Take a look at my two-part editorial on Soulcalibur V, which breaks down the character roster and provides a who’s who of everyone involved. I’m definitely looking forward to playing as Viola.

Part One

Part Two

Check out my review of the downloadable title Scarygirl.

I had a wonderful chat with Nathan Jurevicius, creator of the Scarygirl brand (see the new PSN/XBLA download title). You can read the interview here.

Check out my thoughts on Rayman Origins (not a review). Were you satisfied with what the platformer delivered, or were you hoping for more?

I got a little carried away with this one, so hopefully you find it to be an interesting read. Here are ten ridiculously awesome video game crossovers that need to happen. Check it out on GameZone. Thumbs up for the new site design!

I enjoy other fighting game series—such as Soulcalibur, Tekken, and Street Fighter—but they don’t captivate me as well as Guilty Gear and BlazBlue do. The characters are unique and interesting, spout hilarious one-liners (in the case of BlazBlue, anyway), and can unleash some seriously awesome moves—in other words, they have more personality than they do an anatomically incorrect amount of muscle.

And here’s the continuation of yesterday’s console article, featuring the top ten most anticipated Vita and 3DS games of 2012.

As an update to the big fifteen console games of this year, Diablo III has just been confirmed for consoles. W00t!

This review is for the GameCube port of the game included in The Legend of Zelda: Collector’s Edition.

Following The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword with Ocarina of Time—or more precisely, continuing Ocarina of Time after my Skyward Sword fever wore off—guarantees an expert eye at detecting similarities and differences between the two games. Although I had never played Ocarina of Time in the past (the real past), it was because I was engaged in Skyward Sword that I knew how to maximize Link’s abilities in OoT. Rolling into trees to shake out items is just one of the many tricks that apparently translate from Zelda to Zelda.

I couldn’t help but compare Ocarina of Time to Skyward Sword, and not always in a flattering way. I wanted to keep the foolproof aiming, the orchestral score, and the convenient checkpoints from the newer title. It wasn’t my intention to play favorites. I wanted to enjoy the 3D Zelda that everyone had raved about for over a decade, and in some ways I did, but mostly I longed to return skyward.

After bringing peace to Skyloft, I could focus more clearly on Ocarina of Time. I can understand why the game, which gives you all the time in the world, is succeeded by a title (Majora’s Mask) that gives you no time at all. Zelda isn’t afraid to experiment with time (Oracle of Ages), alternate realities (A Link to the Past), and even size (The Minish Cap), so it makes sense that Nintendo would flip the switch in the other direction. Ocarina of Time handles the seven-year divide of child to adult Link well, even for a game that’s host to some of the biggest spoilers in video game history.

Ocarina of Time comes drenched not only in popular story points, but also nostalgia. You have to wade through a great, stinking bog of nostalgia to actually get to the game, and here’s a little thing about nostalgia: After testing its strength, you start to see through its candy-coated exterior to the time-accumulated rust and original imperfections underneath. Ocarina of Time is not perfect. And if you think so, maybe it’s time you left the safety of Kokiri Forest and experienced the open world. When you were a tyke and first played Ocarina of Time, you were just too young to understand.

Hyrule Field isn’t as huge and full of endless possibilities as you might remember. When you’re not avoiding Peahats with extreme annoyance by day, then you’re zig-zagging past Stalchilds at night. I expected the routine to change when Link grew up, but the reanimated skeletons popped out of the earth like bad weeds—the only creatures festering in the infertile soil.

Every other enemy not found on the open field is worth combating, however. They operate best in dungeons, where each encounter demands your full attention. Allow yourself to grow complacent and the simplest enemies will rob you of precious hearts. The respawn time slips a little out of control here, negating your efforts at progress at the worst times—like when attempting to demystify the complicated blueprint of the Water Temple. No enemy infuriated me as much as Keese and Tektites, the latter of which wouldn’t even let me climb out of the water without getting knocked aside. Otherwise a decent amount of creativity went into programming each type of enemy and boss.

Locking on to enemies, or anything in Hyrule for that matter, can be difficult. Sometimes Navi will become distracted by a random object and insist that you look at it right away (and she never shuts up about, say, Death Mountain, even when you’re inside Death fucking Mountain), and her hyperactivity can cost you. Fi in Skyward Sword might be just as annoying, but at least she shares information with you, even if it’s something you clearly already know. But sometimes, too, the camera quits on you and decides, well, isn’t this awkward view of a wall or your feet more preferable than the one of the boss trying to smash you into puddy. It can really dampen the heroic spirit, whether you’re trying to slay an overgrown Octorok or trying to hole-in-one a bomb into a large spinning Goron urn. To aggravate the problem, aiming with weapons like the bow and arrow or slingshot without a lockable target requires luck and a large amount of guesswork, especially until you get the hang of its iffiness.

