Why Majora’s Mask 3D Makes Sense

You know the story. You’ve heard it all before. You either are strongly for it, or have heard about it so much that you just wish everyone would shut up about it. We even have Operation Moonfall, a project that tries to show Nintendo how many people want that remake to happen—even if, as we confessed, it didn’t turn out to be so popular. However, the fact that the initiative didn’t take off as expected doesn’t mean that people don’t want Majora’s Mask 3D—if anything, it is difficult to think of any Zelda fan that doesn’t want it. The good news is, a remake of N64 Majora’s Mask is not a crazy idea at all. It is an idea that makes a lot of sense, and this article will try to show why.

First of all, it’s easy. Remember how Majora’s Mask was created within a year, even when Ocarina of Time had taken four? That’s because it reused its predecessor’s graphics, dynamics, music, etc., in order to create a new and compelling story. There are not so many objects or characters created specifically for Majora’s Mask that weren’t in Ocarina of Time; the in-game explanation for that is that Termina is a parallel world to Hyrule. The thing is, the same could happen now: all the models of Ocarina of Time were polished and perfected for the 3DS’s enhanced graphics, so remaking this game wouldn’t take as much time and effort as making a new one from scratch. Sure, it isn’t as easy as that—a lot of additional work has to be done in order to make the final product look decent enough for release. But if the music and part of the graphics are done already, the rest shouldn’t be that hard to do. It’s such a simple thing to do that it would feel as if they were missing a chance there if they chose not to. Surely Wind Waker HD took much longer to port to the Wii U with enhanced graphics, even though fans hadn’t been asking for it nearly as much, and despite the fact that there was no precedent in that console as Majora’s Mask 3D could have.

But what about the sales? Regarding Operation Moonfall and its impact on Nintendo, Reggie Fils-Aime himself said, “The thing we know [about petitions] is that 100,000 signatures doesn’t mean 100,000 sales.” That is absolutely true. Even if a million people signed for the remake, that wouldn’t ensure that a million people would buy it. There would be people who sign just for the heck of it, some that don’t know the Zelda franchise and have just been told to sign by a friend, and even those who sign multiple times one way or another. Signatures are not sales. But then again, sales are not signatures. There are many Zelda fans who don’t know about Operation Moonfall. There are many fans who are not subscribed to any Zelda community. There are even thousands who don’t use the internet, or do so only for social purposes. The truth is, Majora’s Mask would make a lot of financial sense because it appeals to both casual gamers—who know Nintendo is the most casual-friendly company there is and that a Zelda game is always a good game—and to hardcore fans, as most of us think of it either as the best game in the franchise or, at the very least, one of the best. Majora’s Mask really is popular: think about the sales of Ocarina of Time 3D, and now think about the fact that Majora’s Mask beat it in Zelda Informer’s popularity contest. Signatures are certainly not the only indicative that a game is popular!

We also have had a lot of references and hints about such a remake being possible. Think, for instance, about the fact that Skull Kid was added as an Assist Trophy in Super Smash Bros.‘s new installment. Why would they do that? It’s not a new game, it’s not a NES-old classics, and what’s even more curious, all the Majora’s Mask from Melee were erased on Brawl, for what—to be reinstated again without any good reason? Surely this must mean something. Sure, if it was just an isolated reference, we could let it slip, but there is also the many hints we find in A Link Between Worlds, which Aonuma’s production team specifically asked for. Of course, this could all be smoke, it could all mean nothing. But they are a lot of coincidences happening at the same time… Which is, incidentally, just the right time. Sure, Eiji Aonuma couldn’t have been more cryptic when he answered to the question of whether they were actually going to make the remake just by laughing, but now that hints are piling themselves one after the other, you can only interpret that as a “yes” without him looking cruel to his fanbase.

Why is it the right time, you ask? Well, if you recall Aonuma’s words back in 2011, he said that “it didn’t seem right to launch a remake one after another, so the next Zelda game on 3DS will be original.” Two years went by, and we had A Link Between Worlds, a brand-new Zelda game for the 3DS. That means that, now that an original game has been released, the way is clear to make another remake, as they were considering back in the day. There is nothing to obstruct it anymore. And the fact that that new, original game had Majora’s mask (the actual item) hanging on Link’s house just makes it even more likely.

I know there are many more reasons why Majora’s Mask 3D would make sense; they are just too many to list in an article. So please, discuss in the comments section why you think this will—or won’t!—happen, and when do you think it will be announced. My bet? This year’s E3.

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