The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (ゼルダの伝説 ムジュラの仮面, ) is the sixth game in the Zelda series and was released on the Nintendo 64 in 2000. Unique among the Zelda series, the game included a 3-day time system (72 hours in total). Majora's Mask is one of the few Zelda games that Ganon (or Ganondorf) does not play any role whatsoever. Princess Zelda is only seen once in a flashback scene.

Majora's Mask is the sequel to the popular first 3D Zelda game, Ocarina of Time. Many of the conventions pioneered in Ocarina of Time are present in Majora's Mask, including characters, enemies, and items.

Arrival to a doomed land
Majora's Mask opens with a scene of Link traveling from Hyrule on a personal quest. The opening to the game states that he is searching for a long-lost friend, strongly hinted to be Navi. His trip is interrupted by the Skull Kid, possessed by evil contained in Majora's Mask, which he wears having stolen it (with the help of his two fairies, Tatl and Tael) from another traveler. The Skull Kid, with the help of the fairies, knocks Link unconscious off his horse and steals the Ocarina of Time. When Link awakens, the Skull Kid takes off and leads Link on a chase.

When Link eventually catches up with the Skull Kid, he tells Link that he "got rid of" Epona, and uses the dark magic of Majora's Mask to transform Link into a Deku Scrub. He then leaves Link, while Tatl continues to beat the helpless Deku back. Her delay, though, causes her to be separated from her brother and the Skull kid. She then insists that Link take her with him, so that they can work together to find the Skull Kid and Tael. With limited abilities, Link enters Clock Town where he meets the Happy Mask Salesman. The mask salesman reveals that the Skull Kid stole Majora’s Mask from him and that he can return Link to his human form if he finds the Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. He warns Link also, though, that he must leave in three days, and Link must retrieve the Mask and the Ocarina by then. Link then sets off in his Deku form, finding himself in parallel world of Termina.

Link is able to do little around Clock Town, but, with the help of Tatl and the Great Fairy, he manages to find the Skull Kid, hanging around the top of the enormous clock tower from which Clock Town's name is derived. Also in his search, Link hears rumors and whispers of the Moon, which bears a grimacing and ominous face, steadily growing closer to the Town. At midnight on the Final Day before the Mask Salesman's departure, Link is able to reach the top of the clock tower for a face off with the Skull Kid. Upon arriving, Tatl demands that the Skull Kid give back Link's Ocarina. Seemingly not hearing, Tael delivers an enigmatic warning to Tatl. "Swamp. Mountain. Ocean. Canyon. The four who are there, bring them here!"

- Tael

The Skull Kid, in response to Tael's outburst, hits the fairy aside. He then laughs about how even if "they" were to come, they couldn't stop him. He then points Link and Tatl's attention to the hideous moon and challenges them to stop it from falling. With an unearthly shriek, he begins to bring it down completely to the land. Taking advantage of this, Link fires a magic bubble, a skill learned earlier, into the Skull Kid, causing him to drop the Ocarina of Time. On picking it up, memories of his departure from Hyrule flood back to Link. In them, Princess Zelda bids him a sad farewell, and tells him that the Goddess of Time is watching over him. After being snapped out of this reverie by Tatl, Link plays the Song of Time, and is immediately thrown back to the morning that he first entered Clock Town, three days prior.

Link heads back to the Happy Mask Salesman, who teaches him the Song of Healing. Playing this song with the Ocarina of Time returns Link to his regular self, with the only remnants of his time as a Deku being a mask, which he can don to become Deku Link once again. After aiding Link, the Mask Salesman asks that Link uphold his part of the bargain and return the Mask which the Skull Kid stole to the Salesman. Upon learning that Link could not recover the Mask, the Salesman grows furious, berating Link and wildly informing him that the Mask, known as Majora's Mask, is an ancient artifact that possesses an apocalyptic power. He again requests that Link recover the Mask, stating that he believes that Link can do it.

