Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata reckons that often-overlooked N64 Zelda quest, Majora's Mask, was a "turning point" for Nintendo, and an early glimpse at games of the future.
Speaking in Nintendo's latest Iwata Asks inteview,Zelda top man Eiji Aonuma explains that the game's compact world was the result of a harsh one-year development cycle plan.
"The 'Three-Day System', the idea of a compact world to be played over and over again, came down from Miyamoto-san and one other director, (Yoshiaki) Koizumi-san," explained Aonuma. "We added that to the mix, and then, finally, we saw the full substance of a The Legend of Zelda game we could make in one year."
Iwata went on to add: "Actually, I feel as though, back then, we were given a glimpse of the concept that 'Deep, compact play is one form of the games of the future'. I think in that sense, as a product, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask was a big turning point for Nintendo."
We too, want to see the series' darkest game mentioned more in Best Game Ever lists. Just buy it on Virtual Console to see why.
never played it, but hear it was amazing. i have to admit i never bothered finishing wind waker either, i hate kid link. much prefer his adult version. speaking of which, the new game better not go the same route as those 2.
Great game but a glimpse of the future? I don't see it. Surely games such as Galaxy and the Zeldas that followed have gone in the opposite direction and became more expansive.
never played it, but hear it was amazing. i have to admit i never bothered finishing wind waker either, i hate kid link. much prefer his adult version. speaking of which, the new game better not go the same route as those 2.
Why the hell not. Wind Waker had the grisliest Gannon Death scene of any zelda. Link literally drives the master sword straight into his skull,
while as majora's mask was definately the darkest and most sinister entry in the series.
I think they're both hugely under rated. Ocarina got all the praise but in terms of graphical design windwaker is hands down the highlight of the series and one that will stand the test of time a lot better than any other iteration of the series.
I'm hoping he doesn't just mean compact and short, one of the thing's I love about mm is the sheer amount of inventive sidequests and upgrades, there were far more secret nooks and crannys to find in mm then tp, combine that with some of the best dungeon design in the Zelda series and you've got a Winner.
Great game but a glimpse of the future? I don't see it. Surely games such as Galaxy and the Zeldas that followed have gone in the opposite direction and became more expansive.
Yup, developers and gamers these days just seem to be making as big open worlds as possible (Fallout 3, Borderlands, GTA IV etc.) and I see a lot of gamers whinging when a good game comes along that doesn't have that much freedom when players feel like it should (like Mirror's Edge for example), even though in the past gamers would of been happy with what they were given
But yeah, I think what he means is a sort of cross between closed and open worlds: small world with lots to do. In a way to stop you having to travel so much and still not get bored due to lack of options.
I still can't work out exactly what he means. I'm assuming he means the creation of a vastly detailed world that can be explored multiple times. As opposed to linear adventures where once a part of the game is done there's no need to re-explore that area.
i thought he actually meant the 3 day cycle where each person in the world lived out their lives independently.
the characters where far more alive than anything in ocarina(or most games since tbh).
you'd see people change over the course of the game: the belligerent town guards being reduced to quaking fools by the night of the 3rd day as the npc's tried to come to terms with termina's,and their own,impending demise.
i'd still say ocarina and alttp are better but this is up there.
The game had some highlights. The end of the Anju and Kafei side quest certainly was an strong emotional moment and almost brought a tear to the eye. But it was annoying that when you went back to day 1 everything in the world had been reset (except items you collected), meaning you had to fight some bosses more than once and so on.
Copyright 2006 - 2009 Future Publishing Limited, Beauford Court, 30 Monmouth Street, Bath, UK BA1 2BW England and Wales company registration number 2008885
