Welcome to VC Weekly, N-Europe's guide to the wonderful world of Nintendo's download service. Written by Sam C Gittins.

This edition heralds the arrival of a greatly anticipated inclusion of another classic to add to the ever expanding and impressive library of the Virtual Console which will no doubt be warmly welcomed by many. Anyway enough from me and on with the game!

Available for download this week we have...

• The Legend of Zelda : Majora's Mask

Points: 1000
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Released: 2000
System: N64

While many remember Ocarina of Time for being the first Zelda game to envision the series in the third dimension it seems somewhat strange that its sequel which greatly improved on each and every element was so grossly overlooked by many in comparison. Released near the end of the N64's life-cycle Majora's Mask proved to be much more of a deeper and darker entry than any Zelda title that had proceeded it.

Following on from the events that took place in Ocarina of Time, the game begins with Link searching for a childhood friend whom he had parted ways with. Riding along the outskirts of Hyrule within a forested area all seems calm until suddenly Link's horse - Epona - is startled by something which results in our hero falling to the floor; upon Link's awakening he is none too pleased to find a strange Skull-Kid standing before him wearing a truly devilish mask while 'playing' the Ocarina of Time.

Link then attempts to grab onto the masked menace but he is unsuccessful as the Skull-Kid jumps onto Epona; managing to grab onto the petrified pony, our hero is then dragged a fair distance before having to let go. After giving chase and falling into the unknown, Link comes face to face with the Skull-Kid once more, gets turned into a Deku-Scrub, meets with a strange mask salesman and to top things off; ends up in a town within a parallel land which has a menacing moon hovering ominously above threatening to crush everything in a mere three days!

All of the above happens within the first few moments and just goes to show how much more of a dark and menacing tone this Zelda game has; not to mention the time limit that looms over you continually marking the ever-present threat in the sky above. Indeed it's the limit itself that makes for one of the best mechanics used in the series, because once you grasp the concept and how to use it to your advantage rather than seeing it as a barrier; a whole world of possibilities will open before you.

Set in the world of Termina, this is truly a place that you can become easily absorbed in as while most of the character models are taken directly from Ocarina of Time, their personalities are completely different; take for instance the character models of young and adult Malon who are now two completely separate identities going by the names of Romani and Cremia, running a ranch together as sisters.

Many other previously known characters are present here alongside newer entries such as the now legendary Tingle - much to peoples delight or disgust depending on your viewpoint - who is a thirty-five year old man garbed in green... spandex who sells maps for a living and is a complete lunatic to boot. What nearly all of the characters have in common though is that they each follow their set paths during the three day period and they all have their own story to tell which will more often than not lead to a side-quest and it's here that the game truly shines.

Of course there is still a traditional quest of epic proportions to pursue involving traveling to far off lands and delving into deep dungeons - some of the best ever created even - but it's all constructed in a very concise way. Indeed one of the first things you will notice upon entering Termina Field - aside from the riveting rendition of the classic Zelda Overworld theme - is that the land has four distinctly different sections each leading to their respective area; but it is the manner in which it is all combined seamlessly in one excessively eclectic mix of a place which makes the field and the town it surrounds feel like the game has more of an established central hub than any other in the series.

It's the mask mechanic that makes the game stand out more than anything though as you can collect over twenty different masks during the course of the game including ones that allow you to actually take the form of a Deku Scrub, Goron and even a Zora. Each of these forms has their own abilities such as flight and mucus spraying for the Deku, swimming and projectile attacks as a Zora but perhaps the best ability of all belongs to the Goron form which actually allows you to roll like a Goron and believe me when I say that there is no feeling that can quite match rolling around the whole of Termina Field at top-speed, it's a truly memorable moment.

Truly I am merely scratching the surface here though, personally I have played through this title three times previously to this re-release and to give you an idea of scale I limited myself to a solid three day play-through - the same three days that Link has - for this version and in that time I only managed to complete the game in as bare-bones manner as possible with half the hearts, less than half the masks and no major equipment upgrades aside from the obligatory quest related ones. So as you can probably gather from this, if you were to say play this game today for the first time - and if thats the case I truly envy you for it as the first time playing it is always magical - then you potentially have a gaming experience waiting for you to complete which could last you anything from a week to a month.

Believe me when I say that there is no issue regarding longevity here, the world of Termina is your playground for as long as you choose it to be and if that happens to be until you've gotten everything obtainable in the game then... have fun because you will be here for a good while, running around underneath the moons sadistic smile. It's also worth mentioning that the game takes full advantage of the N64's expansion pak to produce some truly vibrant visuals all wrapped up in a wonderfully wicked art style; backed up by a sumptuous musical score featuring some truly moving melodies accompanied by a good few classic compositions, all of which help to bring extra atmosphere to the delightfully dark world around you.

Unfortunately it all has to end at some point - like this review - and that is the only negative aspect I can think of when it comes to this game; as it truly has it all and manages to successfully deliver what I would deem to be the most 'complete' entry in the Zelda series to date.

As for which of the two titles is better though, in my eyes it's as simple as this; Ocarina of Time brought the series into the third dimension and delivered everything that fans expected from it at the time but Majora's Mask took the foundations of its predecessor and managed to build something much grander on top with layers between each tier made up of the main things that its brethren lacked including character development, an immense amount of side-quests and a more central hub; indeed the only thing in contrast that Majora's Mask lacked was the fishing mini-game which although much loved is still a relatively small price to pay for what's on offer.

In conclusion Majora's Mask manages to better Ocarina of Time in almost every respect, both are monumental games that really cannot come any more highly recommended; for me personally though this is as good as the series gets. As a standalone game it is well worth investing your time and points in; if you have yet to experience this masterpiece then truly you owe it to yourself to do so as it's one of the finest games ever conceived.

Verdict : The true zenith of the Zelda series.

Thats it for another installment of VC Weekly which will return again soon. So until then, enjoy the rest of the week and Game On!

Sam Gittins
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