General Zelda In What Order Did You Play the Zelda Games? And What Did You Think of Them?

[Farore's Chosen]

NES: Legend of Zelda-it was amazing and I'm still loving it today, its a very rare videogame that gets a 10 from me. 2 different quests, 18 dungeons if you combine em, secrets in the overworld, secret passageways and lotsa fun.

NES: Adventure of Link-My all time favorite. Wowed me with all the new stuff Link could do, jump and duck, learn new sword techniques, had a cool bunch of spells, cooler dungeons, better animated great music. I'd give it an 8

GBA: A Link to the Past/Four Swords-it's ok, not one of my favorites. Its solid but kinda boring IMO. I was shocked to see Link with pink hair, I laughed when he turned into a rabbit for the first time, wasn't amazed by most of the dungeons 3 I like, 1 I hate, 2 I dislike, the rest blah. Can't play Four Swords, not one of the big N's better ideas. 6

GBA: Minish Cap-turned my nose up at first but I went back and gave it a chance, it's amazing! Great details when your Minish, some truly awesome bosses, a cool villain with Ganon nowehere in sight, shrinking to find alternate paths. Fantastic soundtrack. One of my faves. 8

Wii: Twilight Princess-I got it and couldn't get home fast enough. then I got annoyed by how slow it started and the horrible Twilight music. Started liking it when I got to sneak around Ordon as a wolf. I play it a lot, one of my faves. 9

Wii: Skyward Sword-I was so super excited and I never saw the E3 so when we finally got it I was all giddy. (its not my game, its my kid's) and then I finally got a chance to play it. bad controls and sucky stamina meter killed it for me. I can only play it in short bursts. 4.5

GBC: Oracle Games-I liked Ages a lil more then Seasons at first until I got stuck on the stupid Tokay game after being robbed by the little Geico rejects. I got past the evil Subrosian dance faster and started enjoying messing with the seasons after I got all of them, when I finally got into Ages next dungeon and sweet spicy revenge on the Tokay I fell right back in love with Ages again. Horon and Labrynna have so much to see and do, (I'm still on my 1st playthrough with both) and they feel so huge, bigger then Hyrule ever did. They both get a 7

GBC: Link's Awakening DX: I fell in love with it and I'm still enjoying myself, I'm almost at the end now. Only 2 more instruments to go I think. One of my faves Gets a 9

DSI: Spirit Tracks-not my game and I abandoned it before I got too far in like SS. I thought the train idea was cool till I started dealing with unkillable trains and going back and forth to the stupid tower of spirits and the Spirit Pipes are annoyingly inaccurate. Was not impressed with the first dungeon item. Least favorite Zelda but has some unique ideas. 5

2DS: A Link Between Worlds-not my game and I thought it'd be the same deal as ALTTP I was pleasantly proven wrong. Its a little on the easy side and I've got more rupees then I know what to do with and I like getting my items in the dungeon but the all new dungeons? They're freakin amazing and I love how Link can turn into a painting. Makes the dungeons twice as fun, except Skull Woods, that place will always suck. Great Zelda game. 7

2DS: Ocarina of Time-I liked it mostly all the way through except for Princess Pain-in-the *** and the Water and Fire Temples. Ganon was a good fight as always, loved Bongo-Bongo and the Shadow Temple. I'm playing through it again. 7

 

[Mido]

Hmm, I like this thread! Thinking about this, there's still a few games I have not played yet, but here goes!

N64-Ocarina of Time: What a jolly good time. While I've played the game since I was really young, I never developed the experiencd I needed to finish until I was a teen. Looking back, the game had awesome items, great environments cool side characters, and solid combat. The only major complaint I can think of is that the overworld is rather small, perhaps I feel this way due to the many tikes I've played it!

SNES-A Link to the Past: I didn't beat this game until I got the GBA version, but I really enjoyed this game. I liked the simplicity and the vibrant color scheme. The Master Sword was outstanding! The boss battles were fun in most cases as well, with a select few I did not enjoy. The story was also surprisingly dark to begin with, and I found that unique!

GCN-Wind Waker: My favorite Zelda Game. While the plot is good, it's not the most gaudy; the sailing proved to be tedious at times as well. Still, I enjoyed the rest. Fun dungeons, beautiful environments, and the best part: THE SIDE QUESTS! This game really kept me going in terms of things to do. The characters on the various islands were extremely interesting! A great game overall!

GCN-Twilight Princess: After struggling with the acursed Tears of Light, I got to enjoy a throwback to a not-so-simpler time. TP takes everything I liked about OOT, and renews it! Interesting side character continue to amaze, and I found most of the dungeons to be more challenging! Side quests bring fruitful results, and the music rules! It's a shame I've never been able to escape the City in the Sky....

