I’m going to break with tradition today. Usually The Big Question is all about two choices, one winner. Today there will be multiple choices. Let’s shake things up. Today’s question is simple: which Zelda game is the best Zelda game?
There will be no spin offs. I’m going to keep this list as definitive and simple as possible.
Also: the right answer is A Link To The Past. Just saying.
Comments
80 responses to “The Big Question: Best Zelda Game Of All Time”
I can’t decide between Wind Waker, Majoras Mask or Links Awakening.
This guy.
I was stuck between wind waker and majora.
Ended up with majora.
Minish Cap. Just to piss off all of you.
Minish cap wasnt THAT bad lol
I thought Minish Cap was fantastic :/
Same, great fun!
That works for me. Minish Cap was the best handheld Zelda until Link Between Worlds came along.
LTTP, but I am partial to everything from the N64 era onwards
Australia hates Link!
😛
So by default, Wand of Gamelon on the CD-i?
Link’s Awakening. My first adventure.
I’d say Ocarina of Time just because it’s such a great game that I sunk a LOT of hours into as a kid. I really need to get back into windwaker now that the gamecube is on my big tv…
Wind Waker for me.
Link to the Past is obviously the correct answer, but a whole bunch of people with First Girlfriend Syndrome (TM) are going to vote for Ocarina of Time.
Go back and play it folks. It does not hold up at all.
I don’t agree that it doesn’t hold up. Would you care to explain?
I did. It does!
Im playing it at the moment on my new 3DS. It holds up and is just as fun as it was years ago.
Maybe you have a touch of GICS…….Grumpy Internet Comment Syndrome.
OoT on the 3DS is a completely different SKU.
They addressed hundreds of minor and major issues, as well as a graphics refresh.
Bust out your cartridge and see how you fare.
Like what? Apart from graphics they left it mostly the same. I even remember reading they left glitches in for authenticity
It does hold up!
This is my feeling as well, and having never played a Zelda game am interested to find out which would be the best if played for the first time ‘today’. Notalgia goggles are problematic.
I cannot pick a best.
My favourite is Twilight Princess, but that’s almost certainly because it was the first one I ever played.
I might even go with Link Between Worlds as the best, because it only had one low point (In the ice dungeon, where it’s like “look, you unlocked something in a room that looks like all the other rooms, now spend twenty minutes searching fruitlessly for this one stupid room”), but I never really felt like I had to apply my brain muscles in solving the dungeons, so I dunno.
I’d like to replay Twilight Princess. I finished it in snippets and on weekends when my lab at uni bought the Wii on launch day. I imagine it would be very different to play it in the comfort of my own home! Though that waggle… ugh. Would be great if they re-released the Wii version as part of their current schedule, but with the option for Gamecube controls. Probably not going to happen 🙁
Twilight princess used to be my favourite. I think they tried too hard to recreate the OoT in TP, watering it down a little. WW was my first Zelda and I do love it, but I gave my vote to A link between worlds, because I just loved it so much.
Brah you are aware that Twilight Princess IS a Gamecube game right?
Nintendo only created a quick cash grab port of this Gamecube title for the Wii so that they’d have something substantial for the Wii at it’s launch hence it’s horrible quickly whipped together Wii motion controls.
Out of pure principle I refused to buy Twilight Princess on the Wii and instead got it for the console it was made for that being the Gamecube and I’m suggesting you do the same if you can find a copy at this point.
If you don’t own a Gamecube you can most likely find a cheap and used on on either Ebay or Amazon but if you demand a new Gamecube I don’t think they’re going for all that high a price either so you may as well get a Gamecube with Twilight Princess and be happy playing the game on the console it was built for with decent controls instead of the crappy port of it found on the Wii.
Wind Waker. It changed my mind on the franchise.
Although I’m sure it would be Majoras Mask when I play it.
