A darker, more singular follow-up to Ocarina of Time. Three days looping endlessly to save Termina, forty-two masks with astonishing powers, dungeons tighter but brilliantly designed. A Zelda of rare melancholy, more demanding and more mysterious than its predecessor, rightly cult.
Your verdict
Category
Action Adventure1 player12+
Description
Sequel to Ocarina of Time casting Link in a repeating three-day lunar apocalypse within the doomed world of Termina. Published by Nintendo, released in 2000 in Europe and North America. Unique time-travel mechanics, forty-two masks with varied effects, inventive dungeons, and a melancholic atmosphere.
Legend of Zelda, The - Majora's Mask review
MAX
Art direction
★★★★★
"Iconic"
MAX
Music
★★★★★
"Legendary"
MAX
Story
★★★★★
"Masterful"
Termina rendered in dark hues, beneath the menacing shadow of a leering moon: the heavy, dreamlike atmosphere radically contrasts with the rest of the saga. The transformation through masks and the countdown feed a singular dread. This twilight mood, strange and spellbinding, remains one of the most striking in Zelda.
Between dread and melancholy, Koji Kondo's music makes the moon's threat loom over Clock Town with rare evocative power. Anxious themes, the countdown waltz and ocarina melodies weave a strange, poignant atmosphere. This sonic singularity remains one of the most striking in the saga.
Three endless days, a looming moon and a doomed world: seldom has an adventure been so anxious and melancholy. Behind each mask one senses a grief, a regret, a life on borrowed time. Strangely adult for its era, this parable of time and loss keeps haunting those who explore it.
Gameplay
"Masterful"
Everything revolves around a three-day cycle replayed over and over, where you reorganise your actions to the minute while the masks transform Link and his abilities. This bold clockwork delivers a dense adventure where every detour counts. More demanding than most, it rewards ingenuity and remains one of Nintendo's most original game structures.
Fun
"Pleasant"
Addictiveness
"Obsessive"
Reliving the same three-day cycle over and over to untangle the fates of a doomed town creates a singular urgency in which every loop reveals one more secret. Collecting masks and unlocking new paths makes you dive straight back in. Managing the clock can grate, but this inventive melancholy holds a rare and tenacious grip.
Nintendo North American April 2000 pressing, shipped in a gold-tinted cartridge with an exclusive holographic label, one of the very few retail N64 cartridges to receive that finishing. The original box contains a printed quick guide, often lost in resale. The US cartridge is also remarkable for requiring a Memory Expansion Pak, included in the initial bundle. Authentication of the gold tint and hologram remains the central pricing checkpoint today.
Memorable bosses
Beneath a leering moon, four temple guardians — from Odolwa the dancer to the colossal Goht — each lock down a region, while the masks radically transform your approach to combat. The final foe, Majora, mutates into ever more disorienting forms. An oppressive atmosphere and an inventive bestiary give these duels a strangeness that clings to you long after.
A cult cover
Suspended in darkness, Majora's horned mask stares the player down with its venomous eyes while the moon looms in the distance: unease sets in before a single explanation. Sickly purples and an unsettling symmetry convey the nightmare smoldering in this singular entry. Disquieting and magnetic, it remains one of the saga's most disturbing images.
Is Legend of Zelda, The - Majora's Mask still worth playing in 2026?
Released in 2000 on Nintendo 64, Nintendo's project extends the Ocarina of Time engine into an adventure of unprecedented darkness and audacity, built on a three day time loop that Link replays endlessly to save a town threatened by the falling moon. The transformation mask mechanic, the melancholic writing and the intertwined fates of the residents make for an experience of rare emotional density. The management of time pressure and the demanding structure require real adjustment. A cult and singular work, recommended for fans of atypical adventure and of haunted storytelling.
