Miyamoto: We started by testing whether we could have two horses out at once. We thought if we could do that, then we could make other forms of play for that grassland. It went well, so we made a demo video with two horses. We showed that at Nintendo Space World 1997, and I said, “Now that we’ve shown this, there’s no backing out!” (laughs) 

Nintendo Space World: A video game trade show (in Japan) once held by Nintendo. The demo video with two horses for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was shown at Nintendo Space World 1997.

(Source: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto)

Prototype	Final

Link chases down Zelda's horse on Epona.

Nintendo Power mentioned learning to ride the horse in a practice field with jumps while playing the demo. This was Spaceworld '97 demo's Hyrule Field.

Revisited - Link's House

Prototype	Final

No changes were made after October 1997. This version of the prerendered background to Link's house is missing a balcony.

Revisited - Kokiri Forest

Prototype	Final

In this early image of Kokiri Forest, the path to the Deku Tree is positioned differently, and its mouth ends in a cave hung with vines.

A Deku Baba snaps at Link, rather than the withered Deku Babas of the final game.

Originally, there was no loading area between the maps of Kokiri Forest and the Deku Tree's grove.

In an interview about his work with environmental programming for Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time programmer Makoto Sasaki reminisced about working on Kokiri Forest:

When I started work on Kokiri Village, the creative guidance that I got was to program their environments in a way that evoked a feeling of wonder – and then the turned me loose to explore what that meant. So I created a place where eerie light balls floated around. To that I added another touch: that the lights would follow the character’s movements. Then and now, I sometimes build these touches into the environments and surprise the designers with them. In that case, the designers really liked the wondrous effect and decided that the floating lights would stay in the game. - Makoto Sasaki

Prototype	Final

Shop girl, rather than a generic Kokiri girl, sits on the untextured Kokiri Shop's awning. The letter boxing indicates that Link has targeted her, but no reticule is displayed.

The alcove that Link can reach by planting a bean sprout and returning in 7 years in the final game does not exist in the untextured wall. This version of the Kokiri Forest was found in the 1997 overdump. A fence prevents Space World players from leaving the forest and accessing parts of the game not meant to be explored yet.

Koizumi reflected on how adding fairy companions to the game benefited the game mechanics in areas such as Kokiri Forest. The programmers found it difficult to display all the trees and characters that appear in Kokiri Forest because of the Nintendo 64's limitations. The character designer came up with the idea of each forest resident having a fairy follower. This would allow the developers to use the fairies to indicate NPC positions when players were far away, and load NPC models only as Link drew nearer. It is for this reason that, save for their fairies, the Kokiri are invisible until approached.

Inside the Deku Tree

This version of the Deku Tree dungeon was found in the 1997 overdump with many of its actors still intact. The dungeon was almost completely redesigned in the final game.

Revisited - Hyrule Castle Town

Prototype	Final

A lamppost greets Link as he enters the city via the unguarded bridge. The guardhouse lacks the door which ordinarily hides its black doorframe.

Prototype	Final

The demo allowed players to enter Hyrule Castle Town, which was displayed from a central camera angle. The camera was set in the middle of the town square, following Link as he went into the distance.

The Hylian townspeople greeted Link as he walked around, calling out "Konnichiwa!" (Hello!). IGN.com posited that the English version would have a different greeting, but this bit of voice acting ended up being cut from the game altogether.

In this image, an unknown NPC and one of the men that is normally found by the tree in the square stand in front of the building that was replaced with the Happy Mask Shop. This early building is visible in the pre-render Link sees when entering Hyrule Castle Town from Hyrule Field, as well as the ruined version of the market.

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Hyrule Castle

To do: add overdump comparisons

Prototype	Final

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Prototype	Final

Link takes a refreshing dip in the moat. Navi follows him underwater.

320px

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Temple of Time

November 1997	Late 1997 Overdump	Final

The map found in Late 1997 Overdump had the misplaced carpet fixed.

Prototype	Final

The Triforce is upside down and the Door of Time is barred with a green mesh.

Prototype	Final

The warp pad uses the same stone texture as the Spiritual Stone altar, and its design is very different.

Prototype	Final

The Spiritual Stone altar has three holes for the Spiritual Stones.

Revisited - Death Mountain

Prototype	Final

A Goron tribe tattoo was tattood on their left arm now. Gorons didn't have it in October 1997 screenshot media.

Prototype	Final

Directional sign model was updated.

Revisited - Dodongo's Cavern

The layout of the main chamber of Dodongo's Cavern is drastically different. Instead of lava, the floor is dirt, and two thick wooden bridges lead to three platforms.

Child Link does not appear to have Bombs at this point in time, but a rainbow Bomb Flower sprouting from the floor will do the trick for now.

Prototype	Final

Vying with Armos. In the final game, this enemy is still present in the main chamber as an unloaded object.

Prototype	Final

Child Link battling Armos. The minimap shows that he is in a small area above the Lizalfos room, but there is no room here in the final game.

The texture on the lower part of the wall was recoloured for the final version, but, thanks to a developer oversight, it can still be found in the game.

Prototype	Final

Link uses a Deku Stick to thwack a Lizalfos.

