Gallery: Gorge Yourself on These Assets For The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D

Anyone else wanna bet the 4th day glitch will get fixed for this release?

These are great! Very excited. Let's hope the U.S. doesn't get left out with this special edition (and making it a Nintendo World Store only thing doesn't count).

So... Epic...

I want to pre-order now!!!

If Nintendo releases a Zelda 3DS with this in NA, they will probably get more sales than they think.

damn they made that moon even more creepy * shudders *

I just wish we could somehow keep that 2nd sword. It's so much more iconic and better looking than the final sword...

Maybe it's just me but I'm not excited by this at all. I know a whole lot of people are but personally I just find these minor tweaks to very dated first generation 3D games pretty unexciting. New releases of 16bit games are still stimulating because most of these classic 16bit games have held up almost perfectly and playing them today is like viewing a piece of great art; it's just as appealing and compelling today as it ever was. Fully HD next-gen updates of older 3D games are also worth getting a bit excited about because they can still feel current now that they are in full HD etc. Even something like the new versions of Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire are exciting because they basically are all new games for all intents and purposes. Small updates to very dated N64 games, that still look very much dated and out of time and have barely changed from the original (give or take a few textures that even in their new iterations still look really dated), aren't quite as exciting to me however. I hope you guys get all you expect from this slightly retextured Majora's Mask release on 3DS though.

It looks nicer than the N64 version. Even though I wouldn't buy it (I'll get the game only) I hope they make the bundle available for NA. I'm excited for this one.

So let me get this right since I didn't play it: You have 72 hours to save the town from being crushed by the creepy falling moon. But how does the time work in this game? And if the game is paused, will the time move?

@Azooooz Correct. You have three days to save Termina from the moon falling, and once you reach the end of that third day, you play the song of time and go back to the first day.

HYPE TOO POWERFUL. Explodes

@Azooooz

It's basically like Groundhog Day.

@Nintendo_Ninja

Not by much. I mean if you didn't do a direct comparison so you could easily see the differences you might actually think you're playing a really dated and slightly fugly looking first generation 3D game from the N64 era in it's original form (as though it was on an emulator or something). Anyone that's playing this for the first time and isn't some geek like us, especially noob casual gamers that take what they get a face value, would look at this and think it wasn't a particularly attractive looking game for 2014 and that it looked kind of clunky and blurry visually in places with a pretty low quality looking world and characters etc...and they'd be 100% correct.

Maybe it looks better on the actual 3DS but in the screens and the video I watched I thought it was basically pretty fugly which I guess is accurate to the original game but not relative to the perception of it at the time of release and I personally think any updates/remakes in modern times should have relatively the same level of appeal; which means if this update was doing things right we'd be able to judge this game by modern handheld standards (3DS specifically in this case) and still be relatively impressed with the visuals, in the same way we are when we look at games like Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Resident Evil: Revelations, Super Mario 3D Land, Pokemon X & Y, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire etc.

When I first saw screenshots of Ocarina of Time in game magazines back in the day, long before it was ever released, I was utterly blown away by the visuals. When I see this 2014 slightly updated rerelease of Majora's Mask I just think it looks like a game way out of time with little reason to play it today other than nostalgia. Interestingly, I don't feel the same when I see games like Super Mario World or Super Metroid announced for the Virtual Console but that's because they still look like they could have been made today by some extremely talented indie developer, or even still Nintendo actually, and probably specifically for these digital distribution services (given that you rarely see these kinds of 2D sprite based games as full retail titles any more). I wouldn't be impressed with this Majora's Mask update if it was suddenly announced for the eShop by some indie developer for the very first time as a brand new indie title. In fact, I wouldn't even give it a second look. Conversely, I was blown away by Shovel Knight and that basically looks half way between a NES and SNES game yet still also looks like a modern masterpiece in it's own right.

I assume Grezzo is doing this one too?

@Kirk
I guess it's inevitable for an older game to look a little dated, but I think that's one of the advantages of Majora's Mask. The game has a really unique art style in some places that help it look less dated.

