ReMix:The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time "Beginnings" 3:19

25 years ago this week, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time made a seismic impact on all of gaming. Many creatives cite Ocarina of Time as an inspiration, so we're honored to celebrate the anniversary with a crystalline musical treasure chest of our own. Evil Ganondorf-esque OCR judges Emunator and Chimpazilla have tag-teamed for a contemplative lo-fi take on OoT's title theme! Emunator apparently tapped into the Song of Double Time (alright, wrong game) to whip this up:

""Keeping it simple" is not a virtue that comes naturally to me in any aspect of my life, but everything about this arrangement felt so easy. I took a simple source tune (which I didn't even listen to during the creation of this song, opting to recreate the track from memory), picked out samples and drums, and within 4-5 hours I had a full arrangement 90% done.

I showed it to Kristina, who had added a few finishing touches -- specifically, the "Lost Woods" bell melody and bell countermelodies later on, the lush pad at the :52 mark, and some transition effects to tie everything together -- within a day. I mixed everything together, she mastered it, and it was all done. Even the title (which she came up with in 30 seconds) is an exercise in simplicity. All said, there was collectively less than 10 hours of work done on this track over only 3 weeks, and I don't think the quality of the final product was compromised one bit.

I love working with Kristina so much, it feels like our creative synergy reaches new heights with each new track we work together on. I'm so grateful to have such a kind, creative, and talented partner in musical crime! :)"

Chimpazilla chipped in to refine the end result, also apparently imbued with the spirit of Epona, moving with the quickness:

"I'm always so happy when Wes wants to do another collab! "Beginnings" came together quickly and naturally. Wes had written a simple yet lovely lo-fi remix in just a few hours, and he shared it with me. I loved it! I felt like the track only needed a few subtle textures, some minor melody/countermelody work and finishing touches. I did my part in only a few hours, and everything fit together extremely well. This track gives me confidence that Wes and I can put a lovely emotive track together much more quickly than ever before, and more collabs will be coming after this one!"

DarkSim closed out our panel voting with a seal of approval for being taken back in time:

"Mmm, this is so wistful and nostalgic. Takes me back to the first time I loaded the game and just watched the chill intro with Link riding Epona through Hyrule Field. The lofi aesthetic works for such a vibe, but it's not all detuned and crackly throughout - the melody lines are clear, and that lush pad at 0:52 is like breathing new life into those memories of the game we all have.

The instrumentation in the Lost Woods section sounds very, very similar to the instrumentation in Zora's Domain in the game. Intentional or not, it's another connection to the game's roots that's in there for the listener to enjoy subconsciously.

Is that a bassoon at 1:55? Lovely choice of lead whatever it is, complemented nicely by the piano and bells. Outro moves back to the detuned, modulated piano and crackly lofi percussion to bookend the track.

If I'm being hyper-critical, I might change some of the distorted crackles and pops at the beginning of the track to sound a little softer, but other than that it's a delightfully rose-tinted look back at one of the all-time classics of gaming."

Quite the interesting and intricate interplay of fragments (with a sprinking of "Lost Woods" for good measure)! We're thankful to Koji Kondo and everyone at Nintendo for shaping the collective consciousness of gaming with Ocarina of Time's groundbreaking and influential experience; even though OCR's almost as old as Ocarina of Time, it's rare for a game to inspire over 100 OC ReMixes. It's been 25 fun-filled years since the game's launch, and with the reserved and charming ambiance of "Beginnings", Emunator and Chimpazilla have effortlessly brought us back to the magic of that very first time firing up Ocarina of Time! :-)