The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Speedrunners Have Already Found New Ways to Break the Remake

From quicker movement to sending Link to space, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time speedrunners have already found a few ways to break the remake.

One of the best things about a new Zelda game is seeing just how quickly players can speed through it, but Nintendo’s latest video game being a remake presents a unique situation. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time has accumulated some of the most bizarre speedrunning strategies in its 28 years on the market, and in just a few days, the Nintendo Switch 2 remake looks like it will live up to that legacy.

Creative players started peeling back the layers of the new version of Link and Zelda’s classic adventure just hours after it launched November 5. Even just moments into its life, they’ve discovered some seemingly useful (and hilarious) ways to break the game, with more almost certainly to be discovered in the weeks, months, and years ahead. Let’s start with what might be the most common tactic under investigation so far: sending Link hurdling into the air at high speed.

Ocarina of Time Remake speedrunning has begun https://t.co/lnEvgaHgj0

— ZFG (@zfg111) November 7, 2026

Ocarina of Time speedrunner Zfg1 seems to be one of the first to discover that the Switch 2 Zelda remake has interesting physics, which, if pushed far enough, can toss Link into the air like a firework. Even at first glance, you can probably guess how a safe landing from that height opens the door for players to get creative and skip portions of the game.

It seems relatively easy to replicate, too, with X/Twitter user @Vespher also sharing footage of them pulling off the same stunt in the same location. Other locations seem to be susceptible to Link’s sudden weightlessness with some careful positioning, with a similar area highlighted by other players.

You might think that Link will only be able to fling himself skyward in extremely specific locations, but fear not, as there are other ways to send him for a ride. Another popular glitch making the rounds in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake’s first weekend in the public’s hands only asks Hyrule’s hero to stand in a chest. A few sudden movements (or even a well-placed bomb), and poof, ceiling.

Nocturne skip with a normalized setup and a buffered ocarina actor jump (ez mode) https://t.co/QvtrVKYnC1

— Vespher (@Vespher) November 7, 2026

特定の宝箱の上でめっちゃ高く飛べるバグ

ネタバレ注意

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#NintendoSwitch2 #ゼルダの伝説 #時のオカリナ https://t.co/y2Y5htiSTd

— かえる (@k4erup) November 7, 2026

時のオカリナリメイク完全に理解した https://t.co/AoSYzB33ob

— せーら姫 (@sera18171) November 7, 2026

Like so many other frequently speedrunned games out there, Ocarina of Time players have picked it apart to find the fastest means of traversal. Whether it’s walking backward, hopping, or rolling, there are plenty of different ways to get around Hyrule. Nintendo has done its best to make speed concerns a thing of the past in the Switch 2 remake thanks to Link’s new sprint feature.

Did that stop fans from finding faster alternatives? Of course not.

In fact, hilariously, early speedrunning strats show that rolling, again, may have emerged victorious as the ultimate way to get to the final fight against Ganondorf as quickly as possible. There are two seemingly faster options so far: one involving hopping, and one without. The former, as outlined by YouTuber KnightPohtaytoe, requires players to target-hop forward into a roll and seems marginally faster than sprinting. The latter, shown by Reddit user Pomps8a, is a bit easier to get the hang of and simply asks Link to cancel his roll with a quick attack.

As this story is being written, the Zelda community has already found even more ways to skip sections of the game. One that started being shared around earlier today lets players climb walls by simply switching items.

デクの棒でジャンプ斬りする瞬間に他アイテムに切り替えることで高い足場にも届くバグが見つかった

ほかの場所でも使えそう

#NintendoSwitch2 #ゼルダの伝説 #時のオカリナ https://t.co/DuDoGidQu7

— かえる (@k4erup) November 7, 2026

All the speedrunning stats are still coming in, but so far, it looks like it will take the average player about 20 hours or so to beat The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake on Switch 2. Content creator @MrGymnast86 is one speedrunner who started gunning for the fastest time out of the gate and managed to complete an Any% run in a little less than four-and-a-half hours. It’s a time that will almost surely shrink as more methods are developed by the community.

The players looking to uncover sequence breaks – the ones who really want to get that game timer down just mere seconds if they can make it work – have found ways to allow Young Link to perform tasks only available to Adult Link and vice versa. As you might have guessed, the Ocarina of Time remake…doesn’t really know how to tell the difference between the two if progress is made illegitimately. The results are almost impossible to describe, so you can see what some players have managed to capture below.

Using a glitch to get a really big jump in the remake, its now possible to get the silver gauntlets chest as adult, which is supposed to be gotten as child. The cutscene that plays after tries to fit adult link into child link model, which ends up looking like this. https://t.co/un9DflnvxT

— ZFG (@zfg111) November 7, 2026

This isn’t possible with glitches yet, but if we can find a way to get into an adult only cutscene as child, we’ll see this. https://t.co/0DC756ZLJV

— ZFG (@zfg111) November 7, 2026

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake is out now for Switch 2. For more, you can see why IGN gave it a 9/10 review. You can also read about the developers who helped reimagine the Nintendo 64 classic for a modern audience.

Image credit: @zfg111 on X/Twitter.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).