The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively ← Previous edit Next edit →Content deleted Content addedVisual WikitextInline

Revision as of 20:54, 1 October 2006 editAnonymous 57 (talk \| contribs)213 edits Major sections of this article are almost wholly unsubstantiated by secondary sources. See WP:V, WP:CITE, and WP:NOR.← Previous edit		Revision as of 20:54, 1 October 2006 edit undo65.175.233.184 (talk) →Masks and transformations Next edit →
Line 40:		Line 40:
	] in the northern Termina Field.]]		] in the northern Termina Field.]]

	Unlike most previous ''Zelda'' titles, Link is not limited to his human form; three special masks allow Link to transform into different species: the Deku mask transforms Link into a ], the Goron mask into a ], the Zora mask into a ] and if you collected ((EVERY)) mask in the game you could aquire the Fierce Dietys Mask to turn into a ]. Each transformation grants unique abilities: the Deku Scrub can perform a spin dash, shoot bubbles from its mouth, plant itself into and launch itself out of special Deku Flowers, drop Deku Nuts while flying in the air, and skip on water a limited number of times. The Goron transformation can roll up in a ball and spin around, extend spikes and use magic power once top speed is reached, and stomp the ground with his massive body. The Zora transformation is not very agile on the ground, but its sleek body allows Link to swim through the water rapidly, throw ]-like fins from his arms, and form a forcefield. Many areas of the game can only be accessed by Link's use of these abilities. However the Fierce Dietys mask could only be worn when fighting a boss and it featured a sword that sent out a powerfull shockwave		Unlike most previous ''Zelda'' titles, Link is not limited to his human form; three special masks allow Link to transform into different species: the Deku mask transforms Link into a ], the Goron mask into a ], the Zora mask into a ] and if you collected '''EVERY''' mask in the game you could aquire the Fierce Dietys Mask to turn into a ]. Each transformation grants unique abilities: the Deku Scrub can perform a spin dash, shoot bubbles from its mouth, plant itself into and launch itself out of special Deku Flowers, drop Deku Nuts while flying in the air, and skip on water a limited number of times. The Goron transformation can roll up in a ball and spin around, extend spikes and use magic power once top speed is reached, and stomp the ground with his massive body. The Zora transformation is not very agile on the ground, but its sleek body allows Link to swim through the water rapidly, throw ]-like fins from his arms, and form a forcefield. Many areas of the game can only be accessed by Link's use of these abilities. However the Fierce Dietys mask could only be worn when fighting a boss and it featured a sword that sent out a powerfull shockwave

	Link and his three transformations receive different reactions from various non-player characters. For instance, the Goron and Zora are allowed to exit Clock Town, but the Deku Scrub with his small height looks like a child and the guards do not permit him to pass. Link's normal form is allowed to pass, as he carries a sword. ]s also interact differently with all four forms of Link. Link's normal form receives an indifferent response from dogs, which will go about their business as they would in ''Ocarina of Time''. The Deku Scrub transformation, however, will be attacked if he goes near a dog, the Goron transformation will frighten the dog away, and the Zora transformation elicits an attraction from the dog.		Link and his three transformations receive different reactions from various non-player characters. For instance, the Goron and Zora are allowed to exit Clock Town, but the Deku Scrub with his small height looks like a child and the guards do not permit him to pass. Link's normal form is allowed to pass, as he carries a sword. ]s also interact differently with all four forms of Link. Link's normal form receives an indifferent response from dogs, which will go about their business as they would in ''Ocarina of Time''. The Deku Scrub transformation, however, will be attacked if he goes near a dog, the Goron transformation will frighten the dog away, and the Zora transformation elicits an attraction from the dog.

