In which Zelda game was the music most important?

[Spirit]

Most Zelda games have been blessed with damn good music. Some have been better than others but none have been awful.

From Twilight Princess's Zora's domain to ALttP's Lost Woods... there are so many memorable tracks and so many have helped make the locations in Zelda what they are and added depth to them.

But in which Zelda game was the music most important?
Note here that I'm not asking which was the best, but the most important.

Without the music, which Zelda game would have felt flat, soulless, uninteresting or unmemorable?

For me it'd be Ocarina of Time. While I think that the music in ALttP and WW are two of the series best which really help the games be memorable and feel like grand adventures i still think they would have held up without music, in fact WW often takes out the music entirely (sailing at night and visiting small islands) and it works for it. But Ocarina of Time I think, without its music, wouldn't have had the impact on me that it did. Yeah the music fades away at night but i hate OoT at night, it feels empty and vacant, and had the game had no music throughout i can't say that i'd have enjoyed the game as much as i did.

So, in which Zelda game was the music most important for you?

 

[NintendoCN]

I'm gonna go with skyward sword without music it would be far less enjoyable, not to mention near impossible since the music was essential in some situations.

 

[SavageWizzrobe]

I'll say Majora's Mask. Since MM has such a compelling world with fairly deep characters, without music the emotional impact of the game would be diminished. Furthermore, many of the music tracks in MM are in minor keys, so it fits very nicely with the dark atmosphere of the game.

 

[onebizarrekai]

It's actually really hard for me to pick. Music is such an important piece of Zelda games. But I do want to say Wind Waker; while I do believe that game had the best music as well, it was the music that gave it the atmosphere that it had. That might be why I'm picking it though, because the music is so great that it impacts the feeling of the game. They do take out the music here and there in-game, and it works, but that affects its feeling too, the way it wanted.

Another game I guess I'll mention is Majora's Mask. The game wouldn't really be nearly as creepy and dark if it didn't have the music. I just wish there wasn't so much repetition with it.

 

[snakeoiltanker]

While all Zelda games feature great music, that I feel would hurt the game without. I would have to say that music is most important in OoT. And somewhat MM. This is the only game where u have to actually play music in the game to do certain things. So while yes, other Zelda games have great or maybe better music. The music was not as important as it was in OoT/MM.

We may have had instruments in other games, but you yourself didn't play them. They were more of an item. Even in SS where u had to move the controller to play the harp (which was completely broken I might add) you were not playing any note. Just strumming. So without a doubt, hands down, music was most important in OoT, I don't see where there is any debate here.

 

[ReveredPartisan]

I'd also have to say OoT. Like Spirit said, it would just have seemed soulless with out its very memorable soundtrack. While I don't think it was necessarily the most complex or emotional score, it definitely lended such a prominent atmospheric flair to each and every area.