Miyamoto’s alternate idea for Epona’s ranch escape, why he wanted a horse in Ocarina of Time, more
This information comes from the latest Iwata Asks…
Iwata: I heard from Osawa-san that you put a lot of effort into the cut scene when the horse jumps over the fence at Lon Lon Ranch.
Miyamoto: Well, rather than putting in lots of effort, I’d say we were pushing the new hardware, the Nintendo 64 system, as far as it would go. I wanted to make it look a little cool without looking strange. If you can leave the ranch wherever you want, rough parts of the ranch may stand out, so we thought of forcing in a special event.
Iwata: You forced that in? (laughs)
Miyamoto: Yes. You know that guy Ingo who’s at the ranch?
Iwata: Yes. He doesn’t have a very nice personality and looks a bit like Luigi. (laughs)
Miyamoto: That’s right. (laughs) Ingo and Link have a horse race. If Link wins, he can get the horse named Epona, but Ingo closes the entrance gate to the ranch.
Iwata: Then you jump over the fence on Epona and escape.
Miyamoto: That’s right. At first, I imagined a scene in which Ingo, in a frenzy, sets the ranch on fire, so Epona jumps against a backdrop of flames, but then someone said, “What about when Link comes back to the ranch later?” So I gave that up. (laughs)
Iwata: (laughs) Earlier, I asked about why you were so intent on showing Young Link. Why did you focus so much on having a horse in the game?
Miyamoto: I suppose because we grew up with (cowboy) Westerns.
Iwata: Westerns used to be quite popular on television.
Miyamoto: They had a big influence over me. And the drinking spouts at elementary school always had aluminum cups. We used to flip those over and knock them against the concrete in rhythm so it sounded like a horse galloping. (laughs)
Iwata: That’s right. We did. (laughs)
Miyamoto: That’s how much we all loved horses when we were kids. That rhythm is ingrained into us. That’s why I really wanted to make it so you can ride a horse in the Ocarina of Time.
