Zelda: The Missing Link - My Discovery of Romhacks
The N64 has always had staying power with me. For years, the games on that console captured the imaginations of my brother and I. Zelda and Mario, Banjo Kazooie and Donkey Kong 64, Mario Kart and Diddy Kong Racing, Star Wars games, you name it. We poured a lot of our childhood (probably too much) into this console. Out of the library we owned and what we often rented from our local stores, I would argue nothing ever really surpassed Ocarina of Time.
We always told ourselves there was more to that game than what we found on our first playthrough, slowly discovering new heart pieces and other small, hidden collectibles. What furthered that is actually not owning a copy of Majora's Mask during the life cycle of the N64. We had a couple of opportunities to play it over the years, but ever anything past (or maybe even up to) the first dungeon. And that took a guide for us to get that far. Majora's Mask was just a far more complex and intentional journey than our impatient minds expected.
Ocarina of Time consistently guides you with where to go and who to find once you get there. Nintendo couldn't really afford to build it any other way. It had to be both revolutionary and accessible. But Majora's Mask did not concern itself the same way. And most of all (for me anyway), its locations were so much more diverse and creative. These two games took place in the same universe, but the advancement of both skill and technology gave Majora's Mask a wholly different coat of paint.
Majora's Mask begins with Link searching for Navi (God knows why he would want to do such a thing) in what appears to be the Lost Woods. This is a much more impressive lost woods that emulates an earlier build of what Ocarina's Lost Woods may have originally tried. My guess is that would amount to a large square map with a handful of things to find among a seemingly endless see of trees, and said map would have looped back around on itself like the multiplayer maps in Star Fox 64.
Beta Lost Woods image:
ANYWHO, my imagination was always peaked by irrational thoughts of where exactly in the Lost Woods in OoT was this section meant to originate from. Being 7 years old at the time, my understanding of memory constraints on a game cartridge were obviously very limited. Not just with Zelda, but plenty of others. We always tried to get over the steep hills of Bob-Omb Battlefield, or to backflip our way up the slopes of Death Mountain. What if one of the doors inside the Castle Courtyard could actually open? None of these were true, possible, or had any merit. They were the innocent ramblings of kids who wanted more out of a game they had already discovered just about the nooks and crannies and their secrets.
I honestly can't remember how I found out about The Missing Link specifically, but I knew very little of romhacks or the scene as a whole at the time. My first discovery of romhacking was stumbling upon the channel Hard4Games in 2019 and hearing about the Ura Zelda project from Zeth and others as well as Project Beta Triforce by Aeroblast. My mind was completely blown. New dungeons (complete or not), new music, new puzzles. While both projects were already long since cancelled, you could (and still can) access remnants of both via YouTube for both gameplay and soundtracks.
I then saw how vast and experienced the Super Mario 64 romhacking community had already become with the likes of Last Impact, Star Road, and the Green Stars to name a few. Multiple full-length games were already out in the wild with an unimaginable amount of more short-form content, but I just didn't see the same level of engagement for OoT romhacks. I believe Nimpize was already out by then, but I had yet to take time to play it. I had just hoped that eventually, Zelda for N64 would gain that same traction someday (and here in 2025, it most certainly has).
A couple of years later, I discovered The Missing Link. This was an ambitious interlude between OoT and MM, and it had a very engaging premise. Heck, I would have been excited even if the premise were Link attempting to deliver a pizza from Hyrule to Termina. More Zelda in the format of the N64 console where I poured so many hours of my childhood into was a done deal for me. While it may not be from the perspective Miyamoto nor Aonuma had in mind, chronicling Link's journey from Hyrule to Termina was as logical endeavor as could be for a romhack.
Kicking things off with a reimagined Kokiri Forest, while I think it is a great build and maybe even a personal bit of the Mandela effect for some us. I honestly wish it would have started with the same layout of Kokiri. I think that could have been more immersive to leave Kokiri through a newly formed path or a new route in the Lost Woods. But it really doesn't matter. We come to these romhacks for new, reimagined, and customized content. (So there is no reason whatsoever that I should care about continuity that much when the entire point of the game is to present something new).
On this quest, the ghost of Saria serves as your companion. Having failed in her mission to stop this story's villain, her ghost is all that is left. She resides within the Kokiri sword and chimes in for exposition here and there.
Introducing players to the new sword beam right off the bat is a great touch. The sword beam is a staple of the series but was notably absent from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask (if you don't count the Fierce Deity mask). So it's really cool to see it implemented very early in this game. On top of that, using it to cut down a tree, while it sets the bar a little high, goes a long way to show that this is a mechanic used for solving puzzles and not just combat.
Moving on from Kokiri is where I think the game has its most immersive segment with the Deep Woods. Everything about this atmosphere captures the vibe I would expect on this journey from Hyrule to Termina. The name Deep Woods implies a step further than the Lost Woods we are used to, but it also achieves a lived-in feel that I think is important in making new locations work in these games. While, Kokiri was always green and maintained this late spring or early summer vibe, the Deep Woods are a stark contrast. Everything is much darker and more of an autumn time. The leaves are falling, and the sun is being choked out by all the trees.
This soundtrack is top notch and up there with the best tracks of OoT and MM. Based on comments on both his YouTube and Bandcamp pages, I think the composer, Zerovolt0V might agree this was either the best in the game or his best work at the time. He has since gone on to be commissioned for several other romhacks and has plenty of music he has put together outside of that. But this really does seem like it could have been a breakthrough for him.
The song makes you feel lost, and while Link is technically on a quest with a definite goal here, he is being pulled through parts unknown. And this music perfectly captures that theme. Not desperate, but still vastly uncertain of what is around the next corner. I always wanted to explore the woods from the beginning of Majora's Mask. While this map really feels like an extension of that, it also does more than enough to set itself apart. But I just can't stress enough how much I think the music has to do with that.
