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IGN: Top 10 Legend of Zelda games

I still firmly believe that A Link Between Worlds is one of the best Zelda games ever. Its a top 3 for me personally, and just from a pure objective standpoint. It captures the feeling of an adventure that almost all Zelda games avoid with there linear roadmap and one solution dungeons. You create the adventure when the game drops you into the world. Instead of a bunch of exposition and someone telling you exactly where to go. Just a flat out perfect Zelda that i hope Breath of the Wild cribs from.
 

rhandino

Banned
1) Skyward Sword
2) Ocarina of Time
3) A Link Between Worlds

The holy trinity.

hJRzYMQ.gif
 

Regiruler

Member
Skyward Sword is better than GC Wind Waker

It's better than Wii U Wind Waker too

I've still yet to finish the remaster. The highs in Wind Waker just aren't worth playing through the game for: Skyward Sword had much better carrots with its fantastic bosses even if things slogged a bit more at points.
 
At least Wind Waker was going for a different feel, it didn't just rehash Ocarina of Time with better graphics and less charm and a more drawn out boring story and a longer godawful tutorial like Twilight Princess. Wind Waker also had much more of an emphasis on exploration than the other 3D Zelda games, which was great. More memorable music than Twilight Princess.

The exploration was a complete farce in WW. It had a sea devoid of things that would make a sea interesting. A couple of hours in, anyone should be able to realize that the entire map has no surprises, as you simply check one isle per square on the map (of which almost all are boring rocks).
 

Anth0ny

Member
I'd put LBW at #5 and switch the order of the top 4 but overall lines up with my tastes

WHERE ZELDA II AT THOUGH :(
 
Good list, but OoT will always be #1 for me.

Ocarina of Time
A Link to the Past
Majora's Mask
A Link Between Worlds
Wind Waker
Skyward Sword
The Minish Cap
Link's Awakening
The Legend of Zelda
Twilight Princess

To be fair, I really enjoyed every game on the list but Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past are still 10/10 games.
 

Regiruler

Member
I'd put LBW at #5 and switch the order of the top 4 but overall lines up with my tastes

WHERE ZELDA II AT THOUGH :(

Big problem with Zelda II is that mainstream Zelda fans always dislike it.

It's combat was absolutely great for its time though, so it's quite a shame.
 

Comet

Member
Seeing the TP defense force saying it should be above WW warms my heart.
Don't get me wrong, I still love WW even with all its flaws and I would rank it very highly myself, just not higher than TP. I just want this notion that TP is somehow near the bottom of the series to die a quick death. Where's this damned Zelda Cycle when you need it.

Like I said, replaying all of these games recently Twilight Princess is my surprising front runner. Did not expect that. I beat it at launch and thought it was good but that was it. Now I see just how GOOD it feels to play it. Wielding each weapon, in those dungeons, with that art style, with that music just feels great.

A Link to the Past is great but definitely overrated. I myself have been part of the mob that would overrated it. It's a damn solid game and perfect for 1992, but it has flaws, the game can be cheesed at times, etc. and it's kinda an ugly game (also pink hair lol).

A Majora's Mask is wonderfully whimsical but it is a slog to go through. Every action you do has to be planned carefully that the pacing is an absolute disaster. Especially for newcomers. I however have fallen in love with it but man that game has issues. The lack of dungeons is also a bummer and the dungeons we do get are really bad for the series (except for Stone Temple).

Wind Waker had beautiful art style and music and finally shakes up the foundations of the series. However, it is a tiny game, with tiny islands, with tiny puzzles. It hardly feels like an epic game and I am able to breeze through it nowadays. The sailing is a beating and the triforce fetch quest is obviously Nintendo phoning it in to meet the original GC version release date. Each of the triforce piece was obviously its own dungeon originally and as admitted by Nintendo those dungeons have since been repurposed for other Zelda titles. It makes the game feel like it's lacking like 1/4 of it.


I haven't played Skyward Sword but I will before Breath of the Wild. From everything I've read it seems like a good game but not a game I must have played when it first came out.
 
I'd knock TMC off honestly and replace it with Zelda II.

I'd also have Wind Waker, Majora's Mask, and LoZ play musical chairs, with WW moving to the end of the line.

LttP is super overrated, too
 

Maxim726X

Member
Big problem with Zelda II is that mainstream Zelda fans always dislike it.

It's combat was absolutely great for its time though, so it's quite a shame.

I actually played through it recently, after being frustrated with it as a kid... It's really fucking good.

One of the most playable NES games ever made, should get more respect than it does.
 

jeenaudx

Banned
Here's a better list

1. Twilight Princess
2. Skyward Sword
3. The Legend of Zelda
4. Wind Waker
5. Majora's Mask
6. A Link to the Past
7. A Link Between Worlds
8. The Minish Cap
9. Adventure of Link
10. Ocarina of Time
 

sphinx

the piano man
skyward sword not there but at least it has its fans as shown in this thread.

what saddens me deeply is how there seems to be no fanbase for Spirit tracks.

It's easily better than both Oracle Game and all that multiplayer zelda crap (4 swords, "adventures" or otherwise), Triforce Heroes, and of course is better than Phantom Hourglass.
 

Lynx_7

Member
I'd like to see a Zelda 2 remake with the same amount of care and effort as AM2R. I feel like it's got a lot of good ideas but the game itself just isn't fun to play nowadays and there are some truly baffling design choices that were clearly meant to sell copies of Nintendo Power or whatever strategy guide they were selling. IMO it's far too flawed a game to be in a top 10 list.
Remake it with better graphics, snappier controls, better directions (not through cutscenes or anything of the sort mind you, just NPCs that give you more substantial clues rather than the almost gibberish of the original translation) and maybe some redesigned locations and you'd have a pretty solid title. Not sure whether they should keep the whole random enemy encounters or not though.
 
