Zelda Ocarina Remake Tops Metacritic User Ratings
The remake's 9.6 user score led the site's rankings, while Metacritic removed spammed submissions that surfaced during its launch week.
Updated on Nov. 7, 2026 in Gaming
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The Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake posted a Metacritic user rating of 9.6, the highest user score on the site. Metacritic also removed at least 30 to 40 spammed user submissions it believed were aimed at lowering the rating.
Why it matters
User scores on aggregator sites can shape how players perceive a game before purchase, so manipulated submissions affect buyer decisions. The episode highlights the ongoing challenge platforms face in separating genuine player feedback from coordinated review bombing.
Metacritic lists the remake at a 9.6 user rating from over 3,900 scores, against a 96 critic average compared with 99 for the original Nintendo 64 game. Metacritic has removed at least 30 to 40 spammed submissions, and the total number of affected scores has not been disclosed.
The players
Metacritic
Metacritic is a review aggregation website that compiles critic and user scores for films, television, music, and video games.
Nintendo
Nintendo is a Japanese video game company that developed and published the original Ocarina of Time and oversaw the remake's release.
The details
Metacritic opened user reviews 36 hours after the November 5 release date, following Nintendo's review embargo that expired on November 4. An unusual number of zero scores was also submitted for the remake, prompting the site to remove submissions it deemed deliberately aimed at lowering the rating.
Timeline
November 4: Nintendo's review embargo expired for sites and YouTube channels.
November 5: Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake released.
November 7: Metacritic user reviews live and the rating reported.
Culture Shift
High user scores for recent releases like Silent Hill 2 at 9.3 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 at 9.4 show that aggregator ratings have become a visible arena for fan enthusiasm and review campaigns. The remake's launch extends that pattern, placing player-driven scoring at the center of how classic games are judged in the current era.
Players weighing a purchase can treat the 9.6 user rating as a snapshot that may shift as more scores arrive over the coming days. Checking both critic averages and user scores together gives a fuller picture than either number alone.
The takeaway
Aggregator user scores can move quickly after launch, so treating early numbers as provisional helps readers make more informed buying decisions. Comparing user and critic scores side by side offers a clearer read on how a game is received.
Further reading
For more on the games industry, explore Gaming coverage tracking how player reviews and aggregator scores shape releases.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Notebookcheck.
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