A Much Darker Story
The plot picked up where Ocarina finished, after Link had defeated Ganondorf, he went back in time to relive the childhood that he had lost by becoming the Hero of Time. Whilst searching for a missing friend with his horse, Epona, Link is ambushed in the Lost Woods by the Skull Kid, who is wearing a mysterious mask. The Skull Kid and the two fairies that accompany him then steal Link's Ocarina and ride off with his horse. As Link chases after his assailant, he stumbles upon a portal inside the hollow of a tree. After following the Skull Kid inside, he is transformed into a Deku Scrub by the malevolent imp. As the Skull Kid escapes, one of his fairies, Tatl, is seperated and has no choice but to ask Link for help. Link then meets another character from Ocarina of Time, the Happy Mask Salesman. He tells Link that he can change him back to his Hylian form if he can recover the Ocarina that was stolen, he also asks Link to retreive the mysterious mask that the Skull Kid was wearing - Majora's Mask.
Link then finds himself in the middle of a place called Clock Town, which is in the centre of the land known as Termina. The game starts three days before the town will hold a festival named the Carnival of Time. Link slowly discovers that disaster is looming after learning that the Moon is falling and, after three days, at the start of the carnival, the Moon will crash into Clock Town and destroy Termina.
When Link confronts the Skull Kid at the end of third day, he manages to reclaim his Ocarina. After doing so, Link plays the Song of Time to travel back to the beginning of the first day - an important gameplay mechanic used throughout the game. Link learns that to save Termina he must travel to four different temples and free the guardians that are imprisoned there.
However, Link only has three days to do this, meaning he has to keep travelling back in time to the first day in order to complete his mission. After freeing the four giants, Link halts the falling of the Moon, giving him the opportunity to fight not the Skull Kid, but the evil mask that had corrupted him.
The Passage of Time
Interestingly, the sequel to Ocarina of Time actually contained gameplay that related to the passage of time a lot more than it's predecessor did. In some aspects, the gameplay of Majora's Mask had many similarities to Ocarina (such as the fairly open exploration and most of the items, for example), but one of the major differences was the time limit imposed on the player. Link has only 72 (in-game) hours to defeat Majora, however, he can use his Ocarina and the Song of Time to manipulate the flow of time in order to aid his quest. By playing the same song in different ways - normally, backwards or by doubling the notes - Link can travel back to the first day, slow down or speed up time respectively, giving him time to complete both the main quest and also the numerous side quests. When travelling back in time, Link would retain most of the progress he had made, such as the items he had obtained and the guardians he had freed, but some aspects would start again as they did at the beginning of the game, such as the position of the Moon and the actions of Termina's other inhabitants, for example, making for some very interesting gameplay and challenging puzzles.
Another major device added to this game was the expansive collection of masks to collect throughout the game. In Ocarina of Time, there were only a few masks available to use, hardly any of which were essential to progressing the storyline. In Majora's Mask, there was a whole subscreen in the pause menu devoted to the masks that Link had collected, many of which had their own unique powers and were needed to advance in the game. For example, three of the masks Link needed to obtain were the Deku, Goron and Zora masks, which would turn link into a member of the respective species' when he put them on. This was another of the major gameplay additions - the ability to turn into a Goron, a Zora or a Deku Scrub, each with their own unique powers.
There were other new features added to Majora's Mask as well as the wide collection of face-wear. The Swords that Link could obtain were different from the three on offer in Ocarina, upgrading his primary weaponry would eventually result in Link being able to use the Gilded Sword, a golden blade that was extremely powerful. Some other new items included the Pictograph Box (a Camera) and the Powder Keg (an extremely powerful bomb).
An Atypical Zelda
What made this game so captivating had a fair amount to do with the way it was so different from other Zelda games. Some of this was not even down to the gameplay, however. The score of this game was a lot different to that of Ocarina of Time. In parts of this game, the music sounded so melancholy and foreboding, it reflected the storyline and pure evil of the games antagonist extremely well, the player could not help but be drawn in to this disturbing and mysterious universe and all of it's characters. Even when temples were completed, the soundtrack of the cutscenes of the guardians being freed from their imprisonments felt very bittersweet.
Another way in which this game was a departure from traditional Zelda gameplay was its difficulty. Some Zelda games, whilst extremely enjoyable, can be fairly easy to get through. Majora's Mask, however, with its time limit and unforving environments, was a game that was playable yet very challenging, even some of the sidequests were difficult to find, let alone complete.
Majora's Mask was re-released on the Gamecube as part of the The Legend of Zelda: Collectors Edition and subsequently was made available to download on the Wii's Virtual Console. After the re-release of Ocarina of Time for the 3DS, there has been an online campaign called 'Operation Moonfall' where fans have been attempting to convince those at Nintendo to develop a 3D version of it's sequel, proving the amount of appreciation for this game by Zelda fans. Personally, I would love to play this game again, especially in 3D, and I hope that this game does get another run-out, as long as it was not at the expense of a new handheld adventure.
