Nintendo released its Ocarina of Time remake for the Switch 2 on 5 November 2026, scoring 96 on Metacritic as the series turns 40.
It is the first big software test for the new console, whose sales pace has slowed against the year before, and it arrives just after the company missed analyst estimates for quarterly profit. For players, the offer is plainer: a 1998 game rebuilt, with five bottles to find where the original held four.
A 1990s classic rebuilt for the 2020s
Nintendo brought out the remake as part of the Zelda series' 40th anniversary celebrations. By the eve of release, it stood at 96 out of 100 on Metacritic.
exceptional remake of an incredible game and a rich adventure that stands on its own
Nintendo’s modern Zelda team have turned one of the best games of the 1990s into one of the best games of the 2020s, and made time-travellers out of us all.
The series Miyamoto built
Shigeru Miyamoto, the Nintendo designer who invented Mario, created the Zelda series in 1986.
The two most recent main instalments, Breath of the Wild in 2017 and Tears of the Kingdom in 2023, sold more than 55 million copies between them.
- 1986The series begins
Shigeru Miyamoto creates Zelda at Nintendo.
- 2017Breath of the Wild
The first of the two most recent main instalments is released.
- 2023Tears of the Kingdom
The second arrives; between them the pair sell more than 55 million copies.
- 2025Switch 2 arrives
The console launches as the fastest-selling in the world.
- 5 Nov 2026Ocarina of Time remake
The remake goes on sale with 96 on Metacritic by the eve of release.
Eiji Aonuma produced the remake.
I don’t know how it’s going to turn out, I can’t stop thinking about it
Players on the graphics and the forests
Takumi Kawata, 27, played the Nintendo 64 version as a child.
I used to play (Zelda) a lot on the Nintendo 64 when I was little, so I’m really excited about this remake, especially the improved graphics
His brother, Kousuke Kawata, 31, said the forests were especially beautiful.
I just loved it. It was a bonding experience with my brothers
Shares rise while quarterly profit falls
On Thursday 5 November, the launch day, Nintendo's shares rose 6.75%, and the stock traded at $13.76 over the counter in the United States.
The quarterly figures pointed the other way: net profit for July to September fell 29% from a year earlier to ¥73.5 billion, roughly $465.3 million, short of analyst estimates of ¥82.2 billion.
Nintendo said steady software sales made up a larger share of the total, while a first-quarter refund of US IEEPA tariffs, previously recorded as a cost of sales, contributed to operating profit rising 49.1% to 216.5 billion yen for the six months.
Console sales and the profit miss
Switch 2 consoles
First half of fiscal 2027
6.5m
- Nearly 6.5 million units in the six months
- About 10.4 million in the same period a year earlier
Net profit
July to September 2026
¥73.5bn
- Down 29% from a year earlier
- Analysts had expected ¥82.2 billion
More than 26 million Switch 2 consoles have been sold since the machine went on sale in summer last year. It was the fastest-selling console in the world at its 2025 launch.
The console got more expensive this year, and investors have pointed to the thin run of major blockbusters as one reason hardware demand weakened.
First-half net profit for fiscal 2027 rose 11% on the year. The full-year net profit forecast stays at ¥310 billion.
Five bottles instead of four
Players can hold five bottles at once in the remake, one more than in the original game.
The Potion Shop in Hyrule Castle Town supplies the first: a shopkeeper hands over an empty bottle so Link can catch a bug that has escaped.
Lon Lon Ranch holds the second. Talon's cucco-findin' game wants three super Cuccos inside 30 seconds, for 10 rupees.
In Kakariko Village, the Cucco Lady gives the third once all seven of her missing Cuccos are back in their pen.
The fourth is at Lake Hylia, which needs the Silver Scale from Zora Domain first, since the way there runs through the shortcut to the lake.
Adult Link gets the fifth: five Big Poes, sold to the Poe Collector in Castle Town at 30 rupees each. Hand in 10, and the reward is a gold rupee worth 200.
| Bottle | Where it is found | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| First | Potion Shop, Hyrule Castle Town | Catch an escaped bug for the shopkeeper |
| Second | Lon Lon Ranch | Find three super Cuccos within 30 seconds in Talon's game, for 10 rupees |
| Third | Kakariko Village | Return all seven of the Cucco Lady's missing Cuccos to their pen |
| Fourth | Lake Hylia | Unlock the Silver Scale at Zora Domain, then dive the shortcut to the lake |
| Fifth | Hyrule Castle Town | As adult Link, hunt five Big Poes and sell them to the Poe Collector at 30 rupees each |
One Switch 2 addition sits apart from the bottles. Beating a second pair of Lizalfos leaves a Business Scrub seed, an item that can summon a shop.
What we know
- The remake went on sale for the Switch 2 on 5 November 2026.
- It stood at 96 out of 100 on Metacritic by the eve of release.
- Nintendo is holding its full-year net profit forecast at ¥310 billion.
Still unclear
- How many copies the remake has sold.
- Whether the 96 score holds as more reviews are published.
- The size of this year's Switch 2 price increase.
