The starting order to prevent becoming biased towards the series/franchise as a whole

[Soneji]

Release order is best, though if I have to choose the best single game to start with it would be Link's Awakening. It has the gameplay style/dungeons of the other 2D games, while being the starting point of a heavier focus on narrative and sidequests that is present in the 3D games.

 

[Doc]

I think I would place A Link to the Past higher on the list, as I think that game is the pure Zelda experience but is a relatively short experience. I understand concerns of bias, but I think games without a gimmick are the best way to be introduced in the series. Gimmicks can give muddle your understanding of what Zelda should be about, imo. And A Link to the Past is vanilla enough that I don't think there's much that "compares" against it. Like every 3D Zelda gets compared to Ocarina but 2D ones almost never do.

 

[the8thark]

One could also argue to leave the past in the past and just play BotW as your first Zelda game.

 

[mαrkαsscoρ]

actually this is an interesting thread to make since it can't apply to any of us since we obviously wouldn't be here if we weren't already into the series, and I feel for most of us, if we knew someone that's new to the series, we'd typically point them to the obvious games that most people would think of
this list would work best for a specific person that wouldn't mind starting from games that are as not obvious as the game boy zeldas, and basically jump around the series from there, and frankly I can't imagine there being too many people who'd be willing to get into a series like that

 

[Storm_Echo]

Personally, I started with Link's Awakening way back in the day, and was very very happy with how that experience worked out. I was completely ensnared, with the item trading sidequest, relatively complex dungeons for a kid, and plentiful secrets. Even as I got older I went back and played it, using the map screen glitch to "speedrun" the game and find even more hidden secrets and areas.

After that, I would probably go to A Link to the Past. It's the most complete 2d experience in my opinion, featuring the overworld/dark world flip, excellent dungeon design, plentiful items and powerups, and gives a true "Zelda" experience. Following that I would do Twilight Princess, for classic meat-and-potatoes 3D Zelda game, then finish up with Ocarina of Time which is probably the perfect example of the "Zelda" formula and will likely remain a pinnacle of gaming achievement for all time. After that, if they aren't a true Zelda fan, it wasn't meant to be.