Although theZeldafranchise has had plenty of incredible titles, many still callThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Timethe best the series has to offer, and for good reason. For many, it is the quintessential 3DZeldaexperience and the game that has set the standard for all that has come after, introducing many interesting concepts that helped to shape the series. The Z-targeting mechanic for locking on is one example, and almost everyZeldagame thereafter has used the mechanic in combat, fromWind Wakerall the way to the Switch and theWildsera.
Whether playing a deadly game of tennis with Ganondorf or first riding through Hyrule Fields on Epona to that wonderfully iconic theme,Ocarina of Timehas many iconic moments, and its music gets to shine through the game’s namesake, the ocarina. Although the surrounding mechanics haven’t been used frequently, the ability to play music through the ocarina is something thatTwilight Princessalso used through howling in wolf form. Still, it isn’t something that quite turned out the way the creator of theZeldafranchise wanted, with a late yet interesting idea not making it past the cutting room floor.
A Concept Introduced Too Late To Add
According to aGamejinarticle in 1998, viewable onThe Internet Archiveand translated byGood Blood Games, legendary game designer and creator of theZeldaseries, Shigeru Miyamoto, had an interesting idea for multiplayer ocarina playing.Miyamoto suggested that several controllers could be plugged in to allow the players to work together as an ensembleand play, which is certainly interesting. It would have added more complexity to the ocarina mechanic, which sometimes felt underwhelming from the original game. It might have actually worked, given the times when an ocarina is played in-game.
While getting out an ocarina to play as an ensemble at every given opportunity might have been too much, there are a few scenes in which Link is with another musician. These are usually with Sheik’s harp and could have been an opportunity to grab a friend or family member to play a song together and give it another dimension. While this was theoretically a neat idea, itmight not have been easy to implement, given that local co-op and more controllerswould have been a potentially inconvenient option.
Ocarina of Timeis widely considered one of the best gamesof all time, even 26 years on, due to a combination of great storytelling, a layered world, and revolutionary combat.
Needing to remake some songs as a realistic ensemble for when players are able to get together to play musiccould have also been tough on the music department. This could have been one of the reasons why the idea was ultimately scrapped, given that Miyamoto mentioned that if he"had asked earlier we could have made it happen.“He also wanted to"connect four controllers”, which might not have been a viable option, given that getting three other people to play ocarinas together just for one stage might have been tough back in 1998.
Miyamoto’s Ocarina Idea Wasn’t His Only Cut Concept
There Were Plenty Of Ideas That Didn’t Make The Cut
From the interview, it sounds as thoughMiyamoto had a lot of ideas forOcarina of Time. He also wanted to make some mechanics more realistic, like removing a reticle for aiming the bow and arrow, another concept that just didn’t pan out. There were alsoideas floating around for changing Epona from a horse to a unicorn or a moose, with Miyamoto stating thatOcarina of Timewas inspired by Princess Mononoke, which was in production at the same time. Ultimately, they kept Epona as the iconic brown horse.
While there were plenty of ideas floating around duringThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, it’s probably for the best that it turned out the way that it did. It’s one of the best games in the franchise to date, if not the very best, and the one that many 3DZeldatitles owe their mechanics to. It handled time travel well, made Hyrule magical, and probably has one of the most iconic incarnations of Ganon for Link to face off against, deadly tennis match and all.