Aug '97	Oct '97	Nov '97	Final

• Dodongo's Cavern's doors in August 1997 looked alike to the texture the unused pu_boxes use or the texture seen on the pillars you lift in Ganon's Castle after acquiring the Golden Gauntlets item.
• In October 1997 the doors used the texture which later on became the bombable wall texture.
• In November 1997 the doors were made out of stone and had the Royal Crest symbol encarved on them.
• Finalized door design was first seen in June 1998. Final doors improved upon the doors seen in November 1997.

Oct '97	Nov '97

The room now featured a lava floor.

Enemies

In addition to vying against regular enemies, the Spaceworld '97 demo allowed players to test out three different boss battles.

Revisited - Octorok

IGN.com mentioned that Octoroks were present in the demo, but they didn't appear in screenshots.

Revisited - Blue Tektite

Blue Tektite's legs were improved and they now feature sharp spikes.

Revisited - Stalfos

The first boss battle players were able to challenge was a fight against two Stalfos, a battle which would later be incorporated as a mini-boss battle in the Forest Temple. Both Stalfos attacked Link at the same time, and crumbled to a heap of bones upon defeat.

Deku Baba

IGN.com described these creatures as "man-eating plants".

Gohma

Gohma was the second boss that appeared in the boss battle demo. Players described her crawling along the ceiling and dropping Gohma Larva which attacked them, then descending to face Link eye-to-eye. At this time, this was an Adult Link boss battle, and it was the bow that was used to shoot her in the eye, rather than Child Link's slingshot.

King Dodongo

The third boss was the fire-breathing King Dodongo, whose cavelike arena featured a glowing lake of lava at its center. The fight was introduced by a cutscene in which Link stared in fear at something large from the monster's perspective.

Not only would getting hit by the monster's flames cause Link to get swept off his feet, the dinosaur was prone to rolling into a ball and trying to crush the hero. Fortunately, it could be defeated by throwing a bomb into its mouth when it screamed or prepared to breathe fire. The explosion would weaken King Dodongo, bringing him to his knees, and allowing Link to attack his head. Upon defeat, a cutscene would show the creature sinking into the flaming lava pit.

December, 1997

Specifications

Zelda 64 finally received an official title: ‘’The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’’.

Release Date

IGN reported that no US release date had been revealed yet. They noted that the game would be released in Japan in April of 1998, and predicted that it would appear on Western shelves a few months later. However, they also speculated that Nintendo might decide to make the game its big Christmas ‘98 title.

The game came out in both Japan and North America in late November, 1998.

Aonuma We didn't know where the finish line was! (laughs)

Iwata Without knowing a due date, time dragged on… (laughs)

Aonuma Yeah. Sorry about that. (laughs)

64DD

The site also restated that two Zelda games would be released for the N64 in the near future, though the 64DD itself did not yet have a US release date or price at the time.

It mentioned that the 64DD expansion was still unnamed, and was commonly referred to as Zelda DD.

Peripherals

Nintendo Power #103 confirmed that Zelda 64 would make use of the Rumble Pack.

Link’s Model

During earlier times, Link will appear as a boy of about ten years of age, while in the later stages he is a heroic youth in his teens. Kid Link, as the EAD team calls him, will have special abilities and will be able to use certain items that Teen Link won’t be able to use.

Items

Nintendo Power mentioned that Link would be able to combine weapons.

Story

The outline of the story for Zelda 64 comes straight from EAD, the chief game development department at Nintendo Company Ltd. in Kyoto, Japan. Although EAD considers everything “tentative” until the final version of a game is completed, much of what you read here will be a part of Mr. Miyamoto’s greatest epic. Long ago, before Gannon stole the Triforce and kidnapped Zelda, Link set out to his coming-of-age ceremony in the Maze Woods. It was the custom of his tribe, the Kokiri Family, that a young man would receive a guardian spirit or fairy who would stay beside him and guide him throughout his life. But as Link walked through the woods, he discovered that a monster had captured one such fairy. Gallantly, Link came to the rescue and defeated the monster, but the fairy was mortally wounded. In her dying breath, she warned Link not to allow Gannondorf to possess the Triforce and to seek out a wise man and his spiritual stone. At the same time, Gannondorf, the king of thieves, was searching for the legendary Triforce so that he could steal its power. In time, Gannondorf stumbled into the Maze Woods and neared the secret place where the Triforce was kept. Link went to Hyrule Castle for help. Princess Zelda knew of the Triforce’s hiding place, but to reach it they would have to find three magical stones to unlock the secret. Thus begins the adventure.

One of the central themes of the game has to do with time. In fact, you will move backward and forward in time at different stages of the game.

Characters

Navi

Navi, still spelled “Navie”, even in Nintendo’s official publication, was said to not only warn Link of impending enemy attacks, but take an active role in defending and healing the hero.

Environments

In addition to the locations that had already been revealed to fans through text and image, Nintendo Power claimed that Link would be able to visit a farm and a swamp.

Lon Lon Ranch did exist, though it had yet to appear in screenshots in recognizable form. A swamp, however, never made it into the game, though there is one in its sequel, Majora’s Mask.

—

• As the Ocarina camera system became finalized, I began to devote my energy to making some of the cut-scenes and demo movies for the title – about half of those finally used – starting with storyboards and then creating the final versions. - Cutscene Designer Yakumi Kawagoe

At a reported 256 megabits, Zelda 64 will be the largest game for the N64, doubling the current game on the market.

In addition to Link’s steed, you’ll also find warps that transport Link instantly across the world.