The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask served as the proof of concept for the N64: Recompiled project, promising to open the floodgates for a massive wave of fanmade PC ports for classic Nintendo 64 games. Now, full-on mod support for this version of Majora's Mask is here, and there's already such an array of goofy memes and genuine quality-of-life upgrades that I'm having a tough time imagining playing the game any other way.
Zelda 64: Recompiled just got its big 1.2 update with mod support over the weekend, and there are already dozens of mods available, which you can get a broad overview of from developer Wiseguy's video below. In the video description, Wiseguy notes that "all functionality shown will be available in future N64: Recompiled projects as well."
There are mods that bring in nifty features from the 3DS version of Majora's Mask, like letting you swap masks even while transformed, or skipping to a specific hour with the Song of Double Time. There's a cool tweak that alters the onscreen HUD to match modern controller layouts.
There are, of course, graphical mods, including one that disables draw distance culling so you can see enemies and objects at any distance. There's one that lets you move while aiming, giving you the precision of FPS controls while firing the bow. Another lets you use some items while transformed, and yet another lets you save at an owl statue without quitting.
Then there are the meme mods, like the character replacers letting you play as CJ from GTA: San Andreas or the titular hero from the notoriously terrible Superman 64. You can dab while exploding yourself with the blast mask. There's also a Mario mask that doesn't just turn you into the platformer hero – it lets you use all of his moves, running around Majora's Mask with wild jumping abilities.
Most importantly, Majora's Mask can now run Doom, thanks to a mod that lets you tap L+R at any time to setup a full beige box desktop gaming PC and sit down for some demon slaying.
The one I'm most impressed by, though, is the massive map overhaul detailed in the video from Nerrel below, who created an entirely new 7K world map entirely by hand, with "no AI bullshit."
The map isn't just more detailed – thanks to modder Danielryb, it also features enhancements like tracking Link's exact position in the world. (Previously, it just showed his face in the general area you were in.) Now, it'll track his location down to the exact lily pad he's standing on.
These mods can be very easily installed once you've grabbed them (many are hosted on Thunderstore.io) by simply dragging the .zip files into the game. Eventually, there's set to be a mod browser that'll let you install add-ons without even leaving the game.
There are two unofficial Majora's Mask PC ports out there: 2 Ship 2 Harkinian, and this project, Zelda 64: Recompiled. Both are built by reverse engineering the original game's code and rebuilding it by hand to run natively on PC, with no emulation required, and both happened to release around the same time. You'd be forgiven for confusing the two projects.
Where Zelda 64: Recompiled differs is the fact that it was created through N64: Recompiled, which automates the usually painstaking process of reverse engineering the code – though there's still plenty of work involved in building the actual port.
N64: Recompiled is already being used to develop numerous other ports besides this version of Majora's Mask, including Kirby 64, Super Smash Bros., and even the canceled Rareware title Dinosaur Planet, which eventually morphed into Star Fox Adventures. There's no reason these ports can't also feature mod support just as robust as what we're getting in Zelda 64: Recompiled, and it looks like the future for the N64 library is brighter than it's ever been before.
The best N64 games are getting even better.
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