iOcarina review

Yo, Mario, I’m really happy for you, and I’mma let you finish, but The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was one of the best video games of all time. One of the best video games of all time!

If you were around to properly appreciate the 3-D wonder of this N64 classic, then you’ll understand what I mean when I say that iOcarina seriously takes you back. This is a delicious slice of my childhood right here. Now, much as I enjoy this app and wish to share it with all of you, it’s really just for Zelda fans (which you really all should be), so the rest of you should go play Plants Vs. Zombies or something.

As you might have guessed, this app attempts to recreate the experience of playing the ocarina in Ocarina of Time, but it doesn’t try to simulate a real ocarina, but rather the classic N64 controller interface. I know. It’s just that awesome.

Those special few of you who know what I’m talking about will be instantly transported when you start playing around with the buttons, trying to remember all of those songs you knew so well. Get the right button combination, and, lo, the song starts playing just like in the game!

The interface is about as basic as it gets: A button, B button, and those friendly yellow directional buttons. You can choose to either play around with the controller on your own or look up a specific song for step-by-step guidance. The song bank includes songs from Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask, and you have the option of changing up the instruments if you like.

The sound quality is actually pretty good, especially considering that this is by no means a properly licensed app. In fact, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if the developer got hit hard with a takedown notice from Nintendo in the future, but until then, iOcarina is still around for us to enjoy.

Don’t get this app expecting to get a lot from it, because it’s really about as basic as it could get. Truthfully, I’m not entirely convinced it’s worth the $0.99 price tag, but I have to admit that once I had it, I got a huge kick out of playing with it. If you’re a Zelda fan jonesing for some nostalgic tunes, then I can just about guarantee you’ll enjoy this, but unless Ocarina of Time already holds a special place in your heart, you should probably pass this up.

AppSafari Rating: 2/5

AppSafari review of iOcarina was written by Tracy Yonemoto on April 27th, 2010 and categorized under App Store, Mini Games, Music. Page viewed 6376 times, 1 so far today. Need help on using these apps? Please read the Help Page.