Bandcamp link:
https://zerovolt0v.bandcamp.com/track/deep-woods
Here you will you come across an Anju NPC as well as several Deku scrubs (both mad and sane). You are ultimately prevented from proceeding directly through the woods to Deku Road and instead have to take a diversion through Monktown Valley. This area emulates a combination of Ikana and the Desert Colossus. It is a wide-open, expansive area that offers a nice variety of architecture, NPCs, and puzzles. Getting the lay of the land is almost a puzzle in itself. WIth drastic differences in the geographical highs and lows, it is impressive that this is one contiguous area.
It also has two different versions of its soundtrack based on before and after Link cleanses the area of monsters. The locals had been turned into redeads, and there are a couple of good puzzles that play with the new mechanic of the sword beam as well.
Moving on from Kokiri is where I think the game has its most immersive segment with the Deep Woods. Everything about this atmosphere captures the vibe I would expect on this journey from Hyrule to Termina. The name Deep Woods implies a step further than the Lost Woods we are used to, but it also achieves a lived-in feel that I think is important in making new locations work in these games. While, Kokiri was always green and maintained this late spring or early summer vibe, the Deep Woods are a stark contrast. Everything is much darker and more of an autumn time. The leaves are falling, and the sun is being choked out by all the trees.
This soundtrack is top notch and up there with the best tracks of OoT and MM. Based on comments on both his YouTube and Bandcamp pages, I think the composer, Zerovolt0V might agree this was either the best in the game or his best work at the time. He has since gone on to be commissioned for several other romhacks and has plenty of music he has put together outside of that. But this really does seem like it could have been a breakthrough for him.
The song makes you feel lost, and while Link is technically on a quest with a definite goal here, he is being pulled through parts unknown. And this music perfectly captures that theme. Not desperate, but still vastly uncertain of what is around the next corner. I always wanted to explore the woods from the beginning of Majora's Mask. While this map really feels like an extension of that, it also does more than enough to set itself apart. But I just can't stress enough how much I think the music has to do with that.
Bandcamp link:
https://zerovolt0v.bandcamp.com/track/deep-woods
Here you will you come across an Anju NPC as well as several Deku scrubs (both mad and sane). You are ultimately prevented from proceeding directly through the woods to Deku Road and instead have to take a diversion through Monktown Valley. This area emulates a combination of Ikana and the Desert Colossus. It is a wide-open, expansive area that offers a nice variety of architecture, NPCs, and puzzles. Getting the lay of the land is almost a puzzle in itself. WIth drastic differences in the geographical highs and lows, it is impressive that this is one contiguous area.
It also has two different versions of its soundtrack based on before and after Link cleanses the area of monsters. The locals had been turned into redeads, and there are a couple of good puzzles that play with the new mechanic of the sword beam as well.
After you rescued the locals from their apparent fate, you trek back through the Deep Woods (which is great for the journey because you get to listen to the song again). Really, the entire soundtrack for this game is great. We get more with the themes for Deku Road, Cluck Cluck Ranch, Deku Grove, and Hollowroot Keep. The effort put into these to match the overall aesthetic for each area but to also carve out a path that doesn't quite conform to MM embraces the same progression we saw from OoT to MM with a plain and simple high quality and quantity of creativity.
Similar to the slight backtracking across the Deep Woods and Monktown areas, you get that with these next three as well as a mini-game if you so chose. Deku Road has a bit slower feel to it, almost like the journey isn't quite dire yet and you still have time. But Deku Grove has a much more heightened energy to it that is similar to the Deku Palace. Saria also stops by to give you a stark reminder of the demon that is responsible for capturing and destroying Kokiri's fairy population while Hollowroot Keep towers over the area.
Overall, I think the interconnectivity and short bouts of backtracking in this segment is totally acceptable as they aren't that big of areas. It really isn't a bother, and it gets some mileage out of these detailed areas that were built out.
Similar to the slight backtracking across the Deep Woods and Monktown areas, you get that with these next three as well as a mini-game if you so chose. Deku Road has a bit slower feel to it, almost like the journey isn't quite dire yet and you still have time. But Deku Grove has a much more heightened energy to it that is similar to the Deku Palace. Saria also stops by to give you a stark reminder of the demon that is responsible for capturing and destroying Kokiri's fairy population while Hollowroot Keep towers over the area.
Overall, I think the interconnectivity and short bouts of backtracking in this segment is totally acceptable as they aren't that big of areas. It really isn't a bother, and it gets some mileage out of these detailed areas that were built out.
Hollowroot Keep is a like the hellish spawn of inside the Deku Tree. The soundtrack is almost like it could be a Zelda/Silent Hill crossover. It is clearly in the Zelda N64 soundfont, but it sounds more suitable for a horror survival game. The dungeon item is truly an innovation, and it is implemented very well. There are several puzzles, up to and including the boss fight.
This is also a custom boss, and that is a huge deal. Plenty of romhacks, even with all their customized dungeons, puzzles, and overworlds had struggled to include either a new boss or at least a mechanical change to an existing boss. The Missing Link includes a fully customized (and disturbing) boss with the Arborachnid:
This boss is a real challenge, and I think the use of the dungeon item here is ingenious.(I don't want to spoil too much more).
I think this game does a tremendous job of capturing what we thought it may have been like for Link leading up to Majora's Mask. And it is a heck of an experience by a talented group of people. If you have the means, I highly recommend you try playing it. There are so many more games out there compared to when I first played this, and I really look forward to trying out projects like The Sealed Palace, Master of Time, or Time Lost in the near future!
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