The Legend of Zelda has given the world many gems over the years and everyone has their favorite. Whether you love the classic feeling of walking out your front door and embarking on an epic quest that comes with A Link to the Past or the beautiful cel-shaded cartoon humor that comes from The Wind Waker. If you're a fan of the series, you no doubt have a preference of which one sits at the top. And the series is so grand and wonderful that each entry could be argued as such, inspiring moments of awe swirling in your mind long after completion.

But there is a debate that has been raging within the Zelda fandom for years now. Which game is better: Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask? This is perhaps due to the fact that both of them were staples of the N64 library. Or that Majora's Mask is a direct follow up to Ocarina of Time, which doesn't happen too often in the franchise. Or it could be because they share the same character models, giving both games the same appearance while the inside contents are vastly different.

Majora's Mask was nowhere near as popular as its predecessor when it was released back in 2000. But the following behind it has been growing over the years. And they have been decreeing that Ocarina of Time is not, in fact, the pinnacle of Zelda's greatness. The evidence speaks for itself. Here are 20 ways Majora's Mask is better than Ocarina of Time, but 10 ways in which it isn't.

30 Better: The Masks

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There’s obviously nothing wrong with running around as Link, swinging your sword and solving puzzles. But in comparing the two games, the inclusion of masks gives Majora the upper hand when it comes to gameplay.

While there are many masks in the game that just serve as side quest items to unlock different things, there are a few that can change Link’s form. The Deku, Goron, and Zora masks all make Link control differently and have their own strengths and weaknesses. This makes for a lot more variety in how you explore areas and fight enemies.

29 Better: The Music

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While Ocarina does have some fantastic music, some of the best tracks like Zelda’s Lullaby and the Kakariko Village theme were carried over from A Link to the Past. And yes, Majora does feature some songs from Ocarina. But there are many original tracks that are some of the most powerful pieces of music the series has.

The haunting Song of Healing and the bustling Clock Town music (which changes from day to day) are strong standouts. There’s also the surprisingly catchy theme for Stone Tower and the theme for Woodfall Temple, which features sporadic, high-pitched chanting that still unnerves me.

28 Worse: Less Revolutionary

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Not only did Ocarina of Time do pretty much everything right, it was also the first game to accomplish what it did. It showed how to approach the action-adventure genre within a 3D space flawlessly, prompting others to follow suit. Without its ground-breaking targeting system, fighting enemies would have been very different.

In comparison, many things that make Majora’s Mask so wonderful are because Ocarina was such a triumph.

Ocarina’s success sent ripples throughout the gaming world, not just from a 3D perspective but from a storytelling one as well.

27 Better: Supporting Characters

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One of the most powerful contributing factors that makes the story of Majora’s Mask so special are the supporting characters. Most of them have their own flaws, fears, and desires.

You didn’t just want to stop the Skull Kid from destroying Clock Town; you wanted to make sure every single citizen was happy.

That was how layered all of them were, from the tortured romance of Anju and Kafei to the unbreakable sisterly bond of Romani and Cremia to the town Mayor. Many in Ocarina were simply there to fill space or point towards a goal.

26 Better: More Complex Story

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The supporting characters aren’t the only aspect that makes the story of Majora’s Mask so noteworthy. The overall themes like loneliness and loss make it much more intricate and profound than Ocarina.

Both games follow Link trying to save a world from certain doom, but Ocarina’s plot is a much more standard “good vs. bad” story.

Seeing how the actions of the Skull Kid have negatively affected the citizens in the town, as well as the surrounding areas, gives the game more depth and shows how every act of the villain has unique consequences depending on where you are.

25 Worse: The Scale

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Ocarina of Time epitomizes the feeling of taking on an epic quest in a giant world and did so better than many games that would be released long after it. The story may be simpler, but it lends itself better to that of a grand adventure. In fact, it makes you feel downright heroic.

There aren’t many heroic moments to be had in Majora’s Mask. Sure, you may accomplish a lot in one area. But then you’ll have to restart the three-day cycle, meaning that you collected what you needed but the people you helped were thrust back into despair.

24 Better: The Overworld

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The overworld is something we may take for granted now. Traveling through one can either be distractingly fun by offering secrets and hidden treasure, or it can be dull, testing our patience until we reach the next area.

At the time of release, Ocarina’s Hyrule Field may have seemed grand and exciting, but it’s actually rather empty outside of a few enemies.

Termina Field, however, is still fun to explore 18 years later. It’s divided into four sections, each which are representative of the environments in the larger areas you travel to. There are also many more secrets to find.

23 Better: The Side Quests

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Most of what you can do in Ocarina of Time is built into the main plot. There are two side quests, though they don’t really add much to the story itself.

About half of what you can do in Majora’s Mask is part of one side quest or another. This helps build up the surrounding environment and characters. Not only are there a lot more, but they’re all very unique in how you approach them. You aren’t just trading things around to get better items. You’re fighting aliens or you’re racing Gorons or you’re healing wounded hearts.

22 Worse: Temple Design

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The temples are where Ocarina of Time has a more significant upper hand. Not only are there more of them, but they also have a better design both aesthetically and structurally.

The Shadow Temple is suitably eerie and depressing, the Spirit Temple blends strengths of Young and Adult Link, and the tantalizing Forest Temple has you track down the four poe sisters.

Temples in Majora’s Mask can be confusing due to their tendency to shift where you can go, like the Great Bay Temple, or entire layouts like the Stone Tower.

