It's Z day - remake of iconic Legend of Zelda game is released

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The second reboot of what is often described as one of the greatest video games of all time has finally been released.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time originally came out in 1998, and has been remade once since then, in 2011.

This newest take on the classic has been released on the Nintendo Switch 2 as part of the franchise's 40th anniversary celebrations, and it's already received record reviews just hours after it's come out.

Metacritic is a review aggregator site, which basically means it adds up and averages out review scores for popular games, TV shows and films.

Ocarina of Time has received a score of 96 so far, which is the highest this year and the highest ever for a remake.

It's also one of the highest scores given on the site full stop.

BBC Newsbeat reporter Tom Richardson told BBC Newsround that when the original came out, "players hadn't seen anything like it before".

And while it may not look as impressive these days, "it's still viewed as one of the most important and influential games ever."

"Remakes of classic games are also popular with players, and Nintendo's said it wants younger fans to have a chance to experience an older style Zelda game," he added.

So what is it, what's new in this reboot, and what are people saying about it?

The game follows hero, Link, in an action-adventure with lots of puzzles to solve along the way.

He has to explore the fantasy kingdom of Hyrule, stop a villain named Ganondorf from taking control, and save Princess Zelda.

To do it, he uses a magical wind instrument, called an ocarina, to get around and solve puzzles, as well as time travelling and switching between his younger and adult self.

The Zelda games were created by legendary Nintendo designer Shigeru Miaymoto, who was inspired among other things by a village in Kyoto, Japan, where he grew up.

As a boy he used to have adventures in caves, and make weapons out of sticks and rocks, and he used this as a basis for the adventures Link goes on in the Zelda games.

Part of the reason Ocarina of Time was such a hit was because it made big advancements in video games and used mechanics never seen before.

For example, it introduced z-locking, which was using the z-button on the back of the controller to lock in on an enemy in battle.

It was also the first Zelda game in the franchise to be fully 3D.

Like its name, it became a thing of legend.

It got a Metacritic score of 99, and popular games new site IGN gave it their first ever 10 out of 10.

It was then rebooted for the Nintendo 3DS in 2011.

While sticking to the original storyline and map (mostly), there's lots about this remake that's either updated or brand new.

The big one is the graphics. The 1998 version was, understandably, not very high-res, but that's all changed this time round.

It's got a completely different art style, with lots more detail than before.

It's modernised in other ways too - for example, you can now use the controller to move the camera around and view your surroundings from different angles, something that wasn't possible in the original version.

The cutscenes are now partially voiced, in a similar way to newer games like Breath of the Wild.

Link, of course though, still doesn't say a peep!

Critics are already calling it the best game of 2026 so far.

The Guardian newspaper gave it five stars and called it "a dream come true", and game news site IGN said it's an "exceptional remake of an incredible game and a rich adventure that stands on its own".

Metacritic has given it a score of 96 out of 100, only three points off the original's score.