The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (ゼルダの伝説 時のオカリナ) is the fifth game in The Legend of Zelda series, the first of the series to be released on the Nintendo 64 and the first to be made in 3D. It was released in Japan on November 21 1998. It was followed by a direct sequel,.

The story follows Link, a young boy living with a race called the Kokiri, who is called by the Great Deku Tree and discovers he must go on a quest to amazingly stop a "dark stranger" who lays a curse on the tree, and eventually travels back and forth through time to help save Hyrule from destruction by the forces of evil.

Within six months of its release, Ocarina of Time sold over five million copies, and over 8.6 million copies have been sold worldwide. In addition to its commercial success, Ocarina of Time is also frequently ranked as the greatest video game ever made, due to its groundbreaking graphics, free roaming gameplay, ingenious puzzles and breath-taking story.

Gameplay
Ocarina of Time is a third-person adventure game which takes place in the fictional kingdom of Hyrule. As in previous Zelda games, Hyrule takes the form of a large, fully connected overworld containing several dungeons &mdash; large self-contained areas with a single entrance in the overworld. Within most dungeons, Link must battle and puzzle his way through, finding items such as a Dungeon Map and Compass to aid him. A dungeon typically contains a special weapon, often needed to defeat the boss at the end, which can be reached by finding the Boss Key and using it on the door to the boss's lair.

Ocarina has nine major dungeons (ten if you split the Spirit Temple into present and future): Inside the Deku Tree, Dodongo's Cavern, Inside Jabu-Jabu's Belly, the Forest Temple, the Fire Temple, the Water Temple, the Shadow Temple, the Spirit Temple, and Ganon's Castle, in intended order of completion. It is possible, however, to complete the Spirit Temple before completing the Shadow Temple. Interestingly enough, the first three dungeons require no Small Keys or Boss Keys whatsoever. The first three dungeons each yield a Spiritual Stone; the next five, a Medallion representing an awakened Sage. There are also three mini-dungeons: the Ice Cavern, the Bottom of the Well, and the Gerudo Training Ground, which yield useful items. However, it is not necessary to complete the Gerudo Training Ground, or even enter.

Items
Music plays a considerable part in the gameplay of Ocarina. The titular Ocarina of Time is a magical wind instrument on which melodies can be played at any time except on bosses(to prevent teleporting out) to various effects - changing day to night, causing rain to fall, warping to new locations and so on. A total of twelve songs can be found throughout the game. In addition, the gamer is free to play any notes they wish with the ocarina. The ocarina was able to play most musical notes with considerable accuracy. Magazines at the time, including Nintendo Official Magazine routinely published combinations to mimic famous theme tunes such as The Simpsons.

Reappearing from A Link to the Past is the Master Sword, a legendary blade with the power to repel evil. In this game it can be used to travel through time in the Temple of Time, though it is primarily used for regular combat.

Many other items also appear. Link is able to use different tunics, boots, swords and shields. Items re-used from other Zelda games, including magic arrows (fire, ice and light), bombs, and the Hookshot, appear alongside new items such as the Lens of Truth, which shows things which are otherwise invisible and the Longshot, a longer reaching version of the Hookshot.

Setting
The kingdom of Hyrule is connected to a mythical Sacred Realm which holds the Triforce, an object left behind by the creator goddesses of Hyrule after they finished creating it. The Triforce is capable of granting whoever holds it their heart's every desire. The Triforce, and Hyrule's door into the Sacred Realm, are protected by the Door of Time in the Temple of Time, which was built many ages ago by a group of ancient Sages.

Characters


The Kingdom of Hyrule is inhabited by six different humanoid races.
 * The Hylians look basically human, except for their pointed, elf-like ears. They mostly live in Hyrule Castle Town, though some live in nearby Kakariko Village and others are scattered sporadically throughout Hyrule. They are ruled by a king (present but out of frame in the game), whose daughter is Princess Zelda.
 * The Kokiri are forest children who were created by the guardian spirit of Kokiri Forest, the Great Deku Tree. They never age and can never leave the forest. Link, the hero of the game, lives among them at the start of the game. His closest friend is a Kokiri named Saria. Link is not a true Kokiri but a Hylian, orphaned in the forest as a baby, and raised by the Great Deku Tree, who sensed Link to be a child of destiny. The Kokiri are led by Mido.


