Ocarina of Time Remake Becomes 2026’s Best-Reviewed Game
Nintendo’s Switch 2 remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has become the best-reviewed game of 2026 so far, receiving a 96 on Metacritic and 95 on OpenCritic. Those figures place it just below the 99 earned by the original 1998 Nintendo 64 game on Metacritic, but above the 94 awarded to Ocarina of Time 3D, its last major re-release in 2011. Critics broadly agree that Nintendo has modernized the adventure with unusual care, preserving its structure and atmosphere while making its aging design easier to play today. The remake’s changes are not universally admired: reviewers have pointed to an inconsistent visual style, with some areas resembling generic modern third-person games, and to updates that work less successfully than others. Even so, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. The Guardian’s Keza MacDonald praised the new art direction and expanded cutscenes for bringing out the game’s epic drama while retaining its melancholy story about a child whose childhood is stolen by an evil king. Eurogamer’s Christian Donlan highlighted gameplay improvements that make exploration and progression move much faster, arguing that the remake feels both familiar and newly vibrant. Digital Foundry’s William Judd also praised its technical performance: the original ran at 20 frames per second, while the Switch 2 version targets a stable 60fps in both docked and handheld modes. Reviewers say the smoother performance improves combat, platforming and exploration, helping a nearly 30-year-old masterpiece feel immediate without losing its distinctive themes of change and time.
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