{"id":3176,"date":"2014-08-20T23:37:26","date_gmt":"2014-08-20T23:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=3176"},"modified":"2014-08-20T23:37:26","modified_gmt":"2014-08-20T23:37:26","slug":"wheres-the-beef","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/?p=3176","title":{"rendered":"Where’s the beef?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I recently got my hands on the soundtrack for The Legend of Zelda: Majora\u2019s Mask<\/em>, which was a free gift for achieving \u201cPlatinum\u201d status over at Club Nintendo.\u00a0 After popping it into my car stereo and listening to it for a couple days\u2019 worth of travel, I couldn\u2019t help but be brought back to the various memorable moments the game had to offer.<\/p>\n

For all the praise this game has gotten in recent years \u2013 including \u201cOperation Moonfall\u201d, a campaign to have it remade like Ocarina of Time<\/em> was for 3DS \u2013 Majora\u2019s Mask<\/em> lives on as a polarizing figure in the franchise\u2019s history. \u00a0Some love it, some love to hate it.<\/p>\n

So where do I stand on this whole Ninten-debacle?\u00a0 I don\u2019t normally do full-on game reviews, but this one was begging for it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"2000<\/a>

2000 – Nintendo<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

To understand the draw of Majora\u2019s Mask<\/em>, you first have to look at the Zelda<\/em> series as a whole.<\/p>\n

Ever since the original NES classic was released, the formula was more-or-less the same in every game in the series; explore, complete a dungeon, mingle with NPC\u2019s, explore some more, repeat.\u00a0 Each game had a different hook<\/em>, and the potential was always there for an entry to resonate with players less than the last one;<\/p>\n

The Legend of Zelda<\/em> (NES) \u2013 The original, straightforward Zelda<\/em>
\nThe Adventure of Link<\/em> (NES) \u2013 RPG-type levelling up and side-scrolling levels
\nA Link to the Past<\/em> (Super NES) \u2013 Light World\\Dark World, with puzzles exploiting that mechanic
\nLink\u2019s Awakening<\/em> (Game Boy) \u2013 Mixing and matching inventory items
\nOcarina of Time<\/em> (N64) \u2013 Time-travelling between young and old Links
\nOracle of Ages and Oracle of<\/em> Seasons (Game Boy Color) \u2013 Closely-related \u201ctwin\u201d games, one focused on action, the other on puzzles
\nThe Wind Waker<\/em> (GameCube) \u2013 Cel-shaded with lots of water, lots of boats, and lots of sailing
\nFour Swords Adventures<\/em> (GameCube) \u2013 100% linear levels and stages with multiplayer as an option
\nThe Minish Cap<\/em> (Game Boy Advance) \u2013 Being able to shrink down to a microscopic mini-Link
\nTwilight Princess<\/em> (GameCube\\Wii) \u2013 Being able to turn into wolf-Link
\nPhantom Hourglass<\/em> (DS) \u2013 Touch screen controls, more boats and sailing
\nSpirit Tracks<\/em> (DS) \u2013 Touch screen controls, trains
\nSkyward Sword<\/em> (Wii) \u2013 1:1 sword controls, using birds for transportation between two different worlds
\nA Link Between Worlds<\/em> (3DS) \u2013 Turning into a painting to walk *in* walls<\/p>\n

With all of that in mind and out of the way, what was it that made Majora\u2019s Mask<\/em> so special?\u00a0 What made it stand apart from the rest of the pack, and made fans stand up and defend the game\u2019s various oddities in the years following the game\u2019s release?<\/p>\n

There were a variety of things that developers wanted to try in Link\u2019s first outing on the N64 but couldn\u2019t, either due to time constraints or technical limitations.\u00a0 Soon after the release of Ocarina of Time<\/em> in November of \u201998, a new Zelda Gaiden<\/em> (which essentially translates to Zelda: Side Story<\/em>) began development.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The tacky-looking Zelda Gaiden screenshot I remember seeing in Nintendo Power.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

This mixed-bag of unused ideas came together to form a game that would change the traditional Zelda <\/em>progression model and offer something completely different.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, with mixed ideas came mixed reactions from the Zelda<\/em> faithful.\u00a0 The game scored pretty high with critics, but the game\u2019s darker and generally sadder tones made the game slightly less accessible to happy-go-lucky gamers like me.<\/p>\n

I mean, c\u2019mon – I played games in my teens to escape and have fun, not to get bummed out about characters experiencing the end of the world!<\/p>\n

In the second part of this entry, I\u2019ll take a look at the various gameplay elements and quirky characters that make Majora\u2019s Mask<\/em> the most unique game in the Zelda<\/em> series.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently got my hands on the soundtrack for The Legend of Zelda: Majora\u2019s Mask, which was a free gift for achieving \u201cPlatinum\u201d status over at Club Nintendo.\u00a0 After popping it into my car stereo and listening to… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-game-reviews","category-zelda"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3176"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3176\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3184,"href":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3176\/revisions\/3184"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.controlpadblues.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}