Ocarina of Time, from cartridge to Switch 2
Two versions of the same journey, twenty-eight years apart. Both fact sheets, what changes in the remake, and where every figure comes from.
The original
The series' leap into three dimensions.
- Release
- 21 Nov 1998 (Japan) · 23 Nov 1998 (North America) · 11 Dec 1998 (Europe)
- Platform
- Nintendo 64, on a 256-megabit cartridge
- Developer
- Nintendo EAD
- Producer
- Shigeru Miyamoto
- Directors
- Eiji Aonuma, Yoshiaki Koizumi, Tōru Ōsawa and Yoichi Yamada
- Music
- Kōji Kondō
- Sales
- Over 7.6 million copies on Nintendo 64
- Recognition
- Guinness named it the most critically acclaimed video game of all time in 2008
- Re-releases
- GameCube (2002-2003, with Master Quest) · Wii (2007) · Nintendo 3DS (2011) · Wii U (2015) · Nintendo Switch Online (2021)
The remake
Rebuilt from scratch for the series' 40th anniversary.
- Release
- 5 November 2026
- Platform
- Nintendo Switch 2, exclusively
- Producer
- Eiji Aonuma, who directed dungeons on the original
- Developer
- Not announced by Nintendo
- Announcement
- Nintendo Direct of 9 June 2026; first gameplay in September 2026
- Price in Spain
- €59.99 digital · €69.99 physical
- Physical edition
- The first run has a textured metallic cover, a nod to the golden Nintendo 64 cartridge
- Languages
- Twelve, including Spanish with full voice acting in cutscenes
- Anniversary console
- Nintendo Switch 2 Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition, on 29 October 2026
What changes in the remake
A remake, not a port
Nintendo has rebuilt it with new graphics and audio while keeping the original's structure. Aonuma presented it as a faithful interpretation using modern technology, not a conversion.
Running and jumping
Link can run to cross Hyrule faster and jump with a button, instead of relying only on the automatic ledge jump.
Free camera
Modern camera control, alongside the target lock the original invented and half the industry copied afterwards.
Voiced cutscenes
New dialogue and expanded cutscenes with voice acting. In the original the characters never spoke: it was all text boxes and grunts.
The ocarina, with a microphone
You can hum a melody for Link to play. Nintendo is also selling a real, playable ocarina separately.
Day and night everywhere
The cycle now applies inside towns too, not just outdoors as on Nintendo 64.
ZELDA NOTES integration
The phone app adds a virtual ocarina with scores shareable by QR, a quiz of over 2,000 questions, an image-based gossip tracker and a daily log of your playthrough.
amiibo and masks
amiibo support unlocks special masks. The Young Link and Young Zelda figures arrive in 2027.
Sources
Figures come from Nintendo's official listing and the specialist press. Where Nintendo has not confirmed something, it says so here.