Okay, done.
I was expecting some kind of extra features, but it appears to be only the main game. And it's not a remake, but a port: the game features some of the same freakishly-specific quirks as the N64 program. So if you're on the fence about picking this one up, just ask yourself: would you pay forty bucks for a Virtual Console title?
There are some changes, improvements and/or otherwise, though...
 Many models, and especially most textures are in way better condition this time around. The game is a lot better to look at, which really does go a long way. I'm kinda scared to play the N64 version now, lest I lose my lunch. The same thing happened when I first played Super Smash Bros. Melee: "Eh," I thought, "the graphics don't feel that much better. Let's go play the N64 game again." It, um... it has better graphics.
The Song of Double Time can now advance to any hour in the current day.
Goron Link can now steer in midair. It does help a bit with the moon mini-dungeon, but it's still a pain.
 Zora Link now has a stupefied swimming mechanic for no apparent reason. It's slower and cannot jump out of the water. Using the electrical Barrier ability activates the N64-style swimming mechanic, but that in turn means that you have to use magical energy to swim normally. Yay for Chateau Romani. It has three main states: surfacing, sinking and stationary, but it switches to stationary every time you do anything, meaning you all too often find yourself not moving when you thought you were moving.
 Owl statues, and new quill statues, save the game upon checking, though they don't require you to stop playing then and there like the N64 game. On the one hand, this takes away a bit of the charm of how games are saved from the N64 version, but on the other hand, it means you won't be screwed over just because you lose power.
Speaking to the Bombers around town for the first time on any given three-day cycle will clue you in regarding some event you haven't completed yet. This is very helpful for finding masks or Pieces of Heart.
All "pitch" controls are reversed, meaning you press up to look up and press down to look down. This applies to any first-person view (Pictograph Box, Hero's Bow) as well as swimming as Zora Link.
As mentioned in previous posts, the button mapping for Ocarina notes makes no sense.
Troup leader Gormon's story is expaned on a bit, depicting him with a severe bout of depression after receiving the news that his show has been canceled. He's in bed all day with nausea, fretting about how he'll have to break the news to his troupe who have been working so hard. It gives another practical use of the Troup Leader's Mask (formerly Circus Leader's Mask), which results in awarding the player with a seventh Empty Bottle.
 Two fishing holes are now present, but I haven't been able to identify any function within them other than costing 50 Rupees.
Gyorg now has a second phase that consists of more than "barf small fish and keep doing the same thing." It has to be fought as Zora link, and has a rather satisfying crunch to it.
Twinmold is now fought one half as regular-sized Link, and then the other half as Giant Mask link (which it gives you mid-battle after defeating the blue worm). That's not the bad part in and of itself, but you have to smash the red worm something like 913 times to get it to fall down, where it then only barely gives you a subtle camera-angle hint that you're supposed to pick it up by the tail. Rinse and repeat four times while constantly running out of magic to win the battle.
The battle with Majora is the same mechanically, but Majora's Incarnation in particular feels even more awkward than before.
There's a Shiekah Stone inside the Clock Tower for when you get stuck. I assume it's useful, but I haven't used it. Let's just give it a thumbs-up.
The Magic Bean salesman beneath the Deku Palace now has a secret exit right next to the spot where you're supposed to plant the Bean. This doubles as a secret entrance, allowing you to side-step the whole "maze with guards" part of the activity. Plus, the moving Deku Flower platforms don't move until you land on them. If it were dumbed down any more than that, they'd have to chew our food for us before serving it.
Song of Soaring's and Elegy of Emptiness's animations can be skipped now so you don't have to wait for it to finish. Doing so will result in a mild bug on the Stone Tower switch puzzle, though.
Link can still reach the Silver Rupee in East Clock Town without using the Bunny Hood.
Hookshot has a laser beam on it so you can see where the heck you're aiming. I imagine this was probably also the case in Ocarina of Time 3D.
They really bludgeon you over the head with the fact that a Goron named Link has a reservation in the Stock Pot Inn. It was years before I realized that's why he was sleeping outside on the first night, but now they just spell it out for you and you're still "not sure why" you had a reservation (despite now being required to be Goron Link when speaking to Anju).
Shiro the plain-as-a-stone soldier is now smack dab in the middle of the Gerudo pirates' fortress instead of in Ikana Canyon. Not only does Tatl point out the presence of a cheaty-face perk, but the nearest Red Potion is all the way back at Zora Cape. I really wish he and Kotake would accept the damn Fairies instead of Potions.
Kotake gives you an Empty Bottle as a reward for the target challenge now. The Bottle in Ikana Graveyard got replaced with the Piece of Heart that Kotake used to give.
Aiming the bow is now a matter of lining up the tip of the arrow with the target, and you can aim by moving the 3DS around (again, probably the same in OoT3D). This makes the Shooting Galleries a bit less hair-pullingly aggravating. |
