Nintendo is gearing up to release its remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on Thursday, and Google is marking the occasion with an Easter egg that transports the search engine back to 1998 – the year the original game was released.

If you go to Google.com now and search for “Zelda,” the game’s legendary Master Sword appears in the bottom right corner of the screen. In The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, the sword is a means to travel back and forth in time. (Searching for “Master Sword” also manifests the legendary weapon.)

When you click the sword, it thrusts into a pedestal and an animation plays before revealing a pre-2000s search page. In this view, you see the classic blue links, the I’m Feeling Lucky button and instead of seeing “Google” in the top-left corner of the page, you see the retro-looking “Google!” with an exclamation point. (Google removed the exclamation point from its logo in 1999.) If you stay real quiet and listen closely, you might also be able to hear Céline Dion’s My Heart Will Go On in the background.

Here’s the old-school Google page you can travel to if you click the Master Sword image on a Zelda search.CNET/Google

What you won’t see on this page are any ads, AI overviews or random social media posts. It’s such a retro experience, and a fun reminder of what using Google was like back in the day. The neater, less cluttered layout made me feel instantly calmer than Google’s normal view.

However, this change isn’t permanent. As soon as you search for something else in this view, you’re transported back to the current version of Google Search. I wish there were an option to permanently enable this view, but for now, I’ll enjoy this slice of internet nostalgia.

Zachary McAuliffe

Senior writer

Zach began writing for CNET in November, 2021 after writing for a broadcast news station in his hometown, Cincinnati, for five years. You can usually find him hanging out with his wife, son and dog. You can reach him at [email protected]. See full bio