Revision as of 20:54, 1 October 2006

Template:Redirect5

This article does not cite any sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (Learn how and when to remove this message)

2000 video game

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

Developer(s)	Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Designer(s)	Shigeru Miyamoto Eiji Aonuma
Platform(s)	Nintendo 64 Nintendo GameCube
Release	April 27 2000 October 24 2000 November 17 2000
Genre(s)	Action-adventure
Mode(s)	Single player

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (ゼルダの伝説ムジュラの仮面, Zeruda no Densetsu Mujura no Kamen) is a video game for the Nintendo 64 console. It was released in Japan on April 27 2000, in Canada and the United States on October 24 2000, and in Europe on November 17 2000. The game sold approximately 314,000 copies during its first week of sales in Japan and it went on to sell three million copies worldwide.

Majora's Mask is the sixth installment in The Legend of Zelda series, which began with The Legend of Zelda in 1986. It was the second Legend of Zelda video game to feature 3D graphics. Although it failed to match the sales success of its predecessor, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998), Majora's Mask features a broader and darker storyline as well as deeper gameplay. The protagonist of the series, Link, is placed in the land of Termina, rather than Hyrule, where most of the series is set. A mysterious mask-wearing imp known as the Skull Kid has been persuading the moon to abandon its orbit and crash into Termina. The player repeatedly lives three days through time travel in order to prevent this catastrophe. Majora's Mask is widely known as the darkest game in the Zelda series to date, largely due to its plot leading up to an impending apocalypse.

The gameplay is centered around a repeatedly-played three-day cycle and the use of masks, which are required to proceed and complete the game. A variety of songs control the flow of time and open passages to the four Temples that Link must complete. Unlike Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask requires the use of the Expansion Pak, which allows for a larger number of on-screen characters and improved graphics. Majora's Mask was generally received well by critics, who cited the graphic improvements as well as a deeper storyline; however, it is ranked lower than Ocarina of Time on most critics' lists of the greatest video games of all time since its predecessor had broken extensive new ground.

Gameplay

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (Learn how and when to remove this message)

File:The Majora's Mask Moon.jpg

Link has three days to prevent the strange new moon from crashing into Termina.

Gameplay of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is based on the 3D computer graphics engine used in its predecessor. Link retains a variety of basic actions, including walking, running, somersaulting, and limited jumping. Majora's Mask is the second game in the official Zelda series to take place outside of the land of Hyrule, placing the protagonist Link in a land named Termina. The Skull Kid has been causing several issues and is attempting to persuade the moon to abandon its orbit and crash into Termina. The player repeatedly returns to the point of his first appearance three days before the crash of the moon using a song called the Song of Time on the Ocarina of Time; he relives these three days collecting the knowledge and abilities required to prevent the catastrophe.

The gameplay in Majora's Mask is arguably deeper than that of Ocarina of Time, which features bombs, arrows, and music as tools to solve several of its puzzles; Majora's Mask retains these elements and includes the use of masks, character transformations, and the limit of a three-day cycle to add further difficulty and variety to many quests in the game.

Masks and transformations

Main article: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask masks, weapons and items

Masks first appeared as a sidequest in Ocarina of Time, but they supply a much more important role in Majora's Mask. Whereas Ocarina of Time has a few masks of which only one can be carried at a time, Majora's Mask has a complete inventory of twenty-four masks, many of which are necessary to progress through the game. Some masks are invaluable, others are helpful, and a few are used only once.

When in human form, Link uses a variety of weapons. The sword is his standard weapon and is the most frequently used weapon in the game. Link can attack enemies with a vertical slash, a horizontal slash, and a jump slash, all of which contribute to damaging the enemy. The shield is used for defending. The bow and arrows are typically used to attack a distant enemy or to activate a switch, although they can also assist in close-range combat. Link can use deku nuts to stun enemies, then inflict damage with another weapon. Bombs can be used to blow up enemies and other obstacles, while the hookshot is capable of latching onto an enemy and pulling it towards Link.

File:Majora's Mask image.png

Link in his Goron form, fighting with a Dodongo in the northern Termina Field.

