The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D picks up shortly after the adventure presented in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The hero of time, Link, is traveling through the woods one day when the mysterious Skull Kid appears and transports the game's protagonist to the world of Termina. Link soon learns the planet is on the brink of destruction with a massive moon scheduled to crash into Termina in just three days time. The tale is full of great and original ideas, and the parallel universe shares enough similarities to be considered a twisted version of Hyrule while maintaining enough unique features to stand completely on its own.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D utilizes many of the same features that has made The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time widely regarded as the best game of all-time, despite the game's age. Link will explore dungeons and complete side quests in order to gain new items and equipment needed to progress through the story and eventually save Termina from total destruction. Part of Link's inventory will include all new masks that change Link's form and grant him new powers. There are 24 masks in total including the three major masks used brilliantly to design puzzles for the dungeons throughout the game. Locating and acquiring the different masks is a large part of what makes The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D such an interesting and entertaining release all these years later.
Nintendo opted to go with quality over quantity in level design for The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D only includes four major dungeons, the fewest in any game in The Legend of Zelda franchise, and players will be forced to complete each level in a certain amount of time. The timer really amps up the intensity and can make for some tense and satisfying boss battles while players attempt to learn boss patterns and ways to damage the giant enemies before time runs out. Despite only having four major dungeons, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D manages to include some of the most intriguing levels and enemies in the great franchise.
Nintendo 3DS systems allow players to enjoy all new features for the classic game. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D includes improved graphics that smoothes over rough pixels and helps the game look the best it ever has, while 3D improvements make certain encounters with the game's bizarre characters even more memorable. The new Bomber's Notebook is somewhat useful for keeping track of important moments in time that certain events will occur or when characters will arrive at a desired location, but the interface is clunky and difficult to make use of. Likewise, navigating in-game menus to learn more about the characters that live in the world of Termina is difficult to sort and search through, though there is some interesting information for players that would seek it out.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D also includes new controls that are best experienced on Nintendo 3DS XL. The system allows players to use all new face tracking technology to easily look around the world of Termina to find new locations to be reached or aim at key items needed to solve puzzles. New controls also allow players to easily scan the area with the C-stick as well to better views of Link's surroundings. Players will also enjoy the new ability to more easily travel through time or save the game and pick up later without losing any progress.
The game's improved graphics and overhauled controls are some of the biggest improvements made to The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D's presentation, but an all-time great soundtrack is present in the game as well. The great Nintendo composer Koji Kondo crafted this soundtrack 15 years ago, and it still evokes strong emotions from fans of the series all these years later. Learning to play the different songs to pass through time is still a blast as well, and the fishing mini-game provides a frustratingly enjoyable experience as always.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D takes players back to the year 2000 with an improved version of an all-time great game. The title offers great puzzles and dungeons for one of the gaming world's greatest franchises. A few control issues still persist in the remake, and some in-game menus can be nearly impossible to make completely useful, but there isn't anything in the remake that will keep players from wanting to relive this classic title or enjoy the game for the first time for newcomers. Take a bizarre trip to Termina in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D exclusively for Nintendo 3DS today.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D is now available exclusively for Nintendo 3DS and can be purchased for $39.99. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D is rated E by the ESRB for Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence & Suggestive Themes. For more information on the game, check out the official The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D website.
Game Features:
- Single Player
- Relive Nintendo 64 Classic
- 72-Hour Day and Night Cycle
- 3D Stereoscopic Graphics
- New In-Game Menus and Character Information
Game Information:
Developer & Publisher: Nintendo
Available exclusively for Nintendo 3DS (reviewed)
Release Date: February 13, 2015