There has been an evident element of darkness in the storyline of every Zelda game since the series began. To pick out a few choice favourites, in A Link to the Past, Princess Zelda is kidnapped by Agahnim who, before Ganon appears, is slowly taking over Hyrule and killing anyone in his way: who can forget the moment the man in the sanctuary died? Then there's The Minish Cap, where Vaati appears to take over Hyrule and turns Zelda to stone, later possessing the King of Hyrule in order to get what he wants. The obvious one is Ocarina of Time, where Ganondorf, loyal servant to the King of Hyrule, turns on the Royal Family and destroys Hyrule whilst Link sleeps for seven years. None of these, however, compare to the gripping story of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, arguably the darkest game in the series.

The word "dark" cannot be used to describe Majora's Mask. Better is the word "black" for this sort of description. In other Zelda games, you understand the story and what you have to do. In Majora's Mask, this simply is not the case: you find yourself immersed in the terrible tale of Clock Town and its residents, powerless against a terrifying-looking moon that seems to be hurtling down toward the land at an alarming speed. You find yourself emotionally connecting with the people of Clock Town and, indeed, others in Termina: the land's Four Giants, the keepers of the temples, might just break your heart when they cry out to you.

The story begins shortly after the events of Ocarina of Time come to an end: Link has put the Master Sword back in its place and said farewell to Hyrule before taking Epona off to an unknown land. Before he gets there, however, Epona is startled by two stray fairies and sends Link flying, knocking him out. It is at this point we meet the Skull Kid, a lonely boy with no friends except for his two fairies (humorously named Tatl and Tael). That doesn't stop him, as we soon find out, rummaging through the Happy Mask Man's rucksack in search of something valuable, and he finds just that: Majora's Mask. As the story tells, Majora's Mask is a powerful mask with a mind of its own and power beyond any other, and it will possess its wearer in order to do what it wants.

But, right now, Link isn't particularly bothered about Majora's Mask. Before Link even gets to Termina, and shortly after he loses Epona to the Skull Kid, the Skull Kid uses the power of Majora's Mask to turn him into a helpless Deku shrub. After the Skull Kid and Tael flee, Link and Tatl must team up and eventually make it to Termina, where they meet the Happy Mask Man, who explains all that has been going on. He asks you to bring back his mask and he will return you to your normal self - but he is only in town for three days.

It's at this point that the quirkiness of the game will really hit you. Clock Town is unlike anything that's ever been in a Zelda game: the closest you could get to a comparison in a previous game would be Kakariko Village in Ocarina of Time, which is still a ways off. Clock Town is split up into five different areas and so is pretty big, and includes a large number of characters simply going about their everyday business. It brings about the feel of the hustle-and-bustle of everyday life, particularly the fact that the game progresses over three 24-hour days (though an in-game hour takes a couple of minutes to complete, if that, so those three days will only take a few hours to complete).

Of course, three days isn't very long when you're trying to single-handedly save the world from impending doom (namely, the ugly-mug moon falling from the sky), but Link has one special item at his disposal: the Ocarina of Time. Carrying on from Ocarina of Time, in which the Ocarina is simply an instrument passed down from Princess Zelda with the same purpose as the Fairy Ocarina, the Ocarina of Time can actually change time: Link can slow time down, skip ahead a few hours or go all the way back to the start of the first day using the Song of Time and various interpretations of it. This is an absolute necessity: if you don't use the Song of Time before your 72 hours are up, the Moon will crash into Termina and you'll lose everything from the last three days. Not really something you want to do.

Those 72 hours won't just be spent in Clock Town, however: Termina is much larger than that. It's essentially split up into four regions: Clock Town, slap-bang in the middle; Woodfall to the south; Snowhead to the north; Great Bay to the west; and Ikana Canyon to the east. You'll visit them in that order, too. The same theme is always evident: each area has a temple which has been infected by darkness brought about by the power of Majora's Mask. It's these temples that you have to visit, but there's an awful lot of preamble before you can even get to them. It'll probably take more inexperienced players near enough to three days just to get to the temples, and then they quickly get more difficult. It'd be an understatement to call Majora's Mask one of the most challenging Zelda games, if not the most challenging.

For many players of the game, however, the challenge will not be the most standout aspect of the game. Arguably, the most powerful aspect of the game is its soundtrack, which at times can be incredibly memorable and even moving. As has previously been mentioned, the theme of the Four Giants is particularly moving, recognising the turmoil that these keepers have been through and the helplessness that they feel. The theme to Termina Field is particularly memorable, with the theme being lifted out of Hyrule Field in A Link to the Past.

One of the most important aspects of the game is undoubtedly the use of the 24 Masks in the game. Each mask is important because it does something different: for example, the Bunny Hood lets you run quickly, and the Stone Mask makes you invisible to most enemies. The most important masks are the Deku Mask, the Goron Mask and the Zora Mask, as these allow you to change form into said species. Without these, you won't be able to complete the temples as they provide Link with many useful abilities: for example, Zora Link can dive with ease and Goron Link can roll around anywhere.

Overall, it's clear that not only is Majora's Mask the darkest game in the series: it's also the most involved. It might seem short in theory - there are only four main dungeons, after all - but the amount of work that needs to be done before you can even get to those dungeons is staggering and, even then, you might need to go back at some point. The storyline is perhaps the most emotive and enthralling ever found in a Zelda game and this is what really makes Majora's Mask come alive. It doesn't matter if you've recently joined the Zelda fan camp and you never played this game or if you've never played a Zelda game in your life and you fancy a challenge: you don't need to think twice about getting this. It's an absolute essential.