Remastering a Nintendo 64 classic like The Legend of Zelda Ocarina Of Time is a truly daunting task. It’s a cult classic, a game that’s affected millions of gamers and completely changed the idea of playing a three dimensional video game.

The game’s developers, Grezzo, needed to maintain a delicate balance, changing just enough to make purchasing Ocarina Of Time 3d worthwhile, but also leaving much of the game untouched. Otherwise, it loses the personality and art style that makes it one of the greatest video games of all time.

This balance is achieved with Ocarina Of Time 3D; it oozes nostalgia but still manages to feel fresh. The graphical update adds some much needed polish to the 13-year-old title.

Almost nothing has been changed in Ocarina Of Time 3D; for the most part it’s the exact same game I played years ago. The only new addition is a mirrored master quest and boss fight mode as well as a simple hint system. This is both great and disappointing, depending on what you’re expecting from the game. If you were hoping for new dungeons, weapons and enemies, there are none here.

Since this is pretty much the same game with shiny graphics, Ocarina Of Time 3D heavily banks on the nostalgia factor. This means if you’ve played the game recently, maybe on the Wii virtual console, there really isn’t much new here for you. On the other hand, if it’s been a few years since you last galloped across Hyrule’s fields, you’re in for a quality blast from the past. Ocarina Of Time 3D is also a great introduction to the game if you’ve never played it before.

The 3D is done relatively well. It adds a level of immersion I’ve never experienced before in a video game (probably because I’ve never played a 3D game before). Nevertheless, I was surprised by how good the 3D effect actually is, especially after hearing that a lot of the 3DS’s launch titles had a rather lackluster 3D performance.

One major gripe I had with the game was selecting and using secondary weapons. Since this game is on the 3DS there are less buttons for weapon selection. There are also no c-buttons like on the Nintendo 64 controller. The touch screen is used for switching and this makes it difficult to change weapons quickly.

Controlling your weapon by tilting the 3DS also feels awkward and messes up the game’s 3D effect. Since you need a completely straight line of sight between you and the 3DS to maintain the 3D effect, tilting it doesn’t exactly work well. With the 3D off, it works perfectly. The game also controls well with the 3DS’s thumbstick, just like it did on the Nintendo 64.

Zelda Ocarina Of Time 3D is a difficult game, probably one of the harder Zelda titles. The game’s puzzles are truly challenging and I found myself completely stumped on more than a few occasions. In 2011, completing the water temple is a terrifyingly difficult task.

At times the game also shows it’s age; textures look blurry, characters don’t talk (this is traditional in Zelda games though) and it just generally has a very old-school feel to it – for me this was part of the game’s overall appeal. I didn’t want a brand new Zelda title, I wanted to replay the same game I loved so much all those years ago.

The fact that gamers today have the opportunity to play Ocarina Of Time on a portable game console is mind blowing. This is the sort of stuff I dreamed about as a Zelda obsessed child – it’s truly an exciting time to be playing video games.