It is a Sunday so it is no surprise to see a video game best of list appear. This particular list is for the critically acclaimed Legend of Zelda series which has spanned numerous consoles including the NES right up to the Nintendo Switch. The list comes courtesy of the team at US Gamer. As with all best of lists it’s debatable whether they got it right, but I’m sure there will be some that agree with it. Without further ado here’s a simple list which has been put together by Reset Era member Phantom Thief. You can read the full list along with analysis here.
26. Zelda: Wand of Gamelon/Link: Faces of Evil
25. Zelda’s Adventure
24. Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland
23. The Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes
22. Navi Trackers
21. BS Zelda no Densetsu
20. The Legend of Zelda (Game and Watch)
19. Link’s Crossbow Training
18. Hyrule Warriors
17. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
16. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
15. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
14. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
13. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
12. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
11. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons
10. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swrds Adventurers
09. The Legend of Zelda
08. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
07. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between World’s
06. The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
05. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
04. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
03. The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
02. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
01. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
Link’s Awakening did it respectably. My favorite
Ocarina of Time was my favourite before Breath of the Wild came out.
Same
Putting Tingle’s games so low is basically criminal
10. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swrds Adventurers
Welp, I can’t trust or agree with this when they misspell
The real number one is Tingle’s Balloon Trip of Love, that’s why it’s not on the list.
1. Majora’s
2. BotW
3. Links Awakening
4. Ocarina
5. Legend of Zelda
Yup, Majors mask is still my favorite Zelda.
Including those abominations from the CDi? You disappoint me.
In no particular order, my Top Ten would include the titles (not in order, so in release order) The Legend of Zelda, The Adventures of Link, A Link to the Past, Link’s Awakening, Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, A Link Between Worlds, Hyrule Warriors, and Breath of the Wild.. with either Four Swords Adventure, Twilight Princess, or Skyward Sword, taking the final 10th spot. Was never a fan of Majora’s Mask. Not in my Top Ten, and might not even be in my Top Fifteen. Probably in the Top Twenty tho.
Wow, they didn’t put Breath of the Wild at No.1 like all the other mindless sheep do. Shocking.
Game isn’t as good as most say. All style and no substance.
There’s plenty of substance lol. So much in fact that it took me roughly 140 hours to beat.
Yeah, I’ve put over 300 hours into the game already, and have almost 100% completed it. With no guides. I’ve beaten the game, all of the shrines, all of the beasts and trials, upgraded the Master Sword, unlocked the motorcycle, upgraded all of the clothes (took a long while) and completed all of the quests and unlocked all of the videos, and everything else. Only thing left to do is finish getting all of the Korok Seeds. Once I finish getting all of the seeds, then I’ll have 100% completed that playthrough.
“My opinion is contrary to the popular opinion, therefore it is more intelligent and sophisticated”
All style no substance? The game is like 99% pure gameplay, 1% cutscenes and fancy animations. What on earth could you possibly mean? If Zelda is all style, what does that say about most AAA games that have about 15-20 hours more cutscenes and quicktime events.
Since 1998, Ocarina Of Time remained my favorite Zelda game. That is, until Breath Of The Wild came out. I fell in love with that game. BOTW is so special in SO many ways. I absolutely LOVE the large, open world. My favorite type of games. It’s the first Zelda game that truly felt like I was on an adventure (although Wind Waker felt pretty adventurous too). My biggest complaint is that I finished it, and I WANT ANOTHER BEFORE I’M A SENIOR CITIZEN
With that said, I do still like the story of Ocarina Of Time the most. But BOTW is now my favorite in the series. OOT has finally been dethroned.!
Dafuq is this? A positive comment from you?
Not much of a Zelda fan but love they included the CD-I games for SOME reason. Guess they were really dedicated to rating the whole thing.
Skyward Sword, a link to the past, a link between worlds, Majora mask, breath of the wild, and ocarina of time are my favorites. Skyward Sword is my favorite and I like all of the rest a lot. Hard to put them in an order.
My top 5
1. BotW
2. Skyward Sword (don’t @ me)
3. OoT
4. Link Betw Worlds
5.Wind Waker
I haven’t played link to past or the oracle games all the way and i didn’t too much care for Majoras Mask or Twighligh upon replaying it. I haven’t played minish cap or the ds games at all.
Only ones I can check off are Phantom Hourglass, Wind Waker, A Link Between World’s, Ocarina of Time, and Breath of the Wild.