Occasionally the hunt for consumables can mutate into a quest all its own. While going out of your way to collect more items isn’t a big problem, considering you have to go out of your way for everything else in the game (traveling to locations, searching dungeons for missing keys), it can become a huge issue when you’re hurting for hearts. Dungeons either tuck hearts away in a minuscule number of pots (which inexcusably refuse to break half the time) or goad players into tracking down Skulltulas and trying for a jackpot. Beating dungeons with persistently low health is doable, but you might want to bottle fairies or red potions for emergencies. In-dungeon checkpoints (not the same as in-dungeon shortcuts, which are actually a huge help) don’t lend themselves well to these situations, as they routinely force you to replay the sections you lost hearts on in the first place.

As mentioned, moving between locations can eat up your time. Reloading the game will take you back to centerpieces like Kokiri Village and the Temple of Time—or, thankfully, at the beginning of a dungeon, if you’re occupied with one of those. The game’s early field shortcuts are hardly worth using when you have to navigate the confusing and exit-prone Lost Woods to access them. At least Sheik teaches you useful songs so you can hop around the map’s major landmarks later on.

Of course, Ocarina of Time does have its pros. I like the characters and the story, even if nearly all the surprises have been ruined for me over all the years of not playing the game. The locations are fun to explore, and they’re colorful. Set pieces, such as the backdrop for fighting Phantom Ganondorf and Jabu Jabu’s Belly, are equally impressive. I might gag every time I walk into Hyrule town or visit any of the atrocious Great Fairies, but I still appreciate the game’s richness of personality and humor. I loved floating through the air on a Cucco’s frantic wings and buying magical beans from a presumptuous salesman (Link is his only customer, after all). And the dungeon in the desert was my favorite by far for its simplicity and for bringing back one of my favorite pieces of equipment with a cool new design. No matter where you are or who you talk to, Ocarina of Time presents an original world and emotionally stirring narrative—whether you’re a kid staring in awe of Sheik or an adult chuckling at the slapstick tag-team of young Link and Ruto.

The equipment selection, too—especially the various tunics and gear—adds a lot of depth and variety to the game. My one complaint here is that the Water Temple, most of all, corners you into switching footwear more frequently than a runway model. I can imagine this component and the cumbersome menu page-turning in general were tweaked for the 3DS remake.

As stated, enemies and bosses exhibit the kind of smart and thoughtful design seen in Skyward Sword. The new Zelda might drop players into the middle of the action by requiring them to slash and thrust as Link himself, a dynamic that benefits the gameplay immensely, but Ocarina of Time shouldn’t be denied its accomplishments in the same category. Players might only press buttons instead of fully manipulating a controller, but they need to devise a strategy before charging headfirst into combat.

The biggest obstacle to my uninterrupted enjoyment of Ocarina of Time was the puzzles. While many of the puzzles followed a logical progression, an exception to the rule kept cropping up: When stuck, your only hope is to revisit every room, search every cranny, and mash every button to get back on track. Couple this time-wasting problem, a product of old gaming design, with the aforementioned respawning enemies and low supply of hearts and you’ve got a recipe for frustration. A better hint system would have sufficed. The least Navi could do is keep up with current events instead of spouting single lines of dialogue that lost their relevancy hours ago.

But most barbaric are the few essential goodies, sprinkled throughout the game in secret spots, that are required for use later on. Miss the golden opportunity and you’ll be paying for it hours down the line in a dungeon, without a clue as to where you went wrong. Only online walkthroughs, or thorough backtracking (which no one wants to do), can save you at this point.

Even with these problems, the dungeons still captivate. Ocarina of Time suffers in many departments, but even in number the flaws are not enough to totally tarnish the memory of this classic game. The N64 original might be dated when it comes to today’s gameplay standards, but if you’re willing to be patient and attentive to your surroundings, Ocarina of Time rewards with a deep and challenging experience. I only wish it didn’t make me scream in anger nearly as much.

Rating: 6/10
Pros: Weapons and equipment, creative world and story, boss fights, clever enemy design
Cons: Overactive enemy respawning, tiresome mechanics, useless running around and frequent menu flipping, muddy graphics, troublesome controls

Start saving your money and marking your calendar—in my latest editorial for GameZone, I list the top fifteen most anticipated console games of 2012. The games range from big budget blockbusters to some welcome additions and underdogs, so be sure to take a look.

I’ll be following this up with a list of ten great upcoming handheld games, so check back soon.

Besides being handhelds, the PSP and 3DS have one other big thing in common: Neither system is doing so hot. The long underused PSP is making its exit as Sony prepares to usher in the Vita, and the Nintendo 3DS debuted to much disappointment and disapproval. The past year has been a turbulent one for the handhelds, but not altogether fruitless. Check out the best PSP and 3DS games of 2011.