Same, Windwaker was my first and I still think of it as the most emotional/ sweet/ heartfelt Zelda game. (IMHO, of course)
Oh no, I just realised now that I thought this game was called Windwalker, not Windwaker, and have been saying it incorrectly for years :/
The Legend of Zelda series represents THE most enduring, most varied and highest quality group of games the medium has ever produced.
Make it a mission of yours to play at least one of the games on that list that you never have.
Do it.
Really? I ‘ve gone off it a bit in recent years because it’s been too samey.
Saying that, I loved LBW which was just OoT2
But LBW was LttP2?
Oh yeah, woops
Ha ha! I’m -1 in votes.
Can’t not love a franchise as much as others it seems XD
How dare I have the balls to only love Zelda a bit instead of all consumingly
Link To The Past for me. I still have my cartridge of it. Such a classic game that has aged pretty damned good
Never played a Zelda game before. Never owned any Nintendo consoles (besides a couple of handhelds a long time ago). Does this invalidate me as a gamer?
Yes. Probably the most rewarding, consistently excellent series in gaming and you never played it? Oh puhleeeeeeeeease 😉
I dunno, I loved the first four games but after those, the series completely lost my interest. I’d check them out, nearly bought a few, but they all seemed a bit crap.
Nah, play what you like.
I voted for OOT but I really think that Twilight Princess was an under-rated and under-appreciated classic. The art design and direction on it were amazing.
A Link to the Past hands down.
WIND WAKER.
Hard question though. Obviously Ocarina is a masterpiece. Link to the Past is way ahead of its time. Also I think Link Between Worlds is an amazing game and really surprised me with how good it was. But Wind Waker had it all for me. Huge world, fun overworld traversal, great story, and the best art style of any Zelda game to date.
Also, that last boss fight with Ganon in his kimono rocking those duel samurai swords FTW
Never really got into the 3d zelda games, the battles had a lot of waiting for a flashing thing to appear from what I remember and the dungeon layout was super confusing for a wee youngling when Ocarina of Time came out. I decided to pick up Link between worlds and it was amazingly well done, it’s the only zelda game I’ve played that didn’t feel like a complete chore to play.
Ocarina of Time is a bad game, and I don’t know why people still herald it as the best Zelda game when it has aged poorly and has been succeeded by games that have improved on it in every way.
I’m playing Majora’s Mask for the first time with the 3DS release and the whole time I’m playing I’ve been thinking “this is what Ocarina should have been like.”
2D Zelda will always be best Zelda though, so A Link to the Past will always be the best one.
Trolololol
Wind Waker had the best story and the most personality.
Although I could vote Ocarina of Time it’s the only one I’ve played so I don’t think it’d mean anything 😛
No Wand of Gamelon? I have to confess that I’m not as big a fan of LoZ as everyone else seems to be, but I do really like Link’s Awakening.
It was a spin off game, hence why it wasn’t included
Ocarina of Time every day of the week and twice on Sundays. A tie between A Link to the Past and Majora’s Mask for second place.
I’ve never played a Zelda game, so nostalgia aside, which would be the best game to start with *now*.
I have a 3DS and a Wii-U and am reading this thread with interest.
Hyrule Warriors.
Not joking.
“I want to get into a series, which one should I start with?”
“here, start with the one that’s based entirely on another series and plays nothing like the other games in this series.”
I’d say A Link to the Past or (despite my dislike for it) Ocarina of Time are the best starting points, for better or for worse they’re considered the peaks of 2D and 3D Zelda respectively.
They’re not directly related to each other so there’s no official entry point. There are essentially two schools of Zelda. The first is the original birds eye NES/SNES style RPG. The second is the 3D Ocarina of Time style RPG. The difference isn’t as extreme as Metroid’s 2D vs 3D, but there is a difference. The SNES style is probably the simpler action driven one where the 3D is more story driven.
You’ve got four main choices if you want something relatively current. Ocarina of Time (3DS) gives probably the most core experience of them all but honestly I don’t think it holds up as well without the nostalgia or fandom. Majora’s Mask (3DS) is different. It’s like Groundhog Day as an Action-RPG. You try to prevent the end of the world over the course of three days, and every time you fail it gets reset (but you keep masks and items, allowing you to progress over multiple loops).