DS-Spirit Tracks: I didn't get very far, since I borrowed this game, but I liked it anyways. The chemistry between Link and Zelda was cool, and the game mechanics were intriguing. Also, the staple characters were nice to see! A solid entry in Zelda!

GBA- Minish Cap: I only finished the first dungeon thus far, and I like the game! The item style is pretty cool, and the size mechanics offer interstimg perspective!

Note: I also played stints of Zelda's 1 and 2, as well as Wardsword Sky, but I can't say much on them since I didn't make much of a dent in these games.

 

[Spiritual Mask Salesman]

The first game I played was OoT, It was the coolest thing ever when I was a kid.

Then I played MM... words cannot convey how cool I thought it was.

Afterwards I played MC, FS,And FSA, they were ok, not my favorites but fun.

Then I played The original LoZ and the AoL they were so much fun. AoL was kind of hard though.

I played AlttP when I got a Wii it was so cool for a 2D game.

Then I played LA, it was ok, not as good as AlttP.

The last two games I played were TP and SS both were very fun and had good storys, though all the games have good stories.

 

[Snow Queen]

TWW > FSA > ALttP > TP > LoZ > LoZ2 > OoS/A > MC

They're good.

 

[Salem]

the first one I played was OoT, then I pretty much played the rest in release order, except for BS Zelda which I NEVER played, and the NES Zelda which I don't recall exactly when I played for the first time...

 

[Kylo Ken]

There's some I haven't played, but here's my list, in order that I've played them:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 10/10
2. The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker 7/10
3. The Legend of Zelda: Oracles 8/10
4. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 9/10
5. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess 10/10
6. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword 8/10
7. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past 7/10
8. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening 6/10
9. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks 8/10
10. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds 9/10
11. The Legend of Zelda 8/10

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

its all in my signature
WW - played around 2nd grade-ish? still my favorite zelda ever

FSA - i knew that it was gonna be 2d but i decided to get it anyhow [3rd grade],i remember i gave it to my friend b/c i hated how i couldn't save until i beat the stage,i literally only made it to the 2nd stage; i REALLY want to give this game a 2nd chance

TP - when i first saw it on a sears display,i was absolutely speechless [b/c it was a game that featured adult link instead of a young one,and i had a hint of how zelda is really like through melee],so i got when i was in 5th grade,and if it wasn't for the nostalgia overload from wind waker,this could probably be my favorite zelda

OoT - got it on the wii virtual console,this game to me is the definition of disappointment
"best game ever made" "greatest game of all time"....man has this game showed its age; i mean i enjoyed it but the expections were too much [got this at 7th grade i believe?]

LoZ - bought the collector's disc for majoras mask,but decided to play this first,i absolutely hate how cryptic this game is,otherwise it's pretty fine [got the disc at 9th grade]

MM - i was like really into this game when i played it,the 3 day thing was starting to become a hindrance but man what an amazing story,hell of a lot better than what i got w/ ocarina

zelda 2 - i honestly had a lot of fun w/ this,yeah it was brutally difficult in some cases but overall i enjoyed it

LA - probably my favorite 2d zelda,there's hardly anything in this game i don't like; great characters,story,music,gameplay,atmosphere,...yeh

SS - i was on that hype train that the game had going on,while it didn't meet some of my expectations and it had plenty of problems,i definitely enjoyed this title; i was open to the motion controls and i had a good time w/ them...aside bird traveling

MC - my friend let me borrow his copy and i was actually pretty impressed w/ what i played,i think it just goes to show how much you can get out of a game w/ no expectations [played this,skyward sword,and awakening in 10th grade]

Lttp - i was honestly pretty disappointed w/ it as i found it pretty bland compared to minish cap [and that dark world dungeon theme...ugh],but it's really starting to grow on me the more i play it,bought it like in the beginning of 11th grade
FS - played it w/ my friend recently [yes on gba],we raged...got nowhere...were too competitive.......good times

link b/w worlds - got it w/ the gold zelda 3ds XL,it was better than what i expected but i still wish the overworld wasn't like over 80% the same of link to the past; last zelda i played while during my school years,12th grade

still need to try the oracle and ds titles

 

[BornAgainZelda]

My user name describes part of my Zelda experience.

I played the very first one when it first came out - I was 12 or 13 and my neighbor had the game. Very much enjoyed it - loved the fold out map that came with it. There were blank spaces that you had to fill in, but the main middle of the map was available. So anyone having problem with the first game, don't hesitate to look at an online map (at least the ones without all the spoilers filled in). That's not cheating, it is doing what the original players did.

