In 1987, Shigeru Miyamoto released the first installment of the now famous Legend of Zelda series to the world. It quickly exploded into international success, and has spawned 20 main series games, many spin-off adventures, and has forever embedded itself into the psyche of Nintendo gamers. Even those with a passing knowledge about gaming can quote the famous line; “It’s dangerous to go alone! Take this!” or “I am Error” from the sequel. After the long wait for the newest instalment in the series, Tears of the Kingdom, one can’t help but be reminded of the insane development time of another, much earlier entry into the series: Majora’s Mask.

            To refresh some memories, and to enlighten those unfamiliar; Majora’s Mask followed quickly on the heels of Ocarina of Time, one of the best-selling Legend of Zelda games of all time. When development began, Miyamoto simply wanted an expansion for Ocarina of Time using the new Nintendo 64DD tech. When used, it could add an entirely new adventure, remixing the old one, and even having enemies do double damage. But Eiji Aonuma wasn’t inspired to remix the dungeons he had just finished developing and brought his concerns to Miyamoto. In response, Miyamoto offered a challenge; complete an entirely new game in one year, and they would scrap the expansion.

            At the time, the company was competing with PlayStation, and though they had just hit success, Ocarina of Time had taken 5 years to create, after Link’s Awakening’s release in 1993. To continue trying to outpace their competition, they needed to speed up production and cut budget costs significantly.

The game ended up taking on an even darker twist than Ocarina of Time, trapping the young Link in a three-day time loop, a play on Ocarina of Time’s time travel mechanic. At the end of the three days, he faces impending doom at the “hands” of a falling moon and the titular “Majora’s Mask”. Throughout his journey across Termina, an entirely new landscape from the regular Hyrule he normally ventures through, there are themes of grief, loss, and inevitability. Though familiar assets are used, the game feels entirely new and fresh.

            The game isn’t without flaws, of course. Aonuma and some of the developers have long disliked the final product, even if fans of the series adore Majora’s Mask. More recently, the game received a 3DS remake, and to develop it, Aonuma was tasked with replaying the original, an experience that he disliked. From this playthrough, he developed what he called the “What in the world list” and changed them to better fit the Zelda formula and make the game more intuitive.

            In the end, while the game has become one of the more memorable entries in the series, it was mainly an elaborate and rushed project, which has become somewhat of a regret from the people who made it. While it has had some market success, selling 3.36 million copies since its release, the insane development schedule has never worked successfully again. Ocarina of Time’s dungeons did end up getting remixed, as an extra “Master Quest” with the 3DS remake.

Over the years, it’s been taking longer to develop main series games. Tears of the Kingdom took 6 years, beginning its development in 2017. Ironically, it started the same way; it began as DLC and expanded into a full game. It matched and exceeded expectations coming off of Breath of the Wild, and was a wonderful sequel game, and another shining achievement amongst the stars of the series.

When Sarah isn’t hostage to her cat’s snuggles, she can often be found playing Stardew Valley or Minecraft. Raised on the Nintendo Wii, she’s had a life-long love of video games and hopes to express this passion through her writing. Some of her favourite games include – Paper Mario (N64, 2000), Super Paper Mario (Wii, 2007), Mario Galaxy, Hollow Knight, and Undertale.