Using the Fire Temple Theme to Determine Which Version of Ocarina of Time You Have.

[TheGreatCthulhu]

Just an interesting bit of Zelda trivia.

When Ocarina of Time was first released, the theme to the Fire Temple included a voice sample of someone chanting.





Now, when Koji Kondo originally sampled this, he was just looking for some exotic chanting, and he often pulled from samples, which is actually super common in video game music scores.

The original sample was actually a Muslim prayer chant, and contrary to the popular myth that Nintendo removed it because of outcry from Muslims, it was actually Nintendo recognizing their own censorship rules when it comes to religious themes or symbols in their games.

So what ended up happening is that some of the earlier versions of Ocarina of Time actually have this original voice sample in it, while some don't, and that's due to Nintendo releasing multiple versions of the game cartridges, and rather than lose out on sales by doing a recall, they just simply updated the music, printed new cartridges and called it a day.

Thus, the updated versions of Ocarina of Time don't contain this chanting, but they also changed Ganondorf's blood after the end of his boss fight from red to green.



Now, you can determine it by the music of the Fire Temple alone. If it has the chanting you likely have Version 1.0 or 1.1, and Ganon's blood will be red, not green.

But there's another way to do this.

The easiest way of determining what version you have is to check the small punch-code at the top-right side of the back label.

If it's just two numbers, it's version 1.0, which contains the original Fire Temple music, and Ganon's blood will be red.

If it's just two numbers and the letter A, it's Version 1.1, which contains the original Fire Temple music, and Ganon's blood will be red.

If it's just two numbers and the letter B, it's Version 1.2, which has the updated music, and Ganon's blood will be green.

The symbol change on the blocks and Mirror Shield didn't happen until the Game Cube.

So there's some fun bit of Zelda history.

 

[VikzeLink]

I've always had the updated version on my N64 cartridge. When I first heard the original Fire Temple theme via the internet, I just thought it creepy in a bad way and that it didn't fit the game at all. I still think so to this day, I much prefer the updated version.
I do know that there are people out there who feel the other way around, but I can't really understand them. The original song just sounds so out of place compared to the rest of the OOT soundtrack

 

[TheGreatCthulhu]

I've always had the updated version on my N64 cartridge. When I first heard the original Fire Temple theme via the internet, I just thought it creepy in a bad way and that it didn't fit the game at all. I still think so to this day, I much prefer the updated version.
I do know that there are people out there who feel the other way around, but I can't really understand them. The original song just sounds so out of place compared to the rest of the OOT soundtrack

I like both versions, personally.

I find the chanting of the original harmonically beautiful, but that's my musical side talking.

 

[Fraxinus]

Honestly, I don't really remember much of the dungeon music from OoT, but I did enjoy the Fire Temple's atmosphere. Even if I didn't pay attention to the music when I did my playthrough, it certainly did work on my subconscious to enhance that atmosphere as listening to it now does give me some nice imagery.

Never played the original version and I don't feel it necessary to, but the changes made to future releases of OoT regarding censorship have always interested me. Especially because the old Gerudo emblem was seen on Ganondorf's cape in OoT3D, possibly as an oversight by GREZZO. No idea there.

I like both versions, personally.

I find the chanting of the original harmonically beautiful, but that's my musical side talking.

You can like a song and not like its use within a game. How well done a song is as a piece is separate from where and how it's used. Music creates feelings; if those feelings don't fit their situation then it doesn't really mean you're saying the song is bad for saying you don't like it being used there. For instance, boss music as overworld music would be unsettling. There's an established "vibe" that tracks give off that make them suited for certain situations and not others. Doesn't mean boss music is bad; it's just not meant to be overworld music.

That said, I adore chants in songs as well.

 

[TheGreatCthulhu]

Honestly, I don't really remember much of the dungeon music from OoT, but I did enjoy the Fire Temple's atmosphere. Even if I didn't pay attention to the music when I did my playthrough, it certainly did work on my subconscious to enhance that atmosphere as listening to it now does give me some nice imagery.

Never played the original version and I don't feel it necessary to, but the changes made to future releases of OoT regarding censorship have always interested me. Especially because the old Gerudo emblem was seen on Ganondorf's cape in OoT3D, possibly as an oversight by GREZZO. No idea there.


You can like a song and not like its use within a game. How well done a song is as a piece is separate from where and how it's used. Music creates feelings; if those feelings don't fit their situation then it doesn't really mean you're saying the song is bad for saying you don't like it being used there. For instance, boss music as overworld music would be unsettling. There's an established "vibe" that tracks give off that make them suited for certain situations and not others. Doesn't mean boss music is bad; it's just not meant to be overworld music.

That said, I adore chants in songs as well.

I get why it doesn't gel with some people. It's no skin off my back, just something I found interesting.

And yes, chanting is gorgeous. I'm a total sucker for Gregorian plain chant. Someone did the Halo theme in plain chant, and it was beautiful.

Edit: Here's the Halo theme in Gregorian chant. It's amazing.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

while I like the updated version, I think it is a shame that the original had to be canned since it adds a certain flare to the OST since its not often you hear muslim influences in big nintendo games like that, alongside the crescent moon of islam being removed later on

 

[Vanessa28]

I actually like both version but the updated version was the first I heard so I got used to that one first. But both are actually cool and doesn't bother me that much. It's one of my fav dungeons because of the music and story attached to it. Ancient dragon, wild Darunia, trapped gorons... what could go wrong?

 

[TheGreatCthulhu]

I actually like both version but the updated version was the first I heard so I got used to that one first. But both are actually cool and doesn't bother me that much. It's one of my fav dungeons because of the music and story attached to it. Ancient dragon, wild Darunia, trapped gorons... what could go wrong?

Fire Temple is definitely in my top two temples of OoT, right behind the Spirit Temple.