@Nintendo_Ninja

I just think Nintendo could have done more with the visuals and presentation in this update, as it could with a few of these games it's updated for 3DS to be honest, but I know it didn't really have to because everyone's going to lap it up anyway. Its doing the bare minimum it has to do to sell you this game for what I presume will be full price again.

@kirk it's still being developed...

@justlink

Let's not even pretend that what you're seeing isn't basically the final result.

Don't do that to yourself.

I wouldn't hold my breath for Nintendo not releasing that gorgeous boxed edition to North America and keeping it exclusive to Europe. If something like that happens again then I will know something is up.

@AlexOlney That's such a challenging game, yet creepy.

I'm very much hyped for the return of horror-Zelda. Really, I actually went to my local store where I used to work, to, well, pre-preorder the limited edition. Zelda is my favourite franchise ever, and I've been collecting it for ages now. Also, I love this game especially for being this special.

Now, some HD, slow-paced, survival horror-Metroid please!

So what game do we beg for next?

If that box set is more than £45 then they can forget it. I remember the last one Game did- awful, just stuffed into a box and many people complained about how over priced it was! The truth is that the game is £30, the pin badge probably £5, Poster again that big sell at about £5. It does not cost an extra £10 to produce a cardboard box and steelbook cover. Even at £45 it's still making a profit.
I'm super excited for this game but i may see what Nintendo store add on as well. I tell you now- not only will they do this but they'll add extras as well. They seem to have got their act together after the whole Mario Kart 8 farce going by peoples comments so i may wait and see.

@NintyMan Wasn't it a double-sided poster, included with the special edition? I believe that's what they said.

@Azooooz Well actually not all progress is lost. You get to keep key items (Hookshot, bomb bag, masks, etc.), and you can use a "bank" to store rupees which are never lost.

I almost want this just for the poster...
I love this game and am delighted to see it is being updated but I just don't believe that they will add anything new to the game. OoT3D did have the Master Quest version but that had already been created for a different release.
If they actually add NEW content instead of just a double damage no heart spawn mode I will lose my mind : D

@Kirk It's a well known fact that 3DS screenshots/videos look terrible if they are not on the actual 3DS. Look at MH4. Look at Ocarina of Time 3D. That game looks great on the 3DS. While I agree that MM3D looks pretty bad judging from that Nintendo Direct, I'm quite confident it will look great in it's final form. I was personally watching the ND from my Wii U, and it's clear that these 3DS games were not meant for the big screen. Look at Code Name S.T.E.A.M. It looks terrible in the Nintendo Direct.

I'm really loving the artwork they made for this remake, I might want to use one of them as my wallpaper.

Europe only of course
I hate NoA

Never played this game but always wanted to. I get the feeling I'll prefer it to Ocarina of Time.

There isn't really a time limit is there? There's time travel involved I think.

I hope the bundle comes to NA.... but it probably won't, like usual.

Need it now!

@Kirk Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. In this case though, you are wrong
I am looking forward to this though as downloaded it on Wii VC but couldn't get into it but this could just be the answer as can play on the go now.

dang you! NOE you and your fancy club nintendo rewards and pre order!!! while us Americans just have to buy the game on launch day and get nothing with it!!!

"Tentative packaging" - I enjoyed that.

Those illustrations are absolutely lovely.

I'll pick this up with a New 3DS and a majora's mask faceplate

Loving this news! I didn't realize what a facelift OOT got until I played the original again. I had this on the Gamecube Zelda SE disc set, but the framerate was kind of choppy. I think it was even a little choppy on the N64 too. So I'm looking forward to not only the graphical update but some smoother framerates too. Here's hoping for some bonus features!

Very good. I had no interest in Ocarina of Time 3D, but this will take my money, for a certainty.

@Captain05crunch

I don't think that's really a truism because many genuinely great looking games on the 3DS also look great off the 3DS i.e. in YouTube videos, like Resident Evil: Revelations, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Super Mario 3D Land, Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D, Shovel Knight, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, Pokemon X, Y, Ruby and Sapphire, Kirby Triple Deluxe...