 * The Gorons are large, brown, rock-eating creatures that vary immensely in size and live in Goron City, halfway up Death Mountain, an active volcano. They are led by Darunia.


 * The Zoras are blue naked fish-like creatures, who live at the top of Zora's River, the kingdom's source of water. The river runs all the way through Hyrule to Lake Hylia at the very opposite end of the kingdom. The Zoras are ruled by King Zora (who, unlike most Zoras, happens to be enormously fat) who has a daughter, Princess Ruto. The guardian spirit of Zora's River is Lord Jabu-Jabu, an immense fish.


 * The Sheikah, sworn "shadow guardians" of the royal family, appear to be Hylian with red eyes. They possess various magical abilities and are known to operate from within the shadows. Impa, Zelda's childhood nanny and bodyguard, is said to be the last remaining Sheikah. She helped establish Kakariko Village, at the base of Death Mountain.


 * The Gerudo are an almost entirely female race of thieves who live in the desert to the west. Only one man is born to the Gerudo every hundred years, and he is supposed to become their king. The most recent of these is Ganondorf, a man with black armor and "evil eyes" who acts as adviser to the king of Hyrule. Ganondorf is the primary antagonist of the game. The Gerudo, however, are supposedly led by Nabooru, who refuses to acknowledge Ganondorf as her king.

Other notable characters in the game include Link's fairy companion Navi, his horse Epona, the twin witches Twinrova (named Koume and Kotake), Zelda's alter-ego Sheik, and ranch hands Talon, Malon and Ingo. Talon and Malon are highly reminiscent of the characters Marin and Tarin in the previous title in the series, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening.

Story
The game opens with Link dreaming about standing in front of Hyrule Castle on a stormy night, seeing a young girl be carried away on horseback, pursued by a dark stranger. While Link sleeps, the Great Deku Tree, guardian of the Kokiri Forest where Link lives, is talking to the fairy Navi. The tree reveals that Link's destiny is to save Hyrule, and Navi must guide him. Navi summons Link to see the Deku Tree, and he arrives after convincing Mido, the Kokiri tribe leader, to let him pass.

The tree tells Link that it is cursed and dying. Link enters the massive tree through its trunk and battles many foul creatures, including an enormous spider named Queen Gohma. Though the curse is now broken, the Deku Tree is beyond saving. It tells Link of a man in black armor who cast the dreadful curse upon him. It also gives Link the Kokiri Emerald, the Spiritual Stone of the forest, and sends him to meet Princess Zelda at Hyrule Castle. As Link begins his journey, his closest friend Saria wishes him luck.

En route, Link meets a strangely wise owl named Kaepora Gaebora, who offers advice. Link is able to find a secret passage into Hyrule Castle and sneaks past the guards to find Zelda. She tells Link that she has been having dreams about the future of Hyrule that she believes are prophetic, and that she foresaw Link's arrival. She believes that Ganondorf, the king of the Gerudo thieves, is trying to obtain an item known as the Triforce, a legendary item rumored to be so powerful that anyone who possesses it can control the world. It is also revealed that it was he who laid a curse on the Deku Tree. The Triforce is held in another dimension called the "Sacred Realm", which is secured by the Master Sword in its pedestal in the nearby Temple of Time. To keep the Triforce from Ganon, Zelda tells Link that he must obtain three sacred stones, of which Link's Kokiri Emerald is one, to unlock the Master Sword and open the Realm. Link is safely led out of the castle by Zelda's attendant, Impa.

Link heads first to Goron City on Death Mountain, home to a race of large rock-eating creatures, where the Spiritual Stone of Fire is located. The Goron leader, Darunia, tells him that Ganondorf had already visited the Gorons and their city, and that he has blockaded the Dodongo's Cavern, the source of the Gorons' food. Link manages to enter the cavern, where he slays the mighty King Dodongo. Darunia is so relieved when he hears that the Gorons can eat again that he hands over the spiritual stone of fire, the Goron's Ruby. He also becomes Link's sworn brother.

