Legend Of Zelda Majora’s Mask Review

Nintendo hit a home run with Ocarina of Time with it still being considered the greatest of all time (GOAT) by many gamers. With a reputation like that, it was almost impossible to top the gaming legend. But with just six months of work, Nintendo delivered the impressive Legend Of Zelda Majora’s Mask.

Majora’s Mask picks up a few years after Ocarina of Time. Having successfully warned Zelda of Ganondorf in the past, Link began searching for his friend Navi, who left Link at the end of his adventure. Finding no trace of her in the land of Hyrule, Link begins to search the Lost Woods. After being attacked by a masked skull kid and two fairies, Link loses his horse and the Ocarina of Time. Link follows the skull kid and after being turned into a Deku Scrub by the power of the skull kid’s mask, Link teams up with the separated fairy, Tatl. Upon arriving at the inner workings of a clock tower Link is confronted by the Happy Mask Salesman, who knows Link is actually human and asks him to retrieve the mask that the skull kid stole - Majora’s Mask.

The main gimmick of this Zelda game is once again time. But instead of travelling between the past and the future, Link manipulates the flow of time around him. The new land Link is exploring has a bit of an expiration date. Due to the power of Majora’s Mask, the moon will crash into the land and kill everyone. So whatever Link has to do to save the world he has to do in three days; after that, Boom! Game Over. This is where the manipulation comes in. Using the Ocarina of Time, Link can slow down, fast forward and reset the three days, giving him more than enough time to save the world and help out its people.

This is one of the more difficult Zelda games. Having the constant time restriction really makes you plan out how you’ll best make use of the three day cycle. A gimmick that makes the game unique but had me in tears at multiple points, knowing I was gonna run out of time and have to reset my progress. Having said that, I did manage to 100% complete both the N64 and 3DS versions, with a little help from Mum.

I do think this game is underappreciated. There are many aspects that make this a unique experience and knowing how little time this took, it’s nothing less than impressive.