In honour of the forthcoming release of Breath of the Wild, I thought I’d run a new poll to see which Zelda is Grouvee’s number one. Below is a list of every main series game (can you believe there are seventeen of them?). As always, feel free to comment on your pick and tell us why you chose what you did. Have fun, and let us know which Zelda is your favourite.
The Legend of Zelda (1986)
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (1993)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (2000)
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (2001)
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (2001)
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002)
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (2004)
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (2004)
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)
The Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass (2007)
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (2009)
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011)
The Legend of Zelda:: A Link Between Worlds (2013)
Tough call. Top 4 for me (not necessarily in order) are Link to the Past, Ocarina, Majora’s, and Link Between Worlds. I went with Link to the Past, but honestly, any of those four could deserve that spot. Honorable mention goes to Windwaker.
While not the best, (i’m sure oracles are better i wouldt know though) Link’s Awakening was one of the better classic GB games. I’m sure i’d vote for one of the newer games oracles, four swords or link between worlds) had i played them
Agreed, it is a tough call. My top is A Link to the Past. Second goes to Wind Waker. Wind Waker was a perfect polishing of Nintendo’s approach to 3D link. Where Ocarina innovated, Wind Waker perfected. And while it was amazing looking on GameCube, it’s gorgeous on Wii U. I’m hoping Nintendo ports the HD remake to Switch so people who didn’t buy the Wii U can experience it.
I liked a Link Between Worlds but every moment playing it made me want to switch over to a Link to the Past. Not that the former is necessarily a lesser game, but simply a testament about the simple brilliance and perfected formula of A Link to the Past.
You’re not alone, Link’s Awakening is very highly regarded. For many it is in the top five. For some it is in the top two, if not number one. Great game.
While it’s always tempting to say “A Link to the Past,” from a game design standpoint it’s hard to think of many aspects that “A Link Between Worlds” didn’t maintain or improve upon. So while both are fantastic games, I have to echo my Zelda ranking shelf and give “Between Worlds” the top spot.
Which aspects in particular do you feel were improved upon?
It sounds a bit like you feel the same way about A Link Between Worlds as I do about Wind Waker. Iteration and improvement on the innovations of a previous title.
Which aspects in particular do you feel were improved upon?
I love, love, love the rental/purchase item system. The original Link to the Past… which, again, is my number two pick, and one of the best games of all time… gave the illusion of an open world, when in reality it’s pretty linear. By ditching the dungeon order aspect in favor of giving the player choices, it feels like less of a “guess and check” process and more like progression is a result of my choices.
I also found the differences between Hyrule and Lorule on a modern console could be more surprising than the comparatively performance-constrained Light World and Dark World.
That said, I think you can make a lot of great arguments for A Link to the Past beating it out for its originality, being so far ahead of its time, and its visuals (which I personally find more appealing due to my love of 2D sprites). Even not being constrained to one piece of hardware is a valid point.
It sounds a bit like you feel the same way about A Link Between Worlds as I do about Wind Waker. Iteration and improvement on the innovations of a previous title.
Indeed! I far prefer Wind Waker (and Twilight Princess) to Ocarina of Time.
I suspect a lot of my taste has to do with coming to the Zelda series as an adult. I did not grow up with these games, so entries like Ocarina fall a bit flat for me in comparison to what came after.
I think Ocarina is a super close second for me. I also kind of think it depends which game you played first. If I had played Ocarina before playing A Link to the Past, I’m sure it would be my favorite. However, being an old man in his 34th year, I played ALTP when I was a kid. Besides it being a really good game, it has a ton of nostalgia for me.
The Legend of Zelda! That goold old golden NES cartridge.
Also I was so young when I played it, I assumed the little green and orange man must be Zelda, since that was the name of the game, it must be named after the hero.
It’s so ingrained in my brain, I still feel the name Zelda is a masculine one.
The golden cartridge was genius marketing by Nintendo. It was just so…so special. I still remember unwrapping it on Christmas morning. It was like finding real gold.
I think Ocarina is one of those games that was super innovative and ahead of its time, but that was also quickly improved upon. So it’s, without a doubt, an excellent game. But it’s also surpassed in a lot of ways by other games. At least for some. For others I’m sure it’s still their favourite Zelda game. I’m actually surprised there are not more votes for Majora’s Mask. For a while it seemed like everyone I talked to listed it as their favourite Zelda game. Maybe it just depends on who has visited this poll so far.
Some people absolutely adore it. I think it is a good game, that reuses Ocarina assets to create something completely new. There is an interesting time mechanic at the heart of the game which shakes up the usual Zelda formula. At the very least it’s worth checking out. I hear the 3DS version is exceptional.
