The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D is a Nintendo 3DS remake of the Nintendo 64 game, Majora's Mask. It was officially announced during a Nintendo Direct on November 5, 2014, and is directly comparable to Ocarina of Time 3D. The game's launch in both North America and Europe coincides with the launch of the New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS XL systems.

Changes and Additions:

  Graphics :   Much like Ocarina of Time 3D, the 3DS version of Majora's Mask is a remake of the original Nintendo 64 game, taking advantage of the more powerful hardware and fitting modern standards. It is the first major re-release of the game that is not an emulation, as the GameCube and Wii versions are. As such, most textures are significantly more detailed, and many models consist of more polygons than the original. Character designs have been updated to reflect their Ocarina of Time 3D counterparts. The frame rate has also been increased from the original game's 20 FPS to 30 FPS. Additionally, the touch screen interface and various other menus in the game now runs and maintains a constant 60 FPS, allowing smooth interaction with inventory management.

  Controls :  Much like in Ocarina of Time 3D, the item system is revamped. Items can be assigned to the X and Y buttons, while two extra item slots were added to the two right corners of the touch screen. The Ocarina of Time is permanently assigned to bottom left corner of the touch screen, while the Pictograph Box is permanently assigned to the top left corner once obtained. Tatl is also now assigned to the right on the Control Pad.
Motion controls can also be optionally used when in first person view. They allow Link to look around during movement when the L button is held without anything targeted. Unlike the original game, the viewpoint does not reset to a neutral position when the Circle Pad is released or motion control movement is ceased.
When playing on a New Nintendo 3DS or with the Circle Pad Pro, the extra Circle Pad allows full third-person camera control.

  User interface :   Most of the original HUD has been moved down to the touch screen, leaving the upper screen mostly clear of graphic overlays. Only the A and B button prompts and clock still appear in the top screen.
The clock was redesigned as a bar that displays the full three day cycle, which now also shows the minutes. Each cell in the bar is color coded blue, yellow, and red to represent each day respectively. The clock display no longer fades when Link is actively moving around. During the final six hours, a small icon of the Moon is displayed on top of the countdown, which gradually turns red as time runs out.
The bottom screen displays the item inventory and map. It also displays Link's Heart Containers, Magic Meter, and Rupees.

Gameplay:

The "Song of Double Time" now lets Link jump to a specific hour of the current day.
Link's Mask transformations have been altered. When performing Deku Link's Spin Attack, the tip of his hat transforms into a root. Deku Link also needs to be build up speed in order to start running. This affects hopping farther on water, now requiring walking around before performing a Spin Attack. When shooting a Bubble Blast, a sight appears when going into first person perspective. Also, the bubble does not burst if charged for too long. When flying after using a Deku Flower, the R Button can be pressed to show a mark where Deku Link will land. Goron Link's attacks are executed faster. Curling is now done by simply pressing the A Button once. To uncurl, the A button must be pressed again. His turn rate while rolling has been reduced. Zora Link now swims at a slower speed, making navigation of tight underwater corridors easier. The original swimming mechanics are merged with the electric Barrier attack, which drains the Magic Meter when executed. Zora Link's attacks are executed faster, his boomerangs can go through walls, and they can be recalled instantly by pressing the B button. Epona's controls now incorporate a feature first seen in Twilight Princess: if one pulls sharply back on the circle pad while stationary, Epona will neigh and do a nearly 180 degree turn, depending on the angle the circle pad is held at, and get an instant speed boost in that direction. All bosses now feature a new weak point in the form of an eye. Some of them are fought in a different manner and include a second phase. 

  Sheikah Stones and Visions :   Sheikah Stones make a return from Ocarina of Time 3D. They are large Gossip Stones that allow Link to see short gameplay clips called Visions. These Visions can be used to figure out puzzles or where to go next if stuck. In addition to visions, pictures of Piece of Heart and Stray Fairy locations were also added.

  Saving :  Owl Statues are now activated by just checking them, rather than striking them with a sword. Owl Statues now permanently save the game, and the "Song of Time" no longer saves the game at all. Some Owl Statues were also relocated. A new type of statue known as Quill Statues were also added; these statues allow saving, but cannot be warped to with the "Song of Soaring." Quill Statues appear all across Termina, including inside dungeons. After the credits, the game prompts a save. If the game is saved, upon replaying the file, Link will return to the Dawn of the First Day with all collected masks (including the Fierce Deity's Mask) back. The game now features three save files instead of two. Each file's Quest Status is displayed on the upper screen, including collected masks, Pieces of Heart, equipment, and any Rupees accumulated within the current cycle.

