VC in Brief: The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64)
by David Hinkle 
{ May 18th 2009 at 5:15PM }
Gallery: Majora's Mask
Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cesaria @ May 18th 2009 5:26PM
Looking back, OoT was a seminal moment in my gaming history, but I believe MM has held up better. The puzzles were more abstract, the difficulty was higher, and there's STILL nothing like it. It truly is a masterpiece.
Nook @ May 18th 2009 5:27PM
Well, my VC load is officially blown. What now?
I got this game in 2000, for $100, I never finished it and before I could I let a friend borrow it and never got it back.
A few years later I bought a used copy for $45, I played all the way to the end and for some reason thought I was missing alot of masks to complete the game - never finished it and traded it in.
Then I got the Collectors Disk and I tried playing it, but it kept freezing during map changes.
Today I got it again, this time for $10. Hopefully now I'll be able to complete the game.
While I am not a big fan of the save system...maybe the cube version has me gun shy - the game is fun - I plan on completing it fully. I'm a happy panda, but what now?
Genome4824 @ May 18th 2009 5:45PM
not very nice to make fun of ppl who like MM more :P
Both OoT and MM together make the best game of all time it's the same game far as im concerned heh
Shadow31 @ May 18th 2009 6:03PM
Lies! While Ocarina of Time is clearly the greatest game of all time, Majora's Mask is far superior and should never be grouped with such an amateur's game as OoT! Without MM, OoT would not be where it is today! After all, Termina is the parallel to Hyrule, and so with no Termina, Hyrule would be torn asunder because of the lack of balance needed to for Zelda universe to function! Even an Octorok can understand that!
S. Tiger @ Jun 6th 2009 5:21PM
Dood, Wind Waker is the best Zelda of all time.
Leish @ May 18th 2009 5:54PM
A friend gave this game to me a few years back, but I was never able to play it because I never had an expansion pack. Now I am able to play it, but I'd rather play it with my N64 controller (nothing quite like that controller). Not sure if I'll get this just because I don't want to use my Gamecube controller for it...
Cesaria @ May 18th 2009 6:41PM
This may solve your problems:
http://wii.ign.com/articles/983/983231p1.html
Drahken @ May 18th 2009 5:59PM
Definitely the second best Zelda game (As I've said a million time, Wind Waker is an complete masterpiece). I absolutely love the Groundhogs Day shtick. When you go through so much time and effort to reunite Keifi and Anju, then you go back in time and they're right back to where they were and don't know you from Adam, it's so sad. And skulking about Ikana Canyon always fills me with this sense of foreboding and dread. It's great when a game can actually make you feel something like that.
Sstavix @ May 18th 2009 6:07PM
I've never played either game. My video game therapist recommends that I rectify this as soon as I'm finished with my current "atonement" - to finish Metroid Prime 2: Echoes for the first time.
I do have a question for those Zelda veterans, though (and no, it's not "which one is the better game?"). I suspect I already know the answer, but should one be played before the other? In other words, do I have to play OoT before playing MM in order to really enjoy the story, or does it matter?
milan @ May 18th 2009 6:19PM
As someone who completed both games on my N64..
Playing OoT after playing through MM would feel like a downgrade, because it starts off much simpler and slower. And playing through MM before playing through OoT would feel perhaps a little overwhelming and annoying at times. But ultimately, it isn't necessary to play one before the other, it just makes the whole experience more enjoyable to play them in order.
in my opinion!
Josh @ May 18th 2009 6:34PM
It doesn't matter which one you play first. And you could just play one of them if you wanted to.
I'd say pick the one that appeals or jumps out to you best.
But OoT is more 'Zelda-like' than MM. MM does a lot of cool stuff and doesn't fit the traditional Zelda mold as closely as OoT does, but that doesn't make it any worse.
They're both excellent games.
eldee @ May 24th 2009 4:08PM
i'd recommend playing OOT first, there are some minor things in MM that make a lot more sense after experiencing OOT, and you'll have a more complete game that way. But you could honestly play them in any order.
Josh @ May 18th 2009 6:30PM
I can't stand people who fight (fight!) over Zelda games.
They're all fucking good.
Nook @ May 18th 2009 6:35PM
Yeah! All of them are good except the CDi ones and 2!!!!
Josh @ May 18th 2009 6:40PM
No, they're actually all good (the CDi ones don't count), though having your preferences is fine.
Just don't fight over them.
Drahken @ May 19th 2009 8:57PM
It's true. The CDi games aren't officially considered part of the Zelda series, even by Nintendo. ESPECIALLY by Nintendo.
Sstavix @ May 18th 2009 6:58PM
Thanks for the advice. I hope to be able to play both, eventually. Even though I've only played two of the Zelda games ("A Link to the Past" for the SNES and then, much more recently, "Twilight Princess"), I've quite enjoyed them so far!
I presume OoT is available through the Virtual Console?
Highlar @ May 19th 2009 11:54AM
Yup, OoT has been out on VC for a while now.
Cyber-Tyrant @ May 18th 2009 7:34PM
This news doesn't interest me considering I have the collection.
eldee @ May 24th 2009 4:05PM
Yet you took the time to post!
Guess what- your opinion doesn't interest us because it has no relevance. Kinda cancels everything out, doesn't it?
Engerz @ May 18th 2009 7:47PM
I'm wondering if they fixed the sound and menu lag issue it had with the Collection disc. Or just wondering if it was only present there due to it being on a disc.
Either way, downloading at the speed of light!
Covarr @ May 18th 2009 7:48PM
How smoothly and crashlessly does this version run in comparison to the Collector's Edition version on the GC?
