When both games released they were thought to be odd and different than the normal games in the franchise.
Some people love the uniqueness and others couldn't get into it.
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask:The Second 3d Zelda game for the n64 did some very different things from its predecessor. The biggest change was the 3 game day time frame where you needed to complete the game within 3 game days or else. Also masks played a more important role and actually gave Link abilities. The NPC's in this game were very unique and the had predestined story paths, which was very odd for a game. It was like a little world in the game and it almost felt alive as certain people would do certain things on certain days. This was a zelda game but still it just had a totally different feeling and tone than other zelda games and has remained controversial since its release.
Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island
SMW2: Yoshi's Island came into the scene and was a radically different game. To call this a sequel to Mario World would be a very stretch since it was totally different game engine and presentation. Mario is now a baby which you for the most part don't directly control, Yoshi which had a part in the original Mario World is now star and you can now toss eggs in various directions. Some people were lured into this game because it had namesake of being a sequel to the very popular Mario World and were very disappointed and confused by the product. The amazing graphics and unique gameplay were unmatched for its time and something that no other game outside of its sequels have captured the same gameplay of this game.
So which of these two games do you LOVE MORE ?
I am a huge fan of Majora's Mask. The dark tone is really amazing for a zelda game, and the 3 day concept really gave the game something more. It was more an experience because you had actual pressure to finish the game and what you did actually had impacts on the game world. I remember the shock and odd feeeling when the I watched the Moon crash into Termina and the game was over, because i wasn't fast enough. This game just felt so damn special and so polished and the colors so vibrant. I love this game.
Yoshi Island is a good game but I thought baby mario was really annoying and the fact they advertised it as sequel to mario world was very misleading and gave me a bad vibe.
So what about you ?