Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Audio Analysis

 

Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time is no doubt one of my favorite games of all time.  From the game play to the characters, everything just seems to work.  However, one of the most memorable things about the game is the audio and soundtrack.  The game's title even includes a musical instrument so one can expect a vast array of different sounds and that is exactly what OoT (Ocarina of time) gives you.

Legend of Zelda OoT came out November 23, 1998 in the U.S. and has since become a classic that many people recognize today. One of the things that I, and many others, love about the game is the audio.  The audio was done by Koji Kondo who also was responsible for the audio on other Zelda games as well.  The technique he uses has been called a leitmotif in reverse, a leitmotif being a short canstantly recurring musical pharse associated with a particular person place or idea.  This is because not only do characters have their own theme but every area in Hyrule (which is the land where the game takes place) has its own music.  So instead of the music announcing an entering character, it now introduces a staionary environmnet as the player approaches.

The music is also used as a way to indiacte what the player is doing.  If the Link is running around the area the music will have percussion added to it, and when he is still the music will drop the percussion to have a more serene feel to it.  This technique is something that I personally enjoy becuse it really feels like the music is important to the story instead of just being there.  Also whenever the player is fighting an emeny the music will change to reflect that, so the sounds in the game are very sensitive to what the player does.  Not only that but the music is very intergral to the plot.  You will need to learn diffrent tunes in order to progress in the story.  I found this to be quite enjoyable because once again the audio serves a greater purpose than just being there you actually need it to play the game.  Zelda's Lullaby is probably one of the more important tunes you will play in the game.

 

Although there were many challenges in having such a complex sound system at that time the audio came out perfectly, at least in my opinion.  I think it it is great to feature the audio in such a way that in order to play the game you need it there.  That is something that I had never experinced with an action/adventure game before so it was a very refreshing change.  That amoung many other things is probably why this is one of my favorite games ever.  Everything you do will have a sound to go with it.  In fact it is a great way to know exactly where you are in Hyrule just by listening to the music.

The audio in this game is something that I had never seen done before when I first played the game and is still something that I have not really experinced with any other game.  Whenever I play the game I always want to immediantly go and listen to the soundtrack as well.  The music is just something to admire.

Below is a link to Zelda's Lullaby

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qPtuOfQbyI