CJLopez @ May 19th 2009 12:30PM
as smooth and crashlessly ad the n64 version was!!!
Matias @ May 18th 2009 8:56PM
I still like OoT more, because it was so important and special to me. It has sort of a fixed 1st place in my fav games list.
But MM is also one of my favourite games, and maybe the third on my list of fav zelda games (second is LA).
KaBob799 @ May 18th 2009 9:13PM
Majoras Mask was fun, the time gets a bit annoying but other than that its got cool bosses, neat items, and a ton of fun gameplay. Wind Waker is still my favorite though =p
hylianpsy @ May 18th 2009 10:24PM
Majora's Mask > The Wind Waker > Link's Awakening
Is it odd that none of my top 3 favorite Zelda games take place in Hyrule?
For me, it has a lot to do with the fact that each of those games are building off of either a character or a story with a well established legacy. MM and TWW have OoT. LA has... well, take your pick (ALttP for me).
It's kind of like Pokemon. GSC wouldn't be considered by many to be the greatest generation if it weren't for them building off of RBY.
Covarr @ May 18th 2009 11:13PM
"It's kind of like Pokemon. GSC wouldn't be considered by many to be the greatest generation if it weren't for them building off of RBY."
They also wouldn't be considered by many to be the greatest if RSE didn't have crap worldmap design, bland music, and uninspired new Pokémon. The GBA generation was quite innovative in many ways, it was just a few things that they screwed up that caused people to not like them as much.
CJLopez @ May 19th 2009 12:33PM
Are you sure you had played Wind Waker???
That one takes place on a flooded Hyrule. I hadn't played the game yet but it takes place on Hyrule.
darkaura @ May 22nd 2009 7:54PM
Technically The Wind Waker does take place in Hyrule. In fact The Great Sea is a flooded Hyrule.
MrTyzik @ May 18th 2009 10:32PM
Loved both games, but (and I feel bad saying it because OoT is awesome) the time manipulation/puzzles in MM pushes it just a tiny bit above for me.
Lucas @ May 18th 2009 11:48PM
that game gave me nightmares... that mask is so freaky, and the final boss in it's three forms *shudder*
buffalo_aaa @ May 19th 2009 1:33AM
Its funny that Nintendo decided to release the most depressing game ever made for a celebratory milestone.
That was the thing about this game that I found I liked more than OoT; it was depressing and full of trauma. The world is on the brink of destruction, everywhere you look people are heartbroken and scared. They were able to take the same old NPC and turn them into a living, breathing world. Take that for what its worth; they all rule (even the brutally hard 2).
Anti-Villian @ May 19th 2009 2:30AM
I have never played Zelda, people seem to like this game so I might give it a go but my expectations arn't all that high, I'm not interested in it at all am am only considering picking it up because so many people love it. but then, a lot of people love star trek...
Daryl @ May 19th 2009 8:31AM
Ha, MM is definatley my favorite Zelda but I enjoyed everyone except for the latest one on the DS which I only moderately enjoyed.
neojedi17 @ May 19th 2009 12:38PM
I'm really sickened by the tone of the person reviewing the game in the video. This is the most haunting, beautiful, amazing Zelda ever, and he talks about it as if it were some mediocre spin off. What a douchebag
Andy G @ May 19th 2009 2:24PM
Ah, nostalgia.
In my opinion, nintendo should make the next zelda game using the N64 graphics style just for the sake of nostalgia.
Andy G @ May 19th 2009 2:29PM
Oh, and to all of you who have never played this and are thinking of purchasing the VC title, I recommend getting an N64 and playing it on that. The N64 controller just seems right with this game.
Dv8thwonder @ May 21st 2009 4:56PM
read Ceseria's post
eldee @ May 24th 2009 4:01PM
OOT was awesome, I just replayed again last week (odd coincidence, i know)- and I'm playing through Majora's Mask again this week.
However- being able to look back, being an owner of the n64 when it first came out, a lot of OOT's popularity is the ground it broke and the precedent it set. It is truly a monumental game, and deserves it's #1 spot on metacritic. But compared to MM, it lacks any real depth. It's incredibly linear, and aside from the heart pieces, there's not much else to do other than complete the game. There's no real character development, other than the Shiek/Link relationship, you don't ever really get to know the different races of Hyrule.
In Majora's Mask it's more of a character study, with a lot of depth. You meet and talk to all of the different races, and via the masks even get to walk a mile in their shoes and talk to them as the same race.
That said, I have always viewed Majora's Mask as a continuation of OOT, because some of the stuff makes a LOT more sense after you've played OOT (such as the happy mask guy, business scrubs, even the ocarina itself). Personally, I think they should package them together as a single game and Majora's Mask would be the "Second Quest". Maybe give the old gfx engine an overhaul while they're at it, make it look as awesome as Twilight Princess did :)
Nicholas @ May 24th 2009 4:22PM
I agree with Eldee. Ocarina of Time was only considered the best of the best because it was the first of its kind. The game mastered 3D gaming, which no one dared try for fear of messing up. Majora's Mask had much more depth than its predecessor, therefore I claim it to be better.
Tim @ May 26th 2009 8:06PM
It's odd for me. I believe Majora's Mask to be the better game in almost every possible way, but OOT has a more special place in my heart, right between Age of Empires and Golden Sun
CaveDan @ Jun 12th 2009 11:06AM
Ocarina is for the masses.
MM is for the intelligent masses.
Kudos to those who've had the honor of playing as Oni Link, it wasn't an easy thing to do. I still look back at this title and shake my head at all of the time it has consumed. At least I still have the gold cartridge with the holographic logo and not just a downloaded bit of information, I suppose. :p