Nintendo faced an almost impossible challenge when it decided to remake The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The original is not merely remembered as one of the greatest games ever created—it still holds the highest score in Metacritic history with a nearly perfect 99 average score.

Somehow, Nintendo appears to have pulled it off.

Reviews for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s Nintendo Switch 2 remake are now live, giving the game a Metascore of 96 based on 82 reviews as of the time of this writing. That makes it the highest-rated release of 2026 so far, placing it several points ahead of acclaimed games including Resident Evil Requiem, Phantom Blade Zero, Forza Horizon 6, and The Witcher 3 Remastered. Of course, Grand Theft Auto 6 has still not been released.

The score also places the remake among Metacritic’s highest-rated games of all time, alongside titles such as Half-Life 2, Mass Effect 2, Elden Ring, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Metal Gear Solid 2, and other Zelda games like The Wind Waker and Tears of the Kingdom.

It has not quite surpassed the 1998 original, which retains its seemingly untouchable average score of 99. It has, however, exceeded Ocarina of Time 3D, the well-regarded 2011 Nintendo 3DS remake that received a 94 overall average.

The consensus is that Nintendo preserved the structure and identity of Ocarina of Time while modernizing nearly everything surrounding it. Critics have praised its rebuilt environments, expressive character models, cinematic presentation, voice acting, updated music, and the greater emotional weight given to familiar moments.

For me, the original is still my favorite game ever made, and I've got the remake pre-ordered for pickup later tonight. My 40th anniversary controller pre-order also arrived earlier this week. You could say I'm just a little bit excited.

The remake introduces sprinting, manual jumping, free camera control, faster item selection, and a quest-tracking system. These additions make the adventure easier to navigate without replacing the deliberate dungeon design that made the original so influential.

Reviews also highlight redesigned locations, revised puzzles, and improvements to historically frustrating sections. The Water Temple reportedly benefits enormously from the new controls and interface, while Navi interrupts the player less frequently. Expanded areas such as Hyrule Castle Town give familiar locations greater scale and atmosphere.

Nintendo has resisted turning the game into another Breath of the Wild. Ocarina of Time remains a comparatively structured adventure built around distinct dungeons, specialized items, and carefully controlled progression. That restraint appears to be one of the remake’s greatest strengths since it demonstrates that the traditional Zelda formula remains compelling beside the series’ newer open-world direction.

The complaints are relatively minor. Some reviewers note that parts of the underlying 1998 design can feel simple beside modern games. Others have criticized the absence of the Master Quest variant version, the limitation of a single save file, and a few rough edges that Nintendo chose to preserve rather than redesign.

Those issues have done little to diminish the overall reception. Nintendo set out to rebuild a game once considered almost impossible to improve, and the resulting score suggests it has created both the definitive version for newcomers and a meaningful return to Hyrule for longtime fans.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time launches exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2 on November 5, 2026. And don't forget to subscribe to our Newsletter, join our 80 Level Talent platform, Discord, and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Telegram, and Instagram, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.

Are you a fan of what we do here at 80 Level? Then make sure to set us as a Preferred Source on Google to see more of our content in your feed.