Link Between Worlds (3DS) has really solid fundamentals but it’s also a bit of a love letter to Link to the Past on the SNES. It’s perfectly playable but it might be a little alienating in the design. It’s very open and non-linear, but it’s still sort of super linear moment to moment. You can do the dungeons in a relatively free form order but to do the hookshot dungeon you need the hookshot.
Wind Waker HD (Wii U) is probably the final option without going to the Virtual Console and again it’s a little weird. If it looks interesting I say pick that one up. If the graphics turn you off that’s fair enough. They do a really good job of building a visually interesting world.
While people enjoy most aspects of the Zelda games I think the most core reason to play it is that the gameplay is fun. Combat is real time, swinging swords and holding shields, throwing bombs and shooting arrows. You can unlock upgrades for your health bar, weapon strength, etc but it’s not stat based where you buy a +1 Sword from a vendor.
The dungeons are made up of rooms filled with puzzles that range in difficulty from simple ‘kill everything in the room’ to ‘you’ll need a minute to think about where to push these statues’. They strike a nice difficulty balance that’s engaging without being obnoxious.
If that sounds good to you I highly recommend giving a few Zelda games a shot.
I loved a link between worlds and I haven’t played a Link to the past. I would suggest trying Windwaker first, then OoT, aTbW and then Majora’s mask.
There’s just too much variation to rank them. For all the complaints that Nintendo just make a Zelda title every generation and refuse to do anything new there are only a few Zelda games that directly compare.
Zelda is like the Foo Fighters. There’s no track or album I rate number one, just songs I’m in the mood for right now. Today I want to play Link to the Past, tomorrow Wind Waker.
So I shouldn’t play it then?
I’ll admit, this made me laugh.
Link’s Awakening represent!
I am shocked and appalled at just how far down the list the best game in the Zelda series is.
Link’s Awakening for me. It’s definitely the game I’ve sunk the most time into. There are so many good titles in that list, though, and they’re good for such different reasons, that it almost feels unfair to choose one in favour of the others.
The Wind Waker, obviously.
I do have a particularly soft spot for Skyward Sword, too.
Although, I need to play quite a few others, like Majora’s Mask on 3DS, and most of the 2D games.
OoT
With 2nd being a tie between WW and MM.
1. A Link to the Past
It combined the top-down, hack and slash adeventure of Zelda (NES) with the story telling of Zelda II (NES) to create one of the most beutiful Zelda games to date. Challenging and immersive, this game is easily the best in the series.
2. Windwaker
I won’t lie, after the presentation of Link vs Ganon showing off the Gamecube’s power, seeing the release of Windwaker was a disappointment. However, once you got over that initial disappointment, you were in for a treat. The cel-shaded graphics were gorgeous, and the animation fluid, even by today’s standards. The game played amazingly well, and the story line was nice after Ocarina of Time blatantly reused ALttP’s story.
3. Majoras Mask
Majora’s Mask could of been the best game in the series, had Nintendo developed it, instead of ALttP 2.0 (OoT). Unique mechanics, items, side quests out the ass, re-fightable bosses and a storyline that rips out your heart and crushes it in front of you; this game had it all. It is, however, let down by the fact it recycled models from Ocarina of Time, and it was short. Really short. This was the Zelda game that the N64 deserved, but instead we got Ocarina of Time.
Majora’s Mask, no questions.
I played WW for the first time on Wii U. I did not think it was good. I don’t understand the praise. Expectations may have been too high though.
Glad to see someone voted for Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass. They were fun as! Not the best of the series, but seriously enjoyable.
I’m still yet to get around to Spirit Tracks, but (while not my most favourite) I loved Phantom Hourglass. Don’t at all understand the hate that got piled up on it.
Spirit Tracks was very much in the spirit of Phantom Hourglass except fixed track exploration instead of open seas. It was great fun, plenty of variety and really good open world design to ensure that being fixed on a track in the train was not boring.