Unlike most previous Zelda titles, Link is not limited to his human form; three special masks allow Link to transform into different species: the Deku mask transforms Link into a Deku Scrub, the Goron mask into a Goron, the Zora mask into a Zora and if you collected EVERY mask in the game you could aquire the Fierce Dietys Mask to turn into a Diety. Each transformation grants unique abilities: the Deku Scrub can perform a spin dash, shoot bubbles from its mouth, plant itself into and launch itself out of special Deku Flowers, drop Deku Nuts while flying in the air, and skip on water a limited number of times. The Goron transformation can roll up in a ball and spin around, extend spikes and use magic power once top speed is reached, and stomp the ground with his massive body. The Zora transformation is not very agile on the ground, but its sleek body allows Link to swim through the water rapidly, throw boomerang-like fins from his arms, and form a forcefield. Many areas of the game can only be accessed by Link's use of these abilities. However the Fierce Dietys mask could only be worn when fighting a boss and it featured a sword that sent out a powerfull shockwave

Link and his three transformations receive different reactions from various non-player characters. For instance, the Goron and Zora are allowed to exit Clock Town, but the Deku Scrub with his small height looks like a child and the guards do not permit him to pass. Link's normal form is allowed to pass, as he carries a sword. Dogs also interact differently with all four forms of Link. Link's normal form receives an indifferent response from dogs, which will go about their business as they would in Ocarina of Time. The Deku Scrub transformation, however, will be attacked if he goes near a dog, the Goron transformation will frighten the dog away, and the Zora transformation elicits an attraction from the dog.

File:MajorasMaskMiakuPractice.jpg

Link in his Zora form, playing the guitar.

A special mask called the Fierce Deity's Mask can be obtained at the end of the game if all of the other masks have been located. The Fierce Deity's Mask transforms Link into a larger, more powerful version of himself, with characteristic face markings, malicious-looking white eyes, a silver tunic, and mystical torso armor. He also uses a giant two-handed double-helix sword (wielded in the same way as Ocarina of Time's Biggoron Sword) which is capable of shooting bursts of energy when targeting an enemy. This mask may only be used during boss battles in normal gameplay, although a glitch in some versions of Majora's Mask allows use elsewhere. Fierce Deity Link features the same voice as Adult Link from Ocarina of Time (voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama).

Some other important masks are the Great Fairy's Mask, which helps retrieve the stray fairies scattered throughout the four temples; the Bunny Hood, which allows Link to run faster; the Stone Mask, which turns Link invisible to most non-player characters and enemies; and the Blast Mask, which explodes like a bomb any number of times (at the expense of health). Less valuable masks are usually involved only in optional sidequests. Examples are the Postman's Hat, which allows Link access to an item hidden in a mailbox, and Kafei's Mask, which can initiate a long and complicated sidequest that offers several masks as prizes.

Three masks other than the transformation masks are required to complete the game: the Garo Mask, which allows Link to enter Ikana Valley; the Gibdo Mask, which allows Link to speak to Gibdos and navigate through the Well sub-dungeon; and the Captain's Hat, which allows Link to converse with Stalchildren and open up an area that leads to the Song of Storms. Another important mask, called the Giant's Mask, enlarges Link in order to fight the boss of the Stone Tower Temple. The Giant's Mask is not strictly required to defeat this boss, although it aids the player and makes the battle much easier.

Three-day cycle

Since its debut, the Legend of Zelda series has always placed a heavy emphasis on free, open-ended exploration. Shigeru Miyamoto's The Legend of Zelda (1986) is a vastly different game from Super Mario Bros. (1985): the timed, linear levels are replaced with an expansive world that the player may explore at will, provided the tools to reach a destination. The player may return areas previously visited and proceed whenever ready. The game has no score; just the satisfaction of finding hidden treasures and collecting every item. This concept is retained in Majora's Mask, but for the first time in the series (excluding the Legend of Zelda titles released on Nintendo's Satellaview), a time limit of sorts is imposed. Link is not free to wander around a Temple forever; by the end of the third day he must travel back in time, restarting from Clock Town. Players must plan what to accomplish in one cycle; attempting to complete too much could result in running out of time half-way through a task. That in turn could result in being forced to abandon it and start over in another cycle.

