Introduction
From the Gameboy to the Gamecube there has always been at least one Zelda game on each Nintendo platform and this is no different. Released in 1996 onto the N64 it soon reached massive popularity in most of the countries in the world. Telling the story of the Mythical country of Hyrule you are Link a young orphaned boy who has grown up in the quiet and peaceful Kokiri Forest. All this soon changes when a fairy comes to tell you to see the Great Deku Tree. After informing you of the dangers of a strange and decidely scary charecter called Ganondorf you are sent on a mission to see the Princess Zelda and before you know it you are thrown into a massive adventure spanning deserts, forests, lakes and mountains on a mission to retrieve the mythical tri-horse and save hyrule from evil.
Gameplay
The gameplay as most people would expect from both Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto is just fantastic. The game rolls effortly between story missions and sub-missions, and is totally freeform at the same time. For example whilst exploring the great lake it is possible to down your sword and simply go fishing for a while before deciding to carry on the adventure.
The story mode is estimated at being around 60-70 hours long depending on what you do to complete the game. It is possible to complete the game in around 10 hours if you know what to do but if you want the true experience it is best to just sit down and explore and complete all of the sub-missions as you find them.
The game is primarily a 3rd person however it automatically switches to a 1st person view when certain weapons are drawn e.g. the Fairy Bow. The camera angles are superb and rarely go wrong allowing but when they do a simple tap of the 'z' button quicly pulls the camera behind you. Speaking of buttons the controls are incredibly well thought out and require the minimum of effort to get used to. All the buttons for the items are perfectly placed on the controller (N64) for example:
1.The 'Z' Button in the middle prong is your targeting button, allowing to to target either an item or enemy effortlessly.
2.The 'C' Buttons are you inventory buttons allowing you to assign different items for quick use, be it the Fairy Bow or the bottle of milk or even magic.
3.The 'B' Button is your primary attack button for the sword that you always carry.
4.The 'R' Button on the contollers shoulder is your shield button allowing you to protect yourself in battle.
Sights and Sounds
For a game that is now 10 years old and on a now extremely outdated gaming platform it can easily hold its own against most rpgs released on the ps2 and xbox. Graphically compared to the likes of Fable it does seem terribly dull and boring e.g. popup flowers and pixelly details on grass but it still remains the most beautifull game on the N64. The spectacular camera angles and ingame movies do there best to show off the wonderfull graphics. The Lake Hylia movie when you first enter the lake is just an awe inspiring video for a 10 year old game, the camera pans over the lake with the water rippling on a spinning axis past trees and islands and the old temple ruins and it does prove how big a game it is.
The actual story mode temples are superbly designed with the levels themselves being extremely east to work out where to go, however this does not make them easy as there are still problems to be solved, boulders to be blown up and enemies to defend yourself against. The musical scores that Nintendo used for the game are extremely atmospheric and are extremely effective at moving the story along aswell as just playing in the background. Sad songs are moving and deeply emotional where as Boss songs are exciting, scary and really get you pumped up.
Stuff that sucks
Sometimes the camera angles can go a bit crazy which is annoying.
The game sometimes refuses to allow you to un target an enemy leading to death e.g. Falling into the lava in Dodongos Cavern.
The game cannot save your exact position in a Temple or Dungeon this is exremely annoying if you have a power cut or forget to do someting e.g.Sleep and have to turn the machine off meaning a rather lengthy trawl back to where you were.
Conclusion
For a game that is 10 years old it remains the only game to receive 100/100 in japans most prestigous games magazine and anyone who has played it will understand why. The RPG fans love it, the RTS fans love it and even the FPS fans love it.... why? As it is the best game ever made!!!
The story sucks you in, the music is incredible the characters although sometimes shallow are well thought out, the level design is perfect the missions are huge and the amount of sub-missions will keep you playing forever. If you cant be bothered to go to Game, Gamestation or eBay to find a copy basically you are missing out on one of the if not THE best game ever made.
P.S. The fishing is worth the fiver for a copy alone.
Score :
i never did compleat it that forth time 
