Ocarina of Time 64-Bit Dungeon Comparison

[Kybyrian]

The Water Temple was terribly hard, and Jabu Jabu's belly wasn't too easy either. The first two dungeons were pretty easy. The Forest Temple got me stuck sometimes, and the same with the Fire Temple. Ocarina of Time temples weren't too hard, but they weren't too easy either. Some of the Majora's Mask dugeons, like Ikana Castle were just too easy, and then some were just too hard, but playable.

 

[Deleted member 121]

The Water temple was a bit confusing and easy to get turned around in. Other than that the OoT temples were a sinch. Now the Ocean temple in MM took me a day or two to figure it out the third time through. You think thats bad, it took me weeks the first time I went through. where as the Water Temple in OoT only took me a day my first time through, And that was without a strategy guide or walkthrough.

 

[Onilink89]

really? its the opposite for me. first time playing great bay temple i only had trouble with finding the boss key. because i noticed from the start the system of the temple. after the first two temple, i had a feeling each temple has a certain system. so for the great temple was, first unlock the pipes and then revearse the water flow to acces the other rooms in the temple. its not like that you had to change the water flow constently.

i had more trouble with water temple of oot. 3 floors, each has 4 directions. in this temple for the first time farore 's wind came in handy and the keys were well hidden, even looking at the dungeon map with the compass its sometimes hard to figure out were the treasure chest are.

 

[Petman1325]

I like more dungeons that are harder. OoT did that really good, but lately the dungeons have been pretty easy (PH and TP).

Phantom Hourglass had a combonation of Hard and Easy. It took me about 15 minutes to beat Goron Temple.:clap:

 

[Mases]

I think the debate of Water Temple vs Great Bay Temple can go on forever, hehe.

I stand by my opinion in thinking the Great Bay Temple was harder, and it was also longer. Think of it this way, after beating both temples several times, playing through them again and getting everything in the Temples, it would take a longer time to beat the Great Bay Temple.

In Ocarina of Time there are a few skulltulas, one mini-boss, and then the dungeon boss. While in Majora's Mask, there are the 15 stray fairies, two mini-boss battles, and then the dungeon boss.

Heck, once you master the Water Temple, you'll be spending more time putting your iron boots on and changing the water level than actually playing, hehe. At least in Majora's Mask, didn't have to change the water direction much.

All in all, these were two my least favorite temples in both Zelda titles. Not so much because they were hard, I just never was too found of 3d water dungeons in the first place. But still, I think Great Bay Temple was the hardest of all the N64 Zelda dungeons.

 

[miku]

I love the Great Bay temple. It's the kind of temple that, when I first walk into it and take a look at the first main confusing room, I think "Oh good god.." and then find myself a few minutes later saying "I'm starting to see how this works. Alright, we got this. We got this by the ***!"

I think OoT and MM both show great examples of what 3d Zelda dungeons should be. A little bit more than just lighting the torches or pushing the block. The Great Deku tree, even being as simple and short as it was, has that web in the first room you need to break through. Snowhead has a towering puzzle involving platform height.
In every dungeon I like to see classic Zelda puzzles mixed with new dungeon-specific concepts.

Stone Tower Temple was hard, but you feel a bit more relaxed and determined when you have the map and compass and know how to turn the level upside-down, which, by the way, I think was a beautifully genius way to distinguish MM's final temple, right down to the trippy altered arrangement of the music.

 

[Zelda Granny]

I really liked both games. I had the most trouble in the Stone Tower mostly because you have to put out the fire for the chest and then fly as a Deku to the door. I also found the Garo hard to kill. I enjoyed them though, even when I got frustrated.

 

[miku]

You found the Garo hard to kill? Are you serious? You are talking about the ones that pop up when you wear the Garo mask, right? The ones that you hold your shield up, and then they bounce off of you and sit harmlessly on the ground before you waiting to be stabbed once, right?

 

[Onilink89]

maybe she meant the garo master. i also had trouble first time fighting it. i hate that stupid counter it gives everytime that you hit it. and also that stupid teleport move and then attacks you from behind, thats a cheap shot.

 

[miku]

Ah, yeah, she probably was talking about him. He's not too hard though if you wait for him to come at you and side jump.

 

[Zelda Granny]

Yeah, that's the one, the Garo Master. It seemed that he got me from behind every time I tried to move lol. The guide I had said to shoot him with the ice arrow but, he blocked it almost every time. I actually killed him on the first try but used FOUR fairies. I just thought he was really hard.

 

[Mases]

I barely remember the Garo Master, in fact, I barely remember any of the bosses in Majora's Mask .

However, one thing I easilly recall, is the massive amount of sub-bosses in Majora's Mask. I remember fighting Gekkos and Wizrobes multiple times in all the dungeons. Also remember fighting a Dinolofos and that one Eye boss from the Great Bay Temple that reminded me of Arrghus from A Link to the past.

