I’m going to go out on a limb and say people probably won’t nominate Wind Waker. But now that we’ve had a couple of weeks exploring Hyrule all over again in Breath of the Wild, it seems as good a time as any to pick the best Zelda game.
For Jason’s money, Link to the Past is still “a perfect video game”, with Link’s Awakening and Oracle of Ages/Seasons rounding out the podium. I’d wager that Ocarina of Time, Link Between Worlds and Majora’s Mask are more popular, though.
What about yourselves?
Comments
44 responses to “Tell Us Dammit: The Best Zelda Game”
Ocarina of TIme would be the best. Majora’s Mask is my favourite, however.
I liked Twilight Princess, where’s Phantom Hourglass on that list? I liked that game, the combat was novel enough. I didn’t ever get Spirit Tracks, sadly.
Right now, our family is absolutely besotted with Triforce Heroes. I truly don’t understand how that game can be so under-rated.
The killer for me is that it’s one or three players. Not two. We used to play it at lunch at work, guy with the third copy left. Now we can’t play it multiplayer. And it’s pretty dull single player, which is where part of the under-rating comes in.
The existence of a 2 player mode alone would improve it significantly in my eyes.
I mean, you *can* play it by sharing a cut-down version of the game, but we were the only three in the office with any interest. Even providing a spare 3DS, the enthusiasm of 3 different people is the scarcest resource.
I wanted to love it, but the online was stunted and laggy as hell, and I couldn’t pin down more than a second person even occasionally to play it. The AI option is just awful too – can only really play it with other people. If I had others to play with locally, I can see how amazing it could be.
Four Swords Adventures is a better multiplayer Zelda I think. Hell, it’s certainly a better multiplayer Zelda when played solo.
I got a copy of VC one when it was up for free, but it’s stuck on my US 3DS. =(
I had a copy, then left my 3DS on a plane, and there was no way to get it back because I didn’t know the serial number, did I?
gg, Nintendo. gee-fuckin’-gee.
Hoping this stuff is fixed with the new account system. Not holding my breath.
EDIT: That sucks, dude.
Oh yeah there was the Anniversary Edition or whatever they called it. I forgot about that, one, actually got to play it with people at a connection tour. That was fun.
Got a copy of it for my 3DS and my DSi XL, should probably look into “acquiring” it for my other 3DSes so I can run a full setup 😛
If I had to pick one, I’d go for Twilight Princess. It just feels like the most well made and well thought out of the series.
I have to say if the question was Favourite Overall Design then I would go with Twilight Princess every day.
I just adore how that game looks and sounds and the entire realm of the Twilight world. It was pure magic.
Link to the past is the best, but Links awakening is my personal favourite
Link’s Awakening always left me hungry for Windfish and chips.
MM for 3D , LA for 2D.
Ocarina.
I can’t even remember how much I sunk in to that game.
Still got my gold limited edition cartridge
Wind Waker. I was gonna say Ocarina but I’m basing my decision on how well it’s aged (not that well). Wind Waker is timeless.
Link to the Past (first love is the true love)
Breath of the Wild
WindWaker (Never got the hate for WW, we adored it at our house)
Ocarina of Time
@alexwalker @markserrels I’m sure I’m not the first to raise this, but can we please do *something* about those IGN videos? I just opened this story, and ended up seeing a video that, in two short loops, spoiled the korok quest in Breath of the Wild by saying how many there were, the nature of the reward AND a picture of it. Things that I actively avoided earlier today when I saw that there was a story about it.
I am investigating ad-block options when I am usually happy to support you guys.
The ‘Elsewhere online’ links were pretty terrible at first, but I could ignore them. This IGN stuff is next level. I get they have to make money somehow, but it’s just so obnoxious.
Agree. I disabled adblock specifically for this site but it’s an advertising salad lately.
I’ll pass the feedback up the line. Thanks, genuinely. Whenever new stuff gets rolled out we always try and make it as painless and hassle-free as possible. I can’t always make things change automatically, but I promise we read and see all the comments and it doesn’t get forgotten. You can also ping me on any thread, or via email etc., if you’ve got feedback about anything, at any time.
I have some feedback!
You guys are awesome. =D
Link’s Awakening will always be special to me. Being some 12 odd years old, my grey brick Game Boy permanently attached to me like an extra appendage. I used to do ‘speed runs’ on long car trips. (‘speed run’ being like a 6-8 hour playthrough, which for me felt impressive at the time)
It was my first Zelda game and I have the fondest memories. There was always something kind of sad and melancholic about it as well. Amazing game, and inspired me to play Link to the Past a couple of years later, iirc.
Sell me on Link’s Awakening. I thought LttP wasn’t the best Zelda, so I have always seen LA as a game I should check off my bucket list, but it’s Game Boy LttP, so I’ve put it off.
I think I couldn’t get off the beach/lost sword bit at the start.
I grabbed Link’s Awakening on the 3DS when I saw it for a blast from the past and was a little confronted by how quickly and easily I resolved all the exploration that took me hours when I was a child. Even as a child who completed it multiple times (and again, once I read a guide which explained how to unlock the easter egg for Marin-seagull).
An adult’s mind works differently to a child’s I guess.
