Worst Zelda Top 10 List Ever!

This listing below was found over at Official Nintendo Magazine and in my opinion is one of the worst Top 10 Zelda lists I have ever seen in my entire life. The listing was presumably based on what readers viewed as the best Zelda games of all time and as a hardcore Zelda fan, it just flat out makes me angry seeing this listing order. The miserable list can be seen below…

10. Oracle of Seasons/Ages
9. Phantom Hourglass
8. The Minish Cap
7. Spirit Tracks
6. A Link to the Past
5. Link’s Awakening
4. Majora’s Mask
3. The Wind Waker
2. Twilight Princess
1. Ocarina of Time

Where to begin… First off, why the heck is the Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages considered to be one game? The games are completely unique from one another with an added bonus being the ability to connect them for an additional combined ending. They are distinctive stand alone games that have unique storylines, take place in different lands, and their over-lining themes are dramatically different. It bothers me, borderline making me angry when they are seen as one game on a list like this. It is not like Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue, where the games were identical except for certain Pokemon in certain games. The Oracle titles were unique games and it’s an insult to combine them. Even so, if you actually do combine them… That makes sixteen dungeons, multiple overworlds in which you can travel through time, change the seasons, fight about a half a dozen major boss battles, and have one of the largest inventories in the entire series… Yet that is considered to be that low on the totem pole? Argh!

What else… Where the heck is the original Legend of Zelda? Discounting the Four Swords titles or any of the spin-offs, there are thirteen major single player Zelda titles. With them combining the Oracle titles into one, that makes 12 major Zelda titles. The two Zelda titles left off the list… The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. I understand Adventure of Link being left off, since in a voting environment, most Zelda fans would not place the game overly high. What about the original Legend of Zelda? Major gaming magazine Game Informer recently labeled the original Legend of Zelda as the #1 game on their Top 100 Games Of All Time, yet it cannot even make a TOP TEN list for best Zelda game? ARGH!!!

Lastly, numbers 1-4 on the list are the four 3d console Zelda titles. Okay sure, there are some people out there that might just be attracted to the 3d Zelda games, but in a combined listing like this, I think this is just a direct spit in the face to the handheld/2d console titles for them to have been pushed aside. It really is a travesty that all four 3d Zelda console titles made it near the top of the list. Having these four titles at the top is a grave injustice to the series as a whole and while they are great games, they really don’t give the big picture of what the Legend of Zelda series is all about.

Knowing that this was voted on and thus, it was a popularity contest in a way, makes me understand why the results are as they appear. I don’t think I’ve ever looked a list and just been so angry over what I saw. Have mainstream Zelda fans really boiled down to this? Where any 3d console Zelda titles is just superior to any handheld or 2d console title in the eyes of the masses? Do most gamers actually think the first two Zelda games that started the series cannot even make it into the top 10 Zelda titles of all time? If you are as frustrated about this list as I am, feel free to post in the comments below… but let’s withhold the urge of releasing any inappropriate language towards this… horrific list.

Source: Official Nintendo Magazine