Hooray more arguing! I feel IGN did this on purpose.

Anyways Zelda is a great series. Being on Breath of the Wild. Still need to play the Seasons games
 

Shikamaru Ninja

任天堂 の 忍者
No Adventure of Link, no sale. A lot of those Zelda's are highly derivative of each other, which is why I think Majora's Mask and Adventure of Link are really important to the series. Plus I think Zelda 1 is archaic and unplayable and just gets put on lists out of respect. Zelda 2 is the much better game.
 

Balb

Member
Hooray more arguing! I feel IGN did this on purpose.

Anyways Zelda is a great series. Being on Breath of the Wild. Still need to play the Seasons games

The Oracle games are way better then you would expect. Definitely better than Minish Cap.
 

Kneefoil

Member
Breath of the Wild is up next, so the cycle begins anew. In 2017 everyone (meaning vocal fan minority) will praise SS and shit on BOTW.

Nah, it always starts with "This is the best Zelda game ever made", and then a year from that it is considered one of the worst ones. Fastforward a few years and it's an "underrated classic."
 

Bolivar687

Banned
I have to agree with this. I'd say even the ages and seasons games were better too.

I was glad they at least made the list. IMO all three are much better than A Link Between Worlds. The nostalgia, non-linearity, 3D and 60fps are all fantastic but I found ALBW to be very easy, derivative, and short. Each of the GB/GBC titles had a lot of fresh ideas going for them.
 

Griss

Member
As a longstanding Zelda fan for whom TLoZ on NES was his first game, I knew this list would probably make me mad, but...

A Link to the Past?!?!? The FUCK?

It doesn't make my top 10, for fuck's sake. Can't believe they'd choose that game. Ugly sprites and art, floaty movement, soundtrack that sounds like it's playing underwater, dull 'dark world' mechanic, boring story...

No. Just no.

I don't want to get into a fight with nostalgia filled 20~30 year olds so I avoid getting there but this, seriously.

LTTP has a shitton of dungeons and barely anything to do in the overworld.

Hmmm... Yeah, as someone who plays Zelda games for the overworld gameplay that might be a reason I dislike it so much.
 
Capcom games are the best 2D titles, as they've simply taken world building and puzzle design to a whole other level. Zelda 1 is the next best thing for pure exploration, but ALTTP is just kinda boring nowadays. And LA is trash. The super convoluted world map is a constant chore to traverse and why is half the game's content from Super Mario?
 

usp84

Member
I don't want to get into a fight with nostalgia filled 20~30 years olds so I avoid getting there but this, seriously.

LTTP has a shitton of dungeons and barely anything to do in the overworld.

Well i first played the game a month ago and i found it to be amazing so nope it's not nostalgia.
 

Flare

Member
It's really difficult to rank the top 3 if not top 5 games in the series. They're all interchangeable really.

In between A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Wind Waker, and Link's Awakening, they are all absolutely phenomenal games in their own right. Not counting the other great games in the series.
 

Balb

Member
I actually really enjoyed Minish Cap. Sounds great.

Yeah I wasn't slighting MC. Was an endorsement of the Oracle games more than anything else.

Make sure you play both because there are some really neat story/weapon unlockables if you do.
 

Maxim726X

Member
I don't want to get into a fight with nostalgia filled 20~30 year olds so I avoid getting there but this, seriously.

LTTP has a shitton of dungeons and barely anything to do in the overworld.

Sometimes, filling a world with meaningless, bullshit fetch quests doesn't make it more interesting.

In fact, I would argue that this is the case most of the time.
 

RedZaraki

Banned
I don't want to get into a fight with nostalgia filled 20~30 year olds so I avoid getting there but this, seriously.

LTTP has a shitton of dungeons and barely anything to do in the overworld.

.....that's what Zelda should be?

Screw sidequests. More dungeons. I wish OOT had 12 dungeons. I wish Windwaker had 10 dungeons.
 
Solid list, but mine would be considerably different:

1. Ocarina of Time
2. Majora's Mask
3. A Link Between Worlds
4. A Link to the Past
5. Twilight Princess
6. Link's Awakening
7. Skyward Sword
8. The Legend of Zelda
9. The Wind Waker
10. Adventure of Link
 
My top 5 because why not

1.Wind Waker
2.Ocarina of Time
3.Link to the Past
4.Twiliight Princess
5.Four Swords (I got to play this whole with 4 people).
 

Regiruler

Member
I don't want to get into a fight with nostalgia filled 20~30 year olds so I avoid getting there but this, seriously.

LTTP has a shitton of dungeons and barely anything to do in the overworld.

So inverse Wind Waker?

I really need to play it then. I have had it on Wii VC forever but never gotten around to it...
 

Griss

Member
.....that's what Zelda should be?

Screw sidequests. More dungeons. I wish OOT had 12 dungeons. I wish Windwaker had 10 dungeons.

I'm 100% convinced that this right here is the ideological split between Zelda fans. For me, I'd be cool with a Zelda game with no real dungeons. From the first game on the NES to the last, dungeons are just the downtime between overworld exploration. It's why games like Majora's Mask and Wind Waker resonated so strongly with me, and LttP and Twilight Princess fell so flat.

And there are Zelda fans like you who clearly see the series in the exact opposite light.
 

Molemitts

Member
Sometimes I forget The Minish Cap exists, which is weird because my username comes from it lol. I did like that game a lot, I just never finished it.
 
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