Majora's Mask
The dark stunning sequel to the world's most wanted Zelda game ever The Ocarina of Time. Similar controls but does this match up to the best Zelda in the series so far? You have 3 days to find out. The action-adventure is non-stop in this game and was developed by Nintendo in distribution for the Nintendo 64, the second Zelda game to feature on the same system as the SNES only had one. Majora's Mask was released in Japan on April 27th 2000, North America 26th October and November 17th for Europe. The game was originally released on the N64 but since has been re-released on the Zelda: collector's Edition and more recently on the Wii virtual console.
The Story - The Origins of Hyrule
After Link's quest in Hyrule he is wandering through the Lost Woods forest with Epona. When all of a sudden a Skull Kid and his fairy accomplices, Tatl and Tael, steal Epona and The Ocarina of Time from The Hero of Time. Link chases The Skull Kid whom uses some mysterious powers to turn The Hero of Time into a Deku Scrub. The Skull Kid flees the scene with Tael but Tatl's guilty conscience leaves her behind trapped with Link on the other side of a closed door to the strange land of Termina.
Link is shocked to discover he has become a Deku Nut and follows the door through. He is greeted by The Happy Mask Salesman who is angry that someone has stolen his most powerful, dark and mysterious mask named Majora's Mask. Link learns that unless he can stop The Skull Kid and his devilish antics the moon will crash down into Termina. The main concern is The Hero of Time has 3 days to do so...
How Development Went
Zelda fans had to wait 5 years from the release of Link Awakening up to The Ocarina of Time when we were treated to a 3D environment so a 2 year wait was rather exciting. In that short amount of time or any amount of time for that fact there were questions on how this could compete with The Ocarina of Time selling 7 million copies globally. A new innovative system was introduced to add depth to the game with the introduction of a 3 day timescale to save the world.
Some people, myself included, wandered how this would work thinking this would make the game short lived or is it going to be 3 actually days in real time. This wasn't the case the game features time modes similar to that of The Ocarina of Time for instance running across Hyrule field the sun draws in while the moon surfaces. Imagine that concept except with the time calculated by a bar at the bottom of the screen so once you start making your way out on Termina field time will decrease and the day will draw in. When the day is done a title screen appears with which particular day it is. Perhaps this doesn't sound like such a good idea because time can go quite quickly from the beginning of the game but once you retrieve The Ocarina of Time you can manipulate time by returning to the first day, slowing time down or speeding time up. Frustratingly sometimes when returning to the first day you lose most of your possessions that you have gathered apart from vital items. Thankfully there is a banker working in Clock Town.
How This Actually Does Differ from The Ocarina of Time?
Majora's Mask on The N64 took advantage of the 4MB RAM expansion pack which was a necessity for this and games such as Donkey Kong 64. It features the same engine as The Ocarina of Time however with the aid of the memory expansion there were greater improvements. The lighting was more dynamic than its predecessor, animation featured more expression and more characters could fit on the screen. The actual building interiors were rendered in real-time which were actually fixed in The Ocarina of Time.
Link is handed a Fairy Ocarina early on by Saria which later becomes The Ocarina of Time. This is a vital instrument and item throughout the game as Link must learn melodies to open the pathway to a dungeon or show the sign of royalty with Zelda's lullaby along with many other actions. Once Link is taught the Song of Time and the first forest dungeon has been completed it is possible to travel between time, at one age a child and another 7 years passed with the wealth of knowledge and the legendary Master Sword with the fate of Hyrule in his hands.
Majora's Mask sold well worldwide and has its fans along with critics. Some say this is better than The Ocarina of Time with a darker storyline and more challenging due to the fact of a restricted time scale and fewer save points spread apart. The storyline has more depth than any other Zelda game at the time however some felt that all the side quests had nothing to do with the quest.
I got this game for Christmas 2001 being as cartridge games where so expensive then I had to wait for special occasions to get a game and it couldn't have came at a better release date than around the festive season for myself. I think the game was challenging and the save points heightened the difficulty level. Perhaps one of the toughest Zelda games I have ever played apart from Zelda II, that was just insane. The bosses have to be some of the hardest encountered since Link has been brought to life in 3D, one in particular that sticks in my mind and I will never forget is Gyorg. Gyorg has to be definitely one of the hardest bosses and really frustrated me because once you have hit him you only have a short amount of time to make it back to the platform without being swallowed up and your life drained. Personally I was surprised how different this game was and not just a similar quest to The Ocarina of Time it's all go from start to finish.
I finally received The Ocarina of Time even though it was about to be wrapped up for a Christmas present, I slammed it in the N64 and couldn't wait. I was not disappointed I couldn't put the game down it had me gripped from start to finish and if you are in the small minority that hasn't played this game in one form or another then you simply must because I feel it still plays well these days. In my own opinion I think people think far too much about graphics and less about gameplay but this had a good combination of both. I am still playing The Master Quest on the GC Zelda collection disk.
Sounds: Very nice sound track fresh and new, moody to fit the whole theme of the game.
Graphics: A vast improvement on The Ocarina of Time more detailed.
Replayability: There's no immediate replay value but I always come back to it on The Zelda: Collectors disk.
I Award The Legend of Zelda: 9/10
Facts & SecretsWhen you meet The Happy Mask Salesman take a look closely at his backpack there is a mask of Mario. When sneaking around The Gerudo's fortress just wear the stone mask and you they will not be able to see you. |