The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D is a great game, but only because the game its remaking is so good. As a remake, Majora’s Mask 3D stumbles far more than it should, neutering a classic to the point where if someone has the choice between both versions, opting to play the 3DS remake over the N64 original would just be stupid.
Where Ocarina of Time 3D was a sensible, 1:1 remake of its base game and Wind Waker added in enough features to make up for its less than stellar changes, Majora’s Mask 3D simply doesn’t bring enough new or meaningful things to the table to make up for how much it mangles the original. A shame, considering how good a job Grezzo did with Ocarina of Time 3D.
10 Odolwa Loses All His Depth
Odolwa as he was in the original Nintendo 64 release is the hardest first boss in the series. He’s chaotic, has no discernable pattern, and his fight has no structure. Players walk in and are expected to fight back with anything and everything they have at their disposal. It’s very creative and sets in just how different Termina is from Hyrule.
The 3DS remake unfortunately players things straight. Odolwa is as easy as a first boss “should” be with a very clear pattern. Not just that, he actually cannot be damaged by most of Link’s weapons anymore. Players are now forced to use the Deku Mask. It’s a downgrade in every way imaginable.
9 Moving Shiro
In the original game, Shiro and his Stone Mask were a reward for players who chose to explore Ikana early. If someone were to find him before heading to the Great Bay, his Ston Mask would prove incredibly useful in the upcoming stealth section, obscuring Link from the pirates. Should players follow the intended order, however, they’ll miss the Stone Mask until after.
It’s classic Zelda, but the 3DS remake decides to screw with a good thing. Moving Shiro to the Pirate’s Fortress is not a bad idea in theory, but the fortress has no magic, meaning players can easily lack the magic they need to see Shiro. Worse yet, the revamped Zora Swimming essentially guarantees players won’t have the magic to see Shiro without knowing of the change in advance.
8 Zora Swimming
Speaking of Zora Swimming, might as well get it out of the way. This is far and away the change that just about everyone can agree is bad. The 3DS remake takes the smooth, responsive, easy to use swimming and pummels it to near-death. Now, Link can very slowly doggy paddle with the actual swimming locked behind Zora Link’s very disruptive, very annoying, very magic draining shield.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why this is a bad change. Stiffer, slower Zora Swimming completely cripples Zora Link as a character, making the Great Bay Dungeon far less enjoyable to traverse for those who actually know what they’re doing and only mildly better for those who don’t. Like Odolwa, it’s a dumb change that only made the game worse.
7 Gyorg’s Moon Dungeon
And, boy, does it make the game worse. In the Nintendo 64 version, the Moon Dungeons are a highlight of the game– a final, genuine, challenge before the grand finale. With revamped Zora Swimming, however, Gyorg’s Moon Dungeon can’t stay as is. As a result, getting the Heart Piece in said dungeon and actually clearing it is both much harder, and much less enjoyable.
Dolphin splashing out of the water is so much harder in the 3DS remake, to the point where most players are just better off forgoing the Fierce Deity’s Mask altogether. You are guaranteed to have a better time in the 3DS remake by avoiding all the content. That’s not a good thing.
6 The Difficulty Curve
How? How could Ocarina of Time 3D be so faithful while Majora’s Mask 3D betrays virtually every core principle that made up its base game. Majora’s Mask was once the hardest 3D Zelda game, but the 3DS remake makes it much easier on a whole. Not only thanks to many (unnecessary) additions, but through boss changes.
Boss attacks are more clearly telegraphed and they all have glaring weak points that Link is meant to attack. It turns what was a game specifically designed for veterans of Ocarina of Time– to the point Tatl belittled players for analyzing enemies from said game– into baby’s first Zelda.
5 Twinmold Is An Utter Chore
Twinmold was hardly the best fight in the original game, but at least he got the job done and at least he was memorable. So how does the 3DS remake screw things up? Well, by having a good idea for a change. Splitting Twinmold into two distinct phases? Smart, sensible, and has the potential to make for a great boss.
Changing the Giant’s Mask so that Link is incredibly slow, can’t catch up to Twinmold, or deal enough damage fast to kill it? Well, now that’s just so much worse. 3DS Twinmold might very well be the single worst boss in a 3D Zelda game. There’s no rational way to defend it.
4 Deku Hopping
Deku Hopping was all about momentum in the original game. Deku Link could splash from lily pad to lily pad so long as players kept their speed and kept steady. It’s debatable whether or not Deku Hopping was ever intended in the first place, but the fact of the matter is that it was never patched out of any of MM’s rereleases and it’s a fundamental part of moving as Deku Link.
Like with Zora Swimming, the remake decides to cripple Deku Hopping, forcing players to reposition themselves on each lily pad before hopping forward. Not just that, Deku Link is slower on a whole, making getting around as him a much less enjoyable experience. Where he was once a decent early-game alternative to playing as regular Link, Deku Link is now a chore.
3 Saving
Majora’s Mask has one of the best save systems of all time. Players can only permanently save by ending a cycle, leaving their next playthrough fresh. This approach creates a gameplay loop wholly unique to the game, where players are in complete control of the time limit and their schedules. It’s the ideal way to play the game.
So naturally Majora’s Mask 3D removes it for no reason and instead adds in statue saving a la A Link Between Worlds and Skyward Sword. It sucks, it’s worse, and it kills the gameplay loop entirely. Majora’s Mask 3D plays like any other Zelda game. It just happens to have a time limit.
2 The Lighting
Ocarina of Time 3D has worse lighting than the original, but that’s only a problem in three key areas: the Bottom of the Well, the Shadow Temple, and the final boss. Of those three, the final boss is the most glaring whereas the former two are harder to spot. For Majora’s Mask 3D, the game is just on a whole worse lit.
From Clock Town to the final boss room, Majora’s Mask 3D opts for the most generic color palette in the world, completing abandoning the original game’s fantastic use of shadows and the color black. Majora’s Mask goes from one of the most aesthetically unique games in the series to Ocarina of Time 3D Junior.
1 Less Immersive
Perhaps the most glaring change is removing first person view and replacing it with the Pictobox outright. It’s a horrible change, but the game’s lighting and color palette just make Termina less visually interesting as a whole. The fact players don’t start playing at the start of a new cycle each time they boot up the game doesn’t help with immersion either.