With only one stone left to collect, Link travels to Zora's Domain, where a race of aquatic creatures live. Upon arrival, however, he discovers that the Zora princess, Ruto, has disappeared. Link eventually finds out that Ruto has been swallowed by Lord Jabu-Jabu, a giant fish. Link gains entrance into Jabu-Jabu's belly, and finds that it too, has been cursed by Ganondorf. He then discovers that the Princess Ruto was not swallowed against her will, but simply chose to go into Jabu-Jabu. When she entered, she found that Jabu-Jabu was acting strangely. After defeating a monster called Barinade, Ruto is rescued and Jabu-Jabu is freed from his curse. Ruto is so impressed by Link's abilities that she hands over the Zora's Sapphire (the Spiritual Stone of Water). Ruto's mother, however, had instructed her that the stone should be given only to her fiancé, and so Ruto gives it to Link as a symbol of their engagement, much to Link's confusion.

With all three stones, Link heads back to the castle, only to find trouble. Ganondorf has shown his true identity and is after the Ocarina of Time, another artifact also required to access the Sacred Realm. Link sees Zelda and her attendant, Impa, fleeing the castle on horseback, with Ganondorf following close behind, as seen in Link's previous nightmare. (This is the same scene shown in the game's opening narrative.) While fleeing, Zelda throws the Ocarina of Time into the moat surrounding the town and disappears into the night. Link then sees Ganondorf for the first time. Link draws his sword but is struck down by Ganondorf's magic. Ganondorf laughs at Link's weakness, and then continues his pursuit of Zelda and Impa. Link then retrieves the Ocarina from the moat and upon doing so, he sees in his mind a message that Zelda left for him. She explains what happened and teaches him the song that will open the door of time, the "Song of Time." He then heads to the Temple of Time, the resting place of the Triforce. Using the three stones and the Ocarina, he opens the Door of Time. Inside however, instead of finding the Triforce, he finds the legendary Master Sword. Link pulls the sword from its pedestal, and is transported to the Sacred Realm. However, the opening of the door of time also opens the Sacred Realm to Ganondorf, and he then claims the Triforce for himself.

Link awakens to find himself in late adolescence. He is in a strange ethereal room called the Chamber of the Sages and is met by an old man named Rauru, who informs Link of how he was frozen in time for seven years until he was old enough to wield the Master Sword to defeat Ganon. Rauru then reveals himself as the ancient Sage of Light, one of the seven sages that protect the Triforce. He tells Link that if he can find the six other sages, they can imprison Ganondorf within the Sacred Realm. According to Rauru, each Sage is unaware of his or her true identity because of the evil now in the world, which clouds their spiritual resonance. Link must find six Spiritual Temples and free them of Ganon's monsters. When cleared, each temple will awaken its respective Sage. Link returns to Hyrule to find a completely different land. Ganondorf, with the power of the Triforce, has conquered Hyrule and transformed it into a land of darkness. Seeing how the world has changed is all Link needs to devote himself to the enormous task of slaying the evil king and redeeming his homeland. Link is met by a mysterious character (a young man, in appearance) named Sheik, who appears periodically to guide him in his quest.

Sheik guides Link to the Forest Temple in the Lost Woods. Deep within, he destroys a puppet named Phantom Ganon, and awakens the Forest Sage, who turns out to be his old Kokiri friend Saria. He returns to the Deku Tree's resting place to find that a Deku Sprout has started to grow. The sprout informs Link that he is actually a Hylian, who was entrusted to the Great Deku Tree's care briefly before his mother's death. In that age, Hyrule was burdened with a civil war. This explains why Link has grown up, while all of the other Kokiri have remained children.

Next, Link ventures into the Fire Temple atop Death Mountain, where many Gorons have been imprisoned. He frees the Gorons and he defeats a snake-like dragon named Volvagia, and awakens Darunia as the Fire Sage. The Goron King then gives Link the Fire Medallion.

Link moves on to Zora's Domain and finds that it has been abandoned and completely frozen over. Investigating further, he eventually locates the Water Temple in Lake Hylia. Within the temple, Link battles an evil, shadowy form of himself called Dark Link, and also defeats an aquatic monster called Morpha. Princess Ruto is awoken as the Water Sage (and realizes that perhaps her engagement with Link was never meant to be).