I'm more inclined to believe that the slight ugliness of some games when viewed on the likes of YouTube is a fair enough representation of the visuals in those games (given that they are of course usually zoomed up quite a bit so they're not perfect representations obviously) and is simply less apparent to people when they are caught up playing them on the 3DS. I think some people are just more likely to be slightly forgiving once they've actually got them on the 3DS because presumably by then they actually own the games personally and have a vested interest in believing [convincing themselves] they look great for their own satisfaction and happiness.

There's some genuinely great looking games on 3DS and at the same time there's some pretty fugly games on 3DS and I don't think it's fair to just say that whenever we see a video or screens of a game that looks kinda fugly that it's because we're not seeing them on the 3DS screen. I mean it's not as if we aren't able to watch most of these videos in the small format on YouTube (which I always try to do with 3DS game videos for a better representation), or on mobile screens etc (I often actually just watch them on my phone because it's much closer to how they will look on a 3DS screen), and get a pretty fair representation of how these games are going to look on the 3DS/2DS screens.

I just need Reggie to come through here... please don't make me import the special edition of this!

OoT and MM definitely got a facelift but still I can't help wondering couldn't they do better? Why didn't they fix the hands...

Well, I am excited anyway! Haven't played MM before so a brand new game for me yo.

@Kirk I don't think you really understand. YouTube videos are compressed and will never look as good as their original media. The 3DS screen also objectively makes games look better when the 3D is turned on, as it effectively doubles the number of pixels in the width of the screen. I know a lot of people don't play with the 3D on, but I do, if only for this reason.

Also, I don't think it's fair to compare something as detailed as MM3D to something like 3D Land or Kirby, which have a much simpler graphical style (I honestly don't even think Kirby looks great in YouTube videos. Those pixels look terrible on a normal monitor.).

Have you played Ocarina of Time 3D? That game looks terrific on the 3DS. MM3D is the same style (same engine, after all). I honestly don't think you can make a judgement on the graphics until you play the game on the device it's intended to be played on. Look up OoT3D on YouTube. It looks pretty bad.

Anyway, if you're not going to play this game because you think it's ugly, that's fine. Nintendo will get plenty of sales without your one. I think it's great that they are remaking it, as this is the only Zelda game I haven't played, and I've heard great things.

Is the Mario Mask a new thing for this remake?

The moon is even scarier...

wait is there going to be a tingle statue aswell? and will it becreepy like links...

wait never mind xD

@Azooooz @Rapwned but everytime you reset your temples you did restart unless you completed them but all the rupys and put this way the stuff you did'nt put in storage or anything like that will also go back so be sure to mke a bank account!

@Kirk I think both these updates look like they only have very minor graphical changes compared to the original but going back and playing the original proves they are actually pretty big. Also, I'm someone who utilizes the 3-D effect all the time and that makes these games all the more intriguing. Finally, while pixel art does have an artistic quality that early polygons don't quite have yet, both these games don't feel dated in my opinion. The core gameplay and storytelling are still fantastic! I would have no problem calling both N64 Zelda titles works of art.

I'm betting that NOA will screw us North America fans again, and not have the special edition here.

@Captain05crunch

I hear you but I still think Nintendo could do a better job here with these full price retail rereleases of its old N64 games. As a £5 virtual Console title I wouldn't have much to complain about here, although they'd actually cost more, but in this case where Nintendo is releasing these games as full price retail titles again I just expect a bit more from Nintendo to really sell these games as more than just relatively easy money hardcore fan bait.

@treeofmana

Well the games themselves are still largely masterpieces but I do think Nintendo could do a little bit more in updating them for current-gen handheld consumption if it's going to release them as these full price retail titles. Or maybe it should just release them in their original form for a couple of quid on the eShop and then I'd obviously not be too bothered that they look like old 64 games. Obviously, offering them up for a modern audience in these updated forms is better than nothing but as a consumer I just expect a little bit more.

That is a pretty nice cover art right there.

I actually like MM a lot despite it being a zelda game (which I generally don't care for). Though if this remake is like the OoT one with no actual new content I doubt I'm gonna bother with this.

@Kirk For a better comparison I would remove the 2D side scrollers from that list. It's better to make an apples to apples comparison when you can do it.

Probably would have been better if Nintendo did the remake in-house instead of outsourcing it.

@Ernest_The_Crab

"Probably would have been better if Nintendo did the remake in-house instead of outsourcing it."

