• Welcome to ZD Forums! You must create an account and log in to see and participate in the Shoutbox chat on this main index page.

My Detailed Countdown

Joined
May 11, 2011
Having beaten all of the official zelda games, I thought I may as well make this thread.

I have rank-ordered all the official zelda games (This does not include spin-offs or the CDI titles). This was a hard task as I love zelda (otherwise I wouldn't be here).

I am aware that this very topic is posted now and then, but I was thinking, maybe it would be a cool idea if this topic had a 'sticky' on it, and that this could be the sole topic for all members to rank-order the zelda games from best to worst? (With a different thread-title of course) That way it would save this topic being posted numerous times. Just a thought, what do you think?

Anyway, please bare in mind that even though I've given some harsh criticisms, I still love the zelda franchise, and am just being strict.

Before I go into my list, I just want to briefly mention Link's Crossbow Training seeing as it wont be ranked on this list, due to being a spinoff. Overall, I thought it was a cool, enjoyable game. Obviously not like a regular zelda game, but still pretty decent as a time-killer. I had lots of fun playing it, and really enjoyed the TP references. If I were to rank this game on my list, I would put it between 13 and 14. But as mentioned, you can't really rank this one. As for the CDI games, and Tingle games etc, never played them.

So here we go then, without further ado, here is my list of official zelda games from worst to best:

16th – The Adventure Of Link
This is definitely my least favourite in the series. I mean, ok, I praise it for being different/original, and there was some fun to be had, and some of the spells like fairy were cool, and it had great music etc (loved the palace music)... but man, the difficulty - Yes, a challenge can be good, but jesus, the difficulty on this game was TOO hard. Basically you are completely screwed if you don’t level up your stats to the maximum (or at least fairly high), and get all the heart containers and magic containers, and the life spell. If you don’t do all this, then I fail to understand how anyone could actually beat this game. Never so much has a game had me so frustrated as this one. I just want to make clear though, that difficulty can be good, and I do like a challenge, but I just feel that this crossed the line and was TOO difficult. Death mountain gave me tonnes of trouble as you probably suspected. Even with a walkthrough. I think a big flaw in this game is that whenever you get game over you have to restart right at the beginning location. It would have been much less of a pain if you could just start from where you last died... but no... right back to the beginning, and having to travel through all that crap again, which would result in more deaths and probably another game over. I didn’t even bother with extra lives (not all of them anyway) because I read that once you collect one, they’re gone forever... and I felt that my extra lives would have only got wasted considering how often I died throughout the game (I think I died 51 times in total after finishing the game btw). But anyway, on top of what I’ve just said, I have yet to mention the biggest flaw of all.... the fact that when you quit the game, your experience points go back to zero when you go back to your file. This pissed me off no end. Levelling up took FOREVER. Yes, I know levelling up can take long in various games (I’m a huge fan of the PS1 Final Fantasy games), but IMO, AOL took it to another level, and it just took too long. This onerous task made AOL the most tedious game ever. Oh, and the monsters that drain your experience points just added insult to injury. Yes I know levelling up is optional, but let’s face it, nobody would have a chance in hell of completing this game without at least getting your stats fairly high. Finally, the valley of death and the great palace... yes, this pissed me off no end as well. The valley of death was extremely difficult just by itself.... and then if that wasn’t enough, you then had to conquer the great palace... man, when I finally completed this game I felt like getting drunk. I really did. Given all the many criticisms though, this game WAS fun at times. I guess it is an ok game really... But the frustrating difficulty and other gripes I’ve mentioned makes it hard for me to enjoy this game properly, and it’s the one I’d least like to replay in the future.

15th – Four Swords
Only played the single-player anniversary edition. Ok then, don’t get me wrong, this game is alright – but that’s all it is really, just alright. I had fun playing it, the magnet stuff was cool etc, and the game was a good way to pass the time – but again, that’s all this game was for me really, a time-killer. I never played multiplayer, so maybe I’m missing out, but as far as the single-player is concerned, the game was far too short and completely lacked story. Too easy too (although I’d rather have ‘too easy’ than ‘too hard’, like what AOL was). I guess I forgive FS for these criticisms though, because Nintendo didn’t really try as hard with this game as some of the others. But still, a little more story would have been good. Oh, and it’s not the different-style gameplay that was the issue (I LOVE FSA, which I will get to later). It’s the things I’ve said – lack of story, too short etc. An ok game by all means, but poor by Zelda standards. Oh, and the music totally sucked – worst music the series has to offer. Just gonna wrap this up though by saying that I loved the realm of memories – great and nostalgic. However, as we know, this is only limited to the anniversary edition of the game.

14th – The Legend Of Zelda
Ahh, the hoary old title that started it all. This is a good game, and a solid one really. I do like this game, and have tonnes of respect for it. It is very low on my list though, and I think it always will be, because let’s face it – Zelda games (and games in general) have advanced hugely since. Still though, I had lots of fun playing this. Here are my quarrels though – Firstly, the game was far too short. However, I’ll let it off seeing as it was the first (as well as a second quest being available, which I haven’t played btw). Secondly, there was barely any story – but again, it was the first, so I’ll let it off. Thirdly, the limited graphics made the gameplay very frustrating. For example, I got hit a lot because of the angle I was stood at etc etc, and so I kept dying for silly reasons. Also, some of the puzzles (such as finding secret cave locations and dungeon locations) were ridiculous, and just about impossible to figure out without a walkthrough – there were no clues or guidance whatsoever. It didn’t even tell you what the weapons did whenever you collected them. One of the dungeons, I think it was level 5 lizzard, gave me a frustratingly difficult time. The room with the dodongos, I kept failing to kill them because I kept running out of bombs – so I had to keep exiting the dungeon to find, or buy, new bombs. I had to keep going back and forth until I managed it, and this was tedious as hell. When I finally did manage it, I then progressed only to realise I didn’t have enough rupees for the bomb upgrade – ARGH! So again, back and forth for god knows how long gathering rupees. When I finally gathered enough rupees, I discovered that I had to kill the dodongos again – and again I kept failing at that, running out of bombs, so again, back and forth in and out of the dungeon. Tedious things like that were a big issue in this game for me. Also, the overworld in general was a pain – I kept dying before even reaching my destination! So in conclusion, a good game, a classic, but very flawed over time.