Link can easily keep track of time by a persistent timer at the bottom of the screen. One hour in the game is approximately one real-time minute. Before the end of the seventy-two game hours, Link must return to the beginning of the first day to repeat the cycle (Though eventually the ability to cut the speed of time passing in half, as well as other kinds of time manipulation become available). By doing so, Link is stripped of minor items collected during that cycle, but major items such as masks, key events, weapons, and rupees deposited in the game's bank remain.

Link is not the only character who plans his time. Link can observe the constant timetable of several non-player characters during the cycle, the majority of which are in need of help in some way. Using a scheduler of sorts given to him in Clock Town, Link can keep track of the schedules of multiple persons and identify the crucial points at which he may intervene to assist. By timing his actions to arrive at the correct moment and resolve problems ranging from providing a soldier with medicine to reuniting an engaged couple, Link can earn masks and other beneficial items to aid him.

Songs

The Ocarina of Time plays an important role in Majora's Mask. Link must learn to play magical songs from those he meets in order to gain special abilities, ranging from controlling the weather to such powers as teleportation and time travel. Also, he learns the Song of Time (which was also in Ocarina of Time) in a flashback, where Zelda teaches it to him, almost exactly like she did in OoT. Different transformations use different instruments: Deku Link plays the Deku pipes, Goron Link plays the drums, and Zora Link plays the guitar.

The most important song in the game is the Song of Time. It is used to return Link to the beginning of the first day; this is the only way to revisit the three-day cycle and permanently save one's progress. Other major songs in Majora's Mask are: the Song of Healing, which breaks curses and traps the curse in a mask, which Link then receives; the Sonata of Awakening, which awakens some characters and opens the Woodfall Temple; the Goron's Lullaby, which puts some characters to sleep and clears the path to Snowhead Temple; the New Wave Bossa Nova, which summons a giant sea turtle to carry Link to Great Bay Temple; the Elegy of Emptiness, which creates mannequins of Link's various forms used to reach the Stone Tower Temple; the Song of Soaring, which allows instant transportation between a number of fixed points; the Song of Storms, a carry-over from Ocarina of Time that breaks various curses; and the Oath to Order, which summons the Four Giants in order to stop the falling moon. Two secret songs that Link is capable of accessing include the Inverted Song of Time, which slows down time; and the Song of Double Time, which forwards to 1 day forward. Unlike all other songs in the game which use a preset melody, the player creates his own melody for the Scarecrow's Song, which is used to summon a scarecrow. The Scarecrow's Song, the Song of Soaring and the manipulated versions of the Song of Time are not strictly necessary for the completion of the game.

Plot and setting

Plot

The story of Majora's Mask begins with Link riding his horse Epona through the Lost Woods, searching for his fairy, Navi. He is ambushed by a Skull Kid, who is wearing a strange mask with spikes, later revealed to be Majora's Mask (Mujura's Mask in the Japanese version). The mask has possessed and demented the Skull Kid, who is later revealed to be the same Skull Kid that Link encountered in "Ocarina of Time." The Skull Kid is accompanied by two friends, the fairies Tatl (チャット, Chatto) and Tael (トレイル, Toreiru). They steal Epona and the Ocarina of Time from Link and run off into a mysterious cave. Link follows behind and catches up with them, only to be changed into a Deku Scrub. The Skull Kid and Tael race off, but Tatl is left behind after a door closes in front of her. Because she is a fairy, she cannot open it. Tatl apologizes to Link for her actions, and chooses to help him restore his natural form. Link proceeds past the cave's obstacles with Tatl as he comes to terms with his new body.

File:Termina Field.jpg

Link travels across the land of Termina.

