What are the three versions of Ocarina of Time?

Ocarina of Time was revised while it was still new. The three Nintendo 64 versions were built on October 21, October 26 and November 12, 1998: version 1.0, the launch build; 1.1, a quick bug fixing pass that closed early glitches such as the easy Swordless Link trick; and 1.2, the content revision. The gold pre order cartridges are version 1.0.

Version 1.2 is the famous one. It changed Ganondorf's blood from red to green and replaced the Fire Temple's music, removing a chanting sample that had been taken from a commercial sound library. Nintendo applied its own long standing policy on religious material, and acknowledged the change in print at the time. The popular version of the story, that protests forced a recall, is a myth: no recall happened, the cartridges simply changed at the factory.

One change is always misdated. The crescent style Gerudo symbol on blocks and the Mirror Shield was not altered in any Nintendo 64 version; it was replaced only in the GameCube re releases.

Identification is refreshingly mechanical. The punch code stamped at the top right of the cartridge's back label reads as two digits for 1.0, two digits and an A for 1.1, and two digits and a B for 1.2.