Every Mainline Console Zelda Game Ranked

Arguably the most impressive game on this list in terms of its development cycle, Majora's Mask took just a year to make, with Nintendo (understandably) wanting to capitalise on the success of its predecessor, Ocarina of Time.

Though the Nintendo 64's second Zelda title reused more or less all of Ocarina Of Time's assets, it put them to good use. Wisely deciding not to try to one-up Ocarina Of Time by releasing an updated version of the game, Nintendo delivered the most unique Zelda experience to date, overhauling the gameplay and crafting a title which more or less sits in a genre of its own.

Featuring the darkest Zelda story to date, Majora's Mask ditched the overworld-dungeon-overworld-dungeon formula of the series' previous titles, gambling instead on a new Three Day cycle mechanic. The player was tasked to defeat Skull Kid and stop the moon from crashing into Termina within 72 in-game hours, forcing Link into a Groundhog Day scenario as he lived the same three days over and over until becoming powerful enough to save Termina.

While fans lamented the relative lack of dungeons in the game, Link's ability to transform into different species and the game's emphasis on side quests provided tonnes of innovative gameplay opportunities.

While the series' biggest shakeup until Breath of the Wild was backtracked in future entries, Majora's Mask might just provide a hint of where Nintendo are planning on steer the series for the upcoming sequel to the Switch masterpiece.

Knowing that any direct sequel to what had been considered up until that point as the greatest game of all time would fall flat, Nintendo wisely reinvented the Zelda series for the follow-up of Ocarina of Time. It's likely the game behemoth will pull a similar trick with its next Zelda title, rather than giving fans a carbon copy of Breath of the Wild.