Philips Magnavox Videogames and the Entertainment Revolution Trigger Happy - Manual (Page 95)

Trigger Happy
97
By contrast, perfect coherence of function is great
fun. It is just one virtue of Zelda 64
15
that, despite the
colorfully huge gallimaufry of in-game objects, they are
hardly ever single-use items; it is an unprecedentedly
rich and varied yet highly consistent gameworld. The
titular ocarina, a clay flute, has a different function
according to what tune is played on it: if Link plays
certain songs he has learned (the gamer must physically
play the notes using the control buttons), he may cause
day to turn to night, invoke a storm, warp to a different
place in the gameworld or cheer up a miserable rock-
eating king. Link’s hoverboots can be used in several
different places for several different results. The bow
and arrow might be used to kill a far-away enemy, or
(in one brilliant problem) to melt a frozen switch by
firing an arrow through the flame of a blazing torch
while standing on a revolving platform.
But of course a bow and arrow isn’t going to open
locked doors. You wouldn’t expect it to. The hookshot,
a retracting chain device with a hook on the end, may
be used to kill enemies, but it is also a means to get up
to hard-to-reach places, Batman-style. Even here there
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15 Shorthand for the remainder of this book for Legend of Zelda: Ocarina
of Time.