IGN Article: Why Majora’s Mask is the Best Zelda Game

Majora’s Mask has proven to be a fan favorite among many players over the years, with the anticipation of the upcoming release of Majora’s Mask 3D many fans are getting more than a little nostalgic for their favorite title. Well another fan IGN writer Collin Moriarty has recently posted an article titled Why Majora’s Mask is the Best Zelda Game where he covers just how he believes it is superior to all others in the series.

Jump inside to check it out for yourself.

It didn’t take me long to realize that Majora’s Mask was something truly special. Yes, Ocarina of Time was undeniably revolutionary, just like Mario 64 was, but in both cases, I actually loved their SNES counterparts best (A Link to the Past and Super Mario World, respectively). Majora’s Mask quickly began pushing A Link to the Past off of its pedestal in my brain with its dedication to direness and, above all, else, its incredible feeling of imminence. It had what Ocarina of Time lacked; that special something that made it much more than just Zelda in 3D. Majora’s Mask consisted of one new idea after another, even if it looked and felt like Ocarina of Time, running in an enhanced state due to Nintendo 64’s peculiar expansion pack.

Majora’s Mask didn’t — and still doesn’t — fit snuggly (or even loosely) in the franchise’s trajectory. The beauty of playing the NES’ two Zelda titles, A Link to the Past, Link’s Awakening, or even Ocarina of Time was that you could see and do things at your own pace. You could crank through their campaigns with few heart containers and a bare bones inventory, or you could walk around in a meticulous and plodding fashion, burning every bush you encountered and bombing every wall you reached. There was no rush. The next dungeon, the next item, the next weapon were always there waiting for you, whether you got there in 10 minutes, an hour, or a day. No one in-game cared when or how you got there, and nothing changed based on your timing.

Majora’s Mask boldly removed that feeling of safety and leisure. No longer were you in Hyrule. Now, you were in Termina, and there’s a real problem there: the moon is crashing towards the planet, and you only have three days to figure out how to stop it. Time never stops moving in Majora’s Mask, and neither does the never ending need to keep trekking forward, solving problems and puzzles, and understanding that ultimately, you won’t fit everything into a three day period. You can’t. That’s part of the fun. Before long, the Song of Time would have to come in and save your hide. “Did I get enough done? Did I do what I had to do?” Those were the questions every Majora’s Mask fan asked him or herself while being swept back to moment one.

This is where Majora’s Mask true, undeniable brilliance comes into play. You’re going to run out of time, not once or twice, but over and over again. You can manipulate time and slow it down, but you can never stop it from moving forward. The idea isn’t to travel around Termina like you would Hyrule; the idea is to do what you can before resetting time and trying again, watching as some of your actions end up with permanency in a constantly replayed world. It’s about extracting every movement and action out of every second. Termina’s three days-’til-apocalypse translates into about an hour of game time in Majora’s Mask, giving players precious little room to maneuver, accompanied by a low tolerance for errors or, worse yet, time not utilized to its fullest.

You can read the complete article here

I thought this was a pretty interesting first hand account, he does cover quite a few angles. He does get very nostalgic in the article here which I am sure had a lot of sway in his opinion. However he does make quite a few good points overall and this was genuinely a good read.

Check out the full article, and let us know your thoughts in the comments!

Source: IGN