The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake Launches on Switch 2 in November

Nintendo has set November 5, 2026 as the release date for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on Nintendo Switch 2, giving its landmark 1998 adventure a full visual and mechanical overhaul rather than a straightforward emulated re-release. The date was announced during the series’ 40th Anniversary Direct, where Nintendo also showed the remake in action.

The new version remains built around Link’s journey across two eras of Hyrule, but Nintendo is modernising how that journey looks and controls. The company says environments and material textures have been completely overhauled, while movement has been made more responsive, loading is faster and the soundtrack now uses symphonic orchestral music.

Ocarina of Time gets modern controls

The most immediately noticeable changes are likely to be the controls. Players can move the camera with the Right Stick, and Link now has dedicated commands for jumping and running. That is a significant change from the Nintendo 64 original, where jumping was largely automatic and traversing open ground often meant repeatedly rolling to move faster.

Nintendo is also expanding the presentation. Cutscenes are fully voiced, character dialogue has been expanded and locations have been remodelled with additional detail. The day-and-night cycle will continue to advance regardless of where Link is, including towns, rather than behaving exactly as it did in the original game.

• Release date: November 5, 2026
• Platform: Nintendo Switch 2
• Overhauled visuals and refreshed sound
• Symphonic orchestral music
• Right Stick camera control plus dedicated jump and run commands
• Fully voiced cutscenes and expanded character dialogue

A new way to use the ocarina

The remake also makes use of Switch 2 hardware in an unusually literal way. Nintendo says players can hum one of Link’s learned melodies near the console’s built-in microphone and have Link perform it in the game. Nintendo is separately planning two physical ocarina products for later in 2026, including a playable instrument and an electronic HORI version that can reproduce notes or complete songs.

Another addition is Threads of Time, a feature that lets players review their story progress and check the next objective at any point. It is a small-sounding change, but potentially useful in a game whose dungeons, time travel and long-form quest structure were designed for a very different era of console gaming.

Nintendo confirms the price in the US

Nintendo’s US announcement lists The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time at $59.99. Gamereactor had reported the same figure from an Australian eShop listing that was said to have appeared early and then been removed; the official US listing now provides direct confirmation of the dollar price. Regional pricing can differ, so the US figure should not be treated as a conversion or guarantee for Sweden or the rest of Europe.

Nintendo’s Japanese product page separately lists a November 5 release and prices of ¥7,980 for the download edition and ¥8,980 for the physical edition. Nintendo UK also confirms the November 5 date on its Zelda 40th Anniversary page.

More than a graphical remake

What Nintendo has shown so far points to a remake that preserves the basic identity and structure of Ocarina of Time while smoothing out several conventions that have aged since 1998. Free camera control, manual jumping, faster movement and clearer objective tracking all address friction without requiring Nintendo to replace the original adventure with a fundamentally different game.

There are still important details to learn before launch, including how extensive any dungeon changes are and how the remake performs across its full adventure. Nintendo has not presented the announcement as a review or technical analysis, and TechCravers has not tested the game. For now, the confirmed picture is a Switch 2-exclusive remake with substantially rebuilt presentation, modernised controls and a firm November release date.

Where to find it

• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time — Nintendo UK