After that, though, my neighbor moved away. I never had a Nintendo, and when I went to college I bought my own computer and played games on there. I never had any interest in Zelda again until we bought our kids each a DS. One of them was the Zelda edition with the triforce symbol on it, and it came with Phantom Hourglass. I remembered enjoying the original game, so when I had some extra time I decided to start playing it. I really enjoyed the game and it made me want to play other Zelda games. So while some people here appear to hate the game and always put it down, to me it was a great game that re-introduced me to the Zelda games.

My order after that:
Four Swords Adventures - First one I could find after finishing Phantom Hourglass in our local used game store. Manipulating the four Links was interesting, and the one piece of music that was my favorite I later found out is the dark world Death Mountain theme from A Link to the Past.

Legend of Zelda - I found a copy of the Gamecube Collector's edition at GameStop, so I went back and played the original game again since I never played it myself to the end.

Wind Waker - Found this at GameStop too - wasn't even looking for more games at the time but couldn't pass it up. Didn't mind the sailing, but it felt like you had to play through half the game before you had the freedom to explore any island. Once that was opened up, though, I liked the atmosphere of the game sailing from island to island.

Twilight Princess - One of the first Wii games I got. Wasn't a fan of wolf mode. Really didn't like all the bug collecting to get the largest wallet. That was too tedious. Loved the wii controls and being able to aim the bow and other items by pointing at the screen. I think I would have appreciated it even more if I had played Ocarina of Time first.

Adventure of Link - back to the collector's disk, this game was OK, but the lack of a map in the dungeons to refer to and no items like the boomerang or bow was annoying. I drew my own maps until the later dungeons when even that got complicated.

Spirit Tracks - Disappointed after getting through a few dungeons and finding out that there were only 5 in the whole game. The dungeons are my favorite part of the game, so that didn't sit well with me. After that, I make a note to review the number of dungeons in a game so I know before hand what to expect.

Ocarina of Time - continuing the collector's disk play, I can see why so many people love this game. It had the least amount of things to complain about. The only thing that bothered me was shooting arrows - not even a dot for aiming made it really hard to be accurate. That made me miss the Wii controls.

Majora's Mask - last game on the collectors disc. My favorite game. Ironic since it has only 4 dungeons, but the atmosphere of the whole game - the tension on that last day especially when you are going around town - there is nothing like it in the other games. I thought the moon could have been designed differently, it would have been better as a rocky, dark dungeon that you enter through the moon's face. The green area seemed out of place compared to how it looks from the outside.

A Link to the Past - Wii Virtual Console - A lot of fun, although I found myself dying a lot vs the dungeon bosses - you need different skills than the 3D games when facing the bosses. Loved going to the dark world Death Mountain and hearing a song I knew from Four Swords Adventures.

Skyward Sword - Liked flying and the wii controls, didn't like how closed off the surface worlds were. They could have had more air islands too, like Wind Waker. The gathering of the tears was very intense.

Four Swords - 3DS VC - Probably my least favorite game. Once the worlds starting repeating, I started to lose interest. Also didn't like being forced to play through a whole level, I don't always have a lot of free time and like to be able to play for 15-30 minutes at a time.

A Link Between Worlds - This one goes near the top my list as well, the merging with the wall was original. I know some people complained about losing your rented items, but all you had to do was not continue and instead quit. Then you restarted the game from your last save point. Save often, and especially before you go into a dungeon and occasionally during the dungeon play, and you can play while not ever losing an item. Might have to do a few things over, but I never found that to be a problem.

Links Awakening - 3DS VC - Currently playing this. Just on the second dungeon so I can't comment a whole lot yet. The bosses (or nightmares as they call them) I'm having trouble again like in a link to the past.

After that, I have Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons on my 3DS, and plan to get Minish Cap on my Wii U. Then I will have all the games and just have to play through them. I play through them slower than a lot people probably do. I like to savor the games, plus for multiple reasons I don't have hours of spare timeto spend playing games either, so it will probably be a couple of years before I work through these games that I have left and the Zelda Wii U when it comes out.

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

I've played all of the main series games, but I have not yet beaten them all. To list them in chronological order based on the my first time playing each game, the list would go as follows:

1: Ocarina of Time (N64)
2: Majora's Mask (N64)
3: The Wind Waker (GCN)
4: The Adventure of Link (GBA)
5: The Legend of Zelda (GCN Collector's Edition)
6: Four Swords Adventures (GCN)
7: Twilight Princess (GCN)
8: The Minish Cap (GBA)
9: A Link to the Past (GBA)
10: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
11: Spirit Tracks (DS)
12: Four Swords (GBA)
13: Link's Awakening DX (GBC)
14: Skyward Sword (Wii)
15: A Link Between Worlds (3DS)
16: Oracle of Ages (3DS)
17: Oracle of Seasons (3DS)

Keep in mind that the consoles listed beside each game is the first version of the game I played.