In somewhat of a predicament, Link meets the Happy Mask Salesman, the central character in a sidequest from Ocarina of Time, who says that he can help Link if he retrieves Majora's Mask from the Skull Kid. Exiting from the bowels of Clock Tower, Link and Tatl find themselves in the middle of a city named Clock Town, which is preparing for its annual festival, the Carnival of Time. Link learns that a looming catastrophe is threatening Termina: the moon in the sky has abandoned its orbit and is travelling towards the land; in three days from Link's first arrival it will crash into Clock Town and destroy Termina. Link eventually locates the Skull Kid and Tael on the third (and final) day, but when he finally encounters the Skull Kid, Link has but five minutes to prevent the moon from crashing into Termina. Link uses the Song of Time in order to go back to day one, stop the destruction of Termina, and find the Happy Mask Salesman.

Once Link discovers how to transform himself back into a young boy, the real adventure begins. Link has to fight, solve puzzles, and think his way through the four major lands of Termina: a swamp, an icy mountain, a beach and ocean, and a canyon. Each region contains its own dungeon (a large, enclosed area with many puzzles) that Link must go through. Once he successfully defeats the masked boss at the end of a dungeon, Link obtains the friendship of one of the four giants. When the dungeons are completed and a sequence of events are triggered, Link is able to call the giants, who halt the moon's passage towards Termina. Link must then enter the moon and face Majora's Mask itself to determine the fate of Termina.

Setting

Main article: Termina

File:Termina.jpg

A map of Termina. Areas are revealed as the player buys maps from Tingle.

Termina appears to be an alternate version of Hyrule: the majority of the Ocarina characters were reused in Majora's Mask with slight differences. For example, the younger and older versions of Malon from Ocarina of Time appear as sisters named Romani and Cremia living on a farm on Milk Road. Anju, a resident of Clock Town whose Cuccos could be retrieved for a reward in Ocarina of Time, is the main character of an intricate sidequest. Several other characters were also reused in Majora's Mask, some of which include the Ocarina vagrant, who administrates the Clock Town bank, and the Ocarina carpenters, whose occupations remain the same.

Further information: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask characters

The land of Termina contains a wide variety of terrain. Clock Town lies at the center of Termina and is the place Link starts from when he returns to the beginning of the three-day cycle. The centerpiece of Clock Town is the large clock on Clock Tower that counts down the three days before the crash of the moon. Termina Field surrounds Clock Town; beyond lies mountains, a swamp, a bay, and a canyon, each of which houses a dungeon referred to as a Temple. The main portion of the game features Link traveling to these dungeons and defeating a boss within each. Once Link completes the temples, he gains access to traveling to the moon to defeat the final boss, Majora's Mask.

Woodfall Temple

Located in the Southern Swamp, the two-story Woodfall Temple is typically the first dungeon visited in Majora's Mask. This shrine serves as a place of worship for the Deku, and only members of the Deku Royal Family know the Sonata of Awakening that causes the temple to rise out of the swamp. Link enters this temple to rescue the Deku Princess. On his way, he picks up the Hero's Bow and purifies the toxic water that has been tormenting the inhabitants of Woodfall. The boss of the Temple, Odolwa, is a masked jungle warrior equipped with a shield and a very long sword. Odolwa has the ability to summon insects with a ritual dance and is agile, despite his size. Link can defeat him by shooting him with arrows while he dances, and striking him with the sword or well-placed bombs to inflict damage.

Snowhead Temple

The five-story Snowhead Temple, atop Snowhead Peak, is typically the second temple in the game's suggested sequence. Link enters the temple to halt a blizzard that threatens to wipe out the Goron race. This dungeon is full of snow and ice. However, the Fire Arrows found in the dungeon melt many of the frozen obstacles. Goht is the guardian of the Snowfall Temple and resembles a large mechanical bull. Link transforms into a Goron to battle him and rolls on a circular track whilst attempting to attack him with protruding spikes. It is also possible for Link to stand in the safety of the doorway and shoot Goht with arrows as he passes by. After Goht is defeated, winter ends and spring returns to the mountains.

