Rank the remasters.

[thePlinko]

The Zelda remasters are an interesting topic. All 5 classic styled Zeldas have had a remaster at some point (and OoT3D and WWHD are older now than OoT and WW were when they got remasters so they might be up for new ones soon), but not all of them are created equal. Some fixed a ton of problems, some created more problems than the original, and some didn’t do much of anything for better or for worse.


This isn’t about ranking the games themselves, this is about ranking each remaster based on how good the changes it made were and other factors behind its release such as price and timing.

For my money, the way I would personally rank them is

1.Ocarina of Time 3D

2.Windwaker HD

3.Skyward Sword HD

4.Twilight Princess HD

5.Majora’s Mask 3D

 

[Reiquel]

Can't say I disagree with your ranking.

The only place I can really remember being slightly annoyed with the OoT remaster is in the water temple with the map on the bottom screen - it's just too many sparse levels with not much going on each level. If you are rising/sinking then the map flickers a lot.

The Wind Waker remaster is beautiful.

 

[Mellow Ezlo]

OoT3D dumbed down the Water Temple too much for me to rank it highly, but I do appreciate the gyro aiming and QoL improvements.

I would put TWWHD at the top, though again it fixed things I never thought needed fixing like the Triforce quest, and miiverse being shut down renders one of its unique items completely useless. It is the best looking remaster though.

The shortened tear quests in TPHD are barely noticeable, but the graphics are a noticeable upgrade. The poe lantern is a useful addition but just another way to dumb the game down. Other than those, the stamps are whatever but the Cave of Shadows is a neat addition. Too bad it's locked behind a paywall.

SSHD changed literally nothing, even the graphic enhancement is barely noticeable. The amiibo sucks but I do appreciate the responsiveness of the joycons and how easy they are to calibrate. Button controls were a mistake.

And MM3D... oh boy. By far the remake that changed the most from the original, and I can't say those changes are great. Using the Song of Double Time to go to a specific hour is a really useful QoL upgrade, but that's about it. The Zora swimming controls were butchered, the boss fights were butchered, the fishing holes are pointless, even the moon dungeons were changed (especially the Zora one, it's horrendous). The Giants Mask being found in the middle of a boss fight feels awkward. The Inverted Song of Time was nerfed. They added another bottle fsr. There are so many changes made to this game that were completely unnecessary and it was the worse for it.

1. TWWHD
2. OoT3D
3. TPHD
4. SSHD
5. MM3D

 

[Mikey the Moblin]

In terms of visual improvement:
Tphd
Wwhd
Oot3d
Mm3d
Sshd

The visuals of all these games bar twilight princess have aged pretty well. Wind waker HD added a bloom effect that really makes the overworld feel hot, and all the textures just look a bit smoother and lifelike. Oot and mm had the low poly count typical of an n64 game and the 3ds remakes did a good job of smoothing those out, but it doesn't have a huge impact on the overall look of the game imo. Then skyward sword still looks super pretty in 480p assuming your TV isn't gargantuan. You can argue the upscale was necessary simply because people these days DO have gargantuan tvs, but on a normal size TV playing from the proper distance you can't even tell the game is 480p because the artists did such a good job with the visual style

 

[MW7]

1. Windwaker HD - The swift sail is very appreciated, this is the most beautiful game ever released IMO between the graphics style and quality, and the changes to the Triforce Quest are nice.

2. Ocarina of Time 3D - The changes to how you equip items (extra slot, not having to pause, and changing how boots are equipped) are so convenient.

3.Skyward Sword HD - Button controls are great to have as an option. My Wii version of the game eventually became virtually unplayable because of my controllers becoming imperfect which made the first harp tutorial the end of the game essentially lol.

4.Twilight Princess HD - Slight changes to the tears of light quests are nice, and the graphics are great.

5.Majora’s Mask 3D - I'm honestly a little jealous of people who never played the N64 version because the negative changes are only noticeable if you are accustomed to the N64 version. It's frustrating because MM 3d makes some really great changes like the item equipping changes similar to OoT 3d and the Song of Double Time letting you go to specific times. I have no idea what they were thinking when they redesigned the boss fights. The swimming change is bad, and the different feel of a Deku Scrub hopping across water is jarring.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

I know its not fair for me to rank them since I only played two (OoT & WW), but from what I've seen in the trailers and internet discussions, this sorta how I see them for their improvements

1. OoT
2. SS?
3. WW
4. TP
5. MM