At just over three and a half decades old at this point,The Legend of Zeldaseries is one of the longest running franchises in gaming history, right behind the likes ofSuper MarioandWolfenstein. While the majority of the entries are seen as classics, 1998’sOcarina of Timeis considered one of the most influential. As one of thebest Nintendo 64 games of all time, it really showed what Link in an open world could be capable of. Recently, there’s been talk of PC ports of the game on the horizon, and already it looks like one of them is being modded.
According to a report from VGC, a team known as Harbour Masters has been working on an unofficial PC version ofOcarina of Time, which uses reverse-engineered code from a separate project two years in the making. While the port is still being developed, the modders behind it have already been experimenting with mods to see what’s possible. Among numerous ways the game has been tinkered with, one of the weirdest mods swaps out every single texture in theZeldagame with the face of Toad, for seemingly no reason.
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AlthoughToad is the adorable mushroom from theSuper Mariogamesand an all-round good guy, the image of their face as part ofOcarina of Time’s grass, road, sky, and even signposts, is a little unsettling, to say the least. It even looks as though Link’s whole costume is made from the same two huge eyes and smiling face, as is the mini map in the corner of the screen.
As it happens, this is not the only reverse-engineered version of the game in the works. There is also another unofficialPC port ofOcarina of Timebeing developed by another team. This one, titledShip of Harkinian,which comes from a line of dialogue in theZeldaCDI title, is due to release at the start of April this year.
With modders recreatingOcarina of Timeassets in Unreal Engine 5, making it look pretty spectacular, it’s clear that the fan base thinks highly of this nearly 25-year-old game. The series on the whole is still going strong to this day, and for good reason. But there will be those who fondly remember the Nintendo 64 installment and the impact it had on the franchise, which is still being felt to this day. Even with Toad’s creepy face all over the map.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Timeis available on Nintendo 64, GameCube, and 3DS, as well as the Nintendo Switch.
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