Ocarina of Time Would OoT Have Been As Revered in 16-bit?

[Steve]

No, it most certainly would not have been as revered as it is being a 3D game, than if it was a 16 bit 2D title. Why? Let's face it Ocarina of Time is, more or less, a rip off of A Link to the Past. The whole basic plot is practically the same, so it would be like having two of the same games, just with different levels, and a little bit of an altered storyline.

So your saying that the game is so great because it's the first Zelda in 3D.

So to conclude my statement, yes, that is exactly why.

 

[basement24]

That's like asking, "would a 16-bit Super Mario 64 be as revered?" It's so hypothetical that it's pretty much impossible to know the answer. A 16-bit Mario 64 would have been an entirely different game. Its nature as a 3D game is part of its identity.

That's part of my point though. So many people put OoT up on a huge pedestal and I think half of the people don't really know why. They are falling into the hype of it. It really does seem to be that most believe it wouldn't have held up as a 16-bit title, and that it's high praise is due to it changing the face of video games at the dawn of the 3-D revolution.

So, it kind of confuses me when there are very young players out there who did not experience this title first hand at it's original release who praise it for being the best game there is. If people don't think it's the story or graphics or music that set it apart from the titles before it, then just why are they giving it so much praise?

If I were told to play TP and then OoT afterwards, having never played a 3-D Zelda before, then I would praise TP for being the better game. Yet I often see young gamers saying OoT's the better one. So maybe there's some element of story that makes OoT a winner over TP in that respect, but in terms of 3-D gameplay, TP's more refined.

Back to the original comparison, maybe it's apples to oranges to compare a 16-bit to a 64-bit title, but if ALttP wins out in story, then really why are so many people putting OoT on a pedestal that they don't truly comprehend?

I suppose this makes it look like I'm bashing OoT, which I'm not. I was there for it's original release and played it first hand. I grew up with less-than 8-bit games and followed the trend through to today, so I saw first-hand how revolutionary OoT is. But in terms of playing it as a retro-title, it really doesn't hold up.

Maybe I should begin a new thread about this topic then. I'm not trying to dethrone the champion, but am more trying to understand the confusion behind 2nd generation players giving it the praise they might not fully comprehend.

 

[Steve]

If I were told to play TP and then OoT afterwards, having never played a 3-D Zelda before, then I would praise TP for being the better game. Yet I often see young gamers saying OoT's the better one. So maybe there's some element of story that makes OoT a winner over TP in that respect, but in terms of 3-D gameplay, TP's more refined.

Maybe I should begin a new thread about this topic then. I'm not trying to dethrone the champion, but am more trying to understand the confusion behind 2nd generation players giving it the praise they might not fully comprehend.

Not to seem like I'm drifting from the topic here, but really I find Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess to be mediocre games, they both go along the same principles that were first introduced in A Link to the Past. That's why Majora's Mask is a better game over those, because it strayed from that, and was an original game of its own in many different ways. So if you were to take MM and make it 16-bit, I think it would still have the same amount of praise, because it wasn't a shameless rip-off of ALttP.

 

[Master Kokiri 9]

I think it still would've been very close to how much it's revered now and then but not quite as much as it would've been in 3-d.

 

[athenian200]

I don't think it would have been as widely revered, but I think anyone who tried it would still have loved it. I'd say it would have been at least as good as ALttP (if not better), because the characters are more developed, there are several new kinds of switches, new items, and new uses for magic. If it had been a later 16-bit title, the 2D graphics might STILL have been better than ALttP.

I have a feeling that instead of being acclaimed by everyone, you'd instead just have people arguing about whether OoT or ALttP was the best SNES Zelda game.

I personally think Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, and Minish Cap give us a pretty good idea of what a 16-bit OoT might have felt like. If you liked those games, you probably would have liked 16-bit OoT.

 

[Seth]

I think it is ridiculous to say OoT is a rip off of ALTTP. Both are great games, but the stories are very different. OoT's was deeper and more complex, thanks to better character and cinematic scenes etc. The ONLY THING SIMILAR besides basic Zelda stuff like sword and shield and whatnot is the 3 early dungeons then the story switching to the later dungeons and switching "worlds" for those later dungeons(Dark World for ALTTP and the future for OoT). That's it, just a formula they used.
While OoT borrowed a lot from ALTTP in that respect, it took it and made it it's own. There are lots of basic game and story formulas that people have used forever, what it important is making an old idea unique and OoT did that. It was a proven formula and probably a safe thing to do because going to 3D was a huge jump. It was after that that they started to create new ideas and break the mold a bit with MM, a wonderful game as well. I have played both games many times and feel they are very different and each great in it's own way. And really, if OoT is a rip off then so is every game ever made except the very first one, every game/book/song etc borrows ideas. Anyways, sorry for my rant but that is a little pet peeve of mine.
As far as the topic, it's a moot point imo as many of the story segments and gameplay would be impossible with 16 bit graphics. While graphics aren't everything, a jump from 2D to 3D is huge gameplay wise and making a 3D game into a 2D game wouldn't always translate so well imho.

 

[ChargewithSword]

As a 16bit game, OOT would not be as revered. Most of it's praise comes from it's use of 3D to create dynamic effects for the game and it's levels. Making great use of the camera system as well to giver it a cinematic effect.There also are things like the Water Temple that could never be properly emphisized properly in 2D. The bosses were made for a 3D pattern that just wouldn't be as effective in 2D. There are also the emotion that one can't translate to 2d environments. The final scene in OOT could never be expressed in 2D. Plus, OOT would be seen as a clone of Alttp despite it only borrowing small elements from it.

Overall, 2D and OOT would not mix together as the amazing experience we remember.

 

[yann]

No, everyone would ahve just named it "any other Zelda game", the fact that it was the first 3D Zelda kind of set the mark.
It's a similiar story with alot of other games.
One example is Super Mario 64, the most renowned Mario game because of the fact that it was the first 3D one.

Had it been that they had made Majora's mask the first 3D Zelda and left OoT as 2D then we would all be reminising over MM instead.