  Fishing :  Two Fishing Holes were added: one on the Road to Southern Swamp and the other in the Zora Cape. Each includes 12 different types of Fish that can be caught, some of which require certain Masks to be worn. Link can transform into the Fierce Deity inside the two Fishing Holes. A new item called the Fishing Hole Pass was added, which lets Link fish for free. They replace the Purple Rupees and other rewards when completing mini-games or sidequests. They are often given to Link for completing sidequests or minigames that give a Mask or Piece of Heart, if Link has already obtained that prize.

Other Changes:

  Regional Differences :  Majora's Mask 3D is mostly based on the Japanese Nintendo 64 1.1 version of Majora's Mask, which was a more unpolished game than what was released internationally. This is evident in places such as the Pirates' Fortress where a shortcut to the Hookshot Treasure Chest can be found.

Places:

• South Clock Town has been expanded with a larger plaza and symmetrical staircases leading up to the Clock Tower balcony.
• The Clock Town Bank is now located in South Clock Town, embedded into the back of the Clock Tower.
• The icon representing the Takkuri in Termina Field has been removed on the mini-map.
• The poisonous water in the Southern Swamp has different coloration.
• The Secret Grotto with the Bean Seller was redesigned, now having an exit to the soil east of the Deku Palace.
• The moving platforms in the Deku Palace no longer move until Link is standing upon them.
• The labyrinth of fire inside the Deku Shrine now contains metal gates that shoot out of the floor. Unlike the flames, the gates do not damage Link on contact.
• Romani Ranch now features an arch that properly represents the ranch instead of a copy of the arch of Kakariko Village from Ocarina of Time. 
• Zora Cape now has its proper name displayed on the screen upon entering the area.
• The Gold Skulltula that was behind a coffin in the Oceanside Spider House was moved to a nearby wall.
• The Pirates' Fortress exterior now has platforms containing Hookshot targets along the rightmost wall, allowing for easier access inside and outside upon receiving the Hookshot.
• In the Pirates' Fortress, prior to shooting the beehive, the front door of the throne room is now locked.
  The aquariums inside the Pirates' Fortress that contained Shell Blades no longer have them.

Characters:

• Link was given additional expression textures and animations.
• Tatl no longer knows the exact location of the Great Fairy on the first cycle, telling Link that she does not visit Clock Town often and to ask the Bombers for information.
• Some members of the Bombers have been relocated to different hiding spots, in order to fill all five areas of Clock Town. They no longer challenge Link a second time, as the Bombers' Notebook is now given by the Happy Mask Salesman instead. They also tell Link rumors that are added to the Bombers' Notebook. In addition, prior to the hide-and-seek game, Jim also forbids the use of Deku Nuts, saying the flash hurts their eyes.
• Stray Fairies now have full 3D models as opposed to 2D sprites.
• When viewing Skull Kid from the Astral Observatory, he no longer jumps away from the tower after taunting Link.
• Anju now only gives Link the Room Key if he is in Goron form.
• The Swamp Tourist Center Guide now hints at visiting Kotake when Koume is not at the window.
• Koume, when on the boat tour, now acknowledges killing the Octorok when the boat gets close to hitting it.
• The Deku guards patrolling the mazes inside the Deku Palace no longer show their vision range at nighttime.
• The Deku guards patrolling the mazes inside the Deku Palace no longer show their vision range at nighttime.
• The Great Fairy of Power and Wisdom have switched places, along with their rewards.
• The frozen Goron Elder is now found near the first of the lake's Twin Islands. He will be encased in a snowball on the Final Day.
• Shiro is now found in the Pirates' Fortress, next to the fortress watch tower. Tatl will alert his presence when he is approached.
• Captain Keeta now speaks to Link before their battle in the Ikana Graveyard. He also moves at a slower speed.
  Dinolfos and Wizzrobe now have their names spelled correctly, instead of the misspelled "Dinofols" and "Wizrobe."
• Epona can no longer run over Deku Flowers. She also neighs more frequently than before when not mounted; additionally, shooting Arrows at her no longer causes her to neigh.
• Cremia now re-uses Malon's model from Ocarina of Time 3D without any changes, such as her larger bust, present in the original.
• Tatl's comments no longer asks Link if he always knows an enemy previously encountered in Ocarina of Time.