The Four Giants
To stop the Skull Kid, Link and Tatl work on the only clue they have; the four places stated by Tael. Upon venturing into the Southern Swamp, Link finds the area poisoned, apparently due to the disappearance of the Swamp's guardian god. After venturing through the Deku Kingdom and Woodfall Temple, Link faces down the dark being Odolwa. Upon defeating his foe, Link frees an "innocent spirit" from the mask upon the monster. Link and Tatl find themselves facing a sorrowful and powerful giant. Tatl then surmises that the giant was one of the "four" that Tael spoke of.

The two head to Snowhead Mountain, a place that has experienced a longer-than-usual period of winter, to save the next giant. While there, Link heals and takes on the soul of a Goron warrior (who tried to find a way to save his people, but died in the attempt), which enables him to free the Giant from the evil spirit of Snowhead. Link next requires a horse to get to the ocean, and finds that Epona has been found and taken in by the sisters Romani and Cremia at Romani Ranch. However, to recover Epona, Link must arrive on the first day, so that he can find the little girl Romani in a well-enough state to give him back his horse. Link then heads to the cursed Great Bay, where the ocean is in disorder due to calamity at the Temple. Link also finds the near-dead body of a Zora guitarist, and manages to adopt his soul too. By finding the stolen Zora Eggs (belonging to the vocalist of The Indigo-Go's) in a fortress of pirates and a nest of sea snakes, the young hero manages to find the whereabouts of the third Giant andr frees him.

Link finally ventures to Ikana Canyon, where he faces down the restless spirits of the dead, so that he might climb Stone Tower and save the last Giant. He then ventures to the clock tower at the end of the Final Day, summoning the Four Giants to stop the Moon. Even though the Giants hold back the Moon, Majora's Mask leaves the Skull Kid, who passed out at the Giants' coming, and rises into the Moon. There, the Mask possesses the Moon and attempts to consume all of Termina. Link follows the Mask inside, finding a surreal field, in which there is a tree and five children. After talking to the child who wears Majora's Mask, Link then proceeds to face the demon down. After a harsh battle, Link destroys the spirit, and the Moon is destroyed.

When Link comes to the "Dawn of a New Day", he learns that the Skull Kid and the Four Giants had once been friends. The Skull Kid also remarks how Link smells like a kid who taught him a song in the forest, clearly implying that this is the same Skull Kid to whom Link taught Saria's Song in Ocarina of Time. The Happy Mask Salesman states that the evil has left Majora's Mask, and then, mysteriously, disappears, bidding Link a fond farewell. Tatl then tells Link that he should get back to his original quest, and the two part ways. The story ends with Link riding off into the forest once more, and Saria's Song echoes about a carving of Link, the Skull Kid, the fairy siblings, and the Four Giants.

Gameplay
The gameplay of Majora's Mask is much the same as that in Ocarina of Time, although new features, items, skills, and more are included. For example, several of the items that Link could only access as an adult, in Ocarina of Time are now available to him throughout the game in the child form (such as the Hookshot or the Bow). Additionally, Link is slightly more acrobatic than he was in previous games, as seen when jumping off of ledges: Link will automatically do flips in the air instead of just a normal jump.

Three day cycle
Arguably one of the major departures from the traditional The Legend of Zelda gameplay, Majora's Mask implements a time system. The time system cycles three days, the time until the destruction of Clock Town by the moon, which is plummeting to earth because of influence from the Skull Kid. With the Ocarina of Time, Link is able to play the Song of Time to reset the cycle and return to the first of these three days as many times as he needs to. Link is the only one affected by the time-travel; other inhabitants live as if nothing has happened. When traveling back in time, Link loses all rupees, quantities of items (although not the items themselves; e.g. arrows but not the bow, etc.), dungeon progress (dungeon maps, compasses, etc. unless, of course, the dungeon is completed) and most interactions with others (except for his fairy, Tatl, and a few other exceptions).

At the bottom of the screen, a clock is displayed, which keeps track of the time. In the center, the day number is displayed. Surrounding in a semi-circle is a revolving sun or moon (symbolizing day or night). This small icon moves around the clock and shows the hour of the day.

