Operation Moonfall: Why Majora’s Mask Deserves Remake Status
Posted on August 23 2011 by Alex Plant
A couple weeks ago we delivered a response to a video blog post by Zelda Dungeon’s Axle the Beast which explained why he’s against Operation Moonfall, the fan movement for Nintendo to produce a Majora’s Mask equivalent of Ocarina of Time 3D on the 3DS. And this past Saturday Axle came back with his own reply.
By now my fan-love for Majora’s Mask is legendary around these parts, so you can be sure I have some opinions on what he had to say. One of his most resounding points is that everything Majora’s Mask 3D seeks to accomplish would be just as well fulfilled by a Majora’s Mask Virtual Console-style port, but I’m not so sure that avenue is even a possibility on the 3DS. Anybody else think this doesn’t really make sense?
All right, so a good bit of this video (up through about the 5:15 mark) is dedicated to discussing what constitutes a remake and what constitutes a port or re-release. I’m not particularly interested in that side of the discussion – Axle even admits that it’s just a semantics argument – so let’s move past that and get right to the meat of it.
I don’t think Majora’s Mask 3D is the best use of resources since I don’t think it really matters a lot, it doesn’t change a lot, it doesn’t add a lot to the series or to anything. However, what it would add would be covered in a re-release or a port.
First of all, it’s an extension of Ocarina of Time, which is already on 3DS. If Ocarina of Time 3D is an experience that 3DS owners value, and I think the high rate of adoption among 3DS users shows this, then rounding out that experience with the original sequel makes perfect sense. It’s admittedly not an “important” part of the series in that it’s a side-story, but it’s still a continuation of Ocarina of Time‘s legacy.
If Majora’s Mask were to get a 3DS release, doing a straight port just doesn’t seem feasible…for two reasons. First of all, how would that even work? Ocarina of Time 3D had to build in new control features just to make the game playable without making any concessions to the original functionality. Sure, a Majora’s Mask port could drop one of the item slots (only the X and Y buttons are open for use), but by the time you’ve done that you’ve already altered the experience.
Second of all, a Majora’s Mask port that didn’t incorporate features from Ocarina of Time 3D would fail as an emulation of the original experience of the game. Majora’s Mask was designed to be essentially additional content for Ocarina of Time fans. The control scheme and graphical presentation was carried over so the game would be instantly accessible to Ocarina users. Anything but the same treatment for a 3DS edition of Majora’s Mask would be a slap in the face to what the game represents. Who wants to give up enhanced controls or updated graphics in a sequel?
Majora’s Mask was overshadowed by the other Zelda games released at the time: Ocarina of Time, the Oracle games, and The Wind Waker. That’s four games. If it was released right now, it would be overshadowed by Ocarina of Time 3D, Skyward Sword, and the inevitable upcoming games on Wii U and 3DS.
…Really? I don’t think there’s any real evidence for this. Ocarina of Time was the game’s predecessor, so the two never really directly competed. If anything, Ocarina of Time helped it out, since it was billed as a direct sequel. There’s no planet or reality where the Oracles games come even close to overshadowing Majora’s Mask in terms of hype or popularity -0 in America, both games combined still sold fewer total copies. And when Majora’s Mask was released Wind Waker hadn’t even been announced yet. If anything, Majora’s Mask was a victim of the sequel curse – essentially every direct same-platform sequel (with a few notable exceptions such as Sonic the Hedgehog 2) experiences a dip from its predecessor.
As for the current games – I don’t recall Majora’s Mask‘s Virtual Console port being especially hindered by the existence of Ocarina of Time on the service. Skyward Sword will be the big game this holiday for sure, but no one would really expect Majora’s Mask 3D to come anytime before the end of summer 2012 at the soonest, and by then the massive hype wave will have died down considerably. A potential Wii U game is still pretty far off given that Aonuma can’t even commit to an art style yet (not to mention Skyward Sword hasn’t even gone gold yet), although who knows if they’re already at work on a 3DS Zelda. If anything, the longer development cycles for 3DS and Wii U mean an enhanced remake will fill the void.
Besides, giving Grezzo some room to play with the Ocarina of Time 3D game engine with different content, items, and gameplay features will further build it up to the point that adapting it to all-new content will be a snap. While the core Zelda team works on assets, ideas, and so on, Grezzo can tweak the engine for Majora’s Mask, and then the two teams can come together to make something truly unique.
Axle also goes into a discussion about graphics. Yes, it’s true that graphics aren’t everything, and that the biggest Zelda fans aren’t really into that sort of thing, but that’s precisely why a graphical overhaul is necessary. It’s clear and obvious that Zelda‘s popularity in today’s gaming climate has been held back by its lack of cutting-edge graphics. Zelda games would have more fans if they had better graphics.
Just look at the widespread backlash to Wind Waker and subsequent renewed popularity of the series with Twilight Princess or the frequent overlooking of Skyward Sword in favor of this year’s HD prospects. Tens of thousands of gamers place pre-orders for the big budget offerings every week, while Skyward Sword‘s only garnered a few thousand at a time in recent weeks. There’s something clearly wrong with the series’ image right now (despite the consistent quality content), and one needs only a brief glimpse at the massive avalanche of praise levied towards the Wii U Zelda tech demo to see how excited people would get over a truly modern presentation for the series.
And besides, what’s this about no games really getting graphical overhauls? How many times has this happened for the original Final Fantasy? What about the HD remakes of the Ico series slated to arrive this fall? Remember Super Mario All-Stars, one of the most popular remakes of all time? Even the straight limited edition Wii port sold like hotcakes, despite each of the games in the collection being available on the Virtual Console, and is now one of the most valuable game collections ever released.
Nintendo knows that graphics are becoming increasingly important to remain competitive, since if people can’t see past the superficial they’ll never get to judge your content. Because of the celebrated status Ocarina of Time enjoys, it’s no surprise that the game got a graphical overhaul to extend the game to today’s gamers. Since Majora’s Mask has gained similar popularity among Zelda fans, as we’ve been seeing from the massive fan response to Operation Moonfall, it only makes sense for it to be held up alongside Ocarina 3D as a gloriously reborn classic.
So while Axle’s certainly entitled to his opinion, I’m equally entitled to simply not comprehend where he thinks he’s coming from. Sorry, dude, but I just don’t see how a Majora’s Mask remake doesn’t fit in, especially given that it’ll probably be a good long while until we see an original Zelda on either of Nintendo’s current platforms.
Source: Zelda Dungeon