And even then, the only one I beat this far is ALBW. And I honestly found it amazing. Apparently, I hear it’s basically just A Link to Past 2.0 or something. If that’s the case, then I agree with everyone saying that game is great.
I never finished Ocarina of Time, but from what I can remember, I absolutely loved that too.
Breath of the Wild is SO GOOD. It was my first Switch game and I made the right decision. It’s beautiful, the gameplay is great, and the music is wonderful. I only wish they could have done more with the story.
I have played all the Zelda games. Overall…A Link Between Worlds wins the cup for me. It’s flawless. It captured everything that I love about the classic Zeldas and perfected a formula. I also absolutely love the 3D effect of that game. It’s one of the best Nintendo games ever in my book. I’m also a sucker for Windwaker, The Minish Cap and Spirit Tracks.
Breath of the Wild got *this* close to dethroning Majora’s Mask as my favorite. The original, not the butchered 3DS remake.
1. Majora’s Mask
2. Breath of the Wild
3. Link Between Worlds
4. Skyward Sword
5. Twilight Princess
What do you mean butchered? i was planning to play it on the 3DS since i missed finishing it on the N64. If anything, i thought it was the new and improved version that is on the 3DS.
There’s nothing wrong with the 3ds version. Ignore him
What was wrong with the 3DS title? Majora’s my favorite as well and I loved Ocarina on the 3DS. I actually thought the 3DS Ocarina was the definitive way to play. I have but never finished Majora’s on 3DS, so maybe I missed something?
I like the top 5 don’t really care about the order of the rest. Me and my nephew always like Majora’s mask over Ocarina of Time and think A Link to the past is the best Zelda. I haven’t played Breath of the Wild yet cause I don’t wanna spend 350 bucks for 1 game, i’m sure its great though. Anyway good to see A Link to the Past on nr1 and Majora’s mask above Ocarina of Time ;)
My top five zelda in no order are:
Breath of the wild
a link to the past
a link between worlds
kingdom hearts 2.0,8 dolan edition
persona 5
looking cool joker
1 – Ocarina of time
2 – Breath of the Wild
3 – Majora’s mask
4 – Wind Waker
5 – Skyward sword
6 – Twilight Princess
7 – A link between Worlds
8 – A link to the past
9 – Link’s awakening
10 – Minish cap
11 – oracle seasons/ages
12 – legend of zelda
13 – spirit tracks
14 – phantom hourglass
15 – adventure of link
16 – triforce heroes
17 – four swords
1. Original
2. BOTW
3. Ocarina of Time
4. Link to the Past.
5. Majora’s Mask
I know I’m in a minority on picking the original, but it had design elements that they never used again. The secrets were actually secret. In the original, if a wall was bombable, it had zero indication. Starting with ALTTP, they put up neon signs throughout the game to show you everything it had to offer. If you were around to play the original before the advent of the internet, you know that the effect of this was to make the game feel infinitely large. You didn’t know what you could find next.
The original deserves more attention than it gets. When you compare it to other games of it’s time, it stands out way more than some of the later Zeldas do from their contemporaries. I remember pouring over the instruction manual and map as a kid and they may have lived in the bathroom for a while for some useful reading material. The title screen and intro theme were gorgeous. I can’t think of any other game that invited so much exploration at the time, with heart pieces to find, walls to blow up, bushes to burn, secrets to share with friends… I might not rank it number 1, but I’ve replayed it more than any other.
Now even though there was no internet, there was a phone tip line. I’m sure my parents called a few times, because looking back, I don’t know how my Mom would have beaten it otherwise.
Special Top (currently one game):
1. Zelda Breath of the Wild
Top 5 Zelda games:
1. Majora’s Mask
2. Ocarina of Time
3. Twilight Princess
4. Wind Waker
5. A Link Between Worlds
I placed BotW in a special top because it is so huge (the world, which I like) and because I haven’t completed the the yet (I started playing it a week ago). So far, I like the game but it will be too soon to put in a top 5. Also I have not played Skyward Sword because it requires a Wii Motion Plus controller or Motion Plus part (if you have a normal Wiimote). Long story short, I gave up on playing it because I didn’t have money for it.
What!?! Link to the past was amazing, but I think it should be number 2!
I have a similar blog post that I just posted today about Zelda, actually. It’s more personal but its about how it brought me and my husband closer together. We both love Zelda. It’s a part of our childhood! :)