Ranking of Zeldas

1. Ocarina of time

It's the only one i ever played and it was pretty good, so using science and deductive reasoning it's 100% the best zelda of all time.

The top of the charts:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time - It's hard to separate any objective analysis of this game from the subjective overwhelming nostalgia. But whenever I think about my "favorite game of all time", this is the one that I inevitably think about.

2. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past - Almost the same feelings as OoT, just in 2D. This was the first Zelda I played and it still holds up extremely well.

3. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds - An excellent modernization of the LttP formula. But nostalgia for the original keeps me from ranking it higher.

4. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening - The final piece of my childhood Zelda trilogy (along with LttP and OoT), I played this game over and over again on family road trips. Despite being on the original Game Boy it felt like a full fledged Zelda game.

5. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - I remember not really liking this game on initial release, especially following upon the release of OoT. However, having JUST replayed the 3DS version recently, I've come into a new appreciation of this game. While there are a dearth of dungeons, it's the overall clockwork interactions of characters that makes up for the lack of puzzles.

6. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - This is hands down the best looking Zelda game. But this is another Zelda I've replayed recently (with the HD version) and unlike MM, it has taken a step back in my book. Yes, the under the sea "frozen world" part might be the coolest moment in any game in the franchise...but the dungeons are not that good and the sailing and world navigation (though much better in the HD version) is still tedious.

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The rankings get a little hazier in this section as I haven't played these entries in a long time.

7. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - There's too much filler content and reuse of a particular boss but I remember enjoying this one despite that.

8. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures - This is definitely an odd ball Zelda game but I remember enjoying the level based progression.

9. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess - I remember finding it boring and overly long. However, I plan on playing thru the HD version before the end of the year to see how it has held up.

I don't have strong feelings for any of the next 4 handheld titles, so I just kinda placed them in whatever order.

10. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages

11. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons

12. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

13. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

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The NES games:

14. The Legend of Zelda - When your first Zelda game is LttP, it's hard to go backwards and truly appreciate the original. I see the bones of a great game but it's far too antiquated for my tastes.

15. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - This is a weird game and despite trying my hardest, I could never find any love for this game.

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The genuinely bad ones:

16. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks - I hated riding that damn train so much.

17. The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes - I played this single player and it's almost no fun at all.

Ocarina is the only one I've bothered to beat. Majoras Mask is pretty cool. I don't really like the way isometric Zelda plays (still managed to have some fun with Link Between Worlds), and I hate Skyward Sword.

These are my opinions. Do with them as you wish.

1. Ocarina of Time
2. Link's Awakening (although it's probably my favorite at this point)
3. Oracle of Seasons
4. Oracle of Ages
5. Twilight Princess
6. The Legend of Zelda
7. A Link to the Past
8. The Adventure of Link

That's about all I care for. I honestly never understood the love for Waker besides the graphics, and Minish Cap was a massive step down from the Oracle games.

1. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
2. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
3. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
4. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
5. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
6. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
7. The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
8. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
9. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
10. The Legend of Zelda
11. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
12. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Didn't play/enough to rank:

Four Swords Adventures, Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes

I haven't played much of any Zelda game, ever, beyond a few hours here and there. I recently bought a New 3DS XL, and I'd love to get into (and finish) a Zelda game, but I have no idea which I should aim at delving into. I'm a kid from the 80's, and I've never played the NES Zelda's (I was a Sega guy, and I only watched friends play the old Zelda's), so those are super tempting, but I'm not sure if I'd be able to get into them now. I was always fascinated by Zelda II, but who knows if it holds up today. I've never played Ocarina of Time, and that looks great, and I'm sure A Link Between Worlds is very polished... Any advice? Judging by these lists, opinions vary quite a bit, so I should probably just pick one and give it a go. :) Still, I'd be happy to hear recommendations for a relative Zelda newby with a 3DS.

I really only have enjoyed the 2D Zelda fare with Link to the Past being at the top of that list. As far as 3D Zelda I've only ever completed Wind Waker. And I liked it enough to play through again with HD remake so that says something.

I guess technically I didn't finish the GameCube one because as soon as I got to the Triforce pieces I came to a grinding halt. But that is pretty close to the end. And the way they fixed it in the HD version was adequate enough that I went through it all.

1. Link to the Past
2. Ocarina of Time
3. The Legend of Zelda
4. Windwaker
5. Majora's Mask
6. Minish Cap
7. A Link Between Worlds
8. Links Awakening
9. Zelda 2
10. Twilight Princess (GC version)

@aquablak: If you're curious about the more retro games, I'd reccomend grabbing Link's Awakening on virtual console. It's a solid, easy intro to the series, and it straddles the line between the first couple games, and the later stuff it evolves into. It's easy to go backwards or forwards from there.