Maybe that's actually part of the issue and maybe that's exactly what I'm sensing. It feels kinda quick and dirty, if you ignore the fact this is a touched up version of a game that in it's own right is considered a masterpiece before any such graphical tweaks. So maybe it's about how much or how little this developer has actually done in bringing this game to a new generation I guess. For me, it's probably not enough to make me truly happy with what I'm seeing. It feels exactly like what it is then; a classic beloved first party masterpiece shipped out to a third party studio for a quick touch up to be sold at full price again to hardcore fans who will lap it up. Maybe some of these games deserve a little more than that.

@Whopper744 This. I need that special edition.

When this comes out my life will be done. I've literally become obsessed with this artwork.
I've done a song that is actually about The Legend Of Zelda Majora's Mask, open your minds and understand.
MICHAEL ZETHNER - NIGHT SKY - INSTRUMENTAL (every instrument)
Joshua Epperson - (A Dream That Bleeds For Us) - LYRICS/VOCALS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j73yshnXcr0&list=UUJmlex99ZLORF8i1vPrYkPA

When this comes out my life will be done. I've literally become obsessed with this artwork.
I've done a song that is actually about The Legend Of Zelda Majora's Mask, open your minds and understand.
MICHAEL ZETHNER - NIGHT SKY - INSTRUMENTAL (every instrument)
Joshua Epperson - (A Dream That Bleeds For Us) - LYRICS/VOCALS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j73yshnXcr0&list=UUJmlex99ZLORF8i1vPrYkPA

that CE... want... lol

Holy cow, that Skull Kid art with the shadow is amazing!

Soooooo great i am psyched for this !.
Nintendo store uk has the listing up now for the special edition to pre-order

Hmm never played this one but always wanted to. Should I pay $10 and download it on Wii or wait and pay full price for this?....

I'm normally last to buy a special edition of anything to avoid tac... But this... I like!

My, my, how many rear-end-hurt NA fans. Listen to this Italian fan - until lately, being a European Nintendo fan has been no picnic, trust me on this one.
Let's recap, shall we? Shovel Knight? Came out just yesterday in our region, while you've been playing it for months. Remember WarioWare: Twisted? Yeah? Well, we don't recall it ever hitting our shelves. Neither we remember ever seeing Drill Dozer around here. Oh, but we did get Brawl... in summer, five unbearable, lousy months after NA. And what about Super Mario RPG? We only got it on the Wii, about fifteen years after its original SNES release in the land of the eagles. And speaking of Eagleland, what about Earthbound? An old - a masterpiece as it has ever been, but nonetheless an undeniably old title - game, sold as a system seller, again, this time around with the WiiU, going as far as marking that game's official release date as 2013 in the Masterpieces section of the European version of the 50-fact Extravaganza Direct for the WiiU Smash Bros.
I could rant about delayed releases - which at times amount to year gaps - for hours on end, but to make this quick, let's just say that NoE cuddling its customers a bit more than usual has been a long time coming.

Now that I've blown off so much steam, I can be objective again - the art, right.
I'd point out that the character artwork is the same as the original game... but the new cover art would make up for anything.
The only thing I hope for is "A New Day" being a playable sandbox mode, akin to Another Day in The World Ends With You. A free-to-explore, post-game, lighter world and the nightmarish three-day cycle shouldn't be mutually exclusive.

Oooh man, I cannot wait for this. So creepy! I never finished the original because I got stuck and didn't know where to go. Now's my chance for redemption!

PREORDERED THE SPECIAL EDITION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But I had to cancel my OR preorder I'll get in January if I get Christmas money, Pokemon Y will be fine alongside 6 billion new November games!

I want this game so much. Really glad it got a remake, it's my favorite Zelda game of all time. I just love the side quests when helping people, and warm hugs that makes me feel fuzzy in the inside.

@Kirk

I agree, even just tweaking the game with additional geometry and changing things like the single, thin polygon with the transparent fence texture to a real, honest, 3D fence would help to make things look better. The games, and games in general on the 3DS, actually do look better at their native resolution on the little screen with the 3D turned on. It smooths out a lot of those rough jaggies you see in the videos.

