The new Zelda game has just been revealed, so I thought I might as well write up a column as the inner Zelda fanboy inside of me begins to erupt. Rather than focusing on Zelda’s very cloudy future, I want to focus on its past. Whenever you ask a group of Zelda fans what their favorite Zelda game is, it’s rare to get a conversation that doesn’t go down looking something like this:

“Hey guys, what’s your favorite Zelda game?”

“Ocarina of Time, duh!”

“Yeah dude, are you stupid? Ocarina of Time!”

“Why the hell are you asking us this? Ocarina, dumbass.”

“Umm .. The Wind Waker?”

“The Wind Waker? You liked the frickin’ Wind Waker?! Do you also like slitting your wrists with pencils?”

[indiscernible gibberish that goes on about how much sailing sucked]

“If you were wondering why people hate you, it’s because you say crap like that.”

Me: Majora’s Mask.

By this point, the group is too busy cleaning up the shit they just took in their pants to respond with any rational thought (including the one dude who said The Wind Waker). But it’s true: I don’t believe Ocarina of Time is the best Zelda game ever. Not that I’m here to convince you otherwise (relax kids: Ocarina just so happens to be my second favorite game of all time), but only here to explain why I feel that Nintendo did it better two years later.

Let’s get something out in the open first: Majora’s Mask is my personal favorite video game, ever. I know, not a popular pick like Half-Life 2, Super Mario Bros, or Final Fantasy VII. How dare I. The game struck such a deep chord that it’s impossible for me not to stack all other adventure games I play against it. Unfortunately, Majora’s Mask is often unfairly neglected when analyzing the annals of gaming, and that is a shame. A game like Majora just doesn’t get cast aside for no reason: it was released between generations while being in the shadow of one of the greatest games of all-time. That’s like breaking the legs of a high school track star before racing him against Usain Bolt.

Another thing damaging Majora was the gameplay expectations placed upon it. People wanted more of Ocarina, but Nintendo, fearing the that Ocarina would grow stale over time, didn’t give it to them. They gave them Majora’s Mask instead: a radically different Zelda experience. This change was too much to stomach for some gamers and journalists. But the game’s mixed initial reception (well, at least compared to that of Ocarina’s) still doesn’t change the truth that most reviewers couldn’t then see: Majora’s Mask was a forerunner in the open world genre, a game that was ahead of its time in so many ways that it’s still safe to call it the most up to date Zelda game ten years after its release. If you disagree with that, then at the very least you cannot deny this: it is by far one of the most unique games ever crafted. And one of the most underrated.

The Game’s Clock of Death

When first playing Majora’s Mask, one expects the game’s impending three-day long doomsday clock to disappear after completing the game’s one hour long introduction. But it doesn’t go away: death stays around the corner for the entire course of the game. This Stephen Baldwin like experience is unlike anything else seen in gaming. As each hour passes, the fear of Armageddon slowly ravishes the entire world; from the depressing tunes of the game’s music to the growing dreariness of the character’s dialogue. But the greatest gifts the clock offers are the ingenious gameplay mechanics that come with it.

The hardest part of creating a real-life virtual world is the idea of character growth. Developers just can’t seem to understand that it’s impossible to develop characters that grow old, lose jobs, and experience the ups and downs of a normal everyday existence. Peter Molyneux is still in denial of this fact.  But this is where the true genius of Majora’s Mask shines through. Rather than having an infinite game life, Nintendo realized the best way to create a breathing world is to have a limit to it. So for three days, you get to see how a world and its civilians would live. Each character in this game has a schedule: a place to sleep, a time to eat, a time to relax, a time to work, a time to rob, a time to fight, a time to play, a time for a giant toilet hand to grab your ass, a time to jack off (okay, I made that up), a time for everything. It’s a schedule that feels so real that it can immerse any gamer entirely into its world. Most importantly, based on what quests and actions you perform in each three day cycle, characters’ dialogue and actions  change, making the world feel wonderfully organic. In my opinion, it’s one of the most organic worlds designed in all of video gaming to this day. Considering its time, Majora’s Mask is an even greater triumph.

A Truly Open World

Most people credit Ocarina of Time with perfecting the 3D open world, but with a barren landscape, few meaty sidequests, and little to no exploration, it’s hard to really see any truth in that statement. It’s like complimenting an empty wine bottle for perfecting red wine.  Majora’s Mask took the structure of Ocarina of Time and implemented it in such a way that it felt like a living, breathing world. There were numerous towns with characters and sidequests to keep yourself entertained, as well as enough of an open feel that exploration would never get boring. Because such an emphasis was put on exploring Termina, Majora was not the typical dungeon raiding Zelda affair. Out of the game’s forty hours, a grand total of 8-10 are spent in dungeons (compared to Twilight Princess’ monotonous forty).

But most importantly, the game’s openness was done right. Sure, is there a set order to visiting each locale? Yes. But with Clock Town being at the center of everything, you got to experience much more of the world in an order that never felt binding. Sidequests could range from lasting one to two days, to lasting as long as a dungeon. It is this variety in length and gameplay that made Termina feel more alive than some modern open world games.