Temples:

• Boss Remains are no longer required to activate the boss portals; the boss must simply have been fought at least once, beaten or not.
• Three Stray Fairy locations have changed, two in Woodfall Temple and one in Snowhead Temple.
• Odolwa can now be stunned by using Deku Nuts while flying from a Deku Flower. It can also be stunned with an Arrow or Sword attacks from the back or side while he is revving up a dash attack. If Odolwa is close enough to a yellow Deku Flower, it can also be stunned by launching from the flower as Deku Link. Additionally, its dancing animations have been altered, and will remain mostly passive for much of the battle.
• The entrance to the Snowhead Temple features a gate which bounces Goron Link inside the temple.
• The Stone Tower Temple no longer has the Triforce shape on the blocks when the Temple is inverted. Also, the Red Emblem that inverts the temple now hangs over the entrance, instead of behind a block. The blocks in front of the temple's entrance are now in a V-shaped formation rather than being aligned horizontally.
• The wooden crates behind the bombable wall in the western room of the Stone Tower Temple have been replaced by a single stone block, which must be pushed onto a switch.
• The Treasure Chest that contains a Small Key in one of the Stone Tower Temple's water-filled areas must now be summoned by navigating onto a small platform that contains a floor switch.
• Zora Link's dungeon Inside the Moon is redesigned, with new puzzles involving striking Crystal Switches to open gates, while retaining the water pipe maze.
• The unused Moon dungeon cutscenes are now used and a new cutscene was made for the Twinmold dungeon.

Items:

• The scrapped Ocarina transformation icons seen in early versions of Majora's Mask are now used.
• The Bombers' Notebook is received from the Happy Mask Salesman rather than Jim. It also now includes more entries, a schedule, and a new events section, which includes ongoing, rumored, and completed events. Link can also set an alarm to an specific time so that Tatl reminds him of any given event. However, Jim and Shiro's character entries that were on the schedule have been removed.
• The Trading Post now sells Magic Beans for 100 Rupees each instead of 50 Arrows.
• The Goron Powder Keg Shop now sells Powder Kegs for 20 Rupees instead of 100 Rupees.
• The Keaton Mask and Priority Mail can now be obtained as soon as the Final Day starts during the Reuniting Kafei and Anju side quest.
• The "Song of Soaring" is learned at the Southern Swamp entrance rather than Woodfall's entrance.
• The Pictograph Box now takes full color Pictographs. It is now also set to its own permanent button on the touch screen, similarly to the Ocarina.
• The Bottle found Beneath the Graveyard and the Piece of Heart received from Koume's Swamp Tour have swapped places.
• Boss Remains no longer glow their respective colors on the menus.
• The Garo's Mask now resembles the Garo Master rather than a Garo Ninja.
• The Circus Leader's Mask is renamed the Troupe Leader's Mask.
• A seventh Bottle was added, obtainable from a new sidequest given by Gorman. After delivering him some Mystery Milk from the Gorman Brothers, he gives it to the player.
• The Fire, Ice, and Light Arrows are now their own items rather than being compressed into a small menu like in Ocarina of Time 3D, allowing more than one type of arrow to be equipped at once.
• The Ice Arrows can only freeze sparkling patches of water, as well as certain sparkling blue enemies, with the exception of boss areas, where the water can be frozen wherever an Ice Arrow is shot.
• The Giant Wallet can now be obtained during any of the three days.
• The Gibdos who asked for 10 Bombs, 5 Magic Beans, and 10 Deku Nuts now only ask for one of each. The Gibdo who asked for a Blue Potion now also accepts a Red Potion. The Gibdo who asked for Milk now also accepts half a Bottle of Milk, as well as Chateau Romani. Their clues have also changed.
• The Giant's Mask now appears after the blue Twinmold is defeated.

Miscellaneous:

• The camera follows Link after going through a loading zone.
• Most cutscenes are shortened after the first time they are watched.
• The cutscene played after playing the "Song of Soaring" can now be skipped.
• Pressing the B button while climbing a ladder now makes Link climb faster.
• Additional lore has been added after the Moon destruction sequence. The Happy Mask Salesman also greets Link with a text box after this sequence, rather than the original text on a black background.
• The exit bases in Secret Grottos are redesigned.
• Link can no longer go into first person while swimming as a human.
• Zora Link can now play the Zora Guitar underwater.
• Sun Blocks and Sun Switches feature an eye instead of a face.
• Two new dance animations were added to the ReDeads in the Ancient Castle of Ikana. These ReDeads can be found in the second staircase room of basement 2.
• As in Ocarina of Time 3D, a new credits sequence for the 3DS version staff now plays at the end of the original credits. It features a new orchestral styled medley of various songs from the game.
  Sound effects for item pick ups, menu transitions, and Link's yells will fully play through before playing again rather than resetting the sound over.
• Small waterfalls no longer show a graphic of water hitting Link's model when he is standing beneath them, unlike Ocarina of Time 3D.

