Ocarina of Time is back November 5, now with a jump button and voice acting

Somewhere in your parents' basement there's a gold N64 cartridge with a save file named LINK. Nintendo would like you to start over. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time comes back as a full remake on Nintendo Switch 2 on Thursday, November 5.

The date was announced during Nintendo's Zelda 40th anniversary Direct in September. It's a Switch 2 exclusive, so original Switch owners are out of luck.

What it costs

• Digital: $59.99
• Physical: $69.99, with the first print run in special textured-foil packaging while supplies last

Same game, new everything else

This isn't a Breath of the Wild-style reinvention. From what Nintendo showed, the story, dungeons, locations and item-by-item progression are the ones you remember. Z-targeting, the combat system that basically taught 3D action games how to fight, looks intact.

What changed is how it looks and how it handles:

• Rebuilt visuals and a new orchestral soundtrack
• A dedicated jump button. The original jumped for you automatically when you ran off a ledge. Now you control it.
• Real camera control on the right stick, which fixes the single biggest thing that has aged badly
• Voiced cutscenes and expanded dialogue for some characters
• Reworked swimming, which should mean something to anyone who still has Water Temple trauma
• Faster item swapping and shorter load times
• A quest log called Threads of Time that tracks your progress and tells you where to go next

That last one matters more than it sounds. In 1998 you had a whole summer, a Nintendo Power guide and a friend who'd already beaten it. In 2026 you have Tuesday night after the kids go to bed. A built-in reminder of what you were doing three weeks ago is a gift.

Yes, you can hum

The oddest new feature: you can hum the ocarina songs into the Switch 2's microphone and Link plays them. Nintendo says the game also responds to real ocarinas, and HORI is making a playable ocarina accessory due later in 2026. Whether you hum Zelda's Lullaby in front of your spouse is between you and your dignity.

The extras

• A Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition Switch 2 console, plus matching Pro Controllers and a carrying case, launches October 29.
• Young Link and Young Zelda amiibo are coming in 2027 and unlock retro-style masks in the game.
• A companion feature in the Nintendo Switch App adds daily stats, a hint-picture hunt and an Ocarina quiz with over 2,000 questions.

Should you care?

Ocarina has been re-released before, most notably on the 3DS, but this version rebuilds the controls and visuals for a modern console. The core design is what made it a legend, and Nintendo seems smart enough not to touch it. Nobody outside Nintendo has reviewed the finished game yet, so wait for reviews if you're on the fence. If you already own a Switch 2, though, this one looks like an easy call.