Courtesies to IGN again for compiling this (I follow them on twitter so....)
Source1. Initially there was a jump button!!!! Like in Super Mario 64 the first Zelda 64 game originally was not restricted to only auto-jumping; you actually had to cue Link to jump by pushing a button. Sometimes I wish they had kept that mechanism....but apparently it was removed for "simplicity" and to "add to the puzzles and gameplay challenge".
2. The original OoT team consisted of only three people! "Jin Ikeda, Toru Osawa, and eventually Koizumi-san." It obviously grew into a much more massive team project, however.
3. OoT was heavily inspired by Chanbara-style action movies (
Chanbara is a Japanese sword-fighting film style - also known as "Samurai cinema" - famous examples include "The Last Samurai" and the works of Yoji Yamada).
4. "It all started with Zelda II". Koizumi-san had actually been working on a polygonal Zelda II before Mario 64 ever came out.
5. Ocarina of Time was almost formatted in first-person perspective! (OMG WHAT?!) "In the beginning, he [Miyamoto] had the image that you are at first walking around in first-person, and when an enemy appeared, the screen would switch, Link would appear, and the battle would unfold from a side perspective"(Koizumi). Koizumi-san is credited with Link's character design and couldn't stand to not see Link in the game, so he put his foot down (and rightly so, imo!).
6. Z/L-targeting draws its concept from actual multi-opponent sword-fighting. Koizumi-san and Osawa-san were watching a sword-fighting show at Toei Kyoto Studio Park when it hit him. The one-enemy-at-a-time process they observed could be replicated with what became the Z/L-targeting system - "Z-targeting flags one particular opponent, telling the other enemies to wait."
7. Navi was once not a fairy at all, but a simple triangle! After formulating the Z-targeting system, Koizumi-san came up with a design for a helpful character to be the "flag" or "target" for enemies, after developers had been just using a simple triangle (which we actually see in other Zelda games that use Z/L-targeting). It was dubbed the "Fairy Navigation System" and Navi got her name "because she navigates!" LOL that's pretty clever.
8. There was almost no Child Link form. Because the OoT team was so enthralled with Chanbara-style swordplay, they initially felt a child Link, being small and at a natural disadvantage against larger foes, would be inappropriate. But that plan was quickly thrown out the window as Miyamoto-san and others wanted a "cute little Link". Aonuma-san says this was one of the most important changes to the game, because it completely expanded the storyline and time travel's role in gameplay. They also initially planned for Link to get a total of seven different magical spells (one from each of the Sages), but in order to better balance his magic with his items, they limited the spells he could learn to three, one for each of the goddesses.
9. Epona almost had her debut in Super Mario 64! (......waht?) Developers had wanted to use a horse in the N64's 3D style, so while the idea was dropped from Mario it was used in Zelda. Epona's name (initially "Ao") also comes from "Epona", the Celtic goddess of horses and fertility.
10. "Link wasn't always a pretty boy". Apparently initial designs for Link featured him having a button nose and more rounded features. Koizumi-san's wife said to him "All of Nintendo's characters have funny noses. Don't you have any handsome ones?" so Koizumi-san was compelled to change his design, and Link became a bit more good-looking. He also gave Link earrings for the first time to "make him look a little cooler".
Reply