The order of the ones I beat with scores would be as follows:

1: The Wind Waker (GCN) 9/10
2: Twilight Princess (GCN) 8/10
3: Ocarina of Time (Wii VC) 9.5/10
4: Four Swords Adventures (GCN) 5/10
5: The Minish Cap (GBA) 8.5/10
6: Majora's Mask (Wii VC) 9.5/10
7: Skyward Sword (Wii) 8.5/10
8: A Link to the Past (Wii VC)7.5/10
9: The Legend of Zelda (Wii VC) 6/10
10: Spirit Tracks (DS) 8/10
11: Phantom Hourglass (DS) 7.5/10
12: A Link Between Worlds (3DS) 9/10
13: Oracle of Ages (3DS) 8.75/10
14: Oracle of Seasons (3DS) 8/10

The consoles listed beside each game is the console I was using the first time I beat each game.

 

[misskitten]

Great thread idea. I've not yet played all the Zelda games, and I've only included the games that I've properly played, so even though I have opened and tried out a couple of other titles, I just feel I need to devote more time to those games before I truly count them on the list. Also, I've also just listed first time I've properly played a title, so not mentioned the time I played another version of the game like OoT3D or TP on the GC

Occarina of Time (N64) - I thought it was amazing and I would play it again and again.

Majora's Mask (N64) - I was so extremely happy when I found out there were more Zelda games, but I had mixed feelings about this one. Firstly I loved the masks and the fact that some of them transformed you, I really loved playing as a Zora, but I also did not enjoy the 3 day timelimit, the having to reset and then redo things in order to get to do things I didn't get to do first time around.

Twilight Princess (Wii) - Loved it, but as time passed I was less and less thrilled with the motion controls

Spirit Tracks (DS) - Not a big fan of the stylus controls, but I really enjoyed Zelda's more active role in the game, and I also liked how the tracks expanded as I did more favours for people.

Link's Awakening (3DS e-shop) - Nice, but confusing at times. At some points I just didn't know where I was supposed to go next and just wandered around aimlessly for a long time

Legend of Zelda (3DS e-shop) - Little to no story, and I got tired of the game quickly

Adventures of Link (3DS e-shop) - I really wanted to like it, because I usally do enjoy side-scrolling games, but the difficulty was just set way too high to begin with and I just never felt I had a chance, the dialogue with town inhabitants were not helpful, nor were the signs in telling me which direction to go. After a couple of game overs with very little progress, I just ragequitted the game

Skyward Sword (Wii) - Loved the game, but had issues with the motion controls at certain points, like the first fight with Girahim, when Link just wouldn't obey my commands and it was just sheer luck that I finally managed to get past that first annoying stage of the battle. Oh, and I hated the silent realms...

Wind Waker (GameCube) - Initially I wasn't too impressed, but once I really got into the game and got ahold of the sail, I really, really loved it.

A Link Between Worlds (3DS) - I honestly loved it from beginning to end, I just couldn't put it down, and it was the first ever game to truly make me want to 100% it, which I did It's become my favourite game in the series in terms of first-time experience

A Link to the Past (Wii download) - I do enjoy it, but not to the degree I thought I would with all the hype it's gotten. Most of my enjoyment is more tied up with how much I recognize from having just played ALBW.

 

[Mercedes]

Urrrm... hard to remember. Console-wise:

1. Ocarina of Time
   -then a BIG break-
2. Wind Waker
3. Majora's Mask (Collecter's Edition on GC)
4. Zelda 1
5. Zelda 2
6. Twilight Princess
7. Skyward Sword

I loved Ocarina of Time but didn't really play much Zelda after that. I still loved OoT and joined Zelda Forums because it was my first real foray into game consoles on my own and I looooooooved it, but because my family weren't so well off I couldn't really play any others for a long time. As soon as we found a cheap Gamecube a few years into its life-span I picked up Wind Waker and the Collecter's Edition and played them all, re-playing OoT too, and then of course got a Wii and played TP and SS. Didn't play TP on Gamecube, I thought the Wii mechanics would work really well for it so elected to wait and get it on that. I played a lot of the old Zelda games after the more modern ones!

There's a small smattering of hand-held titles, especially the DS ones, but I can't really remember when I played them, but excluding Minish Cap, and probably ALBW too, I wasn't too huge on them. Much prefer the console ones.

