It had a lot of potential, but inevitably fell short to its predecessor.
User Rating: 9 | Zelda no Densetsu: Majora no Kamen (w/Memory Pack) N64
I love Ocarina of Time, but quite frankly it seems a little too plain to me. The idea of turning back time to prevent a mysterious catastrophe and wearing masks for various effects seemed to be the spice that Ocarina needed. Unfortunately Majora's Mask never really pulled off the upset, but still provided us with yet another excellent installment in the Zelda series. Majora's Mask is more whimsical than Ocarina and is initially presented as the deep, forgotten and personal travels of Link. I know many will disagree with me, but one thing I've always disliked about Zelda is its often lack of atmospheric cohesion--that is, instead of having an entirely European or Asian styled world per Zelda, the developers always have a woodsy level, underwater level, mountain level, etc. which gives the games a more generic characteristic. This lack of cohesion is particularly disappointing in Mask because it often feels like an inferior copy of Ocarina...I sometimes feel like I'm doing the same levels and puzzles over again. Yet, to Mask's credit, there really is nothing like the excitement of looking up at the sky getting darker, and watching that meteor getting closer, and knowing that in a few hours the world will be destroyed. As usual the gameplay is stellar, but compared to such games as Final Fantasy, the story is somewhat lacking and battle isn't as complex, but to each his own. Overall, though Majora's Mask is often overshadowed by the classic and groundbreaking Ocarina, it is an excellent game in its own right and worthy of play by any serious gamer.