13th – Spirit Tracks
One major flaw in this game makes it rank low for me, and that is the ridiculously tedious train-travel system. Honestly, the train stuff annoyed the hell out of me. It took such a long time just to reach a bloody destination. And those dark trains made it even worse. The ship travel method on PH was much better than this. In fact, PH was much better than ST in most areas (something that most people would disagree on). I liked ST and all though, and apart from the train system, this was a pretty cool game. Some great use of items, and good dungeons (apart from the sand temple, that and the sand wand annoyed the hell out of me). Brilliant music (some of the best in the series), and the whole game had a unique feel. The tower of spirits was really cool (just about the only thing ST has over PH IMO). Great gameplay and co-operation with princess Zelda. It was cool and interesting to have Zelda be a sidekick in this game too - to me this was one of my favourite aspects of the game. Staven/Byrne was a cool character too. The game’s stylus controls however were an issue for me. They were ok for the most part, but often it would not recognise where I was putting the stylus. I couldn’t do that whip race in time because of this, and had big trouble with the block puzzles too as the stylus couldn't recognise where I was tapping. Also huge control issues with the sand wand as mentioned. All of these control issues didn't seem to apply to PH. I also had huge trouble with the final boss due to the awkward controls. Overall.... I DO like ST... It’s a very cool and fun game - just let down by some flaws is all.

12th – Oracle Of Seasons
To me it’s an ok Zelda game, but still lower tier. I enjoyed many things about this game – changing the seasons was cool, and subrosia was also a nice touch and an interesting location, which was a good addition to Holodrum. And I liked the temple of seasons too. The pirate section of the game was really cool and probably my favourite part of the game. There were some Mario enemies present, like thwomps for example. Not as many Mario enemies as what LA had, but still cool nonetheless. Some of the items were pretty good – I enjoyed the magnetic gloves a lot, and roc’s cape was so much fun to use. Overall though, this game was really difficult for me – the first few dungeons not so much, but as the game progressed, the combat got tough. This could be a good thing, but at times also a bad thing because frustration levels were high. I think it was around the 4th, 5th, and 6th dungeons that I had major trouble with. Getting to Ghoma in the dancing dragon dungeon was a pain in the arse because I kept dying on the way, or at least getting badly wounded. But the hardest boss for me (other than the final boss) was Manhandla, the boss of the ancient ruins dungeon. The ghost mini-bosses in the explorer’s crypt also pissed me off as I kept getting transported back to the start of the dungeon due to the flames on the torches running out. As mentioned, many moments of frustration in this game. A large criticism I have with this game is that you are not given enough recovery hearts from defeating enemies, breaking pots etc.... it kept giving me seeds and whatnot, which, whilst was all good, was also very annoying because I was in desperate need of hearts a lot of the time. Now onto the final boss – he was one tough cookie. However, I didn’t have the red ring when I was having trouble with him.... so I went and got the red ring and equipped it. Afterwards, the boss was MUCH easier. That red ring made so much difference! Hmm, maybe I should have gotten the red ring earlier on in the game.... perhaps it wouldn’t have been so difficult if I did that... d’oh! Anyway, overall a decent enough game, but not a particularly a strong one in the Zelda-cannon.

11th - A Link To The Past
A great game, and to many, one of the finest. For me it’s not up there, but I still enjoy it. I guess I don’t have the nostalgia that others do with this game, as I played it many years after it came out. But for what it is, this game was a great classic, that in many ways, introduced us to the main concept/gameplay of Zelda titles IMO. Hyrule is more familiar to us here than that of the first 2 zelda games. The dungeons were fun, although at times a bit samey (although turtle rock certainly was different). The bosses were an improvement over the first 2 zelda games. I thought the game lacked story and character development though. But the gameplay was really cool. The only thing is, the limited graphics (although probably good for it's time) made the whole gameplay more frustrating than usual, for example, getting hit for standing at a certain angle etc (Just like I said for the other old Zelda games), which frustrated the hell out of me (although probably not as bad as the original LOZ, or AOL). Also, like the original LOZ, there were some tedious situations again. For example, I think it was the final dungeon on death mountain, I had to keep exiting and entering just because I ran out of bombs. Very annoying. Another criticism with this game is that I felt you never started off with enough hearts. Man, I died a lot on this game. And also, fairies only filled up 7 hearts - I was expecting them to fill the whole lot! There was more guidance than the original LOZ, but still a bit clueless in places – for example, to enter turtle rock dungeon, you needed to use a magic spell which at the time I didn’t have. I would have never known about this spell without the aid of a walkthrough. This was one of the hardest zelda games I've done I think. Still though, great for it's time. Great music too (dark world being one of my favourites), and the whole concept of the dark world was original, unique, and interesting.

10th – Oracle Of Ages
I played this as the linked sequel to seasons... I shall therefore disregard the extra features like Twinrova/Ganon, as I know that they are technically available on both oracle games. Anyway, I preferred OOA over OOS for a number of reasons really. But the biggest reason was the fact that ages had a lot more of a story than seasons. Ages actually featured some supporting characters with key roles, such as Queen Ambi, and Ralph. There just seemed to be more going on story-wise with ages than seasons, and also the black tower was really cool. As I mentioned on seasons, I was very frustrated during the amount of times I kept dying – this was not an issue with ages at all (however, this could be due to the fact that I had the red ring early on in ages, whereas I got it very late in seasons...). Some of the puzzles on ages were really cool also, and added that extra flavour that seasons seemed to be lacking. Regarding main villains, I slightly preferred Veran (ages) over Onox (seasons). However, Veran was a MUCH easier boss than Onox. Regarding the time-travelling VS the changing of seasons.... about equal I guess, I enjoyed both in different ways. Another thing that ages had over seasons however, was the boss-battles, in which I found the bosses more unique and original. The only major let-down however was that stupid thwomp boss... I was looking forward to it, but then I realised that the boss was heavily based on luck... not cool. What’s the point in having a boss mainly based on luck? Highly unfair! Another boss pissed me off too, and that was the smog cloud boss, but he just annoyed me purely for his difficulty (the actual boss itself was creative and pretty cool really). Items were good on this game. There was no roc’s cape however (which I loved on seasons). That was a shame. However, we got a weapon that I really loved – the switch hook (and the upgraded long switch). I had so much fun using that thing – loved it! The mermaid suit was interesting too, and it was enjoyable swimming through jabu jabu’s belly. Overall, even though both games similar, I found ages to be superior to seasons, for the reasons stated. The connectivity between the two games was cool and cleverly done. So yes, OOA was an enjoyable game, whilst not one of my favourites, still a game that I had a good time playing.

9th – Link’s Awakening
Only played DX version... Mario enemies FTW! Honestly, I loved that aspect to this game. I know that some Mario enemies have briefly appeared in other Zelda games, like the oracle games etc, but they only included a certain few, whereas LA included a huge bunch of different kinds of them... At first I was thinking “could Mario enemies really work in a Zelda game?” They did! I loved every moment of that, and to me, that was my favourite aspect of the game. I know that Mario enemies were slightly used in other Zelda games, but this one in particular used them a lot more. Loved it! LA overall was a solid entry to the Zelda franchise. Some great dungeons, a very nice overworld (I love the sea) and a very interesting and unique story (the whole awaking the windfish thing was very different and pretty memorable). I personally thought this game was an improvement over ALTTP. If there’s one criticism though, I thought it was slightly too easy – the only dungeon I really had trouble with was eagle’s tower. Other than that, a great game, and also it didn’t feel as tedious or frustrating as the other old Zelda games.

