Nintendo's Finest Achievement: Majora's Mask

The Legend of Zelda is my favorite video game series of all time. Ever since 8-year-old me was introduced to a copy of Ocarina of Time at my Dad’s house I was hooked. Every weekend I was there I played it for hours, attempting to catch the biggest fish in the pond or working tirelessly to get through the Water Temple. From that point on I was hooked on Zelda and have been fond of the series for the past 13 years. Since that time I’ve had the enjoyment of playing and re-playing Majora’s Mask, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, and Skyward Sword. Many people complain that Nintendo has become hackneyed, that they pump out the same formulaic stuff over and over again. Have the fundamentals of games like Pokemon, Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, and Metroid changed much over the years? Not necessarily, but to say that a game like Majora’s Mask and Wind Waker are exactly the same and that’s why you won’t keep playing them is like saying you won’t see the Royal Shakespeare Company perform Hamlet because you’ve already seen The Lion King. I could dedicate an article to each Zelda game, and perhaps eventually I will. But today I would like to focus primarily on my favorite Zelda game and, incidentally, my favorite game of all time: Majora’s Mask.

Many people who know me know that my favorite game is Majora’s Mask. Even if they didn’t and they haven’t looked at this blog, it’s not hard to figure out. My iPhone background is Majora’s Mask.

I have a hand painted replica of Majora’s Mask hanging on my bedroom wall. 

 

 




The background of my desktop computer is Majora’s Mask

 




The desktop of my laptop computer is a surrealistic image of the moon from Majora’s Mask looming over London

 



And even the background of this blog is currently a creepy image of Majora's Mask.

Majora’s Mask is one of the few Zelda games that acts as a direct sequel to a previous game, Ocarina of Time. Although there are allusions to Hryule and the search for a “long lost friend”, Zelda herself is really only mentioned once and the game does a wonderful job of immersing you in the land of Termina, what many people consider to be an alternate universe to Hyrule. One of the evidences of this is the recurring cast of characters from Ocarina of Time that have fallen into new roles, and many times they have new names. 

The Cucku Lady in Ocarina of Time

Anju in Majora's Mask

These people are the most important parts of Majora’s Mask. Although this game did a lot of things right - The gameplay, story, dungeon and enemy designs, etc., the people are what make this game so unique and special. Everybody you come across is living under an understanding held in their collective conscious: that the moon is steadily getting bigger in the sky, and some say it will even crash into Clock Town. It is under this imminent threat that the entirety of the game is played, re-living the same 3 day cycle over and over again.

The brief 72 hours you spend in Termina are some of the most memorable and precious you’ll ever have. In that time you not only defeat monsters, cure the lands of curses, explore dungeons and acquire unique items - You get to know the people in the game. They’re not just backdrops or there for scenery, every single person has a personality that you can choose to ignore or get to know better. From helping Kafei and Anju reunite, to teaching the dancers their new routine, to healing the soul of Pamela’s father, and helping the invisible soldier become well again. These are mostly optional parts of the game, but they’re also the most special and rewarding. 

The storylines of every Zelda game deal with performing good deeds and helping others, but Majora’s Mask takes this theme and makes it a central part of the game. Skyward Sword applies this same model by allowing you to acquire gratitude crystals by helping people. These quests in both Majora’s Mask and Skyward Sword are entirely optional but they do help you to get the know characters on a level that you wouldn’t otherwise. In some instances, these side quests open up parts of the world that are closed off to you.

Hundreds of articles have been written about Majora’s Mask, and many of them deal with the dark nature of the game. The apocalypse that occurs if you don’t succeed or turn back time, the fact that everybody - literally everybody - will be dead in 72 hours if you don’t do something about it. Those Deku Scrubs in the palace? Dead. The Zoras in Great Bay? Dead. The Gorons in the mountains, including the Goron baby? Dead. Anju, Kafei, Sacon, The Curiosity Shop owner, The Bomb Shop woman, the blacksmiths, the frogs. All dead. It’s up to you to save them. 

A huge, not so subtle theme of the game is healing. There is even a song you learn on the Ocarina titled “The Song of Healing”, possibly my favorite song in the entire series. You can listen to this song here.

As you go through the game you heal Termina of it’s date with doom, but you heal the characters you come across as well. You heal the troubled soul of Darmani the Goron, you help Lulu get her eggs back and help return her voice, you save Pamela’s Father from his cursed form, you help Mikau fulfill his last jam before he dies, you unfreeze the Goron Elder from his icy tomb, and you save the monkey in the Deku Palace from being boiled alive. These are all the good things that come out of the darkness of Majora’s Mask. 

Majora’s Mask has held a place in my heart ever since I played it. It’s amazing that Nintendo spent only one year of production on this game and yet it stands as one of the most loved Nintendo games. Operation Moonfall is a movement to try and get this game remastered and released on the Nintendo 3DS, a movement that I am a huge supporter of. I own this game in it’s original form on the Nintendo 64, but I also have a digital download from the Nintendo E-Shop on the Wii. Everything about this game makes me happy everytime I pick it up - Collecting the masks, helping people, getting Epona back at Romani ranch, helping Romani fend of the aliens at night, drinking Cheateau Romani, fending off the robbers in pursuit of Cremia’s milk delivery, and watching as the Skull Kid becomes more possessed by Majora’s Mask and loses himself in the evil of the mask. This story in itself is tragic, for the Skull Kid is just a mischivous prankster who steals the mask for fun, but once he puts it on it has similar effects to the One Ring in Lord of the Rings. This game definitely shows that out of the darkness can come a silver lining.

Anybody who has ever played Majora’s Mask knows how wonderful the game is. For those of you who haven’t had a chance to check it out, no game comes with a higher recommendation from me. Though you might be able to appreciate it more if you play Ocarina of Time first, it certainly isn’t necessary. Majora’s Mask, similar to Resident Evil 4 and Bioshock Infinite, is static in it’s story in a way that you don’t need much outside knowledge to play the game. So what are you waiting for?