After that, Link and Shiek arrive in the village of Kakariko, where he finds Sheik and discovers the town is on fire. A dark presence is coming up from the depths of the well and is terrorizing the people. It attacks Sheik and then goes for Link. After regaining consciousness, Link learns that the evil in the well broke its seal and went into the Shadow Temple. Impa, Zelda's former attendant went after it, and Sheik speculates that she is the next sage. He retrieves the Master Sword and enters the Shadow Temple. Link conquers the evil creature (called Bongo Bongo), and wakes the Shadow Sage, Impa.

Link goes to the desert (where Ganondorf was born) and finds the fortress of the Gerudo thieves. At first they imprison him because they are a strict female-only group, except for their leader. After escaping, he continues through the Haunted Wasteland to the Spirit Temple. Unable to enter the temple without the Silver Gauntlets, Link is directed to go back in time to his childhood and obtain the powerful gloves. In doing so, he meets Nabooru, the second in command of the Gerudos. She tells him that she disagrees with Ganondorf's style and wants to stop him. Together, they retrieve the Silver Gauntlets, but a pair of witches kidnap Nabooru. With no other options, he turns back to an adult and uses the gauntlets himself to enter the temple. The two witches soon confront him and send an Iron Knuckle to fight him, who turns out to be Nabooru under a spell. He kills the witches, who form a being called Twinrova, and finds that Nabooru is the Spirit Sage.

Eventually, Link returns to the Temple of Time in the future, where Sheik meets him once more. Sheik reveals that she is actually Princess Zelda in disguise. Zelda is also the seventh sage, the Sage of Wisdom, and the leader of all Sages. She tells Link that when Ganondorf took the Triforce, his heart was not in balance, so the Triforce split into three pieces. He kept the Triforce of Power, while Zelda gained the Triforce of Wisdom. Finally, through his perseverance, Link has been assigned the Triforce of Courage. Zelda also gives Link the magic Light Arrows needed to defeat the Lord of Darkness. Unfortunately, the meeting is observed by Ganondorf, who captures Zelda takes her prisoner in his huge tower (which has replaced Hyrule Castle).

The remaining six Sages help Link enter the tower, and Link finally engages Ganondorf in battle. With all of his strength, Link defeats Ganondorf and rescues Zelda. Link and Zelda barely escape the tower as it crumbles, but out of the fallen rubble, Ganondorf rises again. Using the Triforce of Power, Ganondorf transforms into an extremely powerful form called Ganon. Link engages his nemesis, and with the help of Zelda and the other Sages, Ganon is defeated. Zelda and the Sages then use their power to lock Ganon away in the Sacred Realm where he will supposedly stay for the rest of time. Ganon vows, however, that the day in which the seal is destroyed or corrupted, he would return to exterminate their descendants.

In the aftermath, a great celebration ensues with all of the residents of Hyrule. Zelda plays the Ocarina of Time one last time to send Link back in time to become his child self, before Ganon took over. As a child, Link sneaks into the castle once more to see the young princess. As they look at each other, the game ends (leading into the beginning of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.)

Music


Ocarina of Time's music was composed by Koji Kondo, Nintendo's famed in-house composer. The music is culturally and worldly inspired, as exemplified in its diversity from cartoonish music in the Kokiri Forest to Spanish flamenco in the Gerudo Valley. In some locations, the music is a variation of an important ocarina tune related to that area. For example, in Lon Lon Ranch, the theme is Epona's Song, with small and large variations.

The Hyrule overworld theme from past Zelda games, which is considered by most fans as the "official" Zelda tune, is not in Ocarina of Time in its entirety, although its opening phrase is subtly present in the Hyrule Field theme. This marks the only time in the series when the overworld theme has been absent.

The theme for the Fire Temple is most likely inspired by an Islamic prayer call, with a male chorus chanting in the second half of the song. Due to some protest, Nintendo changed this in later cartridges to a vague Gregorian chant.

Triforce rumors
A very early work-in-progress screenshot of Ocarina of Time shows Link receiving the Triforce itself from a treasure chest. Such a scene never occurs anywhere in the final game, and the plot as it stands does not appear to allow for Link to gain the Triforce at any point. Despite this, there has been great speculation as to whether the Triforce exists in Ocarina of Time as an obtainable item, as it does in other Zelda games, rather than simply being referred to in the storyline.