The Villain

Ganondorf is a passable villain at best. He does his job well enough, like a cheap stripper or someone working at Macy’s. He’s the cliche one-dimensional power-thirsty antagonist with no real character development. But stereotypes have huge holes: a giant cape-wearing green dude is hard to relate to. Sure, he plays a mean organ, but besides that, there is no emotional leftovers a gamer can take away from him.

There are three separate forces playing the role of the villain in Majora’s Mask; all of which eafect the player differently. The Skull Kid represents an emotional connection. You can feel the Skull Kid’s pain as his story begins to unravel, and his tragic nature settles with you the more and more you play the game. Majora, the game’s primary villain, horrifies and disgusts you with its surreal mannerisms and relentless bloodlust. It’s representation as a deranged child near the game’s end is stomach-turning. But most importantly, the always visible grimace in the sky, the Moon, is the true villain of Majora’s Mask. The Moon emits stress, fear, and destruction at a constantly growing rate, menacing the gamer and never holding up. It’s a ticking time bomb that never stops its path, and the Moon’s presence is felt at an unbearable level throughout the game. The amount of depth that is seen in the villainous side of Majora’s Mask is something not seen in most entertainment, let a lone a video game. It’s just another reason why Majora’s Mask stays with gamers like myself years after we first played it.

The Music

When we did our Top 15 Zelda songs article, Majora’s Mask dominated our minds. Standouts like theOath to Order, a power ballad which resonates a gamer’s need to be a hero, and Clock Town, a song that progressively grows darker and more manic as each day passes, have stayed with us for years. One song in particular, Last Day, perfectly showcases Majora’s Mask’s soul in two minutes.

But the real showstopper, a song that we rated the best Zelda song of all time (and quite possibly, the most powerful in all of video game composition) is the Song of Healing, a hauntingly soothing melody that plays at the game’s most heart wrenching segments. It’s a song people don’t expect to hear from a Zelda game, but every time it plays, it captures them in its spell. Koji Kondo created something special with Ocarina of Time, but Majora’s Mask’s soundtrack puts gamers on an emotional journey games rarely put you through.

Just How Refreshingly Unique the Game Was

After playing such a fine tuned experience like Ocarina of Time, a huge shot in the dark like Majora’s Mask was not wanted. People wanted more traditional Zelda. Nintendo has a nasty habit of not listening to their fanbase (“Gamers don’t want online gaming.”), but occasionally, not listening is a good thing. Case in point: Majora’s Mask. While using the same engine, character designs, and gameplay controls, Majora flipped Ocarina of Time on its head in every single way.

From a pure story perspective, Majora’s Mask is a very, very dark game. From the emotionally tortured villain, the numerous deaths of many loved ones, the depth of distraught tertiary characters, to the constant threat of destruction, the game can put a stress on any gamer’s heart (well, unless you’re a jackass). In essence, it was a beautifully depressing game. Zelda games aren’t supposed to be depressing. Save the princess, save the world, pat yourself on the back. But Majora isn’t like that: it keeps you attached long after the final credits roll (and what a beautiful ending credits the game has), allowing it to become an emotionally spellbinding experience.

But past the story and atmosphere of the game, the games also possesses new gameplay features. For one, the emphasis on sidequests creates an experience that feels far more open than any other Zelda game, and adds a variety rarely seen in any game. Added on top of that is the bevy of masks that alter the way the game is played. Being able to play as Goron, Zora and Deku Link completely changes the manner you go about solving the game’s puzzles and exploring the game’s towns. The subtle differences by which characters recognize your transformed self are so perfectly subtle that you begin to forget you are the Hero of Time in the first place.

A Melancholy Moment

In Majora’s Mask, you don’t open as a young boy growing up in a small town, waiting for disaster to strike. Instead, you open the game as a Deku shrub after being transformed by the Majora-possessed Skull Kid. Immediately afterwards you see a deformed tree, which looks somewhat like your new Deku self. It’s certainly a weird tree, but you past as if it has no significance, never to see it again for the rest of the adventure. It’s not until the game’s credits that the true nature of this tree is revealed: it is the remains of a Deku child who Majora murdered to possess you. But it’s not so much this information that jerks tears out of your eyes, but rather how it is presented. The Deku shrub’s father looks over the tree remains on its knees, sobbing over the loss of his child. It’s just a small example of how beautifully depressing this game can be, and how it takes full grip of your emotions with its unforgiving, melancholy nature.

But I guess that’s the real reason why Majora’s Mask is such a standout in my mind. It’s a relentlessly deep, heart-wrenching, immersive experience. Amongst Zelda fans, the “new” is often feared and scolded at first glance. All you have to do is recall the initial response to The Wind Waker’s cel-shading design to remember how quickly the new gets attacked amongst the Zelda community. But fortunately, it appears Majora is finally gaining the legacy it has longed deserved. Since Twilight Princess’ release, numerous Nintendo representatives, including Eiji Aonuma, Saturo Iwata and Miyamoto themselves, have pointed at Majora’s Mask as a game they have looked towards for inspiration when developing not only future Zelda games, but other games for other franchises as well. It’s information like this which has me truly excited for Skyward Sword, and hopefully I will be able to Majora’s influence in future Zelda games.

***For more Nintendo rants, musings, and lists, check back every Monday for another edition of The Nintendo Dude.***