8th – Four Swords Adventures
Only done single player. But anyway... Why on earth is this game so unpopular? I thought this game was brilliant. Sure, it had a completely different formula to the regular zelda games, and you could only use 1 item at once etc... but man, for me the game really worked and was so much fun! And I think it's safe to say that it's a million times better than 4 swords. Great throwback to ALTTP, great music, and it also included the side-scrolling bits like link's awakening which I loved, including some mario enemies! This game totally exceeded my expectations. When I played 4 swords (anniversary edition), thinking it was weak, my expectations for FSA were low... boy was I wrong. I loved everything about this game (except for the repetitiveness of fighting shadow link about a million times). The game was probably too easy, but I still had tonnes of fun playing it. I particularly loved the tower of winds level – that level ruled! The dark cloud level for the first half was interesting too, and the pyramid was good. Infiltration of Hyrule Castle was cool also. And it was really good to fight some windwaker bosses again, like the masked bird and the fat ghost. Honestly, I had so much fun playing on all 24 of these levels. And that was only on single-player. I’ve never played multiplayer, and chances are that’s even more fun? Love this game.

7th – The Minish Cap
Loved this! I think it’s a really great, original game. The story was intriguing and rather different too. And the minish race were very interesting. There were some great gameplay elements here, such as shrinking to minish size – brilliant touch. I also loved going inside the armos statues as a minish to activate/deactivate them – that was cool. And the whole being small thing was just great in general, climbing up bookshelves and such. The mushroom catapults were fun too, and the dungeons, as well as bosses, were cool and original. Palace of the winds was fantastic, as was the use of roc’s cape. Really enjoyed the royal valley too. Just a couple of criticisms with this game. One being the whole making multiple copies of link – it was a cool idea, but at times I found it tedious to do, and I kept accidentally walking into walls which made the links disappear, which could be quite annoying. Still a neat idea though. Another criticism was the fact that the game was too easy, well, that was until the final boss. Up until Vaati, I had never died in the game, not even once. Then during the last boss, I broke the pattern and died a whole bunch of times. The game, up until Vaati, was really easy, and then all of a sudden it was stupidly hard. Vaati’s first 2 forms however were MUCH harder for me than his final form... Another criticism, but this one is only minor, is that I found there to be a lot of backtracking. Still ok though, and for the most part, I find this to be an almost flawless game. The kinstone fusion was an ok touch I guess. Ezlo was a great companion, one of the best, and he had some funny lines. Sometimes he stated the obvious too much, which could be annoying, but I guess most companions in Zelda games do that anyway. Overall, the minish cap was a great, enjoyable game for me. I just want to mention one more thing though.... shameless self-promotion coming up – I am a songwriter and have recorded my own material, over 200 songs worth. One of my songs sounds A LOT like the minish village theme (I made my song way before ever hearing the minish village theme btw). It's only one certain bit in the song that sounds alike to mine... although it's pretty much the main bit... Check out this link to my song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drAQdk3A4uo - The bit of my song that sounds like minish village is from 0:24 to 0:48 (and repeats throughout the song every so often). And for those who haven't heard it, here's the minish village theme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q75kjFojUkk – Similar or what? Just a coincidence obviously, but thought I’d point this out! Anyway, with that out the way, I will conclude by saying that TMC is a decent Zelda game, with a good story, good dungeons, good music, and original gameplay. Could have been a tad longer though.

6th – Phantom Hourglass
Why the hell is spirit tracks considered better than this? I honestly thought phantom hourglass was the better of the 2. To me, it was more memorable. Also, this may be biased on my part, but I love the sea and nautical stuff – so naturally I’m gonna prefer PH over ST. Loved the salvaging, and I adored the part when you had to figure out the safe route through the fog and sail through it – I was having a few cans of lager when on that part, bliss! As mentioned, the ship travelling was much better than ST’s train system, and far less tedious. Linebeck was a very good, entertaining character. And I liked the fairies too – actually helpful and far less annoying than navi. Dungeons were ok. As I said though, how can I not love a Zelda game based at sea? For some reason the stylus controls seemed much better than that of ST – is this just my imagination, or did they change something? I did have trouble with the final boss though, control-wise. The ghost ship was cool. Also, the game was very innovative – having to draw the warp-points on your sea-chart and whatnot – very creative (although I suppose ST had this strong point too). As I mentioned, I think PH is far superior to ST in every single respect – except one respect: Whereas the tower of spirits on ST was interesting, the temple of the ocean king on PH was not interesting, was annoying, was repetitive, and was in a time limit! Why did you have to keep repeating the same parts whenever your returned? To me, this was the single worst part about PH, and lets the game down slightly. But overall, this was a great, underrated game.

5th - Majora's Mask
Majora's Mask is a very decent game. Although I find it overrated. I mean, many people think this is the best Zelda of them all. I disagree, and I do have some issues with it, which I’ll explain soon. But anyway, the 3-day concept is excellent, and gives this game a unique feel like no other zelda game. I found this game one of the hardest, and possibly the hardest of the 3D titles. The dungeons in particular I found more difficult (although collecting the stray fairies may have contributed to that). That boss in the great bay temple.... my god, that was THE hardest zelda boss I have ever encountered. In contrast, I found the final boss majora to be extremely easy - although very fun to fight! Now, a major quibble - I did NOT like the saving system. It was a huge pain in the arse. And was also a pain to keep going back in time, and depositing your rupees before you go back... tedious and annoying. Also, howcome, when you go back in time, you lose all your rupees, arrows etc, but you do NOT lose songs, weapons, boss remains etc? HOW DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? But yes, the whole repeatedly going back in time stuff was confusing, and the inconvenient saving process was a pain, so that is probably why this game is last out of the 5 3d home console titles, as all that stuff gives it a tedious feel. Having said that though, this game is still excellent. Great music too.