Even when hacking the game, it is impossible to actually gain the Triforce, unless in the beta version. The only thing possible is to see it. Some, however, point out a technicality that, in the storyline, Link obtains the Triforce of Courage when Ganondorf first enters the golden realm and obtains the Triforce of Power, and thus has it through the majority of the game.

Leftovers
Ever since its release, Ocarina of Time has been examined by members of the ROM and emulation community to find any leftovers in the game. So far, several major items have been found. While some have been found only through a GameShark, the leftovers indicate that various revisions (older, incomplete areas) have been left in the game’s code, and can be accessed by hacking them back in the game (or at least temporarily, with the GameShark and other cheat devices). The following has been found inside the Ocarina ROM that shows proof of unfinished concepts that were lost over time.


 * Leftover text (in Japanese) in the coding reveals that there were two usable medallions (from A Link to the Past) called the Wind and Ice Medallions at one point in development (it appears on the item selection screen and in different slots).
 * An ocarina pedestal (not found anywhere else) can be loaded into the area where Jabu-Jabu is if a specific GameShark code is used. The pedestal itself does not react to Link in any way.
 * A red ice platform (used to block access to a chest) can be found in the Ice Cavern by using a specific GameShark code. The same item can be found in the GCN release of Master Quest while doing the same dungeon. However, it does not appear in the same area it once was in.
 * Various areas throughout the game that were slightly modified before release, or have various NPCs normally not seen in that area. The areas with minor differences are: Kakariko Village (Adult), Lon Lon Ranch (Kid), and Goron City (Either).
 * By using the GameShark and the Expansion Pak, people can search through the data loaded into memory when playing the game. Several text strings are there, making reference to the Expansion Pak (which was required to use the Nintendo 64DD) and inserting an expansion disk (again referring to the planned 64DD expansion that became the "Master Quest" on the GameCube Zelda preorder disc).
 * There is a path on one side of the Temple of Time which cannot normally be accessed, as it is blocked by four Gossip Stones. These could not be blown up because no item (other than the Mask of Truth) can be used in the area. Using the moonjump code, it is possible to go behind the gossip stones and walk around; however, nothing else will happen, and if the player makes it past an invisible wall in that area, the game will freeze. A theory as to why this happens is that the player may have been able to go back there at one point in development but this idea was removed. There is a beta screenshot that looks similar to the back of the Temple of Time.
 * A Gameshark code was discovered that allowed any NPC to be replaced with any other NPC in the game. Examples include various enemies, Ganondorf's organ, Dark Link, and even portions of Dark Link's "Illusion Room". Among these NPCs was found a fully coded Arwing enemy. The enemy has a full attack and movement AI programmed, shooting at Link with lasers with original sound effects. When destroyed, it crashes to the ground resulting in unpolished explosion and flame effects. A similar code can be found in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
 * It is possible through using a certain Gameshark code for the Adult Link to use the boomerang. It can be used by Adult Link to stun and harm enemies, but there is no graphic of him holding the boomerang. This may suggest that, early on in the game's development, Adult Link was able to use the boomerang.

Release
Ocarina of Time itself gained a ferocious amount of hype before release, the end result of which was that only those who had pre-ordered the game had any guarantee of receiving a copy.

The first two Zelda games released for the NES had golden cartridges, rather than the standard gray-colored cartridges used for almost every other licensed game for the console. Keeping with the tradition, pre-ordered copies of Ocarina of Time were also golden. Also, the box cover had a thick, plastic card glued over the original cover. However, this was not the case in Europe where the game had a standard gray-cartridge owing to Nintendo of Europe (although there were actually some gold cartridges, they were only available very briefly). A possible incentive was an economic one, as standard gray cartridges are inexpensive compared to custom made golden models. It should be noted that Australia (which is, like Europe, part of the PAL region) had golden cartridges. Also, the sequel to Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, had a golden cartridge in Australia, Europe (and in North America).

PAL cartridges are very noticeably different from NTSC cartridges. PAL, having a golden Ocarina of Time picture with a black background on a gray cartridge, and NTSC having a normally colored Ocarina of Time picture with a goldish background on the noted gray, or golden cartridges. The Australian PAL versions also come in either gold or gray cartridges.