Great Bay Temple

The three-story Great Bay Temple, located offshore of Zora Cape, resembles a giant water supply network. The Gerudo pirates believed that the temple contained a treasure and hence stole Zora eggs in order to ransom them for the knowledge of how to enter the temple. Although their boat was blown away in a storm, Link manages to enter the temple on the back of a giant turtle awakened by the New Wave Bossa Nova. The waters of Great Bay Temple prove a great obstacle until Link obtains the Ice Arrows hidden within the dungeon. The ice arrows enable Link to freeze enemies and water surfaces to use as platforms. A gigantic fish named Gyorg is the dungeon's boss. Link stands on a small circular platform and shoots Gyorg with arrows. When the fish is stunned, Link can transform into a Zora to attack it with Boomerangs or a force field. While pollution coming from Great Bay Temple ceases once the boss has been defeated, the waters of Great Bay are not immaculate by the game's end.

Stone Tower Temple

The two-story Stone Tower Temple, located atop Stone Tower at the far end of Ikana Canyon, is the final dungeon. This confusing labyrinth is home to the Light Arrows and, according to the dead Igos du Ikana, it is the curse of the Stone Tower Temple that has left Ikana a wasteland. The King of Ikana requests that Link defeat the evil within the Stone Tower Temple and shut the Stone Tower, though it is never actually closed during the game. This dungeon is unique in that it has an "upright" state as well as an "inverted state." In its inverted state, the entire temple is flipped upside-down and the floor becomes the ceiling; the basement level becomes the second floor; and what was the sky becomes a bottomless pit.

After completing the upright version of the temple, Link can fire a Light Arrow into a mysterious spider sigil at the entrance to invert the Stone Tower. Twinmold, the guardian of the Stone Tower Temple, is actually two giant sandworms. Link can wear the Giant Mask to grow to the boss's size for an easier battle, though it is possible to beat Twinmold without the Giant Mask using bombs and arrows. The battle takes place in a large stretch of desert-like wilderness, scattered with ruins and giant rocks.

The four Temple bosses each leave "Boss Remains" (masks that the bosses were wearing) when defeated. These masks were used to restrain the Four Giants and prevent them from saving Termina; once Link has all four, he can confront the three forms of the final boss: Majora's Mask itself.

Development

File:Tatl and Tael.jpg

Scenes featuring the fairies Tatl and Tael were some of the first introduced into the video game's production.

Following the release of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening in 1993, fans waited five years for Ocarina of Time, the active development of which took four years. By re-using the game engine and graphics from Ocarina of Time, a smaller team required only two years to finish Majora's Mask. According to director Eiji Aonuma, they were "faced with the very difficult question of just what kind of game could follow Ocarina of Time and its worldwide sales of seven million units", and as a solution, came up with the three-day system to "make the game data more compact while still providing deep gameplay."

Majora's Mask first started to appear in the media in May 1999, when Famitsu stated that a long-planned Zelda expansion for the 64DD was underway in Japan with no release date set. This project was tentatively titled "Ura Zelda", "Ura" translating approximately to "Hidden" or "Behind". This expansion would take Ocarina of Time and make changes to the level designs, similar to how the "second quest" of The Legend of Zelda expanded upon the original game. In June, Nintendo announced that "Zelda: Gaiden", which roughly translates to "Zelda: Side Story", would appear as a playable demo at Nintendo's SpaceWorld exhibition on August 27 1999. It was assumed by the media that Zelda: Gaiden was the new working title for Ura Zelda.

Screenshots of Zelda: Gaiden released in August show unmistakable elements of the final version of Majora's Mask, such as the large clock that dominates the center of Clock Town, the persistent timer at the bottom of the screen, and the Goron mask. Story and gameplay details revealed later that month show that the opening story of Link's travel to a parallel world where the moon is threatening to crash as well as the use of masks to transform into a Goron, a Zora, and a Deku Scrub are already in place.

That same month, Miyamoto confirmed in a Famitsu article that Ura Zelda and Zelda: Gaiden are separate projects. It is unclear if Zelda: Gaiden is an offshoot of Ura Zelda or if the two were always separate. Ura Zelda would become the Master Quest outside Japan, eventually released on a bonus disc for the GameCube given to those that preordered The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker; a PAL/NTSC Nintendo 64 release was cancelled due to the failure of the 64DD in Japan.

