The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (Japanese: ゼルダの伝説
ムジュラの仮面 Hepburn: Zeruda no Densetsu: Mujura no Kamen?)
is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo’s
Entertainment Analysis & Development division for the Nintendo 64. It
was released in Japan on April 27, 2000; North America on October 26,
2000; and Europe on November 17, 2000. Approximately 314,000 copies of
the game were sold during its first week in Japan, and three million
copies were sold worldwide. The game was rereleased for the Nintendo
GameCube as part of The Legend of Zelda: Collector’s Edition, and
the Wii’s Virtual Console service in the PAL region on April 3,
2009; Japan on April 7, 2009; and North America on May 18, 2009. An
enhanced remake for the Nintendo 3DS, titled The Legend of Zelda:
Majora’s Mask 3D, was released in February 2015. Majora’s Mask is
the sixth main installment in The Legend of Zelda series and the
second using 3D graphics, the first being The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina
of Time, the game’s predecessor. Considered by critics to be
“darker” among the Zelda games franchise, Majora’s Mask is set
in Termina, an alternate version of the usual series setting of
Hyrule, where the Skull Kid has stolen Majora’s Mask, a powerful
ancient artifact. Under its influence, the Skull Kid causes the
land’s moon to slowly fall towards Termina, where it crashes after
three days. The protagonist Link repeatedly travels back in time to
the beginning of the three days to find a way to stop the moon from
destroying the world. The gameplay is centered on the perpetually
repeating three-day cycle and the use of various masks, some of which
allow Link to transform into different beings. Link learns to play
several melodies on his ocarina, which have a variety of effects like
controlling the flow of time or opening passages to four temples,
which house challenges Link must overcome. Unlike Ocarina of Time,
Majora’s Mask requires the Expansion Pak, which provides additional
memory for enhanced graphics and more on-screen characters. Majora’s
Mask was acclaimed by critics, who praised the graphics and complex
story.