26 Years Later, This 10/10 N64 Masterpiece Is Better Than Zelda: Ocarina Of Time

It might not have been the best-selling console ever released, but the Nintendo 64 led to some of our favorite games of all time. To this day, Nintendo's third major home console is home to the most critically acclaimed video game ever released in the form of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. But I've always been one to shun the popular vote: I think 1980s Doctor Who is genuinely brilliant, and I've always thought Super Mario 64 is a bit rubbish.

So, while most people would probably argue that Ocarina of Time is the greatest 10/10 masterpiece available on the Nintendo 64, I'd quietly suggest there's a much better one. Take a walk with me, and we'll dive into a game that's darker, weirder, and ultimately infinitely more memorable.

A Better Game Than Ocarina Of Time? You Bet

I said what I said

Here's the thing: I truly believe The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask is a better game than Ocarina of Time. I appreciate this will be a spicy take for some, but I also know there'll be a fair number of Zelda fans somewhere out there willing to back me up on this. That's the beauty of this series: there's no wrong answer. Unless you really like the CDi games, that is.

Ocarina of Time effectively took the formula established in A Link to the Past, and translated it to 3D. Now, I am absolutely not saying that shouldn't be considered an incredible achievement, and I know Ocarina of Time helped revolutionize 3D adventure games forever. However, it ultimately all feels a little... familiar. You have a dual world mechanic, three dungeons followed by a big event and then an even greater number of dungeons, a similar arsenal of weapons. It's Zelda in its purest form. Ocarina of Time is the game Wind Waker wasn't, and the game Twilight Princess tried too hard to be. It's the yardstick by which all other Zelda games are still measured. It is exactly what everyone thinks about when they think about Zelda.

That, to me, is why Majora's Mask is a better game. The fact Nintendo followed this epic, swashbuckling adventure through time with a weird, dense story about Link trying to find Navi in a world filled with strange, sad little weirdos is what Zelda is about to me. This is a series defined by risks and reinvention, not attempting to recapture past glories. Cough, Ocarina of Time remake, cough.

Majora's Mask is unafraid of doing something radically different, which pays off beautifully in the creation of Termina and, more specifically, Clock Town. A living, breathing world in which every single NPC has their own unique schedule and life to live over the course of the game's 72 hours might sound like something any AAA release could fart out now, but how many can you think of that have actually done that? Let alone done so in a genuinely meaningful way.

Majora's Mask makes these NPCs and their lives absolutely essential to the adventure. If you want to save the world, you have to get to know these people and find out how to help them. Some of their stories are weird, some are kind of funny, and almost all of them are ultimately heartbreaking. Clock Town, I think, is one of gaming's all-time great creations.

Then you have the masks. Link has access to a lot of his regular arsenal here, sure, but he can also use a handful of magical masks to transform. Turn into a Goron and roll around Hyrule at Sonic levels of speed, or become a Zora and glide through the ocean. There's even a mask to make you do a strange sultry dance, which pretty much has about one solid use in the entire game. Majora's Mask is full of surprises.

Quite aside from anything else, I still think Majora's Mask has the most ambitious story in any Zelda game. Granted, that's not the highest bar to clear, but after multiple games focused on saving princesses and undoing evil, Majora's Mask is an altogether murkier affair about grief and loss. That a terrifying moon hangs above your head for the entire game is just a bonus.

Ultimately, this is what it comes down to: Ocarina of Time is, and always will be, a masterpiece. But its formula has been refined and adapted and copied again and again over the years, which effectively dilutes its original appeal. There has only ever been one Zelda game as weird and experimental as Majora's Mask, and I don't think we'll ever see anything like it ever again. That, to me, is what makes it the better of the two games.