4th - Twilight Princess
I really enjoyed this game. From what I've read, it seems that this game is slightly underrated. I myself thought it was a sound entry to the zelda series. It had a great, dark atmosphere, and some very creative dungeons. Snowpeak ruins is one of my favourite all-time dungeons. City in the sky was, although hard, very good too. Hyrule castle was a fantastic final dungeon. The story was good, and I found the whole game epic. Some people say this game failed to pull off the ‘dark’ aspect, but I thought that it pulled it off well. Great overworld, and a decent length (lots of dungeons to explore). Also the characters were great, particularly midna (possibly the best sidekick ever), and the rebellion group, and the whole wolf concept was a great, unique touch too. (Although howling the songs was a bit naff IMO). I did not enjoy the tears of light stuff, but most of this game really hit the nail for me. Running across hyrule castle rooftops was just beautiful. Also, in places, I found the game to be somewhat challenging (in terms of the puzzles that is, NOT the combat, that was easy). However, that could be due to this being the second Zelda game I ever played – if I played it again today, I might find it easier. Anyway, a great, underrated game.

3rd - The Windwaker
At first I was dubious about the cell-shaded graphics, but I soon got used to them, and I was very glad I gave this game a go. It has since become one of my all-time favourites. Ad mentioned, I love the sea and nautical stuff. I actually found this game very relaxing! The great sea overworld was stunning, and the cell-shaded graphics actually gave this game a great, unique feel. I found this game slightly easier than most of the other zelda games, but this kind of adds to the 'relaxing' feel of the game. I felt free to explore and I also believe this game has great re-play value (in that I could play it over again and not get bored). Exploring was so much fun, and the atmosphere was just phenomenal. God I love the ocean! Many of the heartpieces and sidequests were fun, and the game had brilliant music for the most-part. Dungeons were ok. My favourite one was the forbidden woods, loved that! The king of red lions was an ok companion, not really much to say about him. The sailing was tedious though.... and gathering the triforce charts/shards, jesus, I hated that part, it took forever..... constantly changing the wind was very tedious too.... but apart from those quibbles, this is a great, unique, fun, and relaxing zelda game! A very fine game, just love it!

2nd – Skyward Sword
One of the finest Zelda games (and games in general) ever created. This was almost my number one. The story of the game was great and intriguing, with some deep character development (I really like how Groose came through). This game, IMO, has overall the best dungeons. The sandship is my single favourite dungeon in any Zelda game. I just loved the whole unique feel to it. As mentioned before, this may be biased due to me loving nautical stuff and ships in general. But still, a fantastic dungeon, as was the mining facility (great use of time-shift zones, a unique and original concept), and the ancient cistern (great contrast with water and darkness, it’s like 2 dungeons in one). I did think the skyview temple was weak though, especially for a first dungeon. But the sky keep was great for a final dungeon. Interesting bosses too, particularly the sandship and ancient cistern bosses. I loved skyloft – so much to do and many interesting sidequests. You felt connected to a lot of the characters (much like MM in that respect) like the item-check girl (hilarious character in that she was so unenthusiastic about her job) and the lumpy pumpkin owner. The sky overworld was pretty cool. It could have done with more islands though. Kind of reminded me of the windwaker’s great sea, but obviously sky instead of sea. The other locations were great too. Loved the desert, and volcano, and forest. The game was an excellent length, and seemed to take me a long while to complete (which is a good thing). The combat, at first, had me unsure – but I soon got used to it. The combat is more challenging in this game than any other 3d Zelda game. (Those fat moblins were hilarious). I absolutely loved everything about this game more or less. The only part I didn’t like was the flooded faron woods, collecting those musical notes, which I found frustrating and annoying. But apart from this, everything else was pretty flawless. Epic (but hard) final boss too. Oh, and some of the best Zelda music ever. This could easily be my number 1 game - but my number 1 is infact...

1st - Ocarina Of Time
Yes I know this is at the top for most people. But really, I can definitely see why. I don't think it can be topped. That however could be the nostalgia talking, as it was my first zelda game. But, this game was revolutionary (as it introduced us to 3d zelda). To me this is the pinnacle of all Zelda games. The atmosphere is just amazing (I love it when it rains for some reason), and the overworld was great too. Ganondorf is a brilliant villain in this game. The dungeons were very unique and very creative. The forest temple still remains one of my all-time favourite dungeons. One little niggle is that I find the game far too easy now (last playthrough only took me 2 days to finish, with all 20 hearts), but I think that’s because I’m so experienced in this particular game. In contrast, the 3DS Master Quest was much more challenging (although I think this was mainly due to the double damage). Excellent music, excellent gameplay, excellent everything really. Worst part of the entire game was Navi being so annoying, but really, that is my only quarrel with this breathtaking game.
 
Last edited:

MW7

Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Location
Ohio
I respect your list, and I'm glad that someone else feels the same way about Spirit Tracks- I freaking hate that train. Still that's a great game regardless. I feel like Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past are the two best games in the series though, but that's just my opinion.
 
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Great list! I can't make mine yet because I haven't played all of the Zelda games, but hopefully someday I will.

I'm glad you love and appreciate the ocean in The Wind Waker as much as I do. That is my favorite game and it's nice to see such enthusiastic appreciation for it.

Ocarina of Time is a fantastic game as well. If it wasn't for my nostalgia of The Wind Waker, it could contend for my favorite Zelda.
 
I just wanted to add some of my own perspective on the DS Zelda games.

Jarvio said:
One major flaw in this game makes it rank low for me, and that is the ridiculously tedious train-travel system. Honestly, the train stuff annoyed the hell out of me. It took such a long time just to reach a bloody destination. And those dark trains made it even worse.

The varied realms more than made up for this. Also, the Dark Trains added a tint of strategy that was largely absent from Phantom Hourglass.

Jarvio said:
Why the hell is spirit tracks considered better than this?

It all has to do with the central dungeon. Trust me. Most people HATED the Temple of the Ocean King.

Jarvio said:
For some reason the stylus controls seemed much better than that of ST – is this just my imagination, or did they change something?

I noticed that the stylus controls are different as well, however, each has its own benefits. It's much simpler to execute regular sword slashes in Phantom Hourglass whereas spin attacks come with ease in Spirit Tracks.

Also, I agree with you placement of Ocarina of Time on top. ^^
 
Joined
May 11, 2011
I respect your list, and I'm glad that someone else feels the same way about Spirit Tracks- I freaking hate that train. Still that's a great game regardless. I feel like Legend of Zelda and A Link to the Past are the two best games in the series though, but that's just my opinion.

Yeah, spirit tracks was a great game. I think I may be overly harsh on it, but yeah, the train system did kind of ruin it for me.

Great list! I can't make mine yet because I haven't played all of the Zelda games, but hopefully someday I will.

I'm glad you love and appreciate the ocean in The Wind Waker as much as I do. That is my favorite game and it's nice to see such enthusiastic appreciation for it.

Ocarina of Time is a fantastic game as well. If it wasn't for my nostalgia of The Wind Waker, it could contend for my favorite Zelda.

