Zelda Gaiden III: Mask of Mujala

By Maniacal Clown

Well, Zelda Gaiden has once again gotten a name change. It's now, as most of you already know, The Legend of Zelda: Mask of Mujala. Nintendo sures seems to like using the title "Whatever of Whatever," don't they? (SEE: Adventure of Link, Ocarina of Time) Anyway, I thought it would be good to once again look at what we know about the upcoming game. In other words, I couldn't think of anything else to write about this week.

The Story: Nothing new here. In case you've forgotten, here's a quick review: Links is in the forest one day when this rather strange masked man (Who's gotten a facelift! SEE: "The Characters" below.) appears, steals Epona, and vanishes through an interdimensional portal. Link, being the incredibly stupid hero he is, decides to follow and ends up in a whacked-out parallel/mirror universe.

The Twist: Here comes the hard part. This world's moon is falling from the sky, and Link has two days to stop. Not only that...you do, too! The game is actually played in real time. Luckily there's a nice man you can buy time from. Handy, huh? There's one thing nobody's realized, however. If you've got forty-eight hours to start with, and you have to buy more, how long is this game going to take!? Definately over fifty hours of gameplay and possibly more. Tha one-ups OoT for sure.

The Characters: So far in the screenshots we've seen Link, the now redone and freaky looking Mask Guy (AKA Clown Boy), Malon, Gorons, Zora, Deku Scrubs, two fairies, one of the Twin Sorceress Sisters, some enemies, and a couple bosses. There's also a few we can speculate about and hope for. Dark Link, and evil Zelda, and a not-so-evil Ganondorf. Also, concerning the two fairies. Everyone's noticed how one is lighter and the other dark. Some say that the light one is Navi while the other is the mirror universe's counterpart, possibly Dark Link's fairy. Nintendo.com says that is not so. The are actually brother (the dark one) and sister (the lighter one), and they both originate in Link's universe.

The Twist: This IS a mirror universe after all. Expect some familiar characters in some "interesting" situations. How about the Hylians trying to take over the world with Link at the lead? Sounds freaky...

The Music: We haven't really heard any yet. I just thought I'd mention it for fun.

The Twist: Maybe in the mirror universe it'll be played backwards or something...I don't know...

The Dates: It was recently announced that The Legend of Zelda: Mask of Mujala will be released in Japan this April. That leaves late autumn ripe for its trip to the US.

The Twist: Remember, Nintendo is notorius for missing release dates. Don't trust them!!!

~Maniacal Clown

P.S. Keep your fingers crossed anyway! ;)