StarSoldier1's Full Review: The Legend Of Zelda: Majora'S Mask for Nintendo 64
LEGEND OF ZELDA: Majora's Mask
(Nintendo, October 26 2000)
With the death of the N64 just beginning in the year 2000, Nintendo actually releases another Zelda sequel. Nintendo didn't even release a second Zelda game for the Super Nintendo. How good can Majora's Mask be anyways, especially after the amazing Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time? Not too bad actually, not bad at all.
First off you NEED a Expansion Pak to play Majora's Mask just like Donkey Kong 64, so if you know you got one in the N64 Ram pak then you play the game but if you don't have one then you can't play the game, simple?
The story of Majora's Mask continues three months after the Ocarira of Time adventure and the defeat of Ganondorf. Link (the hero) moves away from Hyrule in search for a lost friend but on his travels through a strange forest, he is suddenly attacked after his horse Epony is spooked by your new enemies. In the chaos Link gets knocked out and when he wakes up he watches a strange imp (named Skull kid) with a huge eerie mask on looking and digging through some of his stuff. After a brief fight the Masked kid escapes into a small cave and as Link follows him he falls into a odd pit and is transported into an altered universe.
To make matters worse, Link is now transformed into an plantscrub creature by the evil masked Skull kid and the altered world he is now in is about to be destroyed by the incoming moon in the sky. Link must now figure out how to stop the evil looking moon from destroying the world in just three days before it's too late. One of the fairies that attack you is now trapped with the altered Link after the Skull kid leaves her behind. Tatl the fairy agrees to help you if you help her escape (she replaces to role of Naive).
"Best before 3 days from now."
You start your adventure in a huge clock tower that's part of a four part town named Clock Town which is right under the freaky looking moon. You even see some people from the last game like the Chicken Lady (now the owner of a hotel) and the construction workers making their peasant known in the parallel universe. It's interesting to see the town people's reaction and worry has each day goes by and the moon looms ever closer. Time is a very important factor in the game. There is a new gauge at the bottom-middle at the screen to measure just how time you have left and only certain objectives can be completed at the right time so you're gonna need this new clock.
Another new thing about this Zelda game is now there is no way to Save your game from the menu screen like in Ocarina of Time. To save your game now you have to get back your stolen Ocarina from the Skull kid. Once you play the song of time you'll be taking back to day one and you'll lose a lot of your items (kind of annoying but that's the only way to save you progress).
If you do manage to get Link's Ocarina back you now have the power to return back to your human form. Link can not only turn himself back into a human later in the game but he can also turn himself into a Goron rock creature, a Zora, or even your old tree scrub form too thanks to different masks throughout the game. Each time you put on a special mask like these you'll see a freaky transformation scene.
The graphics are very similar to the last Zelda game on N64 despite the 4 Meg Expansion Pak upgrade. The frame-rate still has it issues and the game can look very blurry or muddy at times. However, the game still looks even more colourful than Ocarina of Time and places like the Clock Town and Zora Village are highly detailed. The animation of the characters are also looks great from the huge bosses to the Zora swimming scenes. That huge end boss has to be seen to be believe.
One of the most disappointing things about Zelda: Ocarina of Time was that there was no classic music from the original Zelda game for some reason but in Majora's Mask the theme music returns plus there is all new sound tracks too mixed in with classic ones as well. I love the music in the Clock Tower itself.
bottomline: "Hurry or Die!"
Although the 72 hour thing can get a little annoying especially when you're deep inside a dungeon and you want to continue exploring but you're almost out of time, there is nothing quite like Majora's Mask and you have to take the good with the bad. Fortunately the good definitely out weights the bad. It's a darker, sadder, and more stressful (but in a good way) game then the last one and it's another Legend of Zelda so you really can't go wrong here. "Majora's Mask is a smart purchase for anybody looking for a great and long adventure!"
LEGEND OF ZELDA Majora's Mask 93/100
*Rumble Pak compatible
*Battery back up game
*EXPANSION RAMPAK REQUIRED!
For 1 player only
Rated (E) for Everyone
graphics: 8/10
sound: 9/10
gameplay: 10/10
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