Feel free to make a list of your own, just list the ones you've done. I'm interested in viewing other people's lists. Yeah the ocean was great :)

I just wanted to add some of my own perspective on the DS Zelda games.



The varied realms more than made up for this. Also, the Dark Trains added a tint of strategy that was largely absent from Phantom Hourglass.



It all has to do with the central dungeon. Trust me. Most people HATED the Temple of the Ocean King.



I noticed that the stylus controls are different as well, however, each has its own benefits. It's much simpler to execute regular sword slashes in Phantom Hourglass whereas spin attacks come with ease in Spirit Tracks.

Also, I agree with you placement of Ocarina of Time on top. ^^

Yeah I guess you're right about the dark trains adding strategy. Still though, they annoyed me no end. And yes I have to admit, the temple of the ocean king did slightly spoil PH for me.
 
Last edited:
Joined
May 11, 2011
Well, I only have 1 more zelda game to play/beat now, and that's the minish cap! As soon as I've done that, I will edit my first post, adding it into my list.

Anyone else care to share their 'detailed countdowns'?
 

r2d93

Hero of the Stars
Joined
Nov 10, 2011
Location
Lost Woods
the ones I havent played are the Four Swords games AoL so il do the ones I have played.

13: LoZ
12: Oracle of Ages
11: Oracle of Seasons
10: Phantom Hourglass
9: Spirit Tracks
8: Majora's Mask
7: Link's Awakening
6: The Minish Cap
5: Twilight Princess
4: Syward Sword
3: A Link to the Past
2: Ocarina of Time
1: The Wind Waker
 

MW7

Joined
Jun 22, 2011
Location
Ohio
Anyone else care to share their 'detailed countdowns'?
Why not? Keep in mind that I'm going along with "best" rather than favorite so this is my opinion on the relative quality of the games. I'm going to just do the 8 main console games (not including FSA) because those are the ones that I am most familiar with and I have trouble comparing the handheld and console games for some reason. This is going to be a unique list from what I've seen around these forums, but here goes.

8. Twilight Princess- I love this game (it won't seem like it after reading this though), but the amount of bone-headed design decisions contained within this game is astounding. This game started the whole pointless notification system with picking up rupees, and contained a truly absurd amount of meaningless boundaries. Zelda is supposedly an adventure series, but you walk into Hyrule Field and see three paths and two are blocked. Then you follow the one open path to another field with only one way to go. Once you enter the twilight in Kakariko you have no choice but to move forward in your quest and collect the tears of light. Once you get through the Goron Mines you soon after must cross the Bridge of Eldin because that's the only way forward, and once you cross the bridge it disappears. In early versions of the game if you saved and quit right after the bridge disappears, the next time you play the game you find yourself on the Kakariko side of the bridge with no way to proceed in the game because your only path is now gone. This game is an exceedingly linear mess, and I have tons of stuff to say about the setup of the second half of the game as well if anyone wants to know. The dungeons were pretty awesome though; the stuff between them is what bothered me.

7. Majora's Mask- This is actually my favorite game of all time, but as far as quality goes I just can't justify it being ranked ahead of any of the other console Zeldas except TP. The save system is really odd, and there are lots of divisive aspects to this game like the time system. The game collectively has the greatest sidequests of any Zelda game but at the cost of dungeon count. Sure the last three dungeons are all masterpieces, but notice that there are only 3 noteworthy dungeons. The main quest is as if A Link to the Past ended with the battle against Agahnim. That's got to be disappointing when you realize the game is basically over once you've beaten the fourth dungeon. This game does have the greatest replay value ever though because the cyclical time allows you to replay anything anytime.

6. Adventure of Link- This game is hard, but people always focus on that instead of the tremendous innovations included in this game such as magic, different sword attacks, and caves that aren't just a single screen like in the original Zelda. This game put the word "adventure" in the title and delivered one. Even with the release of Skyward Sword I still believe that Adventure of Link has the best combat of the series, and the superiority of its magic system and difficulty aren't subject to much debate. There are some problems that can really alienate players though. One of the oddest is how the game puts you all the way back to Zelda if you get a game over no matter where you are except when you get to the Great Palace where they put you at the start of the dungeon. If they did that, why couldn't they have given you some mercy earlier in the game? The Angry Video Game Nerd raised another interesting point in his review of this game. He complained about how Death Mountain is exceedingly difficult for its placement in the game. Depending on you this game can seem to get harder at some points and easier later which doesn't make much sense.

5. Skyward Sword- This is a great game with many little problems (bug/treasure notifications, weird design choices like not being able to skip cutscenes in regular mode, discouraging adventure by strongly encouraging the use of drowsing, etc.). I felt like Twilight Princess had terrible quests between dungeons whereas Skyward Sword was a complete 180 and had amazing quests between dungeons. Then the dungeons themselves were terrific as well. Skyloft was very cool along with the sidequests found on it also.

4. Wind Waker- This game was an explorer's dream. Oddly the King of Red Lions prevents you from going where you want until you have the first two pearls, but other than that this game's overworld is very similar to the original Zelda in a way. The dungeons weren't the best in the series, but they were still very good. The item usage in this game really impressed me too. Items like the Deku Leaf and Iron Boots had multiple uses, and items actually have uses throughout the game (another common complaint about TP). You need to use the Deku Leaf in various random places for instance (like a room in the Tower of the Gods). Overall this game is just simply beautiful.

3. Ocarina of Time- This game has wide appeal for good reasons. The adult dungeons are all masterpieces, and this game has replay value like Bill Gates has money. There are so many unique ways to challenge yourself in this game because of the amount of choice that is given to the player. There are many skippable items, different dungeon progressions, and even the dungeon design is nonlinear in some cases. The overworld is alright, but it doesn't have nearly as many pointless boundaries as later games in the series. One thing I always find myself pointing out is that the rocks in front of Zora's River are completely pointless (you don't need bombs in Jabu Jabu anyway). So this game had terrific gameplay but wasn't entirely immune to what I call "Twilight Princess Syndrome."

2. Legend of Zelda- As you might be able to tell I believe that freedom tends to lead to better gameplay, and in the Zelda universe you can't get more free than in the original Legend of Zelda. The overworld is masterfully designed, and finding all of the secrets is a true challenge. The dungeons are challenging as well although quite repetitive. Nonlinear dungeon progression possibilities make this game freakishly replayable- try getting the magic key or magic wand really early for instance. This game also had the best economic setup of any of the games (OOT had the worst) and rupees were actually treasured. Dying was an actual threat so hearts mattered too. This game also is the only one that managed to get the recovery system to be reasonable with two servings of potion (for instance did anyone ever actually need 4 fairies in OOT?). In fact everything you found mattered (I just got my 43rd amber relic!), and wasted space is kept to a minimum. Oh yeah this is also the only Zelda game with a REAL second quest.