Pre ordered special edition.

Gladly pay £45 with the extras, i collect steelbooks, will be nice to get my first 3DS steelbook.

@sinalefa The Mario Mask has always been there since the original version. It's just a neat little cameo, though I'd love to have the Mario Mask have a function in this remake to bring in something new to this old game.

@SonataAndante
I knew such a rant on my part would cause some reactions at the very least, and maybe I overreacted a bit. It's just that, as bad as being left out is, in this thread many NA fans have made a mountain out of a molehill - and the bad part isn't this fact per se, but rather the background of NA not getting limited editions compared to Europe not getting games as a whole, for years. Even worse is how the fact that "a game that we didn't sell you years ago is NOW available" is considered a selling point, for example with - outside of the Nintendo spectrum - Kingdom Hearts Re:Chain Of Memories for the PS2, as it stayed out of Europe back in the day only to be included with Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix for the PS3 years later. You know, when companies do this... it feels like a mockery, rubbing in our faces the fact that the only reason we get this or that game is just because they decided so. Which is how all releases work, but... it's kind of different at the same time.

Listed for 15/02/15 release on UK Store.

@BrizzoUK
[spits drink]

@SonataAndante
I didn't mean you're not allowed to complain, it's more of a matter of "why should we say then?", which is where my list of games that Europe never got started from. But then again, now that I've said my piece I realized I really shouldn't derail the article towards full whine-to-whine combat.

I thought the moon looked quite goofy when I first saw it on the direct. However, it's looking more and more frightening every time I see it.

Needs to bundle special edition in with the new 3DS next spring.

I need to play through Ocarina of Time 3DS still, but I have said this over and over along with ORAS coming out. I just new they would make these remakes. ORAS makes so much sense and having LOZ Majora's Mask become portable, wow just wow!

Oh man the happy mad dealer scared the poopoodoodoocacapoopledoople out of me as a kid, he's still pretty creepy now

This game, Ocarina of Time, and Wind Waker are my top 3 fav Zelda titles... And they've all been (are being) redone!! YAY!

Ultra pumped about MM 3D.

@Kirk I get what u mean about some games looking older. But games like this are as important as any other, having it's own place in gaming history as a classic, yet also becoming a beloved segway to a different world of gaming. It LOOKS dated because it IS. As far the difference between the original and the 3DS version goes, did u ever play either version of Ocarina of Time? There's a night and day different in graphics. Id say "minor tweaks" is putting it mildly, in my opinion.

I'm so happy with this announcement, if the special edition is UK only, I'll get it any way, Aussie PAL right here woohoo!

I already have the big-ass MM3D poster (with the moon, Link and everyone else) in my room C:
It's beautiful.

BEN is pleased....

But yeah combo pack fo' sho'

i hope they pull a mortal combat and have a secret quest with the statue

Love the artwork! This will be my chance to finally play this game.

Im hoping this have some sort of master quest. Or any extra content.

After all, Master Quest was just a 'ROM hack'/level mod for the dungeons in OOT.

I wonder if MM dungeon design would allow for something like master quest.

all we need now is poster dammit posters of MM on club nintendo because the new artwork is gorgeous omg O_O

@audiobrainiac

Yeah, I know there actually is a difference between the original N64 game's visuals and the game as it is on 3DS but to general 3DS audience, people who aren't going to go and do side by side comparisons to see what's improved etc, I think they'll just look at it and think it looks a bit meh compared to some of the other 3DS games they could be buying and personally I think when you release an updated version of a game like this it's important to try and blur those lines as much as is possible. If it were a simple VC title this wouldn't be a factor but as basically a full price current-gen release I think it is.

@ComposedJam

Yes, it looks better than actual N64 games but as a current-gen full price 3DS title, which is what this basically is, it looks a bit in comparison to most other first party 3DS games. If it were a straight up $5 VC release having N64 graphics wouldn't be an issue but as a full price retail game sitting alongside other full price retail games I think Nintendo needs to go a little bit further than to just touch up a few of the worst textures a little. Otherwise it feels like a bit of a rip-off to me that's simply playing on hardcore fan nostalgia to re-buy what is basically an N64 game at full price again.

