The Legend of Zelda: Sands of Time, a ROM hack built on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, has been updated to version 1.22. At this point, it’s hard not to see it as one of the biggest and most ambitious Ocarina ROM hacks out there.
Debuglog and Woon released it in late 2024, and this isn’t some light-touch remix. It’s a full conversion with a new story, brand-new areas including Steel Town, original dungeons, bosses, items, and its own soundtrack. Sands of Time takes place in an alternate timeline where the hero of Ocarina of Time lost, Ganon ruled Hyrule for generations, and the story follows a different adventurer who only begins the journey after Ganon dies of old age, chasing money and power in a version of Zelda that’s much darker and more grown-up than usual.
It’s easy to see why Sands of Time has been making the rounds on YouTube, Reddit, and ROM-hacking forums. One release reportedly cleared 19,000 downloads, based on fan reports, and most of the talk around it keeps coming back to the same things: the scale, the puzzle-heavy dungeons, and writing that lands better than people expect. It still has rough spots. Cutscenes are limited, the grammar can be shaky, and some of the presentation feels homemade, which keeps it from passing for an official Nintendo release.
Still, if you’re chasing that first-time Ocarina feeling again, version 1.22 of The Legend of Zelda: Sands of Time is well worth a look. You can track it down through fan ROM-hacking communities, though like a lot of Nintendo fan projects, it lives in a legal gray area.
Author: Jesús Bosque
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