The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

Confession time: I only just got my own 3DS the other week. Of course, waiting to get one not only netted me a nice price break, but an awesome-looking unit as well. Plus, I can exploit this timing in order to directly compare Skyward Sword with its most ancient-yet-relevant predecessor (more on this later).

If this was a pure port of the N64 game, it would probably not hold up great; in the 13 (!) years since Ocarina of Time's release, not only has it aged in the somewhat obvious audiovisual senses, but its mechanics, plotting, and level design became the bar which all 3D adventures aspired to reach -- and eventually did. The dungeons and the overall adventure's pace are still pretty great, although it has its share of Perfect Dark HD moments where an ambiguous goal and a light explanation can lead to a lot of wasted time. (Fortunately, if you've previously played the game to death, like I have, you'll be able to recall most of these solutions from memory.)

The storytelling is where Ocarina of Time 3DS shows its age most poignantly. Cutscenes are brief, and dialog is snappy and to the point. And since the story scenes are distributed fairly evenly between each dungeon, OoT presents a sharp counterpoint to Skyward Sword's scant-but-wordy story sequences. While the writing is certainly very 90's-quality, I can't help but admire its consistency. And the lickety speed with which Ocarina allows you to progress from dungeon to dungeon is pretty refreshing.

But it's the graphics that really justify this remake. Not just the 3D - I've actually had it turned off most of the time, since shifting my hands around ruins the effect - but the revised, higher-detail artwork, and the polygons that've been added to all the character models, really soften the blow. You'll still recall the N64 when gazing over some of Hyrule's low-detail terrain, but most of Ocarina's visual wrinkles have been expertly touched-up to the point where you might even consider them new.

Between the relatively swift pacing, my nostalgia, and everything that made the original N64 game great, I've had no trouble losing track of time in Hyrule all over again. At this point, my biggest obstacle is the system's battery life.

Progress: Got the Light Arrows