Zelda Ocarina of Time remake: Metacritic 96 and a user-score record

Nintendo’s remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, released on Switch 2 on 5 November, is the best-reviewed game of 2026 so far. It holds a critic score of 96 on Metacritic, and within days it climbed to the top of the site’s all-time user-score chart, which is why “Nintendo Zelda Ocarina” is trending in US Google searches.

How good are the scores?

The 96 Metascore, from about 70 reviews, puts the remake first among 2026 releases, Nintendo Life and Video Games Chronicle reported. On Metacritic’s all-time list it sits in the top 30: VGC put it 29th, another site 27th, as the ranking moves while reviews come in.

The bigger headline is the players’ score. As of 8 November the remake had a user score of 9.6 out of 10, the highest of any game on Metacritic, according to several gaming sites. One report put it at 9.7 from more than 5,000 ratings.

The 1998 Nintendo 64 original still owns the critics’ record with 99, the highest Metascore ever. So the remake beat its parent with players, but not with critics.

What about the review-bombing claims?

Despite the high average, gaming sites reported what looked like a review-bombing campaign of fake low scores, and social media users noticed that dozens of user ratings vanished from the page, which suggests Metacritic was removing suspicious entries. Neither Metacritic nor Nintendo has explained the changes publicly. Treat the exact user number as moving.

Why the nostalgia is so strong

Ocarina of Time is the game many people in their 30s and 40s remember as their first 3D adventure: Hyrule Field, the ocarina songs, the Water Temple everyone hated. The New York Times described fans of the 1990s as “all in” on the remake. For younger players it is a chance to see why the original is still called one of the greatest games ever made.

Can you play it in Pakistan?

The Switch 2 is not officially sold in Pakistan, but grey-market consoles and game cards are available from importers in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, at a premium over US prices. Watch for Nintendo’s first sales figures, usually shared with its quarterly results.