The Legend of Zelda has become a classic to every gamer in the world, especially to me. The original Nintendo game caused a major revolution on gameplay back in 1987 and never truly grew old. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link also provided some terrific moments despite being the worst chapter in the series. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past delivered the finest hours of gameplay ever seen, beating every other Zelda game. I never played the Game Boy games despite the positive reviews I've heard about Link's Awakening, Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons. Zelda entered the 3D universe through the N64, delivering the classic in its most realistic inception, achieving perfection. Ocarina of Time was an unforgettable game that I still enjoy playing.
Now Majora's Mask has joined the Zelda series providing extra hours of fun. While this game follows the time period of Ocarina of Time (as well as that game's engine), Majora's Mask is actually different from any other Zelda game I've ever played.
At first, I was disappointed by Majora's Mask, but then I saw the beauty of this masterpiece. The story becomes more personal than the previous games. While the previous Zelda adventures dealt with Ganon, Princess Zelda, the Triforce and Hyrule's destiny, Majora's Mask strays from the common path and delivers a fresh new insight into the Zelda universe, proving that the story of the series isn't entirely dependent on the Zelda/Ganon/Triforce legend.
Technologically this game is a brilliant achievement! It builds on the previous game's engine. Graphics are definetely enhanced as well as some of the sounds. I was overjoyed to hear the traditional Zelda theme music which had disappeared in Ocarina of Time. This game makes good use of the Expansion Pak required to play it by reducing frame rate and adding depth to the 3D landscape. I was worried this game might disappoint me in that department. It has been five years since the N64 entered our houses. With the presence of both the Dreamcast and the Playstation 2 as well as future PC releases, Nintendo can't rely on the N64 much longer. It's reaching old age already just like the Super Nintendo had back in 1995. It's time to move on. Since this is the final Zelda produced for the N64 we'll have to wait a few more years for Nintendo's next release on the next platformer.
This game truly showed some new details previously unseen in Zelda games. This is the first Zelda with a time constraint. You have 3 days to save the world of Termina from a falling moon. You have to perform a lot of tasks within this time period and periodically go back in time using the ocarina. Collecting masks has become the prime motivator of the game's storyline. This game also features an unusually large number of pieces of heart Link is supposed to collect as compared to previous games. Playing Majora's Mask gives a different feeling compared to the other games and can be just as addictive as the others are.
This game can provide highly entertaining and challenging hours. Nintendo deserves an award for their incredible work on these games. They maintain a high level of quality unparallelled in the gaming industry!
