For the longest time, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time‘s Water Temple has been hailed the game’s worst dungeon, and for a number of reasons. The primary culprit behind this claim was the Iron Boots, which had to be equipped and unequipped so often that by the time you were finally finished with the Water Temple, you almost didn’t want to play the game anymore. Fortunately, the Ocarina of Time remake has “fixed” the original’s inventory management issues by adopting Breath of the Wild‘s item wheel in exchange for the original Nintendo 64’s menu. But the Water Temple was also known for bricking a player’s save (or so we believed), as it was once thought that using the dungeon’s keys in the wrong order would leave players trapped, forcing them to start a new save file. I was one of those players back in the day, despite it actually being a myth.
However, there is yet another infamous dungeon in the original Ocarina of Time that might be even more annoying than the Water Temple—equally annoying, at the very least. I, for one, wasn’t necessarily annoyed when I played it as a kid, but I can guarantee that if the dungeon weren’t fixed in the remake, I might be pulling what little hair I have left out of my head. And even having not been annoyed back then, looking at it from everyone else’s perspective, I completely understand the frustration. Thankfully, Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest actually fixed the main issue with the dungeon, so it would only be natural that the upcoming Ocarina of Time remake would do the same. That dungeon is none other than Jabu Jabu’s Belly, and the main source of that annoyance, Princess Ruto herself.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake Already Has a Fix for Jabu Jabu’s Belly
I bring up Princess Ruto, specifically, because she effectively turned the original Jabu Jabu’s Belly into an escort mission by requiring Link to carry her throughout the entire dungeon, as she was simply too spoiled to walk herself. Of course, the dungeon had some “interesting” mechanics due to Ruto’s condition (if I can call it that without sounding out of touch), in that players could use her body to keep switches depressed. But it’s not the constant picking Ruto up and setting her down that was so annoying. It was keeping track of where you left her.
After setting her down, if you happened to fall, take the wrong route, or separate from her at the wrong point, the dungeon would essentially force you to do some incredibly irritating backtracking. Sure, backtracking isn’t necessarily an annoyance all on its own. In fact, The Legend of Zelda‘s dungeons have historically required plenty of it. Where things can get confusing, though, is in the dungeon’s environmental design, as its rooms tend to look very similar, making backtracking a nightmare at times. If you then layer on top of that electrical enemies that are quite obnoxious before you get the boomerang and some rather frequent verbal abuse from Princess Ruto once you do manage to find her again, it can all be a bit of a headache.
Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest Fixed Jabu Jabu’s Belly, and the Remake Should Carry That Forward
But praise be to Hylia, because The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest actually fixed Jabu Jabu’s Belly to make Ruto much less of a literal burden. If you’re unaware of what Master Quest is, it’s essentially an alternate version of the original game that keeps the same story and overworld but remixes its dungeons with tougher enemies, altered layouts, and new puzzle solutions. It first released for the GameCube in Japan on November 28, 2002, then came to North America in February 2003 as a bonus disc offered with preorders of The Wind Waker. I was one of those who greatly appreciated it, because by the time it launched, I had already beaten Ocarina of Time enough that I had it memorized, and Master Quest gave players like me a chance to experience it afresh.
Put the consoles in the correct order.
For Jabu Jabu’s Belly, in particular, Master Quest dramatically reduced how much you actually have to babysit Ruto. In the original dungeon, carrying her around is a recurring mechanic. In Master Quest, however, she’s only required for one pressure-switch sequence, after which the dungeon largely lets Link proceed on his own. If you’ve never played the original Jabu Jabu’s Belly, just trust me when I say that such a seemingly small fix changes the whole feel of the dungeon. Instead of repeatedly hauling Ruto through rooms and worrying about where you left her, Master Quest made it so that Jabu Jabu’s Belly actually felt more like a traditional Zelda dungeon than an escort quest.
Now, I’m not certain whether the Ocarina of Time remake will feature Master Quest‘s remixed dungeons. I honestly wouldn’t mind if it did, or even if it remixed the dungeons further. Purely based on what I’ve seen so far, though, that doesn’t appear to be the case. The remake’s Great Deku Tree alone, Ocarina of Time‘s first dungeon, already looks almost identical to the original. But even if the remake’s dungeons truly are 1:1 remakes of the original, I’ve got my fingers crossed that it will apply the Master Quest fix to Jabu Jabu’s Belly in the same way that it has carried other quality-of-life improvements forward.
- Released
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November 5, 2026
- ESRB
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Everyone 10+ / Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence
- Developer(s)
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Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
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Nintendo
