The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask celebrated its 25-year anniversary on October 26, 2025. Below, we examine how it leveraged its unconventional time-travel element to tell some memorable stories.
Even a series as storied as The Legend of Zelda has produced a black sheep or two in its long history, but perhaps no installment is as divisive as Majora’s Mask. The second Zelda title released for the Nintendo 64 and the follow-up to the universally acclaimed Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask retained much of its predecessor’s mechanics and assets, but it reframed them with a recurring three-day structure that proved to be controversial among fans at the time. But while this unconventional time loop contributed to the game’s divisive reputation, it also gives it a unique identity among the series, and is the reason the game remains so moving more than two decades later.
Although Majora’s Mask revolves heavily around time travel, it was not the first Zelda game to explore the concept. Time also plays a central role in Ocarina of Time, embodied in the eponymous instrument that allows Link to access the inner chamber of the Temple of Time and retrieve the Master Sword. Once he pulls the sword from its pedestal, he can freely trek back and forth between two distinct ages: his idyllic childhood, and the dark future that awaits Hyrule.