Several more "hardcore" players of the game have found it entertaining to attempt beating all four dungeons and the final boss in a single three day cycle, though it is an extremely difficult task and requires very extensive knowledge of the game.

Masks and transformations
Link appears in his younger form, as in the first segment Ocarina of Time. However, in Majora's Mask, Link does not have the ability to transform into an adult. 24 different masks with different functions and purposes can be found throughout Termina, of which several allow Link to take the form of another race; Deku Scrubs, Gorons, and Zoras. And because the transformation masks are based on deceased characters, the game is one of the few where the player can control characters besides Link.

Deku Link is the first transformation Link receives, and it's theorized to be the spirit of the long-missing son of the Deku Butler. In Deku form, Link can stun enemies with the spin attack, helpful to leave them defenseless; he can also shoot bubbles to attack aerial foes and to hit certain targets, although their firepower and range are extremely more limited than those of the arrows; usage of Deku Flowers is also possible, and they grant Link the ability to fly temporarily, as well as to release Deku Nuts. He can also use the Nuts on land, his instrument in this state is the Deku Pipes and, although optional, he can confront the boss of the Woodfall Temple, the dungeon where he is the protagonist. The weakness of Deku Link is the fire.

Goron Link is the second transformation Link receives, and it's confirmed to be the spirit of the tragically gone hero Darmani. In Goron form, Link can roll as a stone ball to travel more quickly, and even to do so with magic-generated spikes to attack enemies on the way; he can also use his powerful punches to attack enemies and to hit hardened targets; while on ball form, he can perform a ground pound, good to attack enemies and press giant (or hardened) switches. Only Goron Link can use the Powder Kegs, his instrument in this state is the Goron Drums and, although optional, he can confront the boss of the Snowhead Temple, the dungeon where he is the protagonist. The weakness of Goron Link is the water.

Zora Link is the third transformation Link receives, and it's confirmed to be the fallen-in-battle guitarist Mikau. He has multiple abilities (more so than the other two forms), including a stylized combat moveset, a double Boomerang shot, the capacity to swim incredibly fast, to create electric barriers both on land and while swimming, and to freely dive and walk underwater. No item can be used by Zora Link, with the exception of anything that the other forms can, his instrument turns into a Zora Guitar and he is helpful to confront the boss of the Great Bay Temple, the dungeon where he is the protagonist. Both fire and ice are lethal for him.

With the exception of the Giant's Mask, the rest of the masks either give Link new abilities (such as explosive techniques) or disguise him. After completing the game up to the point just before Link fights the final battle against Majora's Mask, it is possible to complete several side dungeons in which Link plays a game of Hide and Seek with a series of children and trades in ALL of the masks available throughout the game (although they are still available after the game is completed). This allows the player to use the powerful Fierce Deity's Mask, which turns Link into an adult form with extremely devastating capabilities. A word of caution: This amazing form is only allowed in boss battles, Majora's Mask included.

Emphasis on sidequests
Majora's Mask is also a noted game for its many optional (secondary) sidequests throughout the game, which, should the player complete, explore many more sub-plots and stories. These include helping a distraught circus leader, returning a kidnapped Deku Princess to the palace, helping five Great Fairies be restored to power, and, perhaps the most intricate sidequest in any Zelda game, helping an engaged couple reunite moments before the Moon falls on Clock Town. The number of minigames is also higher and more complex in execution than those of Ocarina of Time, and there are more optional or secret areas where extra mini-bosses or Skulltula hunts may be available. Completing sidequests is usually rewarding to the player, as the conclusions to many of them are shown during the end credits, but only if the player has managed to complete that sidequest.

To put this in retrospective, the game currently features the highest amount of Heart Pieces in the series: 52 in total. Wind Waker and Twilight Princess are next with 44 and 45, respectively. Additionally, it features the highest number of Empty Bottles: Six in total. All other Zelda games feature up to four.

On the negative side, the emphasis on sidequests also translates into a lower number of dungeons, which is a potential point of criticism for some players.

Game style
Majora's Mask is renowned as the darkest of the series, and is considered the most twisted Zelda to date, even though some feel that Twilight Princess expresses more mature and dark elements.

