Monday, February 28, 2022

Majora's Mask @ Nintendo Switch Online

Nintendo Switch Online logo above package of Majora's Mask for N64

The Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack has been a mixed bag, where the only exclusive thing so far are the Nintendo 64 games, but the emulation efforts were a new low for Nintendo. The input lag is quite high, the games look(ed) weird, there is no button remapping, and it all just doesn't feel like it's worth the extra 20€ per year.

Now, last Friday, on February 25th, Nintendo has added The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask to this list, but also updated the Nintendo 64 application to version 2.0.0. This video by ZFG provides a good overview of what was done, where Ocarina of Time now looks much closer to the original with certain effects, like the fog, restored, while the input lag was also reduced a bit.

This is great, in some aspects the games are now even better than on Wii (U), where certain textures have been improved, like for example the flames. But overall this still seems to be the worst option for replaying the Nintendo 64 classics. As of now, I would only recommend the Expansion Pack to people for whom the Nintendo Switch really is the only way of playing these games.

Still, with the release of Majora's Mask, porting over The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD feels all the more inviting, because then we would have a collection of all 3D Zelda games on the Nintendo Switch.

1 comment:

Raul said...

Been replaying Majora's Mask recently for the first time in years (via Wii U). Thought it would make for a fun October game since its easily the creepiest Zelda when it comes to atmosphere and wearing elaborate masks is a big part of Halloween.

Never got the 3ds version but one thing I always wished they'd add in a remake besides new dungeon is bonus masks. I always wanted the Mario mask that the Happy Mask Salesman has. Doesn't have to turn Link into Mario (tho that'd be amazing) but I think it'd be cool if it let Link either shoot fireballs or use one of Mario's hammers.