I’m not a big fan of Zelda and have only completed Ocarina of Time. I’ve started Majora’s Mask, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword and Wind Waker but ended up losing interest.. Only started Breath of the Wild, but because it breaks the traditional Zelda mould it gets my vote. Hasn’t the high reviews for it already broken records I heard?
Sif have Tri Force Heroes and not Phantom Hourglass. Travesty.
Majora’s better than Ocarina, easily. And I’d probably rate it above Wind Waker. Not sure if I’d put Link Between Worlds above it, but I did like that a whole damn lot. And… ok, I know this is supposed to be Best rather than Favourite, but I’m gonna go with Skyward Sword.
MM has the character and story depth of a really good time travel film, it’s a remarkable bit of game design which still stands peerless in its execution. I thank OoT for establishing the rules of a 3d engine, but MM is just better. It’s my favourite zelda.
WW blew my mind when it came out with that massive open world (even the empty bits served their purpose in offsetting the action). The art style was also fantastic, and Nintendo REALLY showed off with their attention to detail in the animations. People always forget that they’re the masters of that, then are surprised when botw does the things it does.
WWHD shows that the game has stood the test on time remarkably well, but BotW has blown it out of the water.
BotW is an incredible game, but I don’t know if it’s that great a Zelda game. It’s very different to what’s come before, and as much as I like it it feels like it’s taken a bit of a step backwards from what’s come prior so I don’t know that I can rate it above those in that context. Bit of a tricky one 😛
I feel it’s quite close to the OG zelda, and has quite a lot in common with wind waker. It’s basically a mashup of those two games, and that’s all I really wanted in a zelda.
Peoples give botw a bit of crap for not having “real” dungeons, but they ARE there beyond the shrines and divine beasts. They’re not epically long, but they play their individual gimmick really well.
There’s one which reminds me of the promise of a particular part of dark souls 2, which was subsequently neutered.
Fair call, I haven’t actually played much of the first two Zeldas (didn’t even get up to a dungeon I don’t think) but I can kinda see how that fits.
Not that I meant to come off as giving it crap in the last post, more how you might say the Prime games are really different to the other Metroids. Or actually, maybe SMB2 compared to the other 2D Marios would be a more fitting comparison.
“Majora’s better than Ocarina, easily.”
It’s got a more interesting world, but the dungeons are nowhere NEAR as good as the Ocarina ones. I find all four of the dungeons interesting in concept, but not very fun in execution. The Ocarina dungeons were all pretty much flawless.
Funny, in comparing the two I’m not sure I’ve ever even considered the dungeons at all 😛
Yes I would agree with that and it was one of my main criticisms with MM.
There is essentially only 4 dungeons, but they needed to be designed in a specific way that allowed you to not only finish them in a single in-game 3-day stint, but also replay them and beat the bosses again several times over. It was that repetition of dungeons and bosses that was the main thing that irked me about it. It’s kinda funny actually how Skyward Sword was criticised for making the player revisit previously explored areas, and Majora’s Mask is praised for not only making the player revisit previously explored areas, but also making the player redo previously completed dungeons (albeit with shortcuts available) and re-fight previously beaten bosses. That doesn’t make sense to me in the slightest. SS always provided you with something new, MM was literally the same thing over and over.
Fantastic game, and a very well executed concept, don’t get me wrong. But the dungeon design really was a step below other games in the series and it’s for that reason I can’t put it even in the top 3 Zeldas.
I haven’t played BotW yet, so keep that in mind when I say imo the best 3 Zeldas (in no particular order) are:
Twilight Princess
Link’s Awakening
Wind Waker
Breath of the Wild for me. Although a Link to the Past strums at my nostalgia strings greatly.
Played them all and clearly Breath of the Wild is the best. Such a wonderful game.
Still plugging away at BOTW.
Best is hard but OOT is my first and probably favourite Zelda. WW a close second. I’d love to run through MM again and am really hoping we get a remake or at least the 3DS port for a console.
No Wand of Gamelon?
Breath of the Wild is the first 3D Zelda I truly, deeply love – I hate the precedent and archetype Ocarina set (I also have my own particular issues with Ocarina itself), imo Breath of the Wild is how 3D Zelda should have always been.
Aside from BotW, A Link to the Past and Link’s Awakening are my favourites.
Wind waker was just gorgeous throughout!!!! Loved that game as in my early teens, I’d consider buying a switch if the Wii U remastered version came to the new system ala virtual console….or however that works
I pretty much have three favourites, three times where I felt like Zelda just became the greatest video game series ever:
* A Link To The Past
* Ocarina of Time
* Twilight Princess
(Also much kudos to A Link Between Worlds, which turned out a thousand times better than it had any right to be…)
I’m loving Breath of the Wild so far, but I find it really hard to compare to other Zeldas, since for a lot of the time it barely even feels like a Zelda game.
Right now, it’s Breath of the Wild. I’ve put in about 40 hours worth so far (and I realise I’m lagging behind and as well as taking things very slowly) but there has not been one moment when I haven’t felt entirely engaged. I can’t remember the last time a game gave me this sort of childlike sense of wonder and adventure.
I’m sure once I’ve finished it and had time to think it over I might be more critical, but for right now, it’s absolutely my favourite Zelda.
Breath of the wild for me…
Then probs orcarina..
Botw is almost perfect… a bit more story telling and it would be perfect