All four dungeon bosses in Majora’s Mask 3D have received changes. Each now has an eye, usually somewhere that eyes aren’t normally found, that serves as a weak spot. Goht’s is on its back, and the fight is basically the same aside from this addition. When Goht’s toppled, the eye pops out for Link to attack the eye to deal further damage. Sometimes the eye lands within reach for Goron Link to punch it, but sometimes it’s out of reach, so Link needs to shoot it with arrows.
Odolwa’s eye is right behind its head, so first Link needs to bring him down to be able to hit it. The easiest way is to use Deku Link, launch from the flowers around the arena, and hit the eye with a Deku Nut. This is a nice new addition – Goron and Zora Link had contributions to make to Goht and Gyorg, but Deku Link didn’t really have much to do in this fight in the N64 version. (There was one Deku Flower that could be used to damage Odolwa, but it was much harder than just wading in and hacking it to death.) Other ways of bringing Odolwa down are to shoot it with an arrow or to hack at it knees with the sword.
Gyorg’s eye is in its mouth, and when it’s stunned, it floats to the surface with the eye exposed, so Link doesn’t need to dive in after it, deal as much damage as he can, then try to escape before getting eaten. However, since this deemphasizes Zora Link, there’s a second phase to the fight where Gyorg destroys the platform in the center of the arena, forcing Link to battle it underwater. This also adds mines on chains underwater, so the trick becomes to break the chains of a mine near Gyorg, then get it to suck the mine in. This stuns Gyorg, causing the eye to pop out so Link can zap it with the electric barrier.
The most changed boss, however, is Twinmold. In the original, the two worms jumped around the area while Link put on the Giant’s Mask and hacked them to death. Now, Link doesn’t get the Giant’s Mask before the fight. The blue worm has eyes along its body for Link to shoot out, and when they’re gone, collapses to the ground with a giant eye falling out of its mouth. Meanwhile, the red worm flies overhead, strafing Link. When Link takes out the blue worm, a treasure chest appears in the center of the arena with the Giant’s Mask. Giant Link doesn’t have a sword, instead, he beats the red worm into submission, picks it up by the tail, spins it around, and slams the eye into the ground. This is a much-improved fight over the N64 version.
When I played the N64 version, I beat Majora’s Mask by using the Fierce Deity Mask, which was fun, but a bit too easy – lock on, spam attacks, watch it transform into a supposedly tougher form, repeat until it dies. I had always intended to go back and fight it fairly, but never did, so when I tackled this version, I figured it was as good a time as any. At the start of the fight, the four boss remains leave Link and are mounted on the wall. In the first phase of the fight, the mask spins around the room, and Link can stun it with a spin attack just as it passes overhead. After enough of this, it switches tactics: the four boss remains are animated, and Majora’s Mask starts using a laser attack. Link can reflect the laser attack to kill the boss remains and damage Majora’s Mask.
After enough damage, the mask sprouts arms, legs, and a tiny head and becomes Majora’s Incarnation. This form runs and dances around the room and Link can stun it with his sword or arrows. About the only challenge here is that the boss is fast and hard to hit. Once Link has hit it enough, it transforms into Majora’s Wrath: beefing up its limbs, replacing the tiny head with a full-sized one, and growing tentacles from the ends of its arms. This form tries to whip Link constantly with its tentacles, and the shield really isn’t that useful in blocking them. The strategy remains the same: stun it with arrows, get close, and stab until it runs off.
Ultimately, unlike Ocarina of Time where I generally like the remake better than the original, I’m decidedly more mixed on Majora’s Mask. Enough is clearly better – graphics, controls, saving – that I think, like Ocarina, this is the version I’ll come back to. Unless, of course, they decide to make an HD version for the Switch that combines the best parts of both versions.
