Some games spend decades trying to earn a perfect review score. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time already achieved that milestone in 1998, which makes its return to Famitsu particularly fascinating. The new Ocarina of Time Famitsu score is 37/40 for Nintendo Switch 2. That’s three points below the historic original, but it also puts Link’s latest adventure ahead of Call of Duty in the same review week.
Released on November 5, 2026, during Zelda’s 40th anniversary year, this remake faces an unusual challenge. It isn’t simply competing with other new games. Instead, it must live up to one of the most celebrated critical achievements in Japanese gaming history.
Ocarina of Time Famitsu score brings a 1998 record back into focus
To understand why 37/40 matters, we need to revisit the original Nintendo 64 release. In 1998, Ocarina of Time became the first video game to receive a perfect 40/40 from Famitsu. That achievement established a landmark in the magazine’s review history, long before the Switch 2 remake was even imaginable.
Famitsu uses four individual reviewers rather than a single critic. Each awards a score between one and ten, producing a combined maximum of 40 points. For the 2026 version, the four scores are 9, 9, 9 and 10. Three reviewers stopped just short of perfection, while the fourth awarded the highest possible mark.
That distinction matters. A 37/40 is not evidence that the remake has failed to preserve the original’s appeal. On the contrary, every reviewer gave it at least nine points. However, the difference between 37 and 40 makes for an interesting historical comparison: the original was judged as a groundbreaking release in its own era, whereas the remake arrives with decades of expectations attached.
Crucially, those numbers cannot tell us which particular changes influenced each critic. Without their individual written assessments, it would be misleading to claim that voice acting, controls or any other feature caused the three-point difference.
Why Ocarina of Time Famitsu score beats Call of Duty by one point
The week’s closest competitor provides another useful perspective. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 received 36/40, with all four Famitsu reviewers awarding it a nine. That leaves Activision’s shooter just one point behind Nintendo’s fantasy adventure.
Interestingly, the individual scores reveal more than the totals alone. Modern Warfare 4 earned unanimous nines, while Ocarina of Time received three nines and a ten. Both games were rated highly by every critic, but one reviewer considered Zelda worthy of a perfect individual score.
Below those two releases, four games finished on 29/40. Prinny Party: Going Overboard received its first Famitsu score with a 7/7/8/7 breakdown. Japanese Rural Life Adventure followed with 8/7/7/7, while Moomin: Midsummer Madness earned 7/7/8/7 and The Fallen Kingdom scored 7/7/7/8.
These results place Zelda and Call of Duty eight and seven points ahead of that 29-point group, respectively. Nevertheless, Famitsu scores represent four critics’ assessments, not sales forecasts or a universal ranking of quality. The comparison is valuable because both leading games were evaluated under the same scoring system during the same week.
A remake that changes how players experience Hyrule
The timing of Nintendo’s release adds another layer to the story. Ocarina of Time returned on November 5, during the franchise’s 40th anniversary celebrations. Rather than leaving the Nintendo 64 adventure untouched, the Switch 2 version introduces updated controls, gameplay improvements and voice acting.
Those changes create a delicate balancing act. The original helped define how three-dimensional adventures could handle exploration, combat and environmental puzzles. Modern players, however, approach those ideas after experiencing countless games that built upon them. Consequently, a remake must make familiar systems comfortable without losing what made them distinctive.
Voice acting is one of the most noticeable differences. Battle4Play has already explored the remake’s English voice cast, including Matthew Mercer’s return as Ganondorf. Bringing spoken performances to familiar characters changes how players encounter Hyrule, especially for those whose memories of the original are tied to its quieter presentation.
Nintendo has also extended the experience beyond conventional gameplay. The company published official sheet music covering all 12 ocarina songs, giving fans another way to engage with the adventure’s musical identity. Our guide to the 12 Ocarina of Time songs and their sheet music explains how players can explore those melodies outside the game.
For a closer look at the adventure itself, Nintendo’s official Japanese Ocarina of Time website presents the Switch 2 release and its interpretation of Link’s journey across two ages.
Why Famitsu’s verdict carries a different weight in Japan
Famitsu has long been an important part of Japanese video game criticism. Its four-reviewer format also makes its scores unusually recognizable: readers can see whether critics broadly agree or whether individual opinions differ. That becomes especially interesting when discussing a remake with such a famous predecessor.
In this case, the historical connection is stronger than a straightforward comparison between two review totals. The 1998 release helped establish the perfect 40/40 as a memorable gaming milestone. Now, 28 years later, a new version of that same adventure has returned to the publication’s pages.
There is another important limitation to consider. The original and remake were reviewed in different eras, with different technological standards and player expectations. A three-point gap therefore should not be interpreted as a precise measurement of how much better or worse one version is. Review scores offer a snapshot of critical judgment, not a scientific comparison across generations.
For players deciding whether to revisit Hyrule, the stronger takeaway is the consistency of the new verdict. All four critics rated the remake highly. At the same time, Nintendo’s changes give returning fans reasons to examine the adventure beyond nostalgia alone.
Ultimately, the Ocarina of Time Famitsu score tells a more interesting story than simply falling short of 40/40. The Switch 2 remake has earned 37 points, surpassed a major Call of Duty release and revived a remarkable chapter of Japanese review history. Perhaps the real question isn’t why the remake missed perfection, but whether a classic needs another perfect score to prove it still matters.
Creator of the website, Pokemon trainer by nature. Trying to report on everything related to the world of video games, series and movies. Yu-Gi-Oh is my weakness, collecting cards since the dawn of time.
