The Legend of Zelda series has been a staple in the gaming community for over 25 years now, and it’s come a long way. I, myself, have been a huge fan ever since I got my Nintendo 64 and Majora’s Mask for Christmas when I was little. My love of the series has only grown, and thanks to an awesome friend of mine, I am a proud owner of a Collector’s Edition copy of the Hyrule Historia. I bought my 3DS the day after Ocarina of Time 3D came out, just so I could play it. Zelda has (and always will be) my favorite series of games, so it’s no surprise that my favorite video game of all time is a Zelda game.
Majora’s Mask was not only the first game in the series that I had the chance to play; it’s my favorite. The three-day time limit, set by the quickly-falling moon that will crash into Clocktown at the end of the third day, made the game trickier than its predecessors. However, after you’ve played it once and you’ve learned the songs to slow down or skip through time, it becomes a lot easier.
The mask concept is also incredibly intriguing. As the game begins, the Skull Kid (wearing Majora’s Mask) has stolen your ocarina and turned you into a Deku Scrub. The Happy Mask Salesman strikes you a deal: get his mask back from the Skull Kid, and he’ll turn you back into a Hylian. You battle him at the end of the third day, get back your ocarina, and play the song of time to skip back to the beginning of the game. You play through those same three days again and again until you’ve beaten the various dungeons and are ready to take on the Skull Kid in a final showdown.
Over the course of the game you find more masks. After regaining Link’s normal appearance, you get the Deku Mask, allowing you to shift back and forth between the two forms at will. This allows you to use a wider range of abilities specific to each form. You also end up with a Goron Mask and a Zora Mask. Other masks in the game are simply worn and grant you different abilities. For example, the Blast Mask lets you blow things up, like you would with a bomb, and the Bunny Hood allows you to move much faster than normal.
There are also trading quests, side quests, and a whole range of adventures to be had. There’s so much to do and experience in the game, that you’re never bored. All in all, Majora’s Mask is the best game I’ve ever played.
