Reader Reviews

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64/Cube)

by Kami

This week, I've had time to kill, so I apologise to Tom right now for the number of reviews I've sent in. Now, to another...

I recently spent my Nintendo Stars on one of the "wonderful" Zelda Collectors Edition Disc. I'd like to start by saying - it was a waste of stars and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Don't be fooled people. Save for the Game Boy Player instead. You'll get more use from it.

But it has introduced me to a missing link in my Zelda experiences. I never got around to Majora's Mask. That wasn't because I didn't want to, it's because I didn't have the money (Maybe there's something to the old overpriced carts thing).

Okay. Essentially you take the role of the Link we enjoyed spending time with in Ocarina of Time. Riding his trusty steed, Epona, through a forest to be attacked by Skull Kid, your evil nemesis. He kidnaps Epona, curses Link into the form of a Deku Scrub (Which is kinda cool actually!), turns on his fairy pals, and eventually starts summoning the moon to cause a cataclysm of legendary proportions. Oh wait, yeah, the whole summoning a celestial body has been done before... I wonder where... Is that coughing I hear in the background?

And sadly, that's the problem with Majora's Mask. Even at i's time, I feel, it borrowed more than innovated. The controls are classic OoT, the graphics are too, and bar a few new voices and sound effects, there's not a heck of a deal done to the engine of the game. I can't personally tell the difference.

Anyway, back to borrowing ideas. The masks I feel borrow heavily from the great Jim Carey film, THE MASK (Which I happen to like) - a few fully transform Link into a Deku Scrub (My personal fave and the form you'll use most), a Zora and a Goron. The masks play a great part in interacting with the NPC's littered about, so it's kinda cool. Lots of masks are used for quests only, but... well, some are useless. Some you'll probably never use. That's the problem - so many masks to collect, yet most only have one use and then they just sit in your inventory space, gathering dust. And some are there only to aid in what is an easy game.

Four dungeons. Yes, four! Just four. They're a good size and all, I'll grant that, but it doesn't seem to give the game much longevity. They are good dungeons. But still... Four? While the world is rather large, it's still relatively easy to explore and not at all as convincing and intricate as Ocarina of Time. It's all too simple. Too easy. Theres not enough exploration, especially when you can buy maps off that freaky wannabe fairy Tingle (whom I have a deep desire to hurt). Compared to Ocarina of Time, this is merely a side quest.

Which leads right into the next problem. There's an awful lot of side quests, and the thing is, they feel like the only things keeping the game going. Some are short and sweet, some are surprisingly fun to do, and yet some are just infuriatingly difficult and you'll hate them. Such unpolished and incoherent work isn't what I expect from a Zelda game past, present or future. It's like Changing Rooms, game-style - too much MDF and power tools and not enough quality workmanship. And when you get back and see the transformation... you get that urge to just want to take the designer and put them in an MDF box. Preferably six feet under.

The game borrows from its back catalogue - tunes wise, and references too. While in no way would this be bad in a normal Zelda game, this isn't. They feel out of place. There's nothing to link the references into this game or back again, for that matter. They stand out and look like someone's tried to fit a jigsaw piece in by cutting the shape out better and then hammering it in. It feels like it brutalised some ideas, which should have been left well alone, and they just stand there. Smiling. But you're not smiling back. You're thinking, "I pity you. I really do."

And then there's the feature that grinds away - what should have been a great idea is wasted. Time. You only have three in-game days, and at the end you have to wind the clock back to start them over again. Now, I'm not whinging here, because I always thought this was a good idea. Then you play it, and you realise it's not such a great idea. Everything is reset - money, people, tasks, obstacles. You have to do most things all over again. It's an intensely frustrating experience that will wind you up to breaking point. It could have worked, but doesn't. It drives you to despair when something goes awry on the third day, you rewind the clock and have to pass two and a half days to try it again. And it's not even a fraction as enjoyable as OoT. Skipping time is useful - but even that feels like an afterthought. Oh, let's play the Song of Time at speed! Can someone shoot the guy who thought that was a good idea please?

This is the problem with nostalgic people. You go back and meet the people you wanted to meet when a little younger and less wise, only to realise now they're not what you expected. Majora's Mask is the same. I walked in expecting to have a ball, but left with that feeling in your stomach that you just did the wrong thing. You never meet past heroes or idols. That's what I was told a long time ago, and in this review, I can't sum the game up any better.