Reviews

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

By Corey

It wasn't that long ago that everyone was playing the greatest game of all time, according to some people anyway, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (OoT). Now usually there is a long wait in between Zelda games, but this isn't the case obviously. OoT was released in November of 1998, while Majora's Mask (MM) was released in October of 2000. Why? MM was slated to just be an add-on to OoT that was to be released on the late 64DD. Instead, it turned into the game of it's own on the regular ol' N64. Is it up to par with the first N64 title, or just a quick way to get more money off of an out of date system? I think I'll take choice #1...

Graphics: 10

If you've played OoT, picture the visuals there. Now think of something much better. I played MM and noticed more color than the first game, a little more detail in some objects, but otherwise basically the same game. After all, they do use the same engine. But then I popped in OoT. This is when I realized MM is much, much better in this department. I really don't know how to explain this, but MM seems cleaner. OoT was blurry, foggy, or something. This definitely was not the case with MM. As of right now (December 19th, 2000), Majora's Mask is the best looking game on the N64, out of the games I've seen anyway. It requires the 4MB Expansion Pak, so I guess that should be expected though.

I did want to mention here how much I hate how the Mirror Shield looks in this game. I liked how the Hookshot was redone, but the Mirror Shield looks like complete crap to me. Oh well, it didn't really bother me after the initial shock of its ugliness.

Gameplay: 10

This is probably going to be a hit or miss area with a lot of people. Even though this is a Zelda game, it is a somewhat different game than the others, just like Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link was for the NES. The difference with this game is that you have 3 game days to do everything you need to do. This really is not a problem since you can go back to day 1 whenever you want. I'll give you a quick example of how you might go about going through the game with the time system. Do quest 1 and go back to day 1. Do quest 2 to open dungeon 1 and go back to day 1. Beat dungeon 1 and go back to day 1. Now it isn't that simple or anything, but that is just to show you that you don't have to rush and beat everything right away. I think 1 game day is about 20 minutes of real-time, probably a little less. There is also a way you can slow down time if you are really scared of running out of it, but I don't want to spoil too much of anything.

The downside of going back to day 1 is that you lose a lot of your items (like bombs, arrows, money, bottled items, etc.). You don't lose the ability to use them; you just have to re-collect them. Items that you don't have a limited number of, like the hookshot, you don't lose. Regaining lost money isn't a problem either because you can just deposit some into the bank. The bank will never lose count of how much money you have. You can also quickly go and get back your bombs and arrows by going out into Termina Field and slashing some bushes. Basically, don't be worried about losing everything because it isn't a problem.

As you probably can tell, time is a major aspect of the game. Masks are another important aspect. You'll be using masks to get by a lot of the puzzles in the game. There are the transformation masks that let you transform into one of the other major species found in the game, like a Deku Scrub. The other masks are there to give you other special abilities or access to certain events. You don't need all of the masks to beat the game, but you do need them to access all of the many sidequests found in the game.

I should mention that the dungeons reset after you go back to day 1. No problem. You can warp back to the boss after you defeat it the first time. You'll probably have to do that a couple times as you're going through the game. Just make sure you leave yourself enough time to beat a dungeon, or at least get the main item found in it, before you go back to day 1.

Ok, one more thing I'll mention because some people don't like the game because of this. The storyline is different from the other games. You are not in Hyrule. Ganon is not your main enemy. Zelda isn't a main character. I don't see why anyone would be bothered by this, but a lot of people are.

Sound: 10

Sound effects are stolen from OoT, but those were good so it doesn't matter. The main reason why I give this a 10 is because the original Zelda Overworld theme makes its way back into the series. Now, I never really thought much of it before, but in MM, it's among the best music I've even heard in a videogame. You'll mainly hear it when you're in Termina field, but it'll be heard in other areas as well. The other music isn't all that bad, but there wasn't anything else that is really catchy or anything. Without the greatness of the overworld theme, I would probably give this a 10 anyway because the music doesn't annoy me like it does in a lot of games.

Lasting Value: 10

I'm sure you've heard that MM has only 4 dungeons. You probably said, "But OoT had double that amount, and A Link to the Past almost triples it!" Yeah, but there are also some mini-dungeons you get to try out. In addition, there are tons of mini-quests to do. Collecting the 24 masks is one of them. Finding the 15 well-hidden fairies in the dungeons is another. How about helping out a lot of the people found in Clock Town? Collecting the pieces of heart? You can also go back and fight all the bosses again after you originally beat them, which is something I'd like to do in all the Zelda games. Don't worry, as long as you don't rush, this game will take 20-40+ hours to beat.

Bottom Line

Even with the changes in the story and gameplay, it is still a Zelda game. A great Zelda game. If you like all the other Zelda games, chances are you will like this one as well. Beware, people will and have been turned off by the time system and storyline of this game. If you are worried that you will be one of these people, rent the game first. If you have no doubts, this game is a keeper. Go out and buy it. Just make sure you have an Expansion Pak first. You must have one to play the game.

Final Score: 10 out of 10