kalizam's Full Review: The Legend Of Zelda: Majora'S Mask for Nintendo 64
Have you ever seen the movie Groundhog Day? In it, the main character has to relive the same day over and over until he finally gets it right.
If so, you'll understand the concept for The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Although this game has the famous dungeons that are known for Legend of Zelda games, it also contains much more that follows a completely different path. It makes for a fun experience, allowing you to play with similar characters and controls, but in a totally different way.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is a 3-D adventure game. It is given an E by the ESRB, and requires the N64 expansion pack.
Story
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After defeating Ganondorf in Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Link decides to go exploring. Taking his trusty horse Eponia, he finds himself walking through a large forest.
Suddenly, a strange little creature jumps in front of Eponia, and causes her to rear back, hurling Link off and knocking him out. The creature turns out to be a Skull Kid, a person who became eternally lost in the forest. The Skull Kid is wearing some sort of strange mask as well. After rooting through Link's belongings, he comes upon the Ocarina. As link starts to regain consciousness, the Skull Kid jumps on Eponia. Link manages to grab the side of the saddle, but is soon thrown off. He follows the trail of the Skull Kid, hoping to recover his horse and instrument. He comes upon a great chasm and accidentally falls into it.
When he gets up, the Skull Kid is waiting for him. With a scream and a burst of power, he changes link from his normal self into the body of a Deku child. Once again, he runs away and Deku Link tries to follow.
Deku Link steps through a door that automatically seals behind him. He finds himself inside a large windmill, of all places. He ascends the stairs and starts to head out through a huge pair of doors, when a voice calls to him.
Turning, Deku Link sees a strange man with all sorts of masks tied to his back. He understands what happened to Link, and even offers a cure to the problem, but only if Link can recover his ocarina and the mask that the skull child stole. However, he must do it in three days.
The story is intriguing and a fair deal more complicated than the Ocarina of Time. The ending is very surprising if you don't know what is coming, and it leaves a lot unexplained. However, this mixes well with the total atmosphere of the game.
Controls
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Controls in Majora's Mask are identical to those in Ocarina of Time. The A button is the 'action icon button.' A blue circle is located at the top of the screen, and depending on where link is depends on what it does when the A button is pressed. It can allow Link to roll, talk to people, push and pull things, etc. The B button acts as the sword button, and allows Link to draw his sword and attack. The Z button makes link focus on a target so that he can circle around it while looking at it, and if there isn't a nearby target it allows him to look straight forward while moving sideways or back. Each of the C buttons, except for Up C, acts as a item button. On the menu screen, activated by pressing START, a list of all Link's items appears. Pressing a C button on a item assigns the item to that button, and if you press the button again while playing Link activates the item. Up C allows Link to look around, and the R button makes him defend with his shield.
The controls may take a little getting used to if you didn't play Ocarina of Time, but otherwise you'll be able to jump right into the game. The setup is creative and flexible, and allowing the player to set items to the C buttons allow Link's large arsenal to be accessible instead of annoying. Also, the Z targeting function acts as a great way to talk with people from a distance, or for fighting a tough enemy.
Gameplay
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This game revolves around the 3 day limit. Not only does the strange man have to leave in three days, but Link finds that the moon is crashing down on the world, which also happens in exactly three days.
After you get your Ocarina back, you're able to transport back in time to the beginning of the three days and start again. While Link keeps all of his important items, such as his sword and his ocarina, he loses all of his expendable items, such as bombs, Deku nuts, and even rupees.
This creates an interesting problem: you have to complete everything in a timely manner, or it will reset. You won't be able to stop halfway through a dungeon and go back in time, since it will reset all of your progress, save any important items you picked up along the way. Although the time limit can get annoying, you can actually slow the flow of time to where it isn't bad at all.
The much more entertaining aspect of this is that all of the characters in the game go through the same actions every 3 days. The mailman always collects mail every morning, delivers it in the evening, and sits in the mailroom at night. Gorman, the leader of a carnival troupe, always finds out that his show has been canceled early on the first day. The torment musician always sits on the bench at night.
This allows the game to go very in-depth with the Non-playable characters. You can start to see personalities form as they go through the events of the 3 days.
The trick here is that in order to fully complete the game, Link must alter events in their lives so that they end up happy at the end of the three days. However, since Link eventually has to return to the first day, you must be able to fix all of their problems in a single set of days, so that they give you an important item that you won't lose when traveling back in time.
Transformations and Masks
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Besides the developing characters, the game also features transformations for Link. In the beginning of the game, Link becomes stuck in the body of a Deku Scrub. Eventually you're able to remove the curse and seal it in a special mask. Once you have this mask, you can slip in and out of Deku Link whenever you like. Since Deku Link has special powers that Link doesn't, such as skipping on water, or jumping out of Deku flowers, it becomes vital to become good with both forms of link, human and Deku.
However, the game doesn't stop there. You'll be able to acquire 2 more major transformations, one into a Goron and one into a Zora. Although each character has different moves and attacks, they're similar enough so that you don't have to get used to a completely new control method.
