Preferred platform

[Leorin]

As I'm going back and playing the Zelda games through (most of which will be for the first time) I'd be interested to know what people's thoughts are on playing them on original platforms or if the remakes are better.
I've just started playing OOT on the 3DS and it got me wondering if this is an improvement or if the N64 would be better. Or the flip side, has the N64 not aged well and the updated version does it more justice?
I'm particularly interested to know peoples thoughts on the Wii U HD remakes. I have TP for the Wii but do the motion controls take away from the game or do they add additional value? Or does it play better on the Wii U as I believe this works with the touch pad rather than Wiimote and nunchuck.

What are your thoughts?

 

[twilitfalchion]

Ocarina of Time 3D will always be the better version in my opinion. Frame rate is better, more item slots, graphical improvements across the board. The Water Temple. Although honestly, the Water Temple is a crappy dungeon on both N64 and 3DS. The 3DS version is only better because Iron Boots can be easily equipped and unequipped, in my opinion.

For the Wii U remakes though, it's just a bit less clear cut.

WWHD has a lot of QoL improvements that make it more enjoyable for repeat playthroughs, but it messed with the original art style by adding ridiculous amounts of bloom. Despite this, I would still say the Wii U version is overall the better option. Items can be mapped with the gamepad, the Wind Waker has less downtime in its animations, the Triforce quest is less tedious, the Swift Sail is a thing, gyro aiming is great, and hero mode is available right off the bat.

TPHD, on the other hand, is almost always recognized as the best version of TP. It doesn't have motion controls apart from gyro aiming, the map is the correct orientation (unlike the Wii version), items can be mapped to the gamepad (like WWHD), you have to collect fewer tears of light, and it overall looks a great deal better than the originals (there are other changes as well IIRC). The only thing that I've heard people say about it being inferior is how the pointer aiming of the Wii version was very convenient to use. But I would still recommend the HD version over all other options. It has the most benefits with the least drawbacks.

 

[Spirit]

OoT on N64 has its charm but the QoL, facelift and revisions make the 3DS version my version of choice.

Majora's Mask changes a lot over the original, the most egregious being how boss battles play out. Some mechanics are very different too but if you don't play the original on N64 first you're not going to notice.
I personally enjoy MM3D over the original for the QoL enhancements which reduce a lot of stress the original had.

WWHD has a lot of QoL as well and is my version of choice despite Nintendo royally screwing the lighting up and ruining the original style of the game.

TPHD is the version to play without a doubt. TPwii flips the world and makes the usually left handed Link, right handed. But instead of flipping the model, they flipped the entire world. There's no nuance to the combat with the Wiimote either and you have to add in the delay and miss-registering that motion controls come with.
TPHD looks better and with analogue controls and touch pad functions like an instant transform button it is the best version to play.

Link's Awakening on Switch has some fraelmerate issues but is still decent, though you can still get the DX version for cheap on the 3DS eShop. Again, the QoL enhancements in the Switch remake really help with some of the tedium found in the original and DX versions.

These are just my opinions though. All version have their merits.

Cept TP Wii, don't do it.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

majora's mask is the only one where I feel there's merit to playing the 64 version over the 3ds one, my vote's on the original but it's completely up to you, plenty of people prefer the 3ds one

twilight princess I just flat out don't recommend on the wii, if you have the means to play the HD version, definitely go for that one

 

[thePlinko]

With OoT, you honestly can’t go wrong with either version. Sure the QOL in the remake make it easily the definitive version mechanically, but I think the original just had a lot more charm to it.

Stay as far away from the MM remake as humanly possible. The amount of good changes on that thing can be easily counted on a single hand.

WW is in a similar boat as OoT, I prefer the HD remake in nearly every way, but the original triforce quest is still really fun, and the tingle tuner is always a good time (especially since the HD versions replacement doesn’t work anymore).

LADX and LAS are good for different reasons. I’d argue that you truly haven’t experienced LA until you at least try both, though of the two I definitely prefer the switch remake.

And while I wouldn’t recommend any version of TP at all, if you have to play it go with the HD remake. Some of the terrible design choices are at least made slightly more tolerable in that version AND it gives me less migraines than SD.

 

[Ten Thousand Needles]

Classic OoT is the definitive version IMO. The only significant improvement of the 3D version was treating the boots as gadgets rather than making you go to the equipment screen. There are also some instances in the 3DS version where the lighting and colors are weak and lessen the impact of some shots in cutscenes. I do love the artstyle of the remake. It really fit with the style of the orginal game. It wasn't a Monkey's Paw situation like with Spyro where the graphics got way better but every character in the game looked like complete ass.