1. A Link to the Past- To be honest I don't want to say that this is definitely the best game in the series because Legend of Zelda is on the same level, but it's not like this really matters anyway. The big improvement over Legend of Zelda found in A Link to the Past was the dungeon design. Other than that these two games have many of the same strengths such as their overworlds. The game designers weren't afraid to think outside the box and it shows with some truly unique dungeons like Skull Woods and Turtle Rock. This game was also the first to feature what I'd call real puzzles too, and they could actually be difficult in some cases (Ice Palace). It doesn't hurt that this game has three times as many dungeons as Majora's Mask or more than double the amount of equipable items as Skyward Sword either.
 
Last edited:

ZeldaFan11

#TeamPhelps
Joined
Jun 20, 2011
Location
In a tree house.
12th – Spirit Tracks
One major flaw in this game makes it rank low for me, and that is the ridiculously tedious train-travel system. Honestly, the train stuff annoyed the hell out of me. It took such a long time just to reach a bloody destination. And those dark trains made it even worse. The ship travel method on PH was much better than this. In fact, PH was much better than ST in most areas (something that most people would disagree on). I liked ST and all though, and apart from the train system, this was a pretty cool game..

I totally agree with you on your placement with this game. It was a kinda good game; but it felt weird to play. And its not a very fun game when you suck at driving the train. Plus when one of those demon trains came near i would reverse because i was scared of them....But they eventually killed me because they were really fast.I also agree with how slow the train travel was. It felt like forever until you reached civilization. I think that the only thing i liked about the train was the bunnys you could catch. that was pretty fun. lol
 
Joined
Dec 10, 2011
Location
Pocatello, ID
I enjoyed reading your reasoning for the placement of your Zelda games. I recently made a list of my favorite Zelda games and I had a general feeling as to why, but not as much detail thought about the games when I made the order so it might change in the future when I keep track better of the details as I replay all of the games.

I only have to beat 2 more Zelda games: AoL and MM
 
Joined
May 11, 2011
I've finally beaten the minish cap, and therefore, finally beaten all 16 official zelda games! I have edited my list now that it is complete with all the games (see my opening post).

So, just thought I'd bump this thread to let you know about my updated post.

Also, I'd love to read other people's detailed countdowns too. :)
 
Last edited:
Okay then, I guess i'll give this a try. =]

Games that won't be included in this list will be: Minish Cap, Four Swords and Four Swords Adventures. Because I haven't played them, even though I recently now own Minish Cap.

13 Adventure of Link
No surprises here. I played it (on Gamecube promotional disc), tried to complete it and failed miserably. This game is arrogantly difficult. It also didn't seem to want to talk to me, I do love narratives in games but this one felt as if it didn't want to talk to me, either much or at all. Completing a dungeon was never a proud moment because i was already so frustrated with the amount of times i had died previously and my reward never seemed to be worth the frustration and time spent. I don't hate the game though, it was indeed an experiment (that of course failed) but I'm happy it occurred here and not later down the line in the franchise.

12 Legend of Zelda
The original, yes. The best, no. Again, I played this on the Gamecube promotional disc and while it was nice to finally inject some Zelda culture into my mind, it didn't really do anything for me. I enjoyed the 8-bit sound, the cute primitive graphics and the limitations in gameplay, though i found it to be quite impressive knowing when it was made for the game to seemingly have a lot in it. The dungeons were fine, being the first it had the freshest ideas but were also limited by their time, while i didn't mind their simplicity/difficulty etc, some of the logic to overcome some obstacles or find entrances to caves and other places seemed far too nonsensical and i needed a walkthrough a hell of a lot. I also died a hell of a lot too but i think that was me sucking in general rather than the game being hard or indeed hard to play.

11. Oracle of Ages
I didn't like this and it wasn't because of the limitations of the GBC or that it is a 2d game when i prefer the 3d installments or anything like that. This game simply wasn't compelling, it felt like a cheap Link's Awakening. I didn't like the dungeons, they felt far too uninspired throughout the entirety of the game, the weapons gained weren't very exciting compared to A Link to the Past and the bosses were more like skirmishes than puzzle orientated battles that tested brains and skill. I also didn't like the overworld, again, A Link to the Past, and in my opinion, Link's Awakening had better maps. The time switching mechanic with the harp felt almost unnecessary and wasn't teeming with originality to begin with. I was able to blast through this game rather quickly too, and blazed through 4 dungeons in one short sitting. However going back to it after a while made me confused as to what time (past or present) i needed to be in because things at times weren't overly clear. The story with the Black Tower was nice but felt too cliche, and didn't serve as motivation for me as stories often do, instead it was the link up which made me press on to complete the game, just to see what lay beyond in the hope that it was something interesting...

10 Oracle of Seasons
No surprise that this game would follow Ages really. It was essentially the same game with a couple of better ideas. I preferred the dungeons as a whole in this game as opposed to Ages, the overworld felt better to accommodate for the season changing puzzles (I'd love to see the season changing gimmick in a 3d Zelda) though at times it did feel like exactly the same game as Ages when i wasn't changing the seasons to gain access into dungeons or gain new items etc. Again i didn't really like the dungeons and the bosses were as uninspired as the ones in Ages but way more difficult. Seasons overall had a few more ideas going for it such as the aforementioned pirate section in this thread’s opening post and the items were more interesting than those found in Ages. I also did NOT like the whole ring and seed item malarky that these games seemed to be predicated on more than anything else. The platforming sections in Seasons and Ages were also a massive pain since it was more a case of timing a jump and standing in exactly the right place to jump on to a stationary platform... these sections just weren't utilised at all well and just added frustration to two uninspiring games.

9. Phantom Hourglass
Maybe I'm being far too harsh on this game. Its modern, has a lot of nice ideas and has a revolutionary control system. The dungeons aren't awful and the new items as well as the old ones combined with the new controls really make this feel like a fresh and new breed of Zelda game, so why so low? I can't help but feel a little prejudiced against this game because I played Wind Waker first. I loved sailing in Wind Waker, it was wonderful and while i'm not a fan of nautical things, sailing in the Wind Waker was a wonderful gaming moment for me and i couldnt wait to do it again, so naturally i was excited when i first heard about PH... then i played it.
At first i enjoyed the controls, but then i began to die a lot in ways that shouldn’t have resulted in injury or death, like trying to take out a Chu-Chu, i found this game ridiculously hard because walking was very close to drawing your sword and you had to be very clear, which most of the time resulted in either not drawing it and walking into an enemy, or drawing it and missing entirely or drawing it at the wrong times and getting injured. it was almost as if the controls weren’t built for battle. Then the sailing came, and i was SO disappointed, it was like a rail shooter in which you could plot your course, i didn’t have enough control, it didn’t feel relaxing or fun or even really necessary, it felt to me as if it had just been tacked on, as if it didn't belong. The dungeons were the high point of the game for me because of the way you were able to utilise items both new and old in impressive and new ways... until i realised the Ocean King temple needed to be redone CONSTANTLY and with more rooms to be done each time, when i barely made it through the first section with enough time...which made me not want to progress further. Never before has a Zelda game merged such disappointment with such frustration for me.

