Super Mario 64 Inspired Z-Targetting

Producer of recent Zelda titles Eiji Aonuma recently discussed the inspiration behind Z-targeting: Super Mario 64.

The Nintendo 64 epic, Ocarina of Time, is one of those moments that's helped changed control and game design in future third-person adventure games. Fighting enemies in a 3D space is a tricky issue without being able to have a constant view of your foes. The Zelda team introduced the lock-on ability with the first 3D Zelda game back in 1998, and Aonuma recently talked about how that came about in Nintendo Power magazine.

Everyone has probably experienced how hard it can be to go where you want to go when moving your character around in 3-D space. When an opponent is approaching, in order to attack with your sword, you've got to position yourself in such a way as to hit it, and that can be quite difficult.

Another problem in games with a third-person perspective is that the camera must follow around the player character. Opponents with a large range of movement soon fall outside the frame. Losing track of your opponent's location happens much too often.

That was one obvious problem with Super Mario 64, so when it came to Zelda, which features a lot of swordfights, we introduced 'Z-targeting,' by which the player could lock on to an opponent. The opponent would stay in front of the player, all the player's attacks would converge on the opponent, and the camera would always capture both the opponent and the player onscreen.

This lock-on system was developed by Miyamoto and Yoshiaki Koizumi, our 3-D system director. Together with the programmers, they worked directly on adjusting game operability, camera-rotation speed, and even sound effects.

Thanks to Nintendo Everything for the tip.

The producer also goes onto discuss some other interesting Zelda-related tidbits, including the success of Ocarina, horses and the reconfirming the next title is in the works:

NP: Ten years after its release, Ocarina of Time is still revered by many as the best and most influential game ever made. Why do you think it has made such a large and lasting impact?

EA: Unlike Miyamoto, who had a firm idea of what he wanted to make based on his experiences developing 3d games in the past, I was working on a 3d game for the first time. Since there weren't any similar games to emulate, I groped around in the dark for quite some time. In the end, when I heard the testers' response, I heaved a sigh of relief.

Since there was nothing to copy, we were forced to be original. I believe that is why we were able to create a game that inspired a fresh sense of wonder in its players….

Mr. Aonuma also lets us in the the secret of how Epona came to be…

EA: If I said we included Epona because Miyamoto likes horses, that would be oversimplifying it, but that was actually the biggest factor. He wanted Ocarina to be unique, and realized that there weren't any other games that involved riding a horse….

Finally, for those of you that think Aonuma should be busy making the next Zelda game instead of doing interviews, this should make you happy.

Anouma took a break from crafting his next Zelda adventure (still top secret) to look back at the game that shaped his career.

Thanks to GoNintendo.