Since The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time came out in 1998, there have been lots of playable ocarinas you can get that mimic the likeness of the one from the game. That way, you can walk around playing tunes like you’re Link trying to find the Master Sword in the Temple of Time. Problem is, you’re going to have to actually play it, since ocarinas are, basically, flutes that you blow into while moving your fingers around the holes. If you’re not really into messing with wind instruments, you might just want to pick up the Hori Electric Ocarina of Time.
No, it’s not a real ocarina. However, it does resemble the Ocarina of Time from the game, albeit with the holes replaced by concave buttons that trigger individual notes when pressed. This makes it a whole lot easier to play than actual wind instrument versions of the in-game accessory, making it a lot more accessible to the musically-challenged among us.
The Hori Electric Ocarina of Time is a musical toy clad in the likeness of the musical instrument from the game, so it’s got the exact same shape and Triforce detailing as the one in the game. Instead of finger holes, it’s got buttons that are flush with the body of the instrument. The shiny metal buttons look slightly concave, too, so they kind of look like holes when viewed at the right angle. Since it’s not a real ocarina, you can’t play it by blowing into the mouthpiece, as it’s only there for show.
Instead, the individual buttons are designed to play notes electronically, so you just press them in sequence to play any specific melodies, with no need to tire your mouth from blowing into it. There’s a volume button, too, so you can adjust how loud or how soft the music it plays those notes.
The Hori Electric Ocarina of Time also comes with an Auto-Play mode that lets you select any of 12 preloaded songs. All 12 songs come directly from the game, by the way, so it’s like having your own soundtrack to the classic Zelda game. We’re not sure which songs are included, but it will be something new to play for those times you get bored of listening to your Breath of the Wild Soundtrack boxset. In case you don’t want to disrupt anyone with your Zelda tunes while you play with your Zelda Game & Watch, there’s also a headphone jack for more discreet private listening.
Since the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake has a listening feature that picks up sound, you can use this electronic instrument to trigger specific actions in-game by playing specific notes. We’re not sure about the details of that in-game feature yet, but it sure sounds fun. You don’t need to use this instrument, by the way, as it will respond to any musical instrument that produces the corresponding sounds (even whistling will supposedly work). Do note, it requires three AA batteries to work and they’re not included, so you’ll need to load a fresh batch when you get this. It comes with a display stand, by the way, so you can just show it off when you eventually get bored of it.
The Hori Electric Ocarina of Time is currently listed at the company’s website for $49.99.