After the astonishing success of Ocarina of Time, gamers were hungry for more Zelda. A mere sequel could never top the original. So instead of simply trying to just stack some new content and features on the Ocarina of Time formula, Nintendo decided to take the series sideways, and tried something slightly different.

In this game you once again play as Link, more specifically the younger Link from Ocarina of Time. After being robbed of his Ocarina by a Skull Kid wearing a strange mask he finds himself transformed into a Deku Scrub in the strange parallel universe of Termina.

This is only the beginning, as Link finds himself being recruited by a mysterious traveling mask salesman forced to try and find a way to recover the strange mask and stop the moon from crashing into Termina, which is set to happen in three days from Link's arrival. The player once again has access to many songs for the Ocarina, including songs to manipulate time which enable the player to re-live the 3 days leading up to the destruction of Termina until the player has all the tools required to save it.

This games sets itself apart from earlier Zelda titles by introducing a large amount of side-quests involving NPCs with very specific schedules in the three days leading up to its destruction. Many of these people have problems and of course it's up to the player to help Link solve them.
Many of these quests are optional but you will find some that are required in order to advance the plot of the game.

Finally, the many masks in this game add a large number of shapes and abilities to Link's arsenal.