According to two interviews with Famitsu in 1998, Shigeru Miyamoto cited Rare's exceptional graphical and technical work on Banjo-Kazooie as a factor for why The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was delayed, as Miyamoto and his team felt they needed to compete with it. He thought a 3D action platformer of its kind running that well on Nintendo 64 hardware was "so amazing that we don't want to be outdone", and "if Mario's a makunouchi bento, Banjo's a deluxe makunouchi bento." Some reviews of Ocarina of Time at its release compared its graphics, frame rate and textures with Banjo-Kazooie's, and felt Ocarina of Time did not perform as well in that field.

Sheik's Spoiler:true identity as Princess Zelda is hinted at during Sheik's Theme. If you listen closely, you'll hear the notes to Spoiler:Zelda's Lullaby, but played faster and on a harp instead of an ocarina.

While bottled Blue Fire is meant to be used to melt Red Ice in the Ice Cavern, it can also be used to destroy brown stone Weak Walls that normally need to be destroyed with Bombs. However, it can only be used to break this specific kind of bombable wall and this function is never actually mentioned in the game, suggesting that it may be a glitch.

Inspired by medieval architecture, Shigeru Miyamoto traveled to Germany to use half-timbered homes in Lower Franconia as reference material and spent a few weeks in Northern Bavaria when creating Hyrule Castle Town.

While riding Epona, it's possible to jump over the Southern, Western, and Eastern fences to exit Lon Lon Ranch, with each jump featuring a unique cutscene.

In a 1999 commentary with the game's composer Koji Kondo published in the GSLA archive, he stated that when "Ocarina" became the game's title, he decided to try and build the music around one central ocarina melody. Given that the ocarina only has five notes to play, he tried to write the various background themes in different genres (bolero, serenade, etc.) where each one would evoke a "catchy, memorable 3-note ocarina melody". This was the motif around which he created various simple, but distinct melodies, and was very careful to make sure he didn't repeat himself. Kondo then commented:


Kondo also stated the Hyrule Field theme is the main central song, and that he wrote it so that each time you play it, the song structure unfolds in a slightly different way. He also stated that when Link stands still for a while, the song will change to a more relaxed melody, and when enemies come close, the song will get tenser. Since it is a very long game, he tried to think of ways to keep the players from getting bored, and how to make the music evolve with what's happening on-screen. He hoped to continue pursuing this idea for interactive music in future games.

There is a lavafall in Dodongo's Cavern that can be jumped through to find a secret room that contains one recovery heart. This room is unique in that the Lens of Truth does not reveal its location, suggesting that there is no known official way in-game to learn that the room exists.

There is an extra Piece of Heart found above Link's Cell in the Gerudo's Fortress when Link is a child. However, since Link can't get into the fortress as a child, it is only attainable through glitches or cheats.

In April 2018, the iQue Player (a Chinese console based on the Nintendo 64) was cracked after 15 years. Upon hacking the console, a never before seen Taiwanese ROM of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was found suggesting that the system and/or the game was planned to be localized in that region.

In the Nintendo 64 game, Adult Link's earrings are blue; Adult Link's earrings are silver in the 3DS version.

The 3DS version is used for the Epona trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, with Link wearing silver earrings.

An extension for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time originally known as URA Zelda was originally going to be released by Nintendo before it was ultimately cancelled. It may have been cancelled because it was planned to be released for the N64 Disc Drive, which was released late in the console's lifecycle and undersold in most markets. What was known, however, was that it would have added new features to the game, such as Link's footsteps appearing in sand, having damaged trees, having bushes and grass damaged for the entire game, and changing up dungeons.

In 2012, a YouTuber named ZethN64 said he was going to try and recreate URA Zelda. He and his team wanted to make their own new dungeons, story, and soundtrack for the game. It was unfortunately cancelled, as there were conflicts within the team as well as ZethN64 disappearing.

Early during development, the Market was originally called "Downtown".

During early stages of the game's development, the fence at Jabu Jabu's Belly near the entrance used to be a shortcut to the Zora's Domain entrance. The idea was cut for unknown reasons.

During E3 of 1998 Ocarina of Time's logo was the same logo as A Link to the Past. The logo was most likely a temporary placeholder during development.

Originally, the player would have used an item called the Reed Whistle to call Epona. This, however, was replaced by Epona's Song. Sound Designer Koji Kondo said: "Reed music was in the initial development concept for Ocarina, but we ultimately didn't use it." This idea was later brought to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

If Link fails to hit a single target in the Shooting Gallery, the owner will get angry, and will not allow the player to retry until Link leaves and reenters. He will also avoid looking directly at Link, as opposed to him always looking at Link like usual.

In order to gain access to the Master Sword, the player only needs to know the Song of Time. This is because the game's flags assume that, as the player knows and can play the Song of Time, then the player will have triggered the following:

• Gotten the Ocarina of Time
• Have all three spiritual stones

The game assumes these things because the player needs to have all 3 of the spiritual stones to trigger the cutscene in which they learn the Song of Time (which is also where the player obtains the Ocarina of Time). When playing the Song of Time, the game assumes that the player already has them.

This also extends to the Medallions as well. In order to trigger the cutscene in which Zelda gives the player the Light Arrows, as well as access to Ganon's Castle, the game only checks for the Shadow and Spirit Medallion. Even if one uses a cheat device/debug menu to remove the Light Medallion from Link's inventory it will still play the cutscene. This works because much like the Door of Time opening the game assumes things. In this instance the game assumes that the player:

• Have the Light Medallion.
• Obtained the Forest, Fire, and Water Medallion.
• Triggered the Nocturne of Shadow obtain cutscene.

The reason the games assumes these things are:

• The player is unavoidably given the Light Medallion in a cutscene, so the game has no need to check for it.
• In order to get the Shadow Medallion, the player would need to have triggered the Nocturne of Shadow cutscene, as well as having obtained the Forest, Fire and Water Medallions to trigger that cutscene, so the game doesn't check for them, as the game assumes that, as the player has the Shadow Medallion, you must have gotten them.

Since the Spirit Medallion isn't tied to getting another Medallion, or forcibly given to the player, the game also checks for it as well.

In early versions of the game the shooting gallery mini game had more things Link can shoot instead of just rupees. Footage shows Link shooting bombs and other targets which are not in the final version of the game.

In early footage's of the game the spirit temple's boss door was a regular door instead of the huge designed door with a lock on it found in the final release.

Dark Link mimics all of the player's moves and actions (save for a few.) The amount of health he has also corresponds to the amount of Heart Containers the player has by the time they fight him, potentially making him very durable or quite weak.