In November, Nintendo announced a "holiday 2000" release date for Zelda: Gaiden. By March 2000, new tentative titles were announced that would become the finalized titles: The Legend of Zelda: Mask of Mujula in Japan and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask elsewhere.

Improvements from Ocarina of Time

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask runs on an upgraded version of the game engine used in Ocarina of Time and requires the use of the 4MB Expansion Pak. The requirement is thought to be due to Majora's Mask's possible origin as a 64DD title, which would necessitate an extra 4MB of RAM. The use of the Expansion Pak allows for greater draw distances, more accurate dynamic lighting, more detailed textures, more detailed animation, complex framebuffer effects such as motion blur, and more characters displayed on the screen. The expanded draws distance permits the player to see extremely far in Termina, and eliminates the use of fog to obscure distant areas that had appeared in Ocarina of Time. The texture design is also one of the best created for the Nintendo 64. Although some textures have a low resolution, they are colorful and diverse, which gives each area its own unique look. Finally, all building interiors are rendered in real-time, unlike the fixed 3D featured in Ocarina of Time.

The music was composed by Koji Kondo, whose score featured new interpretations of familiar melodies from Ocarina of Time and other previous titles in the Zelda series along with new material. The main overworld theme from the original Legend of Zelda returned, after being conspicuously absent from Ocarina of Time. Fujiko Takimoto, who contributed to the voice of Link in Ocarina of Time, also voiced Link in Majora's Mask. Nobuyuki Hiyama (Adult Link) contributed to the voice of Fierce Deity Link and Zora Link.

Reception

The game sold approximately 314,000 copies in its first week of sales in Japan, and has sold three million copies worldwide.

Despite superficial similarities to Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask is often described as different from and much darker than the rest of the series. Edge magazine referred to Majora's Mask as "the oddest, darkest and saddest of all Zelda games". Reviews were generally favorable, although opinions are mixed regarding whether the game is as good as its predecessor. Some feel that Majora's Mask is significantly better than Ocarina of Time in certain areas. According to Famitsu, "The difficulty level of the game is drastically improved , the limited saves (by finding owl statues throughout the world), and the time limit to finish the game all help to make the game more enjoyable to play". IGN described Majora's Mask as "The Empire Strikes Back of Nintendo 64. It's the same franchise, but it's more intelligent, darker, and tells a much better storyline". GamePro characterized the story as "surreal and spooky, deep, and intriguing". Majora's Mask was one of the last major titles for the Nintendo 64, and may have suffered in terms of popular interest due to the familiarity of the technology. Nevertheless, GamePro described the game as "living proof that the N64 still has its magic". It has been ranked the 7th-greatest game of all time by Electronic Gaming Monthly; however, Ocarina of Time ranks higher than Majora's Mask in the majority of such lists.

One common criticism is that Majora's Mask is not as accessible as Ocarina of Time. GameSpot wrote that some might "find the focus on minigames and side quests tedious and slightly out of place". Game-Revolution wrote that it "takes a little longer to get into this Zelda", but also that "there are moments when the game really hits you with all its intricacies and mysteries, and that makes it all worthwhile".

GameCube re-release

In 2003 Nintendo re-released The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask on the Nintendo GameCube as part of the Collector's Edition, a special promotional disc which also contained Ocarina of Time as well as the original two 8-bit NES Zelda games, The Legend of Zelda, and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. This disc could be purchased with a GameCube console, as parts of a subscription offer to Nintendo Power magazine, or through Nintendo's official website by purchasing and registering a certain number of first-party Nintendo games. The offer expired in early 2004.

