Zelda: Ocarina of Time on Switch 2: Clicking Google’s Hidden Master Sword Easter Egg Sends Your Browser Back to 1998
With the full-scale remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time set to launch exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 this Thursday, November 5, 2026, Google has rolled out a playable tribute right inside its search engine. Typing the name of Nintendo's flagship adventure into the search bar summons the Master Sword at the corner of the screen, allowing players to send their browser straight back to 1998.
The shared timeline makes the tribute especially fitting: 1998 was both the year The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time originally debuted on the Nintendo 64 and the year Google was officially founded.
How the Master Sword and Temple of Time Pedestal Work on Google
The browser animation mirrors the core time-travel mechanic crafted by Eiji Aonuma and Shigeru Miyamoto. In the game, whenever Adult Link returns the Master Sword to its stone pedestal inside the Temple of Time, he travels seven years backward through time to become Young Link once again.
Triggering the time-travel effect on desktop or mobile takes just a few seconds:
- Run the search query: head over to Google and search for "zelda", "Ocarina of Time", or "The Legend of Zelda".
- Spot the pedestal icon: look at the bottom-right corner of the results page, where the Master Sword hovers just above its stone pedestal from the Temple of Time.
- Plunge the blade to travel back in time: click or tap the Master Sword to drive it into the pedestal. Link's classic vocal shout plays through your speakers as a golden Triforce transition warps the screen.
No AI Overviews and the Return of 1998's "I'm Feeling Lucky" Button
Once the Triforce flash fades, the modern 2026 search layout is replaced by an authentic recreation of Google in 1998. The contemporary header swaps out for the vintage serif "Google!" logo complete with its original exclamation mark, sitting above plain-text blue links and green URLs on a stark white background.
Along with stripping away AI assistants and knowledge panels, the retro page restores the classic "I'm Feeling Lucky" button from the early days of the web. While the 1998 styling stays confined to that single page of Zelda results rather than persisting across new searches, clicking the Master Sword a second time pulls the blade back out and returns your browser to 2026.
From the 1998 Nintendo 64 Cartridge to Thursday's Switch 2 Remake
The Ocarina of Time secret joins a long tradition of interactive gaming Easter eggs still live on Google, including typing "do a barrel roll" from Star Fox 64 to spin the browser 360 degrees, searching "super mario bros" to tap a coin-dispensing Question Block, or entering "the last of us" to watch Cordyceps tendrils creep across the display.
For collectors who still treasure the original 1998 Nintendo 64 release, physical copies remain highly sought after: according to current market tracking on Retrocharting, the original NTSC Nintendo 64 cartridge trades at an average of $14.92 Loose, $64.80 Complete in Box (CIB), and $282.02 graded or factory sealed.
Meanwhile, excitement continues to build ahead of Thursday's launch on Nintendo Switch 2. Hot on the heels of the Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition Nintendo Switch 2 console release, pre-loaded Version 1.0.0 files recently confirmed that Nintendo paired AMD FSR 1.0 spatial upscaling with SMAA antialiasing to deliver 60 FPS alongside fully voiced cutscenes, gyro-aimed Hookshot controls, and microphone-activated Ocarina melodies.
Check The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Switch 2 Availability on Amazon→
My Perspective
I could not stop smiling the second the Master Sword popped up at the bottom of my browser. Using the Temple of Time pedestal to rewind Google itself back to 1998, the exact year both Google and Link's first 3D adventure were born, is such a clever, heartfelt touch. Watching the screen flash with the Triforce and strip away twenty-eight years of web clutter makes the final three-day countdown to Thursday's Switch 2 launch feel even more special.
Based on the outskirts of New York City, Chaya 'Chayane' spent five years studying software engineering in Montreal before returning to her home state. A Full-Stack developer and Deep Learning AI architecture researcher, she explores neural networks and algorithmic optimization while engineering data pipelines for Retrocharting and Gamescharting alongside Grimtag. A gamer for over 20 years and an avid collector of Nintendo history and The Legend of Zelda, she explored World of Warcraft's Azeroth before bringing her deep technical background to video game analysis.