8. Spirit Tracks
Another ‘clone’ Zelda game following another. To me, ST and PH were as bad and as good as each other. ST took out the need to repeat the main temple which was a god send and it pushed the Adult timeline story on a little bit. Rather than PH’s which was about as important as Link’s Awakening in the grand scheme of things… Though it must be said I did not like the story of ST, the adult timeline has looked childish but Wind Waker was very sad when you thought about it, Hyrule is lost and the new generation is suffering the mistakes of old but living in happiness in a ruined and lost world, it was tragically beautiful. ST brought back a kind of hyrule and used a train track as a plot device… not overly awesome and perhaps one of the worst Zelda narratives there is. However, the game wasn’t bad, but it did have a sense of been there done that and still not sure if we like it to it. The controls felt different to PH while being the same thing, the land and overworld wasn’t really inspiring, I thought nintendo would have stepped a bit harder in making this new hyrule somewhere we’d like to see more of but I didn’t get that feeling and wasn’t blown away by anything I saw in this game. The Train was better than the boat in PH to me, only because the boat disappointed me so much after playing Wind Waker. We’d never ridden a train in Zelda before so the controls and game felt more in tune with itself than PH did. Though the train sections weren’t great, and the dark trains could just be completely frustrating.
I liked teaming up with Zelda, she did talk too much but I didn’t mind it, I also liked that she was Zelda V which was a little call to AoL, so that was kind of cool. I enjoyed possessing the Phantoms, just because I felt as if it were a kind of revenge from the pain they caused me in PH, the dungeons as a whole were decent enough and the bosses were more puzzles than skirmishes as seen in the Oracle games. All in All I enjoyed it and it felt as if it had a little more charm than PH did, and wasn’t as disappointing, yet in terms of gameplay it still brought all of the flaws like weird battle mechanics with sword drawing.


7 Link’s Awakening
I don’t know why, but I really love this game. Its primitive, limited, wholly random and all a dream. The dungeons aren’t bad, the items are the standard affair, the bosses are a lot more fun than in Ages and Seasons but perhaps the best thing about Link’s Awakening for me personally is that it is so self-reflexive. Characters with strong resemblances to other nintendo characters such as Mario are scattered throughout the game, as well as his enemies and they are implemented better than Ages and Seasons could do with their higher budgets and better technology. The map isn’t quite right, and the story and characters are nuts in a refreshing way, a flying whale born from an egg on top of a mountain?. The music is also wonderful and I could listen to it all day which is more than I can say for some of the more recent Zelda games. This game is so full of charm, a charm that you really don’t see in many handheld games. Only Link would dream of having an epic adventure, he is such an epic guy in that respect. ;P Link’s Awakening…. For when saving the world just isn’t enough. Perhaps this isnt the best 2D Zelda game but it is the overlying charm and the peaceful yet somehow fragile world that somehow feels so real within the games limitations that makes it a winner.


6 Skyward Sword
As much as I try not to, I REALLY hate this game. Everything in this game felt as if it wasn’t fully realised or half done, I’m not talking about the graphics, and I’m not talking about the controls, both of those were fine. The level design was really wonderful, some of the best I have seen since OoT in a 3d Zelda game. Story-wise it is perhaps the richest Zelda tale there is, with a chase style plot, and emotional narrative. This is the first and only Zelda which nearly made me cry, I was dubious about the whole Link and Zelda romance since in my eyes they have never really been close. I still think OoT Link shacked up with Malon and TP Link was very taken with Midna even though TP Zelda was gorgeous. So no qualms with the story control or graphics, or even the characters like Girahim.
What I hate about SS is the structure, its length and its ability to make me feel short-changed. TP and WW had sprawling worlds and added attacks as well as a wealth of other things. I’d have liked the provinces to be linked instead of needing to rely on the sky. I’d have liked some air combat; Epona style TP sword jousting on a Loftwing would have been nice. Customising the Loftwing would have been nice too. I wish the sky had been bigger and had more in it like Wind Waker. I would have liked more diving sections, it would have been cool for Link to dive and battle enemies on the way down. I didn’t like the new species either and I won’t care if they never return. I didn’t like how the Slingshot had awful drop off, the scattershot was even more useless and truly awful when considered it is an upgrade. The shield durability wasn’t necessary, and wielding the shield was a pain since the slightest movement of the nunchuck caused link to pull his shield and stop him from attacking, in the end I didn’t use a shield and the game was less frustrating for it.
The dungeons felt very samey, the bosses were a chore and uninspired. I got sick of seeing the same three locations; yes, there were new areas within the provinces but a desert is still a desert and still has the same colour palette, trees and enemies, the only difference being slightly new field elements like quicksand etc, same goes for Eldin. Faron had Lake Floria but it was very small and we only needed to be there once. And the song of the hero quest just felt desperate, forest flooded, items stolen… previous Zelda games have incorporated those elements and never batted an eyelid, yet SS uses those clichés for a third of the game. Demise was a joke too and overall there was very little replay value, even the side quests were nothing but fetch quests. By the end of the first playthrough I had all the heart containers and only needed about 10 more gratitude crystals… too easy, too short and uninspiring... it could have been so much more but wasn’t. Though what was there was good, it just wasn’t enough.

5 A Link to the Past
Perhaps this game is unfairly placed considering I have a shocking degree of nostalgia owed to it. This was the first Zelda game I ever played and the first time I had seen rain in a game. It felt instantly epic as soon as the title screen had blared on to my screen. Stepping out of the door of the house to see the dark rainy night and hearing that wonderful music was a great gaming moment for me and from then on I was a Zelda fan. I played this game over and over and then later on in life after moving through the generations of consoles, I bought it again on the GBA to find that none of my love had diminished and was blown away again by the quality of the game.
I still love the dungeons, the overworld, the music, the items, the story and the characters. Everything feels as if it was meant to be. This game was meant to be made, played and to be the crux of the 2d Zeldas and such a crux that even Skyward Sword took many a lead from it. Knocking enemies off of ledges was wonderful fun, the bosses were challenging enough without being frustrating, as were the puzzles and it had such replay value, it took me ages to find everything and I still love going through it even now. We also rescue Zelda in record breaking time. ;P
I can’t think of any negative points aside from the last boss fight where you fight each boss in succession, which was fiendishly difficult and a little unfair. But still, I loved it, it felt like a quest for the ages and it was.

