As any die-hard Zelda fan will know, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time originally started development as a very different game. We’ve heard rumors of it being envisioned as a remake of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, but we’ve seen footage from the 1996 Spaceworld showcase that was noticeably different from the final product. Link was sporting a different design, the levels were more abstract, and the combat was entirely different.
Thanks to the efforts of an anonymous group (likely remaining hidden so as to not catch the eye of Nintendo’s lawyers), a new mod is attempting to recreate the feeling of that 1996 beta version of Ocarina of Time. Titled Zelda 64, much like the game was before its official subtitle, the mod isn’t exactly piecing together the remnants of Zelda 64 as it is taking the ideas and fleshing them out. You won’t see beta maps suddenly being finished, but more getting ideas from the team done in the style of that original beta.
YouTuber Hard4Games has a video breaking down some of the team’s goals and it sounds solid. Many people, myself included, have wondered what the original idea of Zelda 64 would have felt like. Gaming history is so interesting and it’s truly a shame that there isn’t some way of experiencing all of the development builds of Ocarina of Time. While this mod might not be exactly that, it’s still closer than we’ve ever come to having a “complete” version of that original vision.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
