Issue #86: Time & Time Again – November/December 2026

Ocarina of Time has been sold seven times.

Well, on seven systems , that is. After making its debut on the Nintendo 64 in 1998, the trailblazing first 3D adventure in the Legend of Zelda series has been ported, repackaged and re- offered on every subsequent Nintendo home console. It came to the GameCube. It was re-released on the Wii, then the Wii U. It was downloadable again on the Switch and, in the middle of all of that, it got a 3D remake to make its portable debut on the 3DS!

And actually, if you want to tack a few other releases on to that already long list, you can consider that it had a couple of different cartridges on the N64 — the grey and the gold — as well as a Player’s Choice re-release there. And it was on the GameCube not once, but twice, through both the Legend of Zelda: Collector’s Edition disc and the two-versions-in-one disc that paired it with its remixed Master Quest campaign. And didn’t Ocarina of Time 3D also get the Player’s Choice branding at some point?

The point is, this game has been made available. Nintendo knew they had a winner on their hands the second it first hit store shelves in the ’90s, and they’ve made sure to keep this masterpiece purchasable for nearly three decades since, through further physical releases and digital downloads too.

Now, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is about to hit its seventh system. But this around, it’s been completely reborn!

Nintendo has unveiled a totally visually overhauled remake of the legendary adventure, built exclusively for the Switch 2. And it looks gorgeous! Shockingly so. We’ve gotten so used to seeing the Hero of Time in the old, limited polygon style of the N64 era that to see him time travel into a generation five steps further into the future, hardware-wise, is joyfully jarring!

We break it all down in this 86th issue of NF Magazine. And while we’re at it, we’ve decided to celebrate the Zelda series as a whole, in recognition of the brand’s 40th birthday! To do that, we’ve done some time travel ourselves, reaching back into the past to link up with NF Issue #20, published in March/ April 2016. In that issue we presented a retrospective covering the Zelda series’ first 30 years of history — now we’re picking up where that article left off, to reflect on the 10 further years of history that have happened since then!

Our preview of the new Ocarina of Time follows that, and as always you’ll find the rest of our pages packed with more news, previews, reviews and comics. Meanwhile, this edition of NF marks the end of our 14th year of continuous publication! Next time we’ll be kicking off Year 15! Thank you all for supporting us for all this time!

NOTE: Lucas is currently traveling to Japan! Physical order fulfillment for this and other issues will be slower until Christmas. Digital orders will still be delivered to your email instantly! Thank you for your patience!