Versions
Several changes were made to the game after the initial release of Ocarina of Time in 1998. All of the gold cartridges, and some of the gray cartridges, that came out that year are version 1.0. Version 1.1 gray cartridges began to be released in early 1999, in which Nintendo fixed a number of bugs and glitches from the first version. This was followed by a version 1.2, which has the Player's Choice Million Seller seal on the cartridge and box.

The most notable difference between version 1.0 and the later versions is that version 1.0 contains a trick that allows one to play the game without the Master Sword, which in turn allows one to use any item on Epona. Version 1.1 is very similar to Version 1.0 except that players cannot perform the above trick (there is a different known method that works on all versions, including GameCube ones). Another difference between the two versions is the coloring of Ganon's blood at the end of the game. In Version 1.0, Ganon's blood is red; Version 1.1 is known to have two variations, one with green blood, and one with red blood. Meanwhile, Version 1.2 only has green blood. Finally, the original theme for the Fire Temple angered the Muslim community because of its similarity to an Islamic prayer call. In response, Nintendo redid the theme for later versions of the game.

Ocarina of Time was re-released in two different forms for the Nintendo Gamecube as part of the The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest and The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition compilation discs. In both the Master Quest and Collector's Edition, the game was an emulated ROM instead of a port.

One significant difference in these versions is that Nintendo altered the original crescent moon and star symbol of the Gerudo to a design later used to represent the pirates in Majora's Mask, again due to Muslim protest.

Master Quest
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest was available for those who pre-ordered The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker in America, as well as in a special Gamecube bundle at Wal-Mart. In Europe and Australia the disc came in the same case as the initial pressings of The Wind Waker. The "Master Quest" in the title refers to a remixed version of the game that contained rearranged dungeons, much like the Second Quest of The Legend of Zelda. Both the original game and the Master Quest are available on the disc.

Collector's Edition
The game was also re-released as part of the compilation The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition, which was available in GameCube bundles in Europe and North America, as well as by registering hardware and software, or by subscribing to official magazines or clubs. The disc also contained several other Zelda games and a Zelda retrospective.

Reception
Within six months of its release, Ocarina of Time sold over five million copies.

Ocarina of Time is widely regarded as one of the greatest video games of all time. Ocarina of Time was ranked second behind Super Mario Bros. in IGN's "Top 100 Games of All Time." In the Reader's Picks lists, Ocarina of Time was second in 2005 (behind Resident Evil 4), and first in 2006 .Nintendo Power called Ocarina of Time the greatest game to ever appear on a Nintendo console. GameFAQs users chose Ocarina as the second best game of all-time in 2005 (behind Final Fantasy VII). As a result of these and other high scores, Ocarina is placed first on both Metacritic and Game Rankings sites which rank games by averaging review scores from many sources. In addition, when the UK's N64 Magazine reviewed Ocarina, they delayed the full review by one month in order to fully appreciate the game and its nuances. Finally, after an exhaustive review covering every reviewer in the magazine's favorite moments and some coverage of The Best Game Ever, the game was awarded 98% by the N64 staff. The music from Ocarina of Time was praised for its quality and seamless incorporation into the game,

Very few were disappointed with the game, something which is a startling rarity in gaming. Critically, the game was commended as a seamless transition from 2D to 3D in the Zelda series, since it supported the main feel and many details of the previous flagship Zelda: A Link to the Past. Many gamers, especially Nintendo fans, would argue that no game since Ocarina has matched its classic standard. Ocarina of Time immediately became the standard by which all future Zelda games were measured; Majora's Mask and The Wind Waker have both received comments that they fail to match the "newness" of Ocarina of Time, sometimes receiving lower scores as a result. Some notable minor flaws and annoyances in Ocarina which have kept the game from obtaining perfect scores from critics and gamers more generally include the inability to fast-forward text and cut scenes (which add up to over one entire hour in the game, and players often do not wish to rewatch them on a second playthrough) and also the inability to rematch defeated bosses and play through completed dungeons again, though the former is not possible in any of the Zelda games, except for Majora's Mask, and, to an extent, The Wind Waker.

Impact
Ocarina of Time gave the Nintendo 64 a lot of extra support, being released at a time in which the lack of games for the system was becoming a big problem for Nintendo. Much like A Link to the Past before it, it helped Nintendo sell more consoles after the hype from the launch game, in this case Super Mario 64, had finally died down.