Nintendo’s much-anticipated remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is due to reach us tomorrow, and reviews have arrived today. And oh boy, they’re good. Like, really good. The Metascore at the time of writing is an epic 96, based on 48 reviews, none of which dips below an 8. And perhaps that’s not a massive surprise given it’s, well, Ocarina of Time, but what a nice relief to learn that Nintendo doesn’t seem to have broken a classic but possibly made it even better. It is, in fact, the highest rated game of 2026. At least for a couple of weeks, anyway.

Review embargoes lifted early this morning, allowing a waterfall of reviews to spill forth, each competing with the next for superlatives to describe the 2026 version of the 1998 original. Appropriately split across two time zones, the remake is deeply faithful to the classic Nintendo 64 version, albeit with a suite of quality-of-life improvements such a running, motion control aiming, and those pesky automatic jumps now being at the behest of a button. There are also embellishments, like how Hyrule Castle Town can now be explored, but reviews are saying nothing has been taken away in the process. (Kotaku did not receive a review copy, and we’ll be reviewing the game once it’s out.)

Eurogamer ‘s Christian Donaldson describes both the original and this new version as a “masterpiece,” saying “this is more or less the game that people played back in 1998,” saying even dungeon guides from an old N64 magazine would still get you through here.

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