Probably has something to do with the fact that I wasn't a child and never had an N64, but when I was finally able to play Ocarina, MAN did I think that game sucked (in relation to Zelda games at least). Top-down Zelda 4-life

@nodima: your assessment of Majora is accurate.

There are three or four (fairly obvious) Zelda's that are kind of a toss up for my favorite, but I voted for Majora's Mask. I know it would be the least represented of my favorites. The game seems to either disgust or bewilder the people who don't like it, and those that do like it usually love it. An interesting polarization.

Just gonna order the top 5 because laziness.

1) Link to the Past

2) Wind Waker

3) Link Between Worlds

4) Link's Awakening

5) OoT

The rest are varying degrees of eh to okay.

1. Link to the Past
2. Ocarina of Time
3. Wind Waker
4. Link Between Worlds
5. Zelda
6. Minish Cap
7. Phantom Hourglass
8. Oracle of Ages
9. Oracle of Seasons
10. Zelda 2
11. Twilight Princess
12. Majora's Mask
13. Link's Awakening
14. Skyward Sword
15. Spirit Tracks

That's roughly my list.

1. Link to the Past
2. Ocarina of Time
3. Wind Waker
4. Majora's Mask
5. Link Between Worlds
6. Link's Awakening
7. The Legend of Zelda
8. Oracle of Ages
9. Oracle of Seasons
10. Zelda 2
11. Minish Cap
12. Phantom Hourglass
13. Skyward Sword
14. Twilight Princess
15. Spirit Tracks

The Top Three are pretty clear-cut, it seems the GB crew and most of the site agree on those.

4-6 are all solid B-Tier Zelda games, I might change their order depending on my mood. They aren't as grand-scale as the Top Three and maybe don't hold up today, but they were amazing at the time. The crew is really lukewarm on Link's Awakening but it was amazing after playing LTTP to see a similar game on the Game Boy so quickly. It seemed like a technical miracle at the time. Also, I was ten, I'm sure that helped.

7-10, not much to say, these are still great games here. But you need to be a bit of a masochist to play Zelda 2. I wasn't afraid to use a FAQ here and there for that one.

11-12, these games were fine at the time but don't stick out in my memory at all. I remember Minish Cap being short and easy, but the average playtime is actually 40 hours, so what do I know? Maybe I should revisit it. Phantom Hourglass was a cool early DS game, it was cute, I don't know.

13-15, I played and beat this bottom three in one year, so I'm sure that colors my perception of them some-what... Skyward Sword was kind of a mess with the pacing and the forced motion controls, but I liked it for what it was. Twilight Princess I played eight years late, so the graphics looked like shit and the waggle controls really pissed me off after 10 hours. And it took way, way too long for the world to open up and let me explore. There's a spot in the tutorial where you have to catch a fish for some cat, it took forever, I wanted to break the disc in half... And then I had to catch the fish twice! For no apparent reason!! Once it got going, I did enjoy myself in spite of all that. Spirit Tracks is a weak follow-up to Phantom Hourglass, the touch controls were just annoying at that point, and I seem to remember some pacing problems. It felt like a 2-3 star game frankly.

Glad A Link Between Worlds getting a bit of love. Not enough people played that. It's insanely good.

Out of the ones I've played:

1. Wind Waker
2. Link to the Past
3. Link Between Worlds
4. Ocarina of Time
5. Majora's Mask
6. Link's Awakening
7. Zelda
8. Skyward Sword
9. Spirit Tracks
10. Phantom Hourglass
11. Zelda II
12. Twilight Princess

I honestly think Phantom Hourglass is pretty bad. Yeah, you can draw a path on the ocean, but the ocean is boring and empty; it's like a really shitty Wind Waker. At least Spirit Tracks was something different, and had a better story. Also, you kinda have to rank them by how good they were for their time, otherwise Link Between Worlds is just an objectively better game than Link to the Past.

Wait, I thought THIS was the main series...

TLOZ, Z2, ALTTP, OOT, MM, WW, TP, SS, ALBW, BOTW

Have I been wrong this whole time? I thought everything else was technically a spinoff?

A case could be made that the Capcom games of the Oracles and Minish Cap are technically spin offs. But seeing as how they are so good and carried on the 2d A Link to the Past legacy forward and are way better than the likes of say Twlight Princess.

They fit into the 'timeline' even. For the longest time Minish Cap was the the beginning of the timeline and the one two whammy of it and the Wind Waker brought the whole concept of a timeline to the series really. So giving them main series status is fair.

