LOS ANGELES, Nov. 4 (TodayViralUSA) — Nintendo’s full remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has become the best-reviewed video game of 2026, a day before it arrives on the Nintendo Switch 2.
The remake held a score of 96 on review aggregator Metacritic after 42 reviews, GamesRadar+ reported on Wednesday, placing it among the 20 highest-rated games of all time and ahead of this year’s other critical hits, including Phantom Blade Zero, Resident Evil Requiem and Pokémon Pokopia. All 42 reviews were classed as positive, and 25 outlets gave the game a perfect score.
Still chasing the original
Even so, the remake did not surpass the 1998 Nintendo 64 original, which holds a Metacritic score of 99, the highest of any game on the site. It did beat Nintendo’s earlier remake, Ocarina of Time 3D for the Nintendo 3DS, which scored 94.
GamesRadar+ awarded the game five out of five, calling it “a remake for the ages” that recreates one of the most celebrated games ever made “without compromising the magic of its 1998 predecessor.”
What’s new
Nintendo says the Switch 2 version features reimagined visuals, a refreshed soundtrack and modernized gameplay, and the company has published developer interviews explaining what it changed and what it kept faithful to the original. Nintendo’s release schedule lists the game for Nov. 5.
The strong reviews give Nintendo a marquee title for the holiday shopping season. The only question now, GamesRadar+ wrote, is whether Rockstar’s long-awaited Grand Theft Auto VI can unseat it as the year’s top-rated game.
Sources & Credits
- GamesRadar+: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake’s Metacritic score makes it the highest-rated game of 2026
- Nintendo: Upcoming Games – November 2026
- The Verge: All the news about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake
Image: A Nintendo Switch 2 console in its dock (file photo), by Crisco 1492, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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