Notably, Majora's Mask aims itself at the depressing side of things, with lamenting melodies and darker side characters. As the player, the game gives you no ultimatum, and you are faced with the knowledge that the world of Termina will be destroyed at the end of three days, unless the Ocarina of Time is used to return to the dawn of the First Day. In addition to this, most characters in the game are unaware of the danger and some inevitably reject the chance to save themselves.

On top of this, Link must go through this as a living breathing character, knowing that he is the only one aware of what will and has happened, Link is still shunned by most characters even though he is out to save them. This theme of the Hero of Time especially as well as other Link character in the timeline being ignored or rejected puts a large depressing note over the game series, but the doom of world destruction is most present in Majora's Mask. Even the worlds name, Termina, is derived from several European words meaning Doom. The knowledge that events will reoccur without any hope of prevention implants a desire to change the game itself for the player and brings out real emotion and will to prevent events happening. This is contrary to most games which surprise the player with something unexpected, Majora does the opposite, filling players with regret in the knowledge that they can do little else but watch as the world gets destroyed, creating a very strong reason to complete the game.

Development
Motivated by the commercial and critical success of Ocarina of Time, Nintendo started plans on a new Zelda game for the Nintendo 64. Originally, however, this new title was going to be a remixed version of the 1998 installment for the Disk drive accesory; when dungeon designer Eiji Aonuma showed complaints to Shigeru Miyamoto about having to develop essentially the same game, the latter then proposed him to create a new installment, but in only one year.

After doing some experiments, the development team implemented the time-based system, so that they could create a more compact and dense game, and which allowed the title to be developed in only 18 months.

As an extra note, the original name of this game was Zelda Gaiden, which means Zelda Side-story. This was changed in the middle of development in order to reinvent the game. Lastly, as noted above, this is the first Zelda game to be fully directed during development by Eiji Aonuma.

Graphics
The graphics are slightly better in Majora's Mask than in Ocarina of Time, possibly due to the necessity of the Nintendo 64's expansion pak (a memory-increasing add-on for the Nintendo 64). As the second Zelda game with 3D graphics, Majora's Mask uses the same engine as its predecessor, and even uses some of the same character models. The vast areas the game features have an improved definition in comparison to those seen in the previous Zelda game, the fog distance is nearly nonexistent, enemies are more detailed and the overall atmosphere is more realistic. Another achievement from the Expansion Pak is that multiple non-playable characters can perform different tasks without impacting on the framerate, bigger level design was possible and many more enemies are present at the same time (most notably in Termina Field, contrasting to the barely populated Hyrule Field from the previous Zelda game).

On the negative side, some locations seem to have blurrier textures and the framerate may sometimes lower; additionally, some parts are less detailed than others, such as the trees prior to the entrance to the Southern Swamp. Also, in comparison to the leap of graphical advancement seen in Ocarina of Time, there are fans who criticize the game for being a "cheap" release using too many of the same stylings as Ocarina, including (as mentioned before) characters, enemies and graphical style; it is advised that Eiji Aonuma, a key developer of the game, actually stated that reusing many aspects of Ocarina of Time allowed his team to program the game in less than two years (this is because Ocarina of Time took no less than four years of development). Regardless of this dispute, other players state that Majora's Mask has aged well, and in overlooking its pointed downfalls, it is an extremely well produced game which brings unique gameplay elements to the series as well as a much darker take on the character of Link, the Hero of Time.

Setting
Termina's world is a parallel dimension to Hyrule's world. There are some characters here that also have counterparts in Hyrule, except for Link (even though Fierce Deity is considered Link's Termina counterpart), Epona, the entire Kokiri tribe, and (possibly) the Happy Mask Salesman, who are all residents of Hyrule. Skull Kid is confirmed to be from Hyrule because at the end of the game, he says that Link smells like the kid that taught him "that song" in the Lost Woods. Termina consists of five huge lands (or worlds, as said by Anju's grandmother): The central one houses Clock Town, Romani Ranch, and Termina Field, with the latter one not having any apparent major anomaly caused by the Skull Kid, and merely serving as a point of access to the other parts; Clock Town is where the world of entertainment is, featuring important attractions, numerous recreative zones and tourism; it's there where the annual Carnival of Time is celebrated, and it's where Mayor Dotour fulfills his political duties. Romani Ranch is a large rural zone where various animals are taken care of, and milk is produced for its distribution to Clock Town.