@Kirk you are confusing your N64 with your gamecube... there is no way these graphics are close to anything an N64 could produce ever... It's more along the line of the better Dreamcast games or early PS2 titles.

As a fan of the Zelda series and never had the chance to play majora's mask this game is a perfect investment. This game is a rebuild not a retexture people did lots of work remaking all the assest etc a full price for this game is perfectly acceptable.

@Azooooz It's more of a psychological game.. You're rushing the whole time you do it. For example you gotta beat this or that temple withen the (in-game) 3 days if you want to progress. Afterward you play the song of time and it resets everything back to dawn of the first day, (including all the depressing tragedies you fixed..) while keeping the items you need to progress to the next area.

So for example.. you save that monkey's life in the first three days, get to move on, but then you have to go back in time to move to the next area.. this time the monkey has no one to save him as you're saving somebody else..

Very depressing and dark.

@khululy
No, it's mostly just a retexture of the very same original N64 game with a few of the key characters, like Link, slightly remodelled to look a bit more detailed and less polygon light. There's obviously a few tweaks here and there beyond just the visuals, like some extra stuff for the touchscreen for example, but don't kid yourself that this is a "rebuild". It's a slight touchup with a few necessary alterations to make it at least justify being a full price release on the 3DS platform.

PS. Don't even get carried away. This is nowhere near GC level graphics. lol

@Kirk You really should stop talking. Go play OoT3D and tell me it doesn't look like Gamecube quality graphics. I could continue to give you examples of games that look terrible on YouTube but great on the 3DS, but I don't want to beat a dead horse.

Also, Aonuma just posted on Miiverse recently that they have been developing this game since 2011. That's 3 years of development time... This is absolutely a rebuild. I don't think you understand what it takes to make games, and you should take your uninformed opinion somewhere else.

This is a site for Nintendo enthusiasts. People are excited about this game and you just keep attempting to deflate that excitement. Leave it be.

@Captain05crunch

Why should I stop talking when it's clearly you who's talking rubbish?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzlzPhLp_7Y

vs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBRGtbXJYAs

That's footage of two Zelda games; one on 3DS and one on GC; with the one on 3DS coming out many years after the GC one on newer hardware and even with the 3DS video being in 720p and the GC video being in 480p there's a clear visible difference between the graphics on 3DS compared to those on GC; from the polygon count, lighting and shadows, to the particle effects and even the textures (which is the main change in these 3DS rereleases of the N64 games).

Trust me; I know more about what it takes to make games than you; seeing as I have both worked for Rare and Rockstar and now I make my own games, whereas I'm pretty confident you've worked for no video game company ever.

This is a site for Nintendo enthusiasts but right now you're just acting like a bit of a fan*** who doesn't want someone to ruin his happy times in Nintendo fantasy land.

I'm not saying the game is sh*t for Christ's sake. Just that I'm not particularly excited or impressed with this full price re-release of an ageing N64 game that I think Nintendo could have done a little more with graphically given the capabilities of the 3DS.

PS. No; it's not a rebuild. Just like the Wind Waker HD update on Wii U wasn't a rebuild either. They're just touched up versions of the original games with virtually all of the original code but just a few little tweaks here and there, mostly the textures, for good measure. There's plenty of reasons it could have taken three years from the time they decided to make the update to actually launching it on 3DS, which having nothing to do with basically rebuilding the whole game again. Stop drinking Nintendo's marketing spiel Kool-Aid.

@Kirk Still using YouTube videos as a way to prove your point...and you're comparing apples and oranges. Clearly TP (a late GameCube game with and extremely detailed style will look better than an early 3DS game with a simpler style. I'm done arguing with the BS comparisons. Mark my words, MM3D will look great. Go ahead and spend 3 years making a game and tell me you're only going to charge $5. I bet you'll make back your entire investment...

@Captain05crunch

Hey, I used better examples than you at least, that demonstrate my point pretty well. All you've used to back up your assertions so far is talk.

@Kirk My point is that you cannot give an example without viewing on the 3DS, so giving an example would make my argument invalid.

Agree to disagree. Good day sir.

Like the big picture with all the characters. Reminds me of the Windwaker HD artwork.