In comparison to Ocarina of Time, where the dungeon bosses in general, were limited. In fact, I can't really recall any sub-bosses other than Dark Link in the Water Temple, and maybe you could consider the Iron Knuckles in the Spirit Temple. Even the Lizalfos in Dodongo's Cavern too or the Stalfos in the Forest Temple. However, these enemies didn't really seem much like Mini-bosses to me. If I recall correctly, in the mini-boss battles in Majora's Mask and some in OOT, you were sorta locked in the room.

I think that is what defines a mini-boss. If you can just leave the room or area that they are in, I think they could be argued that they are regular enemies and not mini-bosses, but if the doors are locked and you have to battle the boss, than its a mini-boss.

All in all, I'm a big fan of mini-bosses and thus, I thought this was a cool part of Majora's Mask that Ocarina of Time sorta lacked. Gives the temples much more depth.

 

[scarecrowlink]

For me, it's the more dungeons the better, but I agree that quality is way more important than quantity. I would love to see a game that has like 3 small dungeons, 4 or 5 regular size dungeons, and 4 or 5 massive uber-dungeons that would be like 2 or 3 regular dungeons combined. I'm talking this game would be gigantic and might even span 2 discs to fit everything on there. And higher difficulty is never a bad thing. I like it when I get stuck and have to figure things out or even backtrack to get more info or better prepare myself. And I think that the open-endedness of the franchise is one of everyone's favorite aspects of it. Give me a sprawling overworld and 3 different sizes of dungeons and let me get to work. I'm having trouble thinking of what would be my favorite dungeon of all time...probably the Temple of Time or Spirit Temple from OoT. I loved the fact that you had to go to the Spirit Temple as a child and an adult to complete it. As I said in another post, I missed out on Majora's Mask so I really have nothing to reference in that game, but I think that no matter what, the dungeons from OoT will always be the most vivid in my imagination because I've played through that game more times than I can remember.

 

[Mehplep]

I think it's the golden mean between quality and quantity. It's not fun with a dungeon that is solved in like an half hour, but it's not either fun with a dungeon that requires like a several months. The temples in MM have a perfect length I think, however, that is just because you have side-quests in the dungeon too. In OoT, there was three Skulltulas per dungeon. Great number for a side-quest-thingy. MM had 15 stray fairies, and sometimes, they really pissed me off. And it was just a optional thing! If the stray fairies was significently smaller, and the main thing in the temple about twice as big, then it would've been a perfect dungeon.

Also, atm, Stone Tower Temple is my favourite top-Zelda dungeon for all games. Could be better on puzzles, but the whole temple's visually looking, the upsidedown-changing, the music theme (love it...), all the mini-bosses, constantly changing between the masks... it's really an awesome dungeon.

 

[Mases]

For me, it's the more dungeons the better, but I agree that quality is way more important than quantity. I would love to see a game that has like 3 small dungeons, 4 or 5 regular size dungeons, and 4 or 5 massive uber-dungeons that would be like 2 or 3 regular dungeons combined.

I do think quality is all relative, since honestly, its hard to think of a Zelda temple or dungeon that was just so bad in quality that it was unplayable. However, you did say you prefer quality, but then said your ideal game would have 11-13 dungeons, hehe. I would also agree with this and would want a ton of dungeons. I just think more is always important. However, even if it has 4main dungeons and then a few side dungeons (Majora's Mask), even if the dungeons are absolutely amazing, I think I'd still prefer a game with a more diverse showing of dungeons.

I think it's the golden mean between quality and quantity. It's not fun with a dungeon that is solved in like an half hour, but it's not either fun with a dungeon that requires like a several months.

I disagree with this and I think Phantom Hourglass is the perfect example. The Temple of Fire (the 1st temple for those who haven't played the game), can be beaten in 10minutes if you know what to do. Similarly, almost all the dungeons in A Link to the Past could be beaten in 5-15minutes, yet I think the dungeons in both games are all great. Even the Great Deku Tree can be beaten in a short time but I also love that one. I don't think quality or difficulty is determined by length of a dungeon.



What I find very important, is diversity in the dungeons. Almost every single Zelda title does a great job making each dungeon distinct from the other dungeons. Basically, 'themed' dungeons is the reasoning. A Water based dungeon, a fire based one, a wind based one, a forest one, a desert themed one, etc...

I think both Majoras Mask and Ocarina of Time did a great job diversifying their dungeons. I prefer Ocarina of Time in this aspect, because simply, it had more. Goes back to the quantity over quality. Since Majora's Mask had less dungeons, they didn't have a 'fire or a ghost/shadow temple'. Plus, OOT had 2 'foresty' dungeons in the Deku Tree and Forest Temple, as well as 2 'fire' dungeons with Dodongo's Cavern and the Fire Temple. That being said, the Majora's Mask temples were harder/longer, but personally think the quantity is more important aspect when comparing.