As for the other regions in the game, the Southern Swamp is located south, and it's where various monkeys and monsters live, while the Deku tribe practises its monarchy in the Deku Palace; the swamp's waters are poisoned because of the creature living in Woodfall Temple. The Snowhead Mountain is located north, and it's inhabited by the Goron tribe (who puts into practice a patriarchy, not unlike in Hyrule's Death Mountain); the mountain's weather indicates an extremely low temperature because of the creature living in Snowhead Temple. The Great Bay Coast is located west, and it's inhabited by the proud Zora tribe (living in an underwater reef, and known for their artistic linage in the musical department), as well as by pirates (living in a sinister complex, and known for their reputation of hunting treasure at all costs and by all means necessary) and humans (living in the coast itself, and doing miscellaneous activities such as scientific research and fishing); the coast's waters become murky because of the creature living in the Great Bay Temple. Finally, Ikana Canyon lies east, and the whole place is invaded by undead entities because of the creatures living in the Stone Tower Temple. It used to be inhabited by humans before this, but now the only living people found there are Sakon, Pamela and her father.

Japanese Version
The release difference between the Japanese version and the NSTC version was a full six months, the longest release wait among all 3D The Legend of Zelda games so far. Despite this, there aren't too many differences between the two versions. One of them is that the Japanese version has three save slots as opposed to two. Also in the Japanese version, the quicksave feature that allows Link to temporarily save his progess to allow the player to quit the game without losing the current progress is not present; therefore, the owl statues only serve as warp destinations.

Cartridge Versions
In the United States and Canada, the NTSC versions of the game all came in Gold Collector's Edition cartridges; however, in Europe, the PAL version of the game came in Gold, but were not named Collector's Editions. The only PAL "Collector's Edition" of Majora's Mask was released in Australia where it had the Collector's Edition logo and the NTSC cartridges art, but it didn't have the moving hologram effect.

Timeline Placement
The events of Majora's Mask are placed shortly after those of Ocarina of Time, and the game is considered to be the starting point for the Child Timeline, which is eventually continued with Twilight Princess.

Sales
The game sold approximately 314,000 copies in its first week of sales in Japan, and has sold three million copies worldwide, relatively fewer than its predecessor (which sold over seven million copies) because of it being released during the final years of the lifespan of the Nintendo 64, the system the game was launched for, as well as fan skepticism.

Reviews and Awards
In terms of critical reception, response to the game was mostly positive, as reviews were in favor of the game; however, opinions are divided regarding whether it's as good as its predecessor. Edge magazine referred to Majora's Mask as "the oddest, darkest and saddest of all Zelda games". Some feel that Majora's Mask is significantly better than Ocarina of Time in certain areas. Japanese magazine Famitsu awarded the game a high 37/40 score, although the other games in the series scored higher. 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". As mentioned above, 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 (EGM) in the Top 100 Games of Time seen in their 100th issue, where Ocarina of Time was ranked the 8th best.

One common criticism is that Majora's Mask is not as accessible as Ocarina of Time. GameSpot, giving Majora's Mask a score of 8.3/10, significantly lower compared to the 10/10 that was given to Ocarina of Time, wrote that some might "find the focus on minigames and side quests tedious and slightly out of place". IGN justified that they didn't give the game a perfect ten (giving instead a still very high 9.9) just because the major innovations were seen in Ocarina of Time. Nintendo Power ranked it eleventh in their list of best The Legend of Zelda games, criticizing the time-based concept while still praising the improved graphics and the transformation concept. Regardless, 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".

