The debate over which video game controller is best is one that will never be fully settled. Every person might have their favorite, sure, yet getting all players to agree on a superior option (obviously the Nintendo GameCube, in my definitely-not-biased opinion) seems unlikely.
But if there is something the various best controller factions can all agree on, it is that when a game is made available on a new system and has to be translated to a new type of controller, things can become a little bit wacky. And when a game transcends time itself and is available on multiple gaming platforms over many generations, it can lead to many oddities and to a control scheme best remembered as, “Wait, this isn’t how this used to work,” and, “OH NO NOT THAT WAY, LINK!”
My first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, and, naturally, as Nintendo has released the title on newer gaming consoles along the way, I have purchased it anew multiple times to experience the glorious tale of the Hero of Time once more. This means that I also have experienced many different control schemes for the same game, and the various oddities created by those changes.
The first alteration, a transition to that clearly superior GameCube controller, was rather simple. Other than some initial confusion as to what the Z button did (certainly not Z-targeting, as it had been for the Nintendo 64), I thought the most difficult part was adjusting to playing the Ocarina of Time with the new C-stick as opposed to the old C-buttons. But since I never needed to play Ocarina of Time in an urgent way, such as in active combat, mistakes made on this new version tended to be insignificant. It wasn’t as though the items, used in battle or for precise aiming in the field, relied on something so touchy as a multi-directional stick that could easily be accidentally tilted in the wrong direction at a crucial time. Those were thoughtfully redirected to other buttons, firm and reliable buttons, on the controller.
Then came the era of the 3DS and a fully new version of Ocarina of Time created specifically for the system. Of course, it was a must-buy at launch, and since this was no simple port but a full remake, surely the control system would have no issues and be flawless, right?
The answer was “Sort of!” While the developers had made certain improvements, such as making the various boots that Link wears assignable to a button rather than only changeable in the Start menu, there was another odd change that confused my younger brain: Instead of being able to assign items to three buttons, as had been the case before, now I had to select between only two buttons or options on the Touch Screen. The issue is that I either did not realize it was possible to, or could not figure out how to, make those Touch Screen selections.
This brings us to the most precise of memories relating to all this controller madness: Upon reaching the Shadow Temple and needing a third pair of Boots, I finally, and purely by accident, managed to make an item useable on the Touch Screen. My jaw dropped open, my face had a brief meeting with my palm, and laughter echoed through the house as I realized that my active items had now doubled in possibilities.
All of these memories live safely where most memories do, in the long and half-forgotten past. But a new controller-across-the-generations memory is still being developed now, since Ocarina of Time has been released once again on the Switch. And in the iteration, unlike in the GameCube’s era, the C-buttons are mapped to the second Joy Con’s stick. This means that as my wife is playing and recording our series of this amazing game, she is having to deal with items that are very easily selected, used, or deselected and rerouted to a different item, often while enemies are literally jumping towards Link’s head.
And all I can say about these new memories, as I watch the Slingshot fire when she attempts to play the ocarina, is that my simple thought is I am glad she is the one playing!
(Well, and that the GameCube controller was clearly the best, but that goes without saying.)