Also you can forget Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks those were made by the actual Zelda team and are close sequels to Wind Waker in the MM to OOT and ALBW to ALTTP. Link's Awakening is also the same deal. So those are certainly main games for sure.

i bought twilight princess hd today just cause im feeling zelda hype. im ready to hate it already!

@ryuku_ryosake: Yeah I just looked every game up.

From now on, I'll consider the Nintendo developed, story based, non-multiplayer games the main series. So that includes link's awakening and the two DS Wind Waker sequels.

That's just me personally though.

I remember playing OoT. Wow. Mind blown. It was at the forefront of game design. Nothing else like it. I bought an N64 for that and Mario 64. I only bought a few games for that system and felt like it was a good purchase because of it.

I think Link to the Past was my second favorite. A wonderful game that is a top ten game on the SNES. Not just great for a Zelda game but great no qualifiers.

The original was a game changer. It did not grab me in the same way, but I understand it's importance.

The rest of them can be great for Zelda games but did not rock the game industry the way those have. I am hoping the new Zelda will be great. For the above reasons, this series holds importance to my gaming history.

1. The Legend of Zelda

2. Wind Waker

3. Link Between Worlds

4. Ehh...

Links Awakening is the best, without question. Absolute fuckery that they glossed over it on the podcast. Im a salty boy.

The only two Zelda games I've played are Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask.

Ocarina of Time is a better game than Majora's Mask.

1. Wind Waker
2. A Link Between Worlds
3. A Link to the Past

Wind Waker is my favorite console Zelda game hands down.

Honestly don't understand all the Majora hate. I remember at the time most people complaining that it wasn't adult Link.

It doesn't follow the normal Zelda formula, reuses assets and has a bit of the 64 clunkyness but it's still got a cool concept and had a lot more emotional moments the OoT.

It's not my favorite but it's Def in the top 5 for me.

Probably LttP but I had to vote for Awakening because it got ROBBED on the bombcast. Easily top 5 imo

I'm only going to do the ones I've beaten.

1. Ocarina of Time

2. Link to the Past

3. Wind Waker

4. Link Between Worlds

5. Twilight Princess

6. Skyward Sword

7. Majora's Mask

My current goal is playing through the NES and handheld ones. A fair amount through the original and enjoying it but still not sure where I'd put it here.

1. Zelda II The Adventure of Link

2. The Legend of Zelda

3. A Link to the Past

4. Ocarina of Time

5. Wind Waker

1. Majora's Mask

2. Wind Waker

3. Link Between Worlds

4. Minish Cap

5. Ocarina of Time

6. Skyward Sword

7. Twilight Princess

8. Four Swords Adventure

9. I dunno, LttP I guess

10. Didn't play much but Seasons?

11. Didn't play much but Ages?

12. Zelda (bad game)

13. Zelda II (nonsensical game)

14. Phantom Hourglass (I hate this game)

15. Spirit Tracks (I done goofed up thinking they'd fix PH's problems and buying this)

If Zelda-Likes were allowed in Star Fox Adventures would be right below Ocarina, Kameo right above Ocarina and Darksiders... Hmm. Right above SFA but not above OoT?

1. Phantom Hourglass
2. Minish Cap
3. Ocarina of Time
4. Twilight Princess
5. Oracle of Ages
6. Oracle of Seasons
7. Link's Awakening
8. A Link Between Worlds
9. Spirit Tracks
10. Majora's Mask

You know what? I think I like Zelda as a concept more than I like any individual game.

I put Phantom Hourglass at the top but I still wouldn't call it the best Zelda game; although I've ordered this list my difference in ranking is negligible. Majora's Mask is definitely at the bottom though.

I haven't played a Link to the Past or Wind Waker though, so I could end up completely loving one of those games.

As a person who has played very few Zelda games but was roommates with a person who loved Zelda games, Majora's Mask was, by a wide margin, the most interesting to see played. I saw all of the console Zelda games played start-to-finish from Ocarina on. Wind Waker was probably the next most interesting.

Of the Zelda games I've personally played, Link to the Past is my favorite. Ocarina is a cool game, and interesting for what it did when it did it, but ultimately pretty tame when it comes to the narrative it builds.

A Link Between Worlds is the only one I've ever beaten, so that has to account for something. I've played and enjoyed various parts of Zelda I, Link to the Past, Twilight Princess, and Wind Waker. Zelda II is trash. I should probably play more of the handheld Zeldas...I think I'd like those. Also, Darksiders was a pretty good game.

I don't know if I can honestly call it my favorite out of all the Zeldas, but man, Minish Cap doesn't get nearly as much praise as it deserves. It's the only Zelda game that really plays like a full-fledged sequel to A Link to the Past, plus it's got a healthy dose of the same kind of charm that made Wind Waker stand out.

