Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is out on Switch 2, with a real playable ocarina
Nintendo’s full remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time went on sale on November 5, 2026, and it is a Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive. The digital edition is listed at $59.99 in the US eShop, with a 24.9 GB download.
This is not a port of the 1998 Nintendo 64 game. Nintendo describes it as rebuilt from scratch for the new console, and the list of changes is long: new visuals, an orchestral soundtrack, voice acting, longer cutscenes, extra dialogue and modern camera and movement controls, including a jump and a dash.
What is new
- A playable ocarina, for real. Songs can still be entered with buttons, but the Switch 2 microphone also picks up humming or a real instrument.
- Extra content. A Hall of Fallen Foes lets players fight bosses again, and “fairy thoughts” hidden around Hyrule share bits of lore.
- Companion app. The ZELDA NOTES service in the Nintendo Switch App adds location challenges and a quiz with more than 2,000 questions.
- amiibo. Any Zelda figure gives in-game items, and the upcoming Young Link and Young Zelda figures, due in 2027, unlock retro-style masks.
Aiming with the bow or Hookshot works with buttons or motion controls, and the game can be played without motion or touch input. Digital buyers who purchase before November 23, 2026 get a 40th anniversary wallpaper.
A remake year for Nintendo
The release is the centrepiece of the Zelda series’ 40th anniversary and Nintendo’s biggest game of the 2026 holiday season. It is also the company’s second large remake this year, after Star Fox in June.
That looks like a strategy rather than a coincidence. Speaking to Polygon at the launch event in New York, Nate Bihldorff, Nintendo’s senior vice president of product development and publishing, said new games and remakes carry “equal importance” for the company. He added that many players never touched the original, so for them the remake is effectively a new game.
Reported by Nintendo, Nintendo eShop, Polygon. Compiled with AI tools.
See also
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time reviews: a near-perfect remake that plays it safe
- Guardians of the Galaxy hits Switch 2 for $39.99 with glam rock outfits and gyro controls
- Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor, a 2001 D&D RPG that flopped, is back on Steam
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