Bugs/Glitches:

• Sometimes while viewing in first person, the camera may abruptly stop.
• While loading East Clock Town for the first time, if Gorman is traveling to the Mayor's Residence, he will be facing the wrong direction.
• The Worker carrying a wooden beam and walking around South Clock Town does not actually move when off-screen.
• The Moon is invisible inside the Laundry Pool on the First Day, Second Day, and during the daytime of the Final Day. The moon is rendered incomplete on the night of the Final Day. If Link wears the Zora's Mask and dives into the pool and looks up in first person, the Moon will be fully rendered on all other days.
• L-Targeting a Garo after defeating it will keep the camera under L-Target motion control while the Garo's speech box is displayed.
• If Anju's Letter is deposited into a mailbox after the Postman has done his collection round on the Second Day, he will still collect the letter on the Final Day and try to deliver it to the Laundry Pool, but will vanish at 3:00 PM, right before he can ring the bell.
• If Anju's Letter is deposited into a mailbox after the Postman has done his collection round on the Second Day, he will still collect the letter on the Final Day and try to deliver it to the Laundry Pool, but will vanish at 3:00 PM, right before he can ring the bell.
• When riding on Epona in Termina Field, if Link stand still and wait for the day transition with the screen shrinking in, after the sequence is complete, Epona will bolt into full speed without any input.
• When Link is cursed by a Blue Bubble, the curse effect on his model temporarily disappears when entering other areas or talking to NPC's.
• While using the Circle-Pad Pro, or while playing on a New 3DS, the camera on the first few frames of activation twitches for a short duration after L-targeting something, or after talking to an NPC.

Development:

Eiji Aonuma, producer of the Zelda series, had previously discussed if Majora's Mask should be remade for the Nintendo 3DS, taking into consideration the positive reception of Ocarina of Time 3D. Fans in response had created a campaign named "Operation Moonfall" aiming to convince Nintendo to create the 3D remake. On November 4, 2011, he announced that the remake is already in consideration. On October 11, 2013, he hinted at the possibility of a 3DS remake at the New York Comic Con, stating that fans may get an answer as to whether one will be released by playing A Link Between Worlds. On November 5, 2014, Nintendo confirmed via their Nintendo Direct that Majora's Mask 3D would be scheduled for a spring 2015 release. On Miiverse, Eiji Aonuma stated that Majora's Mask 3D had been in development since 2011, shortly after finishing Ocarina of Time 3D. To commemorate the game's release, the 3DS eShop temporarily replaced its normal theme with the "Song of Storms".

Limited Editions:

In both North America and Europe, a limited special edition of the game was released. The North American version of the game included a copy of the game plus a Skull Kid figurine. The European version included a copy of the game, a steelbook case, a pin badge, and a double-sided poster. By pre-ordering the game in the English retailer GAME, a Majora's Mask paperweight was also included. Other retailers through Europe offered a Majora's Mask necklace and a black sack with the game's logo on it when pre-ordering the standard edition. When pre-ordering Code Name S.T.E.A.M. on the American retailer GameStop, a Majora's Mask pin from the European special edition was also included. A set of 24 postcards was also included when pre-ordering the game in Amazon Japan. A special edition New Nintendo 3DS XL was also released on launch day of both the game and the new console. It featured a black console with a gold top and bottom with Majora's Mask and the four transformation masks. In Europe and Japan, it included a digital copy of the game pre-installed into the system, while the North American version did not include the game at all. In Europe, the Skull Kid figurine was also included when buying the console in the official Nintendo UK store.

Update:

A patch was released for Majora's Mask 3D on February 27, 2015. It can be downloaded for free on the Nintendo eShop. Version 1.1 update fixes several bugs in the game's code. It removes the "ERROR!****" message, which now shows an empty text box instead. It fixes a glitch at Honey and Darling's Shop which causes Link to become swordless and moves the Ocarina of Time to the B Button. The update also fixes a bug in the European version of the game where depositing 0 Rupees to the Clock Town Bank while playing in the English language results in the game softlocking.

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