"The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask" is a fascinating title in Nintendo's lore, specifically in how it may not have been meant to exist. While working on the planned "Ura Zelda" expansion to "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time," director Eiji Aonuma instead wanted to work on a new game. Shigeru Miyamoto essentially challenged him, saying that he wouldn't have to work on "Ura Zelda" if he could make a new "Zelda" game in a year. Aonuma did it, and out came "Majora's Mask." Its re-release, "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D" has an interesting tale, too: while Nintendo began work on it as soon as "Ocarina of Time 3D" was released, development was kept under wraps so well that a fan campaign known as Operation Moonfall was started in hopes of getting such a re-release made. Who would've thought it was happening right under our noses? Regardless, "Majora's Mask" faced a dangerous task: it had to follow up on a game that has become one of the most critically acclaimed titles of all time. It seemed damn near impossible for it to reach that bar...but honestly, did it really have to? After finally playing the game myself (specifically the "Majora's Mask 3D" re-release), it's still pretty fantastic on its own.
"The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask" more than proves that it's up to the challenge of following up on one of the most acclaimed video games of all time. It also proves that it's up to the challenge of making a unique and fresh experience despite seemingly using the same engine and assets as its predecessor. While "Majora's Mask" may seem like more of "Ocarina of Time" on the surface, this game twists itself to feel like a wholly new adventure. There's an insane amount of content in the package with the vast amount of quests and minigames, and the time mechanics and manipulation add a new layer of challenge to the gameplay. Visually, the game still looks as good as ever, which shouldn't be surprising given that it's using the same engine as "Ocarina of Time." I also appreciate "Majora's Mask" for providing some of the darkest and scariest writing and characters in a Nintendo game yet. It's a massive twist for the series, but it plays out fantastically and serves as an interesting follow-up to "Ocarina of Time." Where that game felt like a grand and adventurous coming-of-age tale, "Majora's Mask" has more of a quiet sadness to it that shows just how vast the bar for experimentation is in this series. It's also worth pointing out that the "Majora's Mask 3D" re-release not only makes the visuals even better but it adds a lot of excellent quality-of-life upgrades to the quest. Small changes like the Activity Log and the Song of Double Time make the game more accessible without taking away its challenge.
The only thing that held the game back for me is that I felt at points that the time restriction could be a bit overwhelming. I see its purpose and I feel a lot of people have enjoyed it and will continue to welcome the challenge that it offers, but it just made me feel a tad overwhelmed at points, and it made things hard for me to constantly keep track of what I did and didn't have for a certain day.
Overall, though...so what if "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask" doesn't hit the same mark that "Ocarina of Time" did? It's hard for any game to hit that mark, especially its immediate sequel. On its own, "Majora's Mask" is another excellent installment in this incredible franchise, and a further demonstration of Nintendo's success with experimentation with its established franchises. The fact that I don't consider it a 10/10 game is more of a testament to just how remarkable the franchise really is. "The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask" still remains an essential game, and with "Majora's Mask 3D" providing more than enough quality-of-life improvements, there's no better time than the present if you haven't played this already.
Final rating: 9 out of 10 "Awesome"