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Released in the 2000, the game was often and unfavourably compared to its predecessor – the seminal and epic Ocarina of Time (1998). But in reality, Majora’s Mask was a completely different adventure: a dark and unnerving fairy tale about a world that is going to be crushed by a menacing, grinning moon in three days.
Those three days take about an hour, and of course you’ll never finish the game in that time. Instead, gamers must relive these three days over and over to prevent the apocalypse.
This may sound repetitive, but actually it makes for an immersive adventure. Non-playable characters move around the clock, changing what they’re doing depending on their time of day. This means Link can interfere with their days, change routines so that love can be rekindled, bands get back together and fates are completely changed. You will grow attached to the world of Termina and its inhabitants.
Fans of puzzles and battling may criticise the lack of dungeons (there are just four here compared with Ocarina of Time’s 8), but there’s a plethora of side quests to explore – perhaps more than any other Zelda title.
To complete these quests and dungeons, gamers can transform into various other monsters using the game’s variety of maskes. These creatures include a leaping shrubbery (the Deku Scrub), an amphibious rock star (Zora) and a Goron, which is member of a race of rock people. Each character boasts their own abilities, the Deku Scrub can float over distances, the Goron can smash rocks and travel at high speed while the Zora – as you may expect – can swim. Meanwhile, the world’s inhabitants will react differently to you depending on what mask you are wearing.
All these elements, the lack of dungeons and the fact that Princess Zelda isn’t really in the game at all (bar a fleeting appearance in a flashback), makes this for a rather refreshing and unusual Zelda adventure.
It’s a twisted game, too. Not just in its menacing storyline but in how it looks. Almost all the character and scenery models have been taken directly from Ocarina of Time, but the developers have included some surreal effects and extra colour – primarily dark blues and purples – which help create the game’s sense of strange.
And then there’s the music, which speeds up as that moon – with its malicious grin – gets closer to crashing and destroying the land and the people you’ve come to love. As the final moments draw near, the game’s wonderful soundtrack conjures that sense of dread, with regular earthquakes shaking the screen and sending the town folk fleeing to the hills. This is a Grimm’s Fairy tale’s answer to Zelda.
This 3DS update is a visually beautiful, while the gameplay has been tweaked for a smoother experience.
Several items have been moved around the game, there has been some re-landscaping of a few of the more confusing areas, and there is an increase in the number of save points, too. Best of all there are two fishing ponds in the game, bringing back the popular fishing game from Ocarina of Time.
There have also been some minor changes to certain bosses and control mechanics, too, all designed to eliminate any frustrations that may have existed in the original 2000 release
These are just tweaks, really, that slightly improves the experience. But there have been a few more substantial changes as well. The bottom screen of the 3DS now features a more detailed notebook, which is invaluable for managing the game’s various side quests. Meanwhile, the touch screen acts as a very useful tool when it comes to selecting items, just like it did in Ocarina of Time 3D.
But arguably the most significant new addition is the ability to warp to specific hours during the three-day cycle – which you could not do in the N64 original. That means players will no longer have to wait 20 minutes for that mugger to attack the old lady at 12am on the first night, they can instead jump straight to it. This, combined with the more save points, makes the game a little easier than the original (which is bound to annoy some of the more core fans, but this is an important addition for portable gameplay, because gamers may only have a limited window to play in – and waiting around for things to happen just isn’t fun.
All of which makes this the definitive version of one of Nintendo’s greatest ever video games.
It's also absolutely bonkers. I just adore its madness. It was the first Zelda game which wasn't directed by Miyamoto but Anouma, who would go on to direct Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword.. And my new favourite, A Link Between Worlds.
People who don't like MM are the worst kind of people. Officially.
I can live with that. I've tried and tried but I just cannot take to the Zelda series at all and reached that point quicker with MM than any of the others I have played.
Good review though.
I haven't had the chance of a full playthrough yet, but I agree with what you are saying about the changes for the 3DS version. It makes it much easier to 'jump in-and-out' of the game over the original.
Released in the 2000, the game was often and unfavourably compared to its predecessor – the seminal and epic Ocarina of Time (1998). But in reality, Majora’s Mask was a completely different adventure: a dark and unnerving fairy tale about a world that is going to be crushed by a menacing, grinning moon in three days.
Those three days take about an hour, and of course you’ll never finish the game in that time. Instead, gamers must relive these three days over and over to prevent the apocalypse.
This may sound repetitive, but actually it makes for an immersive adventure. Non-playable characters move around the clock, changing what they’re doing depending on their time of day. This means Link can interfere with their days, change routines so that love can be rekindled, bands get back together and fates are completely changed. You will grow attached to the world of Termina and its inhabitants.
Fans of puzzles and battling may criticise the lack of dungeons (there are just four here compared with Ocarina of Time’s 8), but there’s a plethora of side quests to explore – perhaps more than any other Zelda title.
To complete these quests and dungeons, gamers can transform into various other monsters using the game’s variety of maskes. These creatures include a leaping shrubbery (the Deku Scrub), an amphibious rock star (Zora) and a Goron, which is member of a race of rock people. Each character boasts their own abilities, the Deku Scrub can float over distances, the Goron can smash rocks and travel at high speed while the Zora – as you may expect – can swim. Meanwhile, the world’s inhabitants will react differently to you depending on what mask you are wearing.
All these elements, the lack of dungeons and the fact that Princess Zelda isn’t really in the game at all (bar a fleeting appearance in a flashback), makes this for a rather refreshing and unusual Zelda adventure.
It’s a twisted game, too. Not just in its menacing storyline but in how it looks. Almost all the character and scenery models have been taken directly from Ocarina of Time, but the developers have included some surreal effects and extra colour – primarily dark blues and purples – which help create the game’s sense of strange.
And then there’s the music, which speeds up as that moon – with its malicious grin – gets closer to crashing and destroying the land and the people you’ve come to love. As the final moments draw near, the game’s wonderful soundtrack conjures that sense of dread, with regular earthquakes shaking the screen and sending the town folk fleeing to the hills. This is a Grimm’s Fairy tale’s answer to Zelda.
This 3DS update is a visually beautiful, while the gameplay has been tweaked for a smoother experience.
Several items have been moved around the game, there has been some re-landscaping of a few of the more confusing areas, and there is an increase in the number of save points, too. Best of all there are two fishing ponds in the game, bringing back the popular fishing game from Ocarina of Time.
There have also been some minor changes to certain bosses and control mechanics, too, all designed to eliminate any frustrations that may have existed in the original 2000 release
These are just tweaks, really, that slightly improves the experience. But there have been a few more substantial changes as well. The bottom screen of the 3DS now features a more detailed notebook, which is invaluable for managing the game’s various side quests. Meanwhile, the touch screen acts as a very useful tool when it comes to selecting items, just like it did in Ocarina of Time 3D.
But arguably the most significant new addition is the ability to warp to specific hours during the three-day cycle – which you could not do in the N64 original. That means players will no longer have to wait 20 minutes for that mugger to attack the old lady at 12am on the first night, they can instead jump straight to it. This, combined with the more save points, makes the game a little easier than the original (which is bound to annoy some of the more core fans, but this is an important addition for portable gameplay, because gamers may only have a limited window to play in – and waiting around for things to happen just isn’t fun.
All of which makes this the definitive version of one of Nintendo’s greatest ever video games.