Click this image to see an archive of our Woodfall Dungeon livestream
Developer: Nintendo EAD Tokyo, Grezzo
Publisher: Nintendo
Genre: Adventure
Players: 1
Console: Nintendo 3DS
Hours Played: ~12 hours
In 2000 Nintendo released the original Majora’s Mask as a follow-up to their hugely successful original foray into the third dimension with Zelda, 1998’s Ocarina of Time. To this day those two games still stand in the eyes of many gamers as the magna opera of the Legend of Zelda series, and for very good reason. Majora’s Mask remains the darkest, most emotional and poignant game that Nintendo ever made and stands in stark contrast to the much safer and lighter fare that post-2006 “Grey Logo Nintendo” prefers to release. Such a rare and sentimental game to the Nintendo gaming community deserves an equally stellar update with modern graphics and mechanics, but does Majora’s Mask 3D (MM3D) pay proper tribute to the classic or did it meet with a terrible fate?
It’s been almost 4 years since the 3DS refresh of Ocarina of Time launched, so it seems likely that the developers were given more time with MM3D than they were when Majora’s Mask was originally developed. With increased development time comes increased expectations though, and with the Zelda fanbase already on high alert for the update of one of their dearest games a lot of weight was put on MM3D to be even better than the well-received Ocarina of Time 3D. What’s a little surprising coming from the modern Nintendo whose weak idea of edgy is the upcoming comic-styled Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. is that MM3D was handled with the utmost care and is an improvement on the original in just about every conceivable way.
The first updates you’re likely to notice in MM3D are of course the graphics and sound. While the sharp, angular and somewhat empty nature of Termina still remains in MM3D, everything from the textures to the geometry and design of items, environments, and characters have been reshaped and moulded into a game that someone new to Majora’s Mask would consider to be on par with any of the best-looking 3DS games out there (minus truly exceptional games like Resident Evil: Revelations and Metal Gear Solid 3D Snake Eater). After a decade and a half your memory of just how bad the original Majora’s Mask looks in comparison may have faded, so be sure to check out some older media to see just how stark the contrast really is. Just like in OoT3D, MM3D’s music has also been cleaned up for the more capable 3DS and really pops when you play wearing good quality headphones. The combined effect of the new graphics, clearer music, and stereoscopic 3D (if you can hold your hands still enough or are lucky enough to be in a country that doesn’t have to wait until this Friday to play on a New 3DS XL with its head-tracking 3D) is impressive indeed and not to be missed if you have even a passing interest in Zelda games.
MM3D’s refinements go well beyond a new coat of paint too. Pretty much all of Majora’s Mask’s most clunky features have been tuned up to make even the most trivial actions in the game more enjoyable. While there are literally dozens of tweaks both small and large in every aspect of the game, some of the best include the additional active item slots on the touchscreen like in OoT3D, the nicely updated time management including a clock that shows the in-game time to the minute and song updates that let you set the time to the nearest hour, the updated Bomber’s Notebook that keeps track of side-quests and lets you set alarms for things, a pair of new fishing holes where you can try to fish against the still-ticking 3-day clock and a vastly improved save system that makes all Owl and Feather statues proper save points in addition to more frequently available ones. It’s great to see that Nintendo was willing to go through the game will a fine-toothed come and tweak so many elements when it’s distanced itself so much from what made the game great back in the day.
So the game looks, sounds, and works better than we could have dreamed ? what more could we want? Well, MM3D also controls a lot better than its N64 counterpart thanks in no small part to the full camera controls made possible by either the Circle Pad Pro attachment on older 3DS systems or the C-Nub on the New 3DS. In our livestream archive linked to by the image at the top of the review you can see in practical terms just how much being able to look around on the go helps the overall feel of the gameplay time you spend with MM3D. In the more hectic action sequences like Deku Butler Chase for the Mask of Scents the extra camera control is invaluable.
Unlike a good number of the better-looking 3DS games of late, MM3D also loads quite quickly both on old and New 3DS systems, so from all practical standpoints MM3D is the most enjoyable and technically well-made 3DS games to date. Is there anything bad to say about MM3D? Personally, my only qualm with MM3D is not with the game itself but what it could have been. While I really enjoyed my time with the game, I can’t help feeling that a game as special as Majora’s Mask deserves even more than just a portable-sized update. It’s nice to have it on the move, but Majora’s Mask isn’t the kind of game you really play on the bus. More than 90% of my time spent with MM3D was solitary ? either on a couch or in bed late at night (I have no comment about whether or not some of this time was spent in more… intimate locations). As a time-centric game (and one of the only ones that I actually enjoy), MM3D demands a lot more of your attention than your average puzzle, mobile, or even platforming game, so it’s much more at home in the living room than on the train. What I really wish for is Nintendo to do some high-budget HD remakes of Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask and even Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword to go along with the stellar HD release of Wind Waker. The very first time I booted up our advanced review copy of Wind Waker HD I’m not afraid to admit that I started to cry. It was beautiful, and that feeling of awe doesn’t leave for a moment as you play through it. That’s the treatment that the other stellar 3D Zelda games really deserve, particularly Majora’s Mask. MM3D, while excellent in its own right, really just made me wish that I could play it with even better graphics at full 1080p on a huge TV. I hope Nintendo entertains the possibility of continuing to create full-featured HD console versions of its classic Zelda games, because these vibrant worlds deserve to be experienced in the best way technologically possible and I think that gamers are willing to pay for updates of classic games that are given this much care and refinement.
So, while it did leave me wanting for an even bigger HD update, MM3D is a superb update of the classic that tightens up just about every element of its gameplay and presentation. If you haven’t played Majora’s Mask since its original release like me it feels like a whole new game and if you’ve never tried the game out before you’re in for a mighty treat. Like Ocarina of Time 3D before it, but perhaps even more so, MM3D is a must-buy for 3DS owners both New and old. Termina is more enticing than it has ever been and there is more entertainment to be had in MM3D than in the majority of today’s portable games. Hopefully modern day Nintendo will see gamers’ hunger for more serious games through MM3D’s sales and consider making games with gravitas once more.
[taq_review]
An advance review code for this game was provided to us by its publishers.