How do I save the game in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask?

Question

I'm playing The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask and I'm in the middle of something. How do I save the game without losing my progress?

Answer 1

You can only save "at will" once you've got the sword or ocarina.

If you have the sword you can slash at an owl statue to quick save.

If you have the ocarina, play the "Song of Time" which will send you back to the first day. This will do a full save, but does lose all your money and ammo.

Answer 2

You have 3 options:

1. After getting the sword, use it on an Owl Statue for a quicksave (it will be deleted when loaded again).
2. Use the Ocarina to play the "Song of Time" to return you to day one. This will cause you to drop your expendable items and money, so visit the bank first to make a deposit (The bank is magically unaffected by time travel).
3. The Wii Virtual Console supports savestates via the home button. Simply press ⌂ and choose to return to the Wii menu. The state of the game will be resumed from where you left off when you load it up again.

Answer 3

You can play the song of time, but it will also take you back to day one and lose all ammo and rupees. Don't forget to confirm the "really save and go back to day one" question before switching off! The only other saving possibility is an owl statue to which you still have to walk.

Of course, if you use an emulator, it might support free saving, e.g. via F5 for PJ64.