Parents' Guide to

The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D

By Marc Saltzman, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 10+

An exceptionally fun, challenging, and charming game.

Game Nintendo 3DS 2015
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

Community Reviews

age 10+

Based on 2 parent reviews

age 8+

One of the best Zelda games to play!

The Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask 3D is the 3ds remaster of the beloved N64 classic. It's an amazing game that doesn't fail to deliver the praise it's been given over the years. I'm going to give you an in depth honest review of this game today. First of all, this may not be as great of a pick for very young children (6 and under) for two reasons. Number one, it's puzzles are somewhat difficult, and two, it might be a bit scary for them. The main reason being the story. Basically, you play as the main character, Link, on a quest to save the land of Termina from an imposing doom of the moon crashing onto their land and destroying all life around. It does sound slightly scary and stressful, but there is even more stress. You must do this in 3 days (or 72 minutes in real time). But to thwart this limit, you must use your Ocarina (a flute like instrument) to play the song of time to travel back in time to the first day, over and over again until you have all you need to defeat the evil mask. (lol) It's kind of complicated, and would definitely be for young children like I previously mentioned. Onto themes. Like I said, the impeding doom and death of all life by the moon crashing into the town is a dark theme, and would be scary for young children( I would know, the first time my 4 year old saw this she profoundly made it known she thought it was scary, lol) But it also has good themes, like Link bravely going on an adventure to save not only one town but the whole world! And very good christian themes, such as a lady in the town saying "I only pray that God will deliver us from this time of crisis." (added in 3ds remake) Finally, my observations of the game. All women are dressed modestly without the show of cleavage. This is a big deal for me, I HATE when women are dressed immodestly! There is no blood or gore. No swearing. No sexual themes whatsoever. In conclusion, this is a GREAT game! I would reccomend this to anyone who likes Zelda. If you have the chance to play this, you definitely should.

This title has:

Great messages
Great role models
age 12+

Sad, Dark, and brilliant

The review didn’t talk about the game’s underlying themes dealing with grief and the realistic way the characters deal with the realization that the world is coming to an end. The story telling is beautiful and because I’ve 100% this game I feel like I know all the characters. It’s interesting but sad in how each character deals with the end differently and some fall into madness while others become depressed and hide inside of their homes. Some of the stories/people/places can be very unsettling and evil at times and the back stories can be very adult and violent. It seems ok if you just play the action but if you really play the game you see that it is very adult indeed. There is peril, for example at one point you have to ride in the back of a wagon shooting arrows at raiders who are trying to steal alcoholic milk. There is also some dancing gross mummy creatures and a tribe of skeletons who come out at night. One of the storylines involves a warrior character who died in battle and has very large gashes through his stomach. When you complete this part, you set him free by giving him the recognition of his people. You see him crying in a very sad sequence with him disappearing. Much of the storylines are similar to this, with lots of sadness and grief. You need to be mature to be able to handle this game, and nearly everything in the game is a sorrowful ode to grief. It weaves a beautiful story, and you should definitely play it before your kids do.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2):
Kids say (30):

Although it might not be an all-new adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D is an extraordinarily fun remake for your handheld Nintendo 3DS machine. Not only does the game look so much better than its 15-year-old predecessor (with sharper, more colorful graphics, better lighting/shadows, and 3-D-effects support), it feels great, too, particularly if played on Nintendo's upcoming 3DS XL handheld. The new system places a C-stick to its right side to adjust the camera to see Link's surroundings clearly. Some players on older hardware may find that the camera could possibly feel "clunky" without this extra functionality.

The gameplay is just as engaging as in the original title, but Nintendo also has added a few extra goodies. Players now will find a refined battle system and more save-game points to make playing the game easier. There's also a new song to move forward to a specific hour (in the same day) and a better quest log, with alarms, to keep an eye on your objectives. Even if you never played the Nintendo 64 version, it's easy to fall for this charming adventure. Along with the tension as you race against the clock, gamers no doubt will love the memorable characters, exploring the land, picking up various masks, and fighting against those who try to stop you in their tracks.

Game Details

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