Fancy playing through one of the most celebrated games of all time in virtual reality? Developer DarkAkuma has given us a taste of what that might be like.
A Link To The Future
Many people growing up who grew up in the golden age of console gaming look upon one of Nintendo’s enduring and celebrated franchise, The Legend Of Zelda, with enormous fondness. Legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, also responsible for the likes of Super Mario Bros, developed the series over multiple Nintendo consoles, but Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64 is for many (this writer included) one of the finest video games ever made. The sights, sounds and experiences provided by OOT forged many a hardcore gamer, some of which went on to become game makers themselves.
Had you told them then that in a couple of decades they’d be able to step into the world of Hyrule and see the world through Link’s eyes
Enter DarkAkuma and his new Oculus Rift demo ‘Kokiri’s Forest’. A true work of fandom, he’s lovingly recreated the iconic starting area where link awakes to begin his adventures in the original game. An area designed primarily to teach the player basic mechanics of the game before pushing them out to face real dangers.
Using Unity, DarkAkuma has painstakingly re-created the idyllic forest habitat of the Kokiri people, right down to the legendary Deku tree himself. And to top it off, you’re accompanied by the original theme music from the original game. DA says himself:
This re-creation was made with as much attention to detail put in as I could give. But it’s not a game, it’s a simple walk-around demo. There are objects, some animations, and a sound. But no character models (including Link), music or game mechanics.
After a brief play test I can tell you it’s enormous fun, even without having anything to ‘do’. A world that was so fascinating when viewed on a puny 14″ TV as a kid now completely enveloping me. I’d have never believed possible back then.
Already in it’s second iteration, the developer is clearly keen on continuing to improve upon his work and who knows, perhaps expand the project beyond the confines of the forest onto Hyrule Field and beyond. I suspect I’m not alone in relishing that particular idea.
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You can download Kokiri’s Forest over at the developer’s blog here.