Similar to some other GameCube re-releases, the game is not a port in the traditional sense, but rather the ROM of the original game running on a software emulator; this has been proven by the ROM-dumping community, who have been able to extract N64-format ROMs from the disc that can even be booted on a Nintendo 64. The only differences are the colors of the action buttons due to the GameCube's green A button and red B button and the pause screen's use and depiction of the L button as the left page scroller, as opposed to Z. Aside from these, because it is only emulated (rather than altered for the new console), there are some timing discrepancies between the two consoles; some of the music sounds inaccurate on the GameCube and the framerate is noticably lower. Another issue that has been raised is that the game unexpectedly crashes on the GameCube occasionally; this is once again caused by the inaccuracies of the emulator. Despite these problems, the GameCube version of the game possesses an overall cleaner look due to running at twice the resolution of its Nintendo 64 counter-part. In addition, the GameCube version is the only way to play the game in component video quality, as well as progressive scan (480p).

Notes and references

"Release dates". GameSpot. 1999-08-19. Retrieved 2006-01-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask". n-sider.com. Retrieved 2005-12-03.
Tenchi (2004-03-28). "Zelda sales charts and sequel announced". OptiGamer. Archived from the original on 2005-02-23. Retrieved 2005-12-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"Walkthrough of Majora's Mask". Zelda Universe. 2000. Retrieved 2005-12-15.
Aonuma, Eiji (2004-03-25). "GDC 2004: The History of Zelda". IGN. Retrieved 2005-12-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"Nintendo Sequel Rumblings". IGN. 1999-05-11. Retrieved 2006-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
^ "Zelda Sequel Invades Spaceworld". IGN. 1999-06-16. Retrieved 2006-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"First Screenshots of Zelda Gaiden!". IGN. 1999-08-04. Retrieved 2006-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"First Zelda Gaiden Details Exposed". IGN. 1999-08-19. Retrieved 2006-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"Gaiden and Ura Zelda Split". IGN. 1999-08-20. Retrieved 2006-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"Gaiden for Holiday 2000". IGN. 1999-11-04. Retrieved 2006-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"Zelda Gets a New Name, Screenshots". IGN. 2000-03-06. Retrieved 2006-03-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"Time Extend - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask". ("In the first of our second sittings with important titles of recent years, we look at the oddest, darkest and saddest of all Zelda games.") Edge issue 143 (December 2004), p. 121.
"Majora's Mask". Famitsu. Retrieved 2005-12-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Mirabella III, Fran (2000-10-25). "Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask". IGN. Retrieved 2005-12-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask review". GamePro. 2000-10-30. Retrieved 2005-12-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
"Top 100 Video Games of All Time". Electronic Gaming Monthly. Archived from the original on 2003-06-20. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
"Majora's Mask is a great game, but it isn't for everybody". GameSpot. 2000-10-25. Retrieved 2005-12-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Liu, Johnny (November 2000). "Majora's Mask review". gamerevolution.com. Retrieved 2004-12-08.

External links

The Legend of Zelda

Main series

2D	The Legend of Zelda The Adventure of Link A Link to the Past Link's Awakening Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages Four Swords Four Swords Adventures The Minish Cap Phantom Hourglass Spirit Tracks A Link Between Worlds Tri Force Heroes Echoes of Wisdom
3D	Ocarina of Time Majora's Mask The Wind Waker Twilight Princess Skyward Sword Breath of the Wild Tears of the Kingdom
Remakes	Link's Awakening DX Ocarina of Time 3D Majora's Mask 3D Link's Awakening

Spin-offs

CD-i games	Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon Zelda's Adventure
Tingle	Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland Irozuki Tingle no Koi no Balloon Trip
Hyrule Warriors	Hyrule Warriors Age of Calamity
Others	LCD games Satellaview games Link's Crossbow Training My Nintendo Picross: Twilight Princess Cadence of Hyrule

Universe

Characters	Link Princess Zelda Ganon / Ganondorf Ocarina of Time characters Navi Tingle Anju and Kafei Midna Linkle Urbosa Sidon Purah
Elements	Triforce Master Sword Gerudo Water Temple
Quotes	"It's dangerous to go alone!" "I am Error"