4 Ocarina of Time
THE crux of the Zelda franchise, the revolutionary instalment… we all know about this one so I’m not going to say much aside from my own opinions which are: it had the best level design in any Zelda game to date as well as nearly every other game available today. The music is gorgeous, and everything is a complete joy. The dungeons were challenging, not hard, not overly easy, full of menace and full of compelling elements. The story was a little lacking especially near the end when the dungeons become little more than items on a checklist, but I liked that, I liked the basic story of heroism, heroism doesn’t need much of a reason. OoT also had the BEST scenes in a Zelda game, Pulling the sword in the Temple of Time and seeing adult link for the very first time… <3 everything was perfect and OoT 3d didn’t diminish its magic.

3 Majora’s Mask
Since this list is based on opinion, MM is this high because I LOVE the darker things in life and LOVE surrealism. And never before have I played a game as surreal and as creepy as MM, everything about it drips with a ‘what the hell’ sense of things, even things that should be simple are made to appear wholly confusing, it really is Zelda’s version of Silent Hill. Skull Kid was an unlikely but wholly believable tragic villain, the power of Majora’s Mask and the threat of the moon felt VERY real and Termina as a whole felt like a purgatory for the lost souls of Hyrule. The dungeons were very unique, the stone temple was amazing, confusing and huge… the bosses were awesome and the mask transformations were creepy and wonderful. All of the masks, even the non-transformation ones gave a new degree of gameplay, for such a small game MM really does outshine most Zelda games in terms of gameplay. From simply needing to play the inverted song of time and wearing the bunny hood to be able to complete dungeons and puzzles in time to wearing the bomb mask to blow your own face off to defend yourself against a room full of enemies. MM was so dark and so surreal on so many levels that to wholly comprehend it is to think surreally yourself, such a wonderful achievement, I hope that we one day see another Zelda game like this.
Fierce Deity is also one of my favourite Zelda characters of all time, stupidly powerful and a wonder to use. I can’t wait for Operation Moonfall to be realised.

2 Twilight Princess
Choosing between Twilight Princess and the number one on this list was one of the most surprising and most difficult decisions I’ve made in a while.
TP is an underrated game, people hate the graphics because they either were realistic or weren’t realistic enough. Even if a Zelda game is made in HD with ‘realistic’ graphics, it’s always going to be stylised, Link will never look human in the way we know humans to look, so I think it’s a bit unfair to disregard TP’s graphics in that respect.
As I’ve already mentioned, I LOVE the darker things and TP’s twilight realm blew me away. Some people complained about the tear collecting… I was too blown away by the twilight light effect to be bothered at all about the frustrations of the tear collecting, and running across Hyrule Castle’s rooftops will forever be a wonderful gaming moment for me. Even the warped enemies in the twilight like the Deku Baba’s are awesomely designed and creepy. It did feel like a desperate time for Hyrule where even Zelda made mistakes in order to save her land.
The character design was wonderful, Midna looked amazing, Zelda herself was gorgeous and Link looked primed and ready to be a hero. Zant was amazing, it was nice to have a lunatic in the Zelda roster and his backstory with Midna really did give the impression of another whole and unexplored world and heritage connected to Hyrule which was rather special. Hyrule field was wonderful (though not as good as it looked in the e3 2004 trailer, what happened, really?) I loved the fighting on horseback and the whole game felt epic the whole time.
Much like OoT, the story did drop off near the end with constant returns to telma’s bar to figure out where to go next. But that was neither here nor there, TP was a ballad of a story and was predicated on going slow and meeting with others for a plan of attack, you WERE with others looking for a way to save Hyrule in this game, as much as it may not have felt like it. The plot did feel like one thing after another as a way of incorporating all of which Nintendo had advertised such as the jousting but there have been worse plotted Zelda games.
The dungeons and bosses were among the best in any Zelda game, down to their design and intricate puzzles. Snowpeak was particularly memorable as was the Temple of Time and City in the Sky and who could forget the boss fight there.
Gameplay wise I loved all the new moves open to link like the mortal draw, finishing blow, helm splitter and great spin, they were all wonderful and easy to use without being complicated. The items such as the spinner were used to great effect in the boss battle with Stallord, and the ball and chain was great fun.
Still there will always be a little disappointment whenever I play TP because I saw that amazing 2004 trailer and was there for the ride… it is something I can’t shake despite TP being one of the best Zelda games there is likely to be.

1 Wind Waker
I can convince myself of the intricacies of Majora’s Mask, the brilliance of OoT, the amazingness of A Link to the Past and the scale of TP and come to the conclusion that I prefer all of them over the Wind Waker. Then I load up Wind Waker, jump in the King of Red Lions open up my sail and feel my opinions of all the aforementioned games being eclipsed.
There is a mysterious unknown between myself and the Wind Waker. I enjoy the dark Zelda games so why do I prefer something that looks like the Teletubbies? I’m not overly fond of PH so why do I love Wind Waker… I really don’t know.
Perhaps it comes from being a long time Zelda fan and knowing that what lies under the sea and what lies in the future is so rich that the game feels real to me. It feels wholly tragic and beautiful all at the same time. Even Ganondorf in Wind Waker is a tragic villain who misses the old world. The King of Hyrule dies accepting that the past is truly lost. All we have known and loved is gone in this timeline and it won’t be coming back. It’s about life and the past and the future and hope. And that is something that really speaks to me, I love WW’s story more than any other Zelda game because it is so rich and feels like a game made for the fans in a weird kind of way that honours the old without showing it.
Gameplay wise however, wind waker isn’t that great, we have the parry move and the hurricane slash and that really is it beyond what MM and OoT gave us. Both TP and SS are richer to actually play. The items, like most Zelda games aren’t overly used, like the hookshot. In fact Wind Waker is very short on items altogether, changing the wind (can be) annoying (for some) in order to pick up sail speed, but this never bothered me, some people wanted more warp points but I actually feel as if there are too many. People really hated the sailing, but not me. No other Zelda game has felt like an epic adventure, TP WAS epic, OoT WAS and adventure but Wind Waker feels as if it is both and then some.
The dungeons weren’t the best that we have seen and the last two where you team up with Medli and Makar weren’t that great, if anything they were irritating but still they felt worth it. The bosses were simple but looked very impressive, it wasn’t a hard game to play, if anything the word I’d use would be tricky, but even though I have a 100% save file I still set out quite often to impale Ganondorf’s face and find something more in the game that FEELS as if it is there and no other Zelda game or any other Video game has done that for me and that is why WW is so special and my number one.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Top Bottom