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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 26 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 (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 the rest of the series is set. A mysterious mask-wearing imp known as the Skull Kid has persuaded 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, some of 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

The 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.

Like in previous installments of the series, Link uses a variety of weapons to battle enemies and to solve puzzles. The sword is his standard weapon and is the most frequently used weapon in the game. Link has several different sword techniques and several more can be learned throughout the course of play. 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 stun enemies with deku nuts, 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 or vice versa.

The gameplay in Majora's Mask is arguably deeper than that of Ocarina of Time. While retaining puzzles based on the use of bombs, arrows and music, Majora's Mask also includes 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

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.

Unlike previous Zelda titles, Link is not limited to his human form; special masks allow Link to transform into different species: the Deku mask transforms Link into a Deku Scrub, the Goron mask into a Goron, and the Zora mask into a Zora. Each transformation grants unique abilities: the Deku Scrub can perform a spin dash, shoot bubbles from its mouth, and skip on water a limited number of times. The Goron transformation can roll around at high speeds and stomp the ground with his massive body. The Zora transformation can use its sleek body to swim rapidly, throw boomerang-like fins from his arms and generate a force field. Many areas of the game can only be accessed by Link's use of these abilities.

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 looks like a child and the guards do not permit him to pass. Many animals also interact differently with all four forms of Link. For example, 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.

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 large two-handed sword which is capable of shooting bursts of energy when targeting an enemy. To counter its power, the mask may only be used during boss battles. The Fierce Deity features the same voice as Adult Link from Ocarina of Time.

Aside from the transformation masks, many masks provide some sort of situational benefit. For example, the Great Fairy's Mask helps retrieve the stray fairies scattered throughout the four temples; the Bunny Hood allows Link to run faster; and the Stone Mask turns Link invisible to most non-player characters and enemies. Less valuable masks, however, are usually involved only in optional sidequests or very specialized situations. Examples are the Postman's Hat, which allows Link access to an item hidden in a mailbox, and Kafei's Mask, which initiates a long and complicated sidequest that offers several masks as prizes.

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 of the latter are replaced with an expansive world that the player may explore at will, provided he has the tools to reach his destination. Link may revisit areas he has been to and proceeds with the game only when he is ready. The game has no numerical 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. By doing so, Link is stripped of minor items collected during that cycle, but major items such as masks, key event items and weapons remain.

Link is not the only character who plans his time. Each non-player character is given their own schedule to follow during the cycle, the majority of which are in need of help in some way. Using a schedule book of sorts given to him in Clock Town, Link can keep track of the schedules of multiple people 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 estranged couple, Link can earn masks and other beneficial items to aid him.

Songs

The Ocarina of Time, a mystical instrument given to Link, plays an important role in Majora's Mask. Link learns 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. Each transformation mask uses a different instrument: Deku Link plays the Deku pipes, Goron Link plays a set of bongo 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 songs are primarily used for a plot-related effect, such as opening a new path. The Elegy of Emptiness is unique in that it is used extensively as a puzzle in one of the dungeons. Also, the Song of Healing is used in both the main storyline as well as several side-quests to unlock more items. Finally, songs like the Song of Soaring exist for the player's convenience, allowing teleportation to major locations.

Plot

Setting

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.

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 Carnival of Time. Termina Field surrounds Clock Town; beyond lie a swamp, a mountain range, a bay, and a canyon in each of the four compass directions. The main portion of the game features Link traveling to dungeons in these areas and defeating the boss within.

To the south of Clock Town is the Southern Swamp. The resident Deku population has set up a hereditary monarchy within the confines of the jungle-like area. The most prominent feature of this area is the Woodfall Temple, an ancient shrine that has fallen into disuse and now plays home to various monsters that have been poisoning the local swamp. North of Clock Town is the Snowhead mountain range where the Gorons live. Though normally temperate, the area has been experiencing an unusually long winter caused by a monster in Snowhead Temple. The western area of Termina is the Great Bay. The Zoras live here along with a society of Gerudo pirates. Unfortunately, a monster in the Great Bay Temple is causing a large number of storms and contaminating the water. The Ikana Canyon lies to the east. It is a desolate and barely inhabited area filled with the wandering spirits of the dead. A monster from the Stone Tower Temple is casting an evil aura over the land.

Story

Majora's Mask begins with Link riding his horse Epona through the Lost Woods, searching for his fairy friend, Navi. He is ambushed by a Skull Kid wearing a strange mask and his two fairy friends, Tatl and Tael. 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 through the Skull Kid's mysterious power. 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 and appeals to Link for help. Tatl apologizes and offers to aid him in restoring his natural form. Link proceeds past the cave's obstacles with Tatl as he comes to terms with his new body.

Link chases the Skull Kid through the cave and somehow ends up in an alternate dimension called Termina. Inside some sort of clock tower, Link meets the Happy Mask Salesman, who says that he can help Link if he retrieves the Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask from the Skull Kid. As they leave the 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 just three short days, it will crash into Clock Town and destroy Termina. Link eventually locates the Skull Kid and Tael at midnight on the third day at the top of the clock tower. He manages to retrieve his Ocarina of Time from the Skull Kid but is unable to get the mask. Instead, he plays the Song of Time and its power sends him back in time to the beginning of the first day he arrived in Termina.

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 poisonous swamp, an icy mountain, a murky bay, and a deserted canyon. Each region contains its own dungeon 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.

Development

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

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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 draw 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, returned for Majora's Mask. Nobuyuki Hiyama, who voiced 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, 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

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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 part 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) - however, only old versions of the Gamecube system support component out (progressive scan) as new versions have had this capability removed. Thus, the only playable resolution is that which is the limit of S-Video, 640x480i.

Notes and references

1. "Release dates". GameSpot. 1999-08-19. Retrieved 2006-01-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. ^ "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask". n-sider.com. Retrieved 2005-12-03.
3. ^ 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)
4. "Walkthrough of Majora's Mask". Zelda Universe. 2000. Retrieved 2005-12-15.
5. Aonuma, Eiji (2004-03-25). "GDC 2004: The History of Zelda". IGN. Retrieved 2005-12-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. "Nintendo Sequel Rumblings". IGN. 1999-05-11. Retrieved 2006-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. ^ "Zelda Sequel Invades Spaceworld". IGN. 1999-06-16. Retrieved 2006-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. "First Screenshots of Zelda Gaiden!". IGN. 1999-08-04. Retrieved 2006-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
9. "First Zelda Gaiden Details Exposed". IGN. 1999-08-19. Retrieved 2006-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
10. "Gaiden and Ura Zelda Split". IGN. 1999-08-20. Retrieved 2006-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. "Gaiden for Holiday 2000". IGN. 1999-11-04. Retrieved 2006-01-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. "Zelda Gets a New Name, Screenshots". IGN. 2000-03-06. Retrieved 2006-03-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
13. "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.
14. "Majora's Mask". Famitsu. Retrieved 2005-12-03. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
15. 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)
16. "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask review". GamePro. 2000-10-30. Retrieved 2005-12-16. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
17. "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)
18. "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)
19. Liu, Johnny (November 2000). "Majora's Mask review". gamerevolution.com. Retrieved 2004-12-08.

External links

• The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask official site
• Template:Nintendo.com
• Template:GameFAQs
• The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask at IMDb
• Speed run videos at Speed Demos Archive

• 2000 computer and video games
• Cancelled 64DD games
• Legend of Zelda games
• Nintendo 64 games
• Time travel in fiction