The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has a special place in my heart. I know, I know, not exactly an unexpected take, but it’s the game that got me back into the Nintendo 64 ecosystem. I had one at launch but sold it about a year later. It wasn’t until the summer of 1999 that I got an N64 again.
It was right after I’d come back from a temporary deployment to Tirana, Albania when I was in the Air Force. Since I’d just spent three months building a expeditionary base in support of humanitarian efforts inside Kosovo, I didn’t have the opportunity to spend money on much of anything. When I finally returned to my dorm room at Ramstein AB in Germany, I had surpluses of two extremely dangerous things for a 22 year-old: money and time.
I threw both my excess time and money at Ocarina, immediately setting myself up with an N64 and a spanking new 27″ JVC tube TV. I then spent the next two weeks catching up on a game I’d missed, and it was an incredible experience. Yes, the game is one of the greatest ever made, and at the time there really was nothing that could come close. It was reconnecting with a hobby I’d fallen out of in the best possible way.
This fondness for Ocarina, and what it meant to me at the time, had me giddy with excitement when we got that first tease for the LEGO ‘Final Battle’ set (available now at LEGO Store). And now that I’ve spent over two and a half hours putting it together, I can say this LEGO The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time set is good. I wish it had just a little more, but I’m being greedy.
Hey! Listen!!
The LEGO The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – The Final Battle set has 1,003 total pieces and three minifigs: Link, looking very much the part of the Ocarina-style minifig from the Deku Tree set, the titular Zelda about whom legends are told, and the Demon King himself, Ganondorf.
Ganondorf’s minifig is awesome. He’s got a cape, which I always love in minifigures, as well as a shoulder pauldron piece that goes over his neck and under his head. He’s awesome, maybe the best of the small group of Nintendo minifigs so far.
One of the action features of this LEGO set is a hideaway Ganondorf who pops up via a clever lever mechanism. It’s pretty cool and I’m always a fan of LEGO sets with moving features. It simulates the final battle, when Ganondorf crashes up from the floor before transforming into the much more terrifying Ganon.
My only problem with this set up is when Ganondorf is in his minifigure Gerudo form, the set is pretty empty. So much of what makes it impressive is the giant Ganon build. If you’re like me, which I doubt, you don’t want to have them both on display. I mean, how could Ganondorf AND Ganon be in the same place at the same time? It’s preposterous! I ended up tucking the Ganondorf minifig away and putting the fearsome Ganon in his place, which is a damn shame. Yes, I really love the Ganondorf minifig, but not at the expense of screen accuracy. I’m not a monster.
The Ganon figure itself is really cool. Again, there’s a cape, and I do love me a miniature cape. There are also plenty of decorative elements silkscreened onto the bricks. That’s something I thought was pretty interesting about this set: there are no decals at all. Everything you see that you’d think is a decal is printed right there on the brick itself. It definitely looks cleaner, but it probably limits their use in MOCs (my own creations, custom builds in other words).
Once completed, Ganon cuts an imposing figure, but his poses feel weirdly limited. Unlike the LEGO Transformers Soundwave I put together a while back, Ganon is much less like an action figure and more like a statue with some limited pose potential. His legs and feet move pretty freely, but his arms are very limited. In fact, his elbows aren’t even jointed at all. I wish he had more flexibility, literally.
Ocarina of Time LEGO Easter Eggs
At the onset, I was a little worried this was going to be a straightforward, milquetoast build, but it does have a few hidden secrets. One of the first recognizable things you put together is the Megaton Hammer, which hides inside the ruined castle spire. There’s a also a hidden cache of hearts, if Link takes damage and needs some quick healing. They, too, are hidden from view during the build.
It’s exactly the sort of thing I love about modern LEGO builds. The LEGO Game Boy set hid a “save” battery in the Link’s Awakening cart, and the LEGO Batman: The Animated Series Gotham City diorama spoiled me on what a LEGO set can do when it comes to Easter Eggs.
It’s not a knock against the LEGO Ocarina of Time set in any way, but this is probably the LEGO build with the most tiny pieces I’ve ever put together. The number of 1x and 2x bricks is astonishing, and if you drop one on the floor, depending on your space, you may never see it again. I was fortunate to somehow not have dropped a single piece on the floor during this build, a new personal record.
OK, here’s where I have to admit my biggest gripe. And I want to preface it by saying, I completely and totally understand why this little feature isn’t part of the set. I also want to preface what I’m about to say with a spoiler warning for an almost 30-year-old game, because I know how important it is for a lot of people not to have things spoiled even if the thing is older than they are.
So, spoilers for the 1998 game Ocarina of Time: In the final cinematic of The Final Battle, Link dispatches Ganon by thrusting the Master Sword into Ganon’s forehead. Yes, I get it, that’s probably not something LEGO and Nintendo want in their set, but I would love to have had the option, even unofficially, to slot that tiny minifigure Master Sword just over Ganon’s pronounced demon-brow for the death blow.
LEGO The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – The Final Battle
LEGO The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time – The Final Battle
16
The LEGO The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time – The Final Battle set is available now for $129.99 and as of this writing, it’s only available at the LEGO Store. If you have a little extra cash and are torn between getting this one and the much more expensive Deku Tree set, I personally recommend saving up for the Deku Tree. But also… that one costs more than twice as much and it’s hard to really say whether or not you’ll get more than two times the enjoyment out of it. This is a fine Nintendo LEGO set, but the simple Game Boy and the complex Deku Tree sets both set a high bar.
Seth Macy is Senior Social Commerce Producer, and just wants to be your friend. You can find him online @SethFromMaine.