 

[Japas]

I don't remember my original order. I know OoT was first for me in terms of beating the games. But currently I'm going through the games in the official timeline order and I'm currently on TMC. So next will be Four Swords.

 

[Mask-Salesman]

The first time I played Zelda was at a friends house, who had ALttP on the SNES. Didn't finish the game at that time though, so I guess that doesn't count?

First real Zelda game that made me fall in love with the series was OoT. I was amazed at how big and wide the game was and how much there was to explore. Took me months to finish this game, it was so hard when I was younger! Next was MM, which I absolutely loved as well, but not even as much as I do today. The Gamecube games were next. I loved the WW and TP, but they will never have the same impact on me as the N64 games did. I don't think any game will be able to do that ever again. Played the NDS and GBA games somewhere in between. Then came Skyward Sword, which I liked, but also hated because I hate motion controls. Still have to play ALbW!

 

[43ForceGems]

To be completely honest, I don't remember. I know my first was either Ocarina of Time or Majora's Mask, and after that was Oracle of Ages and Seasons and Link's Awakening. Then probably Wind Waker? I didn't really start wanting to play all of them until well after even Twilight Princess came out, it was only like 2 years ago. Or maybe 3. How old am I? Nevermind. Majora's Mask has been my favorite since the second I played it when I was 3. I don't know why I hated Wind Waker and Twilight Princess the first time I played them, but now they're my 2nd and 3rd favorites, so it really does confuse me...

 

[Mudora]

-A Link to the Past - Really enjoyed this game growing up/have a lot of fond memories playing it with my dad and brother. This is what introduced me and got me interested in the Zelda series. It still remains to be my favourite Zelda game.

-Ocarina of Time - Right behind ALttP in terms of when I played it and how I rank it. I just recently finished another play through on the N64 and there isn't a time where I don't fall in love with the story and characters.

[in between I had played a bit of Majora's Mask and The Wind Waker at my cousin's home. It was good for what I can remember]

-Minish Cap - This was my first experience with a handheld Zelda game and I really enjoyed it. I liked the idea of changing sizes in order to solve puzzles/get to new destinations. It was also interesting to have your hat as your companion.

-Twilight Princess - I actually really loved this game, though I think I was a bit young the first time I played it as I missed a lot of what the game was alluding to, like in that creepy cutscene. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the traditional elements found in the game, as well as the graphic style and storyline. I think this game had a lot more potential, there was maybe just a few execution problems for my taste.

-Majora's Mask [officially beat from start to finish] - It was a good game, though it doesn't trump OoT for me. The time aspect was interesting, and I really liked how by doing certain things at certain times, you were able to influence other events down the line.

-The Legend of Zelda - Upon playing this game, I truly saw the adventure aspect. There was no companion or instructional cutscene; you were placed randomly in an area and immediately had to start searching for yourself. I like that as it gave a more satisfactory feeling when I was able to figure things out for myself without any aid.

-The Adventure of Link -Known as the black sheep of the Zelda series, but I still found it quite enjoyable. I don't think I've ever felt more anger and pride than I have upon playing/completing this game

-Ocarina of Time 3D - Simply beautiful. I had a rush of nostalgia the whole time.

-Link's Awakening - Not wanting to give away any spoilers as to the setting, I'll just say that that is what I found to be quite unique. I almost didn't want to play it through, but of course I did anyway. Good game.

-Skyward Sword - Like TP, I really enjoyed this game as well. I loved the bond that Link and Zelda shared as I felt that it pushed me more as a player to see what would happen next. It had a unique graphic style which for the most part I liked. My only complaint relating to that though would be that it sometimes looked too colourful. When settings/enemies needed that dark or creepy aspect, it wasn't there. Nevertheless, it's a game I enjoyed from start to finish.

-Oracle of Ages/Seasons - These are some of my favourite handheld Zelda games, just below OoT 3D

-Spirit Tracks - Out of the group, I would say that this is probably my least favourite Zelda game, but that isn't really saying much. I still enjoyed my first play through, but I wasn't really captivated by it like the others.

-A Link Between Worlds - I lied. This is my favourite Zelda handheld title. It was just beautiful. By taking place in a world I was already familiar with, yet with a whole new story, I just fell in love. Plus, I love its non-linearity, and how you could go to whatever dungeon of your choosing. Awesome game.

-The Wind Waker HD - This was my first real taste of TWW, and I did enjoy it. I wouldn't say that it is an absolute favourite of mine, but it isn't by any means at the bottom either.

-Four Swords Anniversary Edition - I was super thrilled that I was able to snag this on the eShop. It's different from what I've played, but it's good.