Majora's Mask is just objectively better on N64. So many changes that were completely idiotic. Why even touch the Deku spin? Why **** up the Zora swimming? And for the love of anything slightly holy, why oh why did they restrict the ice arrows like that? Seriously, who in the world had a problem with any of those things in the original? If you needed giant eyeballs to pop out of the bosses like that to know how to beat them, you have serious mental disabilities and most likely couldn't even figure out how to work a 3DS in the first place. Changes like that are just condescending to the player. It's absolutely baffling how many moronic decisions went into that remake. There were some improvements like being able to skip the long deku merchant cutscenes and changing the song of double time, but I find it hard to believe that anyone could genuinely defend a lot of the differences.

Link's Awakening DX is superior to the original Gameboy version. The bonus from the new dungeon is OP, but you can simply choose to not do it. I haven't played the Switch version. I'm sure there are plenty of improvements but I am really not a fan of that artstyle. Also charging the price of a full new release for a remake of a Gameboy game is the type of thing only Nintendo could get away with.

Wind Waker HD improved the Triforce shard quest. The visual style of the original looked better if you ask me, but the HD version still looked really good and it's cool to have the game available in two different, good looking styles. Twilight Princess HD was really good. Reduced the tedium of some parts but didn't make any ridiculous changes.

Breath of the Wild is obviously a fantastic game, but dear god does it perform like garbage on the Wii U and even the Switch. The constant choppy framerates are nothing short of inexcusable. On the Wii U the game practically froze any time a Moblin fell over. It's absolutely ridiculous and only Nintendo could release a product with such poor performance without being completely eaten alive by critics and consumers. The definitive way to play it is by emulating it. Games like this are one of the many reasons people who act like emulation is evil can eat a fat dick.

 

[MW7]

In general I prefer to play the remakes but it's a sliding scale. For Wind Waker, I might never go back to the gamecube version thanks to the improvements in the HD version. As far as I'm concerned, the only thing the gamecube version has going for it is a better controller, but the Wii U controller has a map and inventory screen so it's worth it for that alone before considering all the other gameplay improvements. Twilight Princess HD is an improvement over the original but not as radical a change as Wind Waker HD. Link's Awakening for the Switch is much better than the original. I actually find the music to be the biggest improvement but there are a number of positive changes.

Ocarina of Time 3d is a little better than the original thanks to boots being treated like other items, but there are a lot of really minor changes that are annoyances once you are used to the N64 version. For example there are precise jumps that work in the N64 version that are "fixed" in the 3ds version like being able to jump directly to the raised ledge in the Deku Tree from the water, being able to jump from a platform in the block pushing room of the Forest Temple to the alcove that you normally need to go through the boss key room to reach, and being able to jump to the top water level changing station from the middle pillar in the Water Temple. Another strange example is the chest in the flooded well in the Forest Temple. On the N64 there is a really strange exploit where you can open it early with the iron boots only if you hookshot it. In the 3ds version, you just can't open it. Wouldn't it have made more logical sense within the game to let the player open the chest underwater if you were going to fix something in that room? There are other examples, but it just seems like a lot of tricks and shortcuts (and not necessarily glitches) were removed accidentally. One thing that the 3ds version has very much in its favor is the master quest. I think that adds a lot of replayability to the 3ds version.

Majora's Mask 3d is I think accepted as the worst remake of a Zelda game. It has some really great quality of life improvements like the song of double time, but some of the other changes are almost unbelievably dumb like the ice arrow and deku hopping changes. In a similar vein to my complaints about Ocarina of Time 3d, Majora's Mask 3d removes the ability to reach Stone Tower Temple as your 3rd dungeon without glitches. In the N64 version you can hookshot a tree barely, allowing you to skip needing the ice arrows in the whole Ikana region.

 

[Leorin]

If I've never played any of the originals would any of these changes bother me that much?

 

[MW7]

If I've never played any of the originals would any of these changes bother me that much?

Probably not at all. Especially the Majora's Mask changes are specifically annoying to people accustomed to the original. For example the deku hopping thing is mechanically different. You can't gain as much momentum in the remake when hopping on water so it's jarring to people used to the N64 version but you wouldn't have that prior experience to throw you off.

For the most part the remakes are definitive versions. Going in fresh you shouldn't experience a lot of these annoyances.

 

[Leorin]

That's cool for me then. Was never into Nintendo growing up (I was in camp Sonic and Sega) so never had an N64. I already own MM3D so I'll just stick to that one.

 

[el :BeoWolf:]

The 3ds remakes are far better than the originals in terms of QoL as everyone says so I'd stick with those. Same with the HD remakes of The Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.