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November 21st, 2023 marked the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s Japanese launch. To celebrate this historic Hyrulean occasion, we are running articles throughout the week dedicated to the game, our memories, and its legacy. Today, we’re ranking the titular instrument’s choons…
Here’s a spicy take for you: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is full of incredible music. What? You’ve never heard an opinion so out there? Well, let us hit you with another one: the tunes that you play on the titular ocarina aren’t all that bad either. Bosh. Thank you for coming to our TED Talk.
We’re overegging things, of course (there’s a reason why OOT and OTT look so similar), but the ocarina jingles’ greatness is inarguable. This is a game so packed full of bangers from the legend that is Koji Kondo, that it can be easy to overlook the subtle brilliance of the six-note compositions.
But not today. In celebration of the game reaching its 25th birthday, we thought that it was about time to discuss the ocarina songs in the best way the internet knows how: a ranking. What’s the best Ocarina song in Zelda: OOT?
We have put together all 13 (yes, thirteen) of the named songs in an order that we feel reflects both the tunes’ usefulness and how pleasing they are to listen to. We have relied on the latter criteria for the list as a whole, but it is handy to break down the warp songs by how much we like the compositions themselves — and let’s not pretend that any of them are harsh on the ear.
Obviously, the chances of us all being in total agreement are admittedly slim, so we’ve added a poll at the bottom where you, the lovely Nintendo Life readership, can vote for your favourites and we’ll find out just how sympatico we are when it comes to midi compositions played on a three-pronged pad.
Ocarinas at the ready? Let’s play that fairy music…
13. Scarecrow’s Song
Okay, there is a world in which this is the best ocarina song in the game. Remember, the Scarecrow’s Song is whatever you make it and if you have the musical imagination of Koji Kondo (or just a good understanding of The Simpsons theme), then we are sure you could make some magic.
For most of us, however, this Pierre-summoning track was something along the lines of ‘Up-C, Up-C, Up-C, Up-C, Up-C, Up-C, Up-C, Up-C’. Not the most pleasing to listen to, but it gets the job done. And you can remember it.
12. Bolero of Fire
And so we enter the warping songs. Bolero of Fire will transport you to right outside the Fire Temple, which is handy if you want to… go back there? Each to their own, we guess.
Warp powers aside, the tune itself is mighty fine. We are particular fans of the marching drum beat in the background and the way that it all builds towards its final crescendo certainly gives off a sense of the temple’s power.
We just prefer other tunes. Damn you, Koji Kondo, and your wonderful ability to make toe-tapping jingles.
11. Minuet of Forest
Minuet of Forest will warp you to the Sacred Forest Meadow and (depending on which order you do the temples in) it is likely to be one of the first songs that you learn with Sheik’s accompaniment. Certainly in the first three. It’s always our first, and we can’t help but bump this tune up the list a little purely because of our undying love for the Forest Temple.
It might not be the most memorable tune of the bunch, nor have the most useful warping capabilities, but it’s still a great little number.
10. Requiem of Spirit
Requiem of Spirit is an interesting one. It doesn’t quite have the creepiness of Nocturne of Shadow, nor does it immediately spring to mind when we hum the ocarina songs to ourselves. That said, it can transport Child Link to the Spirit Temple (something that he’s not going to be able to do otherwise thanks to the Hookshot not making the time jump) and is therefore one of the more useful warp tracks out there.
A practical necessity, but not the prettiest tune on the list.
9. Serenade of Water
Oooh, now the Serenade of Water is one of the more soothing tracks.
This mellow little number will warp you to Lake Hylia, a mere stone’s throw from the Water Temple. It seems fitting that such a chilled melody should be the last thing that you hear before entering the series’ most divisive temple.
8. Nocturne of Shadow
Now this has all of the chills that we would want from a song that transports you to a graveyard.
Most of the other warp songs are going to save you the trek from one location to the next, but Nocturne of Shadow is one of the few that is actually required to reach the Shadow Temple at the back of Kakariko Graveyard. That has to bump it up the rankings a bit.
Would it have been easier for Sheik to just, we don’t know, put up a ladder instead? A small trampoline, perhaps? No, learn this ominous ditty and teleport up there, my boy.
7. Saria’s Song
Anyone who spent many hours lost in exploring the Lost Woods 25 years ago will tell you that the music in there is straight fire. The fact that Saria’s Song lets us listen to it whenever we want is only a bonus.
Its uses are limited to letting you chat with Saria for advice (sorry, Navi) and getting both Darunia and, eventually, Mido to shift out of your way, but there’s no denying just how catchy this one is. [I played this one so much back in the day that, I swear, birds outside my bedroom window started singing it. – Ed.]
6. Song of Storms
Welcome to the realm of pure nightmare fuel. The Kakariko windmill always freaked us out and with good reason. Phonogram Man is creepy. And the way he spins that box is creepy too. Song of Storms’ cyclical creepiness absolutely matches the setting in which you learn it. Mostly because it is the music of the location itself.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on how creeped out you are by it), the tune is a rather useful one. You’ll be calling on these six notes to summon rain, reveal grottoes, and even produce fairies. Though perhaps the use that we all remember the most is that this is your way into the Bottom of the Well. And we all know the horrors that await you down there…
Only the top five remain, but what will come out on top? Click over to page two to find out which ocarina tune we think is the cream of the crop…