Each posses special powers, many of which acts as substitutes for powers given to you by items in Ocarina of Time. Deku Link can skip on water, float through the air after jumping out of a Deku flower, and can shoot magic bubbles. Goron Link can curl up into a ball and roll around, packs heavy punches, and can do a pound-the-ground move. Zora link swims very well in water and can walk on the ocean floor, call up an electric field when in water, and launch his fins like boomerangs.
In addition to these three special masks are twenty other masks that have some purpose in the game. The Bunny Hood makes you run far and fast, while the Blast mask sacrifices Link's health for an explosion. Most of the time you get these masks when making a person happy before the end of the third day, and while many of the masks don't have individual good rewards, together they allow you access to a special 24th mask that is really powerful and really cool.
Dugeons
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In my opinion, the dungeons are the only shortcoming of Majora's Mask. There are four large dungeons along with a few sub-dungeons, and compared to the eight plus dungeons found in Ocarina of Time, this simply isn't enough. However, the dungeons that are there are quite good and quite challenging.
Deku Temple--the first and easy temple, you'll have to master the Deku form of link to make it through to the end. This dungeon's main obstacle is getting from the lower layer to the upper layer. The boss is Odolwa, a huge, dancing masked figure who reminds me of a warrior in the jungle.
Goron Temple--hidden away at the top of a frosty peak, the Goron temple is constructed with a huge stone pillar in the middle. Finding out the secret to the pillar allows you to get through this temple. The boss is Goht, a huge, raging masked bull who you'll have to catch up to before you can beat.
Zora Temple--a huge water wheel controls the currents. Pull the right switches, and you can make the water work for you. The boss is Gyorg, a huge, hungry, masked fish that enjoys classical music and long walks on the beach. He also enjoys eating Link in human or Zora form.
Stone Temple--the final temple, and it really is crazy. You'll have to search this temple up and down to find out what you're supposed to do. The final boss is Twinmold who is a huge, stupid, masked pair of worms that really don't do much.
The game also features several small dungeons, such as two Skulltula dungeons, a redead dungeon, and a moon dungeon.
Graphics
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The Graphics in this game are pretty nice, but besides the transformations you won't really notice them. The problem is that many of the character models were just transported from Ocarina of Time to Majora's Mask. Seeing the same old faces is fun, but doesn't allow you to appreciate what the N64 expansion pack is doing behind the scenes.
However, the totally new transformations look really good. Deku link is beautifully textured, giving off a better appearance of the Deku species than any real Deku. Goron Link isn't that impressive at first, but after seeing his comet punches and roll attacks, the graphics really start to shine. Zora Link is the best looking, since Link's green outfit and the Zora's fishy attributes blend together well. Also, the special 24th mask is incredibly beautiful, especially when you use it to take down a boss without even moving.
Sound
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The sound in this game may be even more impressive than the graphics. In the first two days, the town music is cheery and lighthearted. The third day, however, some minor chords start to play amidst the major ones, giving it a feeling of being nervously happy. In the various areas the music fits accordingly as well, and really adds character to the different areas.
However, the songs that Link learns are a step down than those of Ocarina of Time. In Ocarina, the songs were simple but beautiful, while in Majora's Mask all of the new songs just seem to be like a collection of notes stuffed together for no apparent reason. I really missed the nice tunes, especially after you have to play the song of soaring for the 23rd time.
Besides those, everything is great. Link makes the appropriate yells and grunts while playing, and his sword makes different sounds depending on what it hits. The frogs croak, the Zoras splash, and everything fits right in.
Detail
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As always, details are pretty high. This time, all of the areas are in full 3-D, unlike the occasional 2-D setting in Ocarina of time. Link also spins while he jumps, which can actually help him to grab onto ledges. Plus there are several mini-games where you can earn rupees and hearts.
Majora's Mask collector edition even sports a holographic sticker and a gold cartridge, which is the first and probably the last to have a hologram on it.
Replay Value
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This game has a high replay value. There are pieces of heart to collect, masks to find, people to help, and so much more. Furthermore, the bosses come back every time you return to the 1st day, but if you've beaten them, a warp will appear at the beginning of the dungeon so you can go straight to them again. Going through the major bosses of the game also acts as a great way to show the game, and your skills, off to someone else.
However, starting an entirely new file doesn't have that much value. Since a large part of the game relies on information you gather from people, making all of the people happy again really isn't that entertaining. Rather, the dungeons are the best things to replay through, but since there are so few it doesn't help. Oddly, the game only includes two save files, so you'll probably find yourself pressed for space anyway.
Problems and Improvements
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They've never included it in a Legend of Zelda game, but I think it would have been a blast to have some form of multiplayer. Perhaps a co-op mode, or some challenges based upon the mini-games in the adventure. Also, the N64 expansion pack is needed, but since the days of the N64 are pretty much over, they should be pretty cheap. The only real problems are that there aren't enough dungeons, and there are only two save files--which the gameplay more than makes up for.
Overall
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Overall, this is one of those few games that I'd have to recommend to just about anyone. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask isn't a mature game, but it isn't as child-oriented as some other games can be. It's very in-depth and a load of fun to play. If you own a N64, you owe it to yourself to play Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.
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