Greatest Hand Held Zelda Game?

[bushwacker87]

There might be alread a post about this but I didnt find one so here we go. What are your opinion of what is the greatest hand held zelda game. Im not including oot3d because the original was not a hand held game. My choice would be either one of the Oracle games. Im alittle biase on it because that was the zelda games I started out on. Whats your opinion?

 

[surferguy7]

Spirit Tracks.

Criminally underrated IMO. It fixed all the problems Phantom Hourglass had.

 

[bushwacker87]

I like Spirit tracks all execept for two parts. The crapy traveling that just seemed to me useless. Yea you can fire a cannon at crap but most of the time i set my destination and just set it down. The other complaint I had was the climbing of the spirt tower. when you got to the later levels it took forever to get up to the floor to defeat that floor. Dont get me wrong I still loved the game.

 

[boyrobot22]

I think Link's Awakening would be the best one. I liked the story, the dungeons were fun and challenging, and I loved all the characters.

 

[Zelda_Ali_Baba]

Spirit Tracks.

Nuff said.

 

[Turo602]

I like Spirit tracks all execept for two parts. The crapy traveling that just seemed to me useless. Yea you can fire a cannon at crap but most of the time i set my destination and just set it down. The other complaint I had was the climbing of the spirt tower. when you got to the later levels it took forever to get up to the floor to defeat that floor. Dont get me wrong I still loved the game.

Yeah, I get what you mean. Traveling with the train was a real bore and a step back from traveling with the boat in the previous game. On top of being limited, it felt like a chore. Personally, the train was a huge buzz kill for me in Spirit Tracks, especially considering it was an important aspect of the game. Spirit Tracks could of also done without the Spirit Temple, it was already done with the Temple of the Ocean King in Phantom Hourglass. So why do we need another variation of that?

I guess my favorite handheld Zelda title would have to be The Minish Cap. It was a much nicer looking game when compared to the blocky and pixelated graphics of the DS. The overworld was much more fun to explore and I found the overall design to be much better than the baby steps approach, as seen in both Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks.

 

[PhantomTriforce]

If A Link to the Past doesn't count because it is really an SNES game, then Oracle of Ages. Oracle of Ages, in my opinion, is a genius of a game. The puzzles in this game are great, and this game has the best version of time travel in Zelda yet.

 

[surferguy7]

Spirit Tracks could of also done without the Spirit Temple, it was already done with the Temple of the Ocean King in Phantom Hourglass. So why do we need another variation of that?

Because the Temple of the Ocean King had some very flawed design choices and Nintendo decided to fix that with the Tower of Spirits. Seriously, I'm sure most people would agree that the Tower of Spirits was expertly designed so why is more content a bad thing?

And ToS was nothing like TotOK in terms of puzzle design, aesthetics, and mechanics. The only similar aspect is that they both contained Phantoms and were Central Dungeons.

 

[Turo602]

Because the Temple of the Ocean King had some very flawed design choices and Nintendo decided to fix that with the Tower of Spirits. Seriously, I'm sure most people would agree that the Tower of Spirits was expertly designed so why is more content a bad thing?

And ToS was nothing like TotOK in terms of puzzle design, aesthetics, and mechanics. The only similar aspect is that they both contained Phantoms and were Central Dungeons.

More content doesn't mean good content. The only flaw to the Temple of the Ocean King was that you had to start back from square one and redo everything you accomplished before in order to advance. What, Spirit Tracks let you skip all the BS? Big whoop. Their still fairly the same thing. It's not a dramatic change, whenever I get to the Tower of the Spirits, it doesn't feel like a breath of fresh air, it feels like the same boring and poorly executed stuff I played in the previous game.

 

[surferguy7]

More content doesn't mean good content. The only flaw to the Temple of the Ocean King was that you had to start back from square one and redo everything you accomplished before in order to advance. What, Spirit Tracks let you skip all the BS? Big whoop. Their still fairly the same thing. It's not a dramatic change, whenever I get to the Tower of the Spirits, it doesn't feel like a breath of fresh air, it feels like the same boring and poorly executed stuff I played in the previous game.

I realize that more content doesn't equate to good content. However, as I said, I'm sure most people would agree that the Tower of Spirits has fantastic puzzles. Whether or not it was poorly executed is extremely debatable. (With more evidence point towards it being good if you look at it objectively)I think each floor used the Zelda x Link combo in interesting ways. It seems as if you're simply bothered by the fact that the central dungeon idea was used in the PH too which is extremely nitpicky in my opinion.

 

[ShadowDiety]

Oracle of Seasons/Ages. I just really like the way they were designed, along with the puzzles. It has been a while since I played them, too bad I can't find mine.