Actually the real answer is Alundra.
I grew up with a NES as a child, but for some reason never had any interest in Zelda I or Zelda II.
I smashed Link’s Awakening on my grey brick GB, though – even used to do ‘speed runs’, which for a 12 -13 year old kid in the early nineties was finishing the game in like 5 hours. Felt impressive at the time, anyway.
I ended up playing A Link to the Past a yer or two after Link’s Awakening, and honestly think it’s the better game of the two – although not by a lot, and LA holds many more sentimental memories for me.
I completed Ocarina of Time on the N64, but have never played a Zelda title since. OoT was amazing, but LA and LttP is where it’s at for me.
Zelda 2 and Majora’s Mask.
Rarely find anyone else that actually likes Zelda 2, I thought it was great, and really difficult.
I loved Zelda II. And yeah, it was damn hard. Loved visiting the villages though (weird thing to take away from the entire game I know) but it blew my 10 year old mind at the time haha. Even had the gold cartridge. Good times.
Yeah, I’d spend so much time visiting the villages and just hanging out talking to the villagers. As a kid I’d only be able to pass the first temple before getting stuck in the swamp area but I still played it to death, and thought the gold cart was the coolest thing ever.
I’m actually surprised that Twilight Princess isn’t getting more attention. I can’t recall any annoying or terribly boring dungeons in it, and it has a superb sense of scale and a nice dark foreboding tone. A Link Between Worlds was also excellent.
With that said, having played all of these with the exception of the Oracle ones, I do have to say it’s either a Link to the Past or Wind Waker. Both have held up so well and are still great fun to play now.
Bring on the WiiU version!
Tough one. I haven’t played Link’s Awakening, Spirit Tracks or Skyward Sword, so they’re out. Haven’t finished Twilight Princess either, so that one should sit aside.
Generally I’d go to Majora as my favourite. Though I did love LttP too. But then, Link Between Worlds was amazing. Ugh how do I choose. Actually there was something in LBW that annoyed me, those octopus things that you used to upgrade your equipment or something, I forget what it was exactly but there was some kind of mechanic that wasn’t explained and I never came across throughout the entire game, or only chanced upon at the very end. I dunno, but that pissed me off as being incredibly stupid, a blemish on an otherwise incredible game.
So I’ll go with Majora 😛
Ocarina of Time for me.
My first Zelda game and it just blew me away. I 100% completed it at least 5 times over.
A Link to the Past. I had to hard bargain with my brother to play his SNES and it was the first game I ever finished. I still love replaying it now.
No surprises that Ocarina is leading the pack. It’s still an amazing game, and I must have finished it like, eight times.
HOWEVER…
Without nostalgia goggles, I don’t think it can possibly hold up as the BEST. Pretty much everything Ocarina does well, Twilight Princess does better.
Wind Waker and Majora are brilliant experiments, but their small number of dungeons bumps them down my list. Skyward Sword has some brilliant aspects (OMG that music!) but the fact that the sky was such an EMPTY overworld, and the fact that the world was so divided, really ruined it for me.
A Link Between Worlds was AMAZING, but unfortunately it was afraid to claim its own identity. I would have much preferred it to create its own version of Hyrule/Dark World instead of slavishly copying A Link To The Past.
For me, it’s a tie between A Link To The Past and Twilight Princess.
Oracle of Seasons.
Majora’s Mask, because I played it when I was young, and as I grew older I understood more and more of the personal stories of each person and the world in general.
I’ve never understood how MM always comes after OoT in these polls. MM is everything OoT was and then some.
Well… haven’t played all of them… but OoT is the best for me… but of course there’s a bias of being my 13-14 years old ‘number one’ game…. so there a tip of nostalgia from my part
I voted for Ocarina of Time of course.
It is the greatest Zelda game in the franchise and always wins polls like these as it should.
Wind Waker will never win because it is garbage and Eiji Aonuma is a hack.