For those of you thinking about buying this game, but you’re not sure if you actually want it or not, here is my personal review of this new Zelda game for the N64. First of all, you need an Expansion Pak to play this game; otherwise it won’t even turn on. I thought myself that I wouldn’t be able to play until November until someone bought it for me. Second, the cost is anywhere between $50 to $70, depending on where you live in the U.S. It’s a one-player game, like all Zelda games, and its genre is a mix of adventure, RPG, puzzle, and action.

Now for the part you’ve been waiting for: the actual review. Well, after you’ve read the story line about a thousand times, and you know that the game is timed (I assume), you don’t want to hear any of that crap here. Now, about the time thing, with the three days. Each hour of game time equals one minute of real time. Sound hard? Not really. Once you get your ocarina back from the Skullkid, you’ll have no problem with the time. Your three (probably) most important songs are the Song of Time, and its two variations, of which the scarecrow will teach you. The Song of Double Time will allow you to move half a day forward (believe me, this may sound ridiculous, but some things can only be found on certain days, and the time goes by slower than you would expect), and the Inverted Song of Time will allow you to slow the current of time (By how much? I don’t know exactly, but it’s a good deal slower than normal), which is a great help when you’re in a dungeon.

Okay, although I’ve said that this game is not as hard as people make it out to be, I DID NOT SAY IT WASN’T DIFFICULT! I’ve played most of the other Zelda games, but this one is by far one of the most difficult. The big difficulty difference between this game and another is against Ocarina of Time. Unlike Ocarina of Time, which gave you an easy-easy beginning with the simplest dungeon ever, Majora’s Mask gives you a task of trading, finding, and fighting at the beginning JUST to get your ocarina back. The first temple is fairly difficult (compared to the Great Deku Tree, which pretty much told you the basic skills of the game), not to mention the many things you must do to actually GET INSIDE the temple!

Other than its difficulty (not that it’s a bad thing, nothing too easy is fun forever), Majora’s Mask is a really cool game. It has great effects (the cinemas are AWESOME), cool graphics, and smoother movements than Ocarina of Time. My personal favorite “cinema” (rather a “mini-cinema”) is when Link is about to warp somewhere.

To wrap this review up, I recommend this game if you’re looking to buy it. That is, if you’ve had experience (and no, playing a Zelda game in Wal-Mart does NOT count) with Zelda games. Beginners at RPG, puzzle, adventure, or just Zelda will most likely have difficulty with this game, so I recommend Ocarina of Time to new gamers. Other than that, this game is WORTH THE MONEY. If you don’t know if you’re going to buy it and you’ve had experience with other games, BUY THIS ONE. It has a great story line, a fair amount of difficulty, and great graphics.