 

[Turo602]

I realize that more content doesn't equate to good content. However, as I said, I'm sure most people would agree that the Tower of Spirits has fantastic puzzles. Whether or not it was poorly executed is extremely debatable. (With more evidence point towards it being good if you look at it objectively)I think each floor used the Zelda x Link combo in interesting ways. It seems as if you're simply bothered by the fact that the central dungeon idea was used in the PH too which is extremely nitpicky in my opinion.

How are you sure? Did you survey people that know what they're talking about? Or do hear great things from bias Zelda fans? I know it sounds harsh, but it's the cold truth. Your numbers mean very little me, it doesn't even help your case. Many people would agree with one another that Call of Duty is an amazing video game series. Is it true? No. And for your information, I'm bothered by the fact that it wasn't any good. Anyway, I'm not going to waste my time trying to get you to join "the dark side". If you enjoyed it, well that's you. I'm not going to call you names or say your wrong just because I don't agree with you. I can't change your view, and you sure as hell can't change mine.

 

[surferguy7]

How are you sure? Did you survey people that know what they're talking about? Or do hear great things from bias Zelda fans? I know it sounds harsh, but it's the cold truth. Your numbers mean very little me, it doesn't even help your case. Many people would agree with one another that Call of Duty is an amazing video game series. Is it true? No. And for your information, I'm bothered by the fact that it wasn't any good. Anyway, I'm not going to waste my trying to get you to join "the dark side". If you enjoyed it, well that's you. I'm not going to call you names or say your wrong just because I don't agree with you. I can't change your view, and you sure as hell can't change mine.

>Implying that every Zelda fan out there is as biased and mindless as the typical High School boy who's knowledge of the internet ranges from Facebook to Youtube.

I've had multiple discussions with many people in many topics (Not on ZD necessarily) and the majority agreed that the ToS was an excellent dungeon and we discussed the puzzles and design. It wasn't exactly an official survey, but there are more people who liked it than there were who didn't from my experience. I'm simply curious because it seems as if you don't hate Spirit Tracks, and logically, if one were to enjoy the other dungeons in Spirit Tracks, they would most likely enjoy the Tower of Spirits too. Granted you didn't necessarily discuss ST dungeons in your post, but you didn't list them as a complaint either.

I'm not using majority opinion to change your views, I'm simply using common game design ethics used by people to judge various aspects of video games. If one were to analyze the Tower of Spirits, it would factually have multiple unique Phantoms, a variety of puzzles, and many uses for items. If those things didn't appeal to you, fine. It all comes down to personal taste in the end, but you can't pretend that your opinion won't be considered "odd."

 

[Turo602]

>Implying that every Zelda fan out there is as biased and mindless as the typical High School boy who's knowledge of the internet ranges from Facebook to Youtube.

I've had multiple discussions with many people in many topics (Not on ZD necessarily) and the majority agreed that the ToS was an excellent dungeon and we discussed the puzzles and design. It wasn't exactly an official survey, but there are more people who liked it than there were who didn't from my experience. I'm simply curious because it seems as if you don't hate Spirit Tracks, and logically, if one were to enjoy the other dungeons in Spirit Tracks, they would most likely enjoy the Tower of Spirits too. Granted you didn't necessarily discuss ST dungeons in your post, but you didn't list them as a complaint either.

I'm not using majority opinion to change your views, I'm simply using common game design ethics used by people to judge various aspects of video games. If one were to analyze the Tower of Spirits, it would factually have multiple unique Phantoms, a variety of puzzles, and many uses for items. If those things didn't appeal to you, fine. It all comes down to personal taste in the end, but you can't pretend that your opinion won't be considered "odd."

How exactly did I imply such a thing? I was simply referring to bias Zelda fans. How does that imply "every Zelda fan"? I'm a fan, so does that mean I just called myself bias?... If you're going to have an argument, conversation, debate, or whatever you'd like to call this, I suggest you don't put words into other people's mouths.

Wow, you had conversations before! That really gives you the right to speak for other people and use the few opinions you're aware of as proof for your argument... :facepalm: If you're curious about my thoughts on Spirit Tracks, contact me via PM, VM, or email, but this isn't the place for it. Don't assume or judge if you only have a fragment of the picture to work with. Obviously, I didn't give an in depth analysis detailing Spirit Tracks. I didn't post in this thread to bash a game, but to simply state my favorite handheld game.

Having unique enemies, puzzles, etc. still doesn't make it any good... What are you getting at? Your opinion is more valid than mine? Is that what your saying? Apparently I suck at analyzing games then... Because Spirit Tracks is so godly that it's a crime to find fault with it. It makes me odd.

 

[TCoZ]

OoT3DS.

If that doesn't count, then Oracle of Ages. The dungeons were some of the best in any Zelda game (especially the later ones), and I loved some of the items like the switch hook.