Fan Reception
The game has also received good reviews from regular fans of the series, including a current reader average of 9.7 on IGN and a current user score of 9.3 in Gamespot, among others; graphics, storyline, challenge, music, gameplay, depth and overall quality are only some of the praised aspects of the game; additionally, it was ranked 42nd on IGN Reader's Choice of the Top 100 Games Ever, where it's cited as one of the most underrated video games in history, but also as one of the best. In fact, prior to its launch for the Virtual Console, it was the second most requested title, only behind Earthbound, providing that those who didn't play it wanted to do so now. However, some fans also expressed firm complaints, tending to agree that while it's a good game, it pales in comparison to its prequel. Other elements of criticism included the low number of dungeons and the restrictions of the time limit, as well as the need for an Expansion Pak

The Virtual Console version of the game (see below) received similar praise from critics and fans alike, earning the distinction of being the 300th VC game to be available (Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was the 100th one), and being so after nearly two years since the launch of the other classic Zelda games to the same service.

Ports and remakes
Majora's Mask has been ported to several other systems since its release. In 2003, Nintendo released a new GameCube bundle. This bundle had the main GameCube system as well as Collector's Edition. However, due to poor quality emulation, the game suffers from minor glitches not present in the original Nintendo 64 version, some of which freeze the game entirely. Like the original, this version only allows two game save files (per memory card), even though it would have been possible to have more. Due to the frequent lock-ups this version experiences, it might be useful to use one memory card per game. That is, use save file one as the main game, and use save file two to back up owl statue saves. This way, progress is not completely lost when the game locks up, provided that one remembers to back up frequently.

Majora's Mask had also been released for the Virtual Console in both Europe and Australia on April 3, 2009. Japan had also gotten their Virtual Console release since April 7, 2009. The American virtual console release of Majora's Mask was released on May 18th, 2009, which had thus marked the 300th content to be released on the American Virtual Console.

According to a few players who have played Majora's Mask from the PAL Virtual Console, several glitches from Majora's Mask's Collector's Edition version have been present in the Virtual Console release, including freezing, making it possible that the Virtual Console release may be a direct port from the Collector's Edition. However some players have reported that their's 'runs perfectly and smoothly'. According to IGN, the NSTC version of the game is glitch-free, and players are encouraged to download it with confidence.

Legacy
Being the second 3D Zelda game on the Nintendo 64, Majora's Mask wasn't as influencial as its inmediate predecessor, and some of its characteristics haven't been shown again in later installments. However, it still made the following contributions:


 * The game is frequently credited for its darker storyline and tone, thus it's said to have inspired Twilight Princess.
 * This is also the first game in the series where Tingle appears; opinions are divided on whether or not this benefited the later games, though.
 * The first playable character besides Link, Kafei, is in the game. This idea became fruitful for The Wind Waker.
 * Although The Legend of Zelda: The Adventure of Link is the first game where Link shapeshifts, (into a fairy) Majora's Mask is the second game where the process is voluntary and benefitious.
 * This is the game since which Fixed 3D graphics (seen previously in Ocarina of Time) were scrapped.
 * Many properties of this game were borrowed by Super Smash Bros. Melee, including a stage, soundtrack, and several trophies.

Trivia

 * According to Speed Demos Archive, the fastest completion time for Majora's Mask is 2 hours, 3 minutes and 4 seconds by Daniel 'Jiano' Hart on September 6th, 2009.
 * Along with the sword, shield, Ocarina, and Kokiri Tunic, the Stone of Agony is one of the few items that Link preserves from Ocarina of Time.
 * This game contained the first non-playable character that could be murdered by Link (with an arrow targeting at the stolen bomb bag).
 * The Player's Guide for Majora's Mask has a lot of erroneous information, suggesting that it was written for an early version of the game which was never released.
 * This is one of the few The Legend of Zelda games where the boss battles can be replayed anytime. The other games are The Wind Waker and Spirit Tracks.
 * Majora's Mask was the 300th Virtual Console game released in North America. When released, it used fewer blocks than Ocarina of Time, as data compression for VC games had been improved since the release of OoT. Also, despite the game's darker ambience, it was rated E rather than E10 in the US.
 * Majora's Mask contains the least amount of main dungeons in any Zelda game.