21 Better: Mini-Games

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This isn’t to say that the mini-games from Ocarina of Time are bad, but there are far less to be found and less variety seen in each game. In comparison, the ones in Majora are much more worthy of your Rupees.

There are two shooting galleries, where you can shoot at Octoroks or Deku Scrubs, making for a more satisfying experience than Ocarina’s Rupee shooting gallery. Some, like Honey and Darling’s Shop, will change from day to day while others, like the Treasure Chest Shop, will change depending on which of Link’s forms you use.

20 Better: More Secrets

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As I said before, there are a ton more secrets to be found in Termina Field than Hyrule Field. Ocarina of Time still has its fair share of secrets; every Zelda game does. But Majora is bursting with extras to uncover.

Since there are fewer dungeons, you can find 52 pieces of heart in Majora whereas Ocarina had 32. Then there are the exploitable secrets you can find all over Clock Town that can accumulate a fortune by collecting the money and returning to the first day. These secrets help boost what you can do outside of the main story.

19 Worse: No Sages

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If you like the idea of other heroes banding together to help Link put a stop to evil, then Majora’s Mask may not be the game for you. In that, he is almost entirely alone in saving Clock Town from the doom above.

But in Ocarina, there are others that lend their powers to yours and stand up against Ganondorf. The addition of the Sages creates a sense of camaraderie that wasn’t in Zelda games before and was missing from Majora’s Mask. It’s a story element that adds to the classic adventure tone Ocarina projects so well.

18 Better: Graphics

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If you’re a Nintendo fan, you know better than most that graphics aren’t everything. In fact, the company believes that gameplay should come first above all other aspects in a game. Still, it can’t be denied that at release, Majora’s Mask looked better than Ocarina of Time.

This was thanks to the required expansion pak, which gave the game a more polished look through increased detail in shading and textures. But it also allowed for more comprehensive character models to be on screen at the same time. Although, the 3DS remakes look virtually as good as each other.

17 Better: The Three-Day Time Period

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One of the biggest arguments people make against Majora’s Mask is the three-day time period you have to repeat. Many players were initially turned away by having some of your progress “erase.”

But I, along with many others, would argue that this is one of Majora’s strongest features.

In Ocarina, the same things happen at the same times every single day. But Majora’s Mask is more varied than that, having events happen on different days, at different times and locations. It taught players they needed to think through what they were going to do and manage their time wisely.

16 Worse: Character Design

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Simple, but true. While the graphics and characterization were superior in Majora’s Mask, many of its character models were reused from Ocarina of Time. Even the supremely unnerving Happy Mask Salesman had a small role in the previous game.

The development teams had a strict deadline to complete the game, so they had to take a couple of shortcuts. This in no way affects the story or gameplay of Majora’s Mask, but it does hurt it in an aesthetic sense. It makes it feel a little less original, which doesn’t fit with its unique and somber tone.

15 Better: Your Choices Have Consequences

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These days, developers are all about giving players multiple choices and options on how to progress through a game. But in its own way, Majora’s Mask was one of the first games to do so.

Tying into the three-day cycle, players had options for certain side quests during different periods of each day. For example, if you chose to meet Anju in the Stock Pot Inn on the night of the first day, it meant you wouldn’t be able to save the Bomb Shop lady from the thief, Sakon, as those events happened at the same time.

14 Better: Replayability

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As there are many tasks to accomplish outside of the main story, Majora’s Mask offers a higher replay value than Ocarina of Time. After completing the main event, there’s always more to come back and uncover. And you can re-fight bosses for fun, which you can’t do in Ocarina.

But there’s a deeper reason to replay Majora’s Mask. Its story is literally unlike that of any other Zelda. If you favor the classic story of Ocarina, you could also play A Link to the Past or Twilight Princess and get a similar experience. Majora is truly one of a kind.

13 Worse: Fewer Items

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Not including the masks, there are fewer items for Link to use in Majora’s Mask than there were in Ocarina of Time. While not all of them are required to get, they did give Link more choices when it came to outsmarting and defeating his opponents.

Awesome magical weapons like Din’s Fire and Nayru’s Love gave Link more variety outside of “hit your enemy with this thing,” but there’s also the incredibly powerful Megaton Hammer. Many of Majora’s weapons were carried over from Ocarina, and original ones like the Gilded and Great Fairy swords were more difficult to get.

12 Better: The Sidekick

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The annoyance and hatred for Navi, the fairy sidekick in Ocarina of Time, is so vast that she has been catapulted into pop culture history through countless memes.

Tatl, on the other hand, only enhanced the game she appeared in. While her design and purpose was similar to that of Navi, her personality was quite different. Once an ally of the Skull Kid, she felt regret for her actions at the beginning of the game and responsible for her careless younger brother, Tael. This made for a more three-dimensional character and a more believable bond between Link and his sidekick.

11 Better: It Explores Every Basic Human Emotion

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Ocarina features a fairly straightforward story and therefore doesn’t get many chances to explore emotions like loss, fear, anger, or hopelessness. Majora has all of these in spades.

You feel anger for what the Skull Kid has done to all of these people. You feel grief for each lost life, and each one gives you an extra layer for your desire to complete the game. But it’s not all doom and gloom; there are moments of humor and bittersweet happiness as you solve each problem, such as curing a cursed man and reuniting him with his frightened daughter.