Link's hat is a bird in that game! And it talks to you! And you can get really tiny, and one of the bosses is just a regular-ass Octorok but it's scary because you're so tiny! Minish Cap is great!

Quick explanation of why Tri-Force Heroes is an official Zelda game...: It is directly set a few years after the end of A Link Between Worlds. You play as the same link from ALBW currently on a break from Hyrule. Link stumbles into another Kingdom called Hytopia where, surprising no one, he happens to look a lot like the prophesied heroes destined to end the curse left upon the princess... Princess Styla who, god forbid, has been cursed into wearing ugly clothes! It's a dumb game with very low stakes - it's essentially just another excuse for many Links in multiplayer to go through shorter levels, with the unlocking of different classes to make each player feel more unique.

I didn't play it, though I did watch the start on release (which has a remarkably long opening sequence for a premise you could show in half a dozen images) and it didn't seem great... But it is as much a part of the main series as Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks are.

Going underdog with Link's Awakening. You had to know how it felt to have a FULL Zelda game on a (brick sized) handheld in 1995 to understand.

My super scientific ranking of all the Zeldas that I have actually completed:

1. Wind Waker
2. LttP
3. Ocarina of Time
4. A Link Between Worlds
5. Original-Ass The Legend of Zelda
6. Link's Awakening (DX)
7. The Minish Cap
8. Zelda II

And a special "Fuck You" shout-out to Majora's Mask. I blew $10 on the Virtual Console version, then wasted nine hours trying to find the fun before washing my hands of it. Running timers on everything destroys the exploratory spirit of Zelda, and progressing the story involved the most unrelated chain of bullshit tasks, repeatedly sending me to walkthroughs to say "Really? Really?" when I read what had to be done next.

Here is the actual Giant Bomb list if anyone was wondering. It's from 2:19:52 in the 9/6/2016 Bombcast.

ALttP

Ocarina of Time

Wind Waker

Zelda

A Link Between Worlds

Minish Cap

Twilight Princess

Phantom Hourglass

Zelda 2

Majora's Mask

(Unofficial) Four Swords / Pac-Man Vs.

Even though I consider the original Legend of Zelda to be one my top games of all time. Zelda: A Link to the Past was an improved in every aspect version. Plus that is the one I will go back and play over and over.

The best one is Majora's mask, the second best one is Wind Waker.

The rest of the ones I've played are all good but I don't really have any ordering for them.

Can someone explain why Dan or anyone thinks 'A link between worlds' is so good? I played it last Xmas and while I enjoyed it the game was the most solid 3.5 / 5 Zelda game I've ever played and it should be nowhere near the top 5.

The setting is incredibly derivative (I know all Zelda games are) to the point of seeming really lazy. It relied so much on nostalgia but brought nothing of it's own.

The gimmick was pretty good (going into paintings) but it wasn't used anywhere near enough. Mostly in the later dungeons and those crappy puzzle dungeons where you got useless 200 rupees.

The biggest issue for me was the vendor that sells all the in game items. It makes the dungeons seem largely pointless as the best part was always getting the loot then using it against the boss. Who care's that you can do any dungeon in any order, that isn't a selling point. The vendor created a problem where the game had no challenge at all, the difficulty just wasn't there (I think I died once during the game to that challenge dungeon). As the player could lose all items (before buying them permanently) it seemed the game was made so that you would never lose them ever.

Hmm I'm gonna cut this off here as I can see it getting a bit ranty, I'm just trying to understand why aLbW is so highly thought of. It's just not as good a aLttP, these modern trappings they included add nothing.

I feel like Zelda as a series is way overrated and has too many intense fans. I think that's the case with many Nintendo franchises, to be honest. I also fall into the category of intense fan though.

Out of what I've played:

1. Wind Waker - Love everything about it. The art and sailing have really stuck with me. Until recently would have been #2 but if forced to sit and play one right now, I'd choose WW over OOT.
2. Ocarina of Time - I love it. The story, characters and world really made it a memorable adventure. It's also pretty old and the seams definitely show.
3. A Link to the Past - Super great, but it lacks the grand adventure feeling a bit for me. Fantastic dungeons and music.
4. The Legend of Zelda - Beautiful simplicity.
5. A Link Between Worlds - Polished and builds upon ALTTP.
6. Zelda 2 - A grand 2d adventure that is equally fun as it is frustrating.
7. Phantom Hourglass - I hated the time temple thing but I liked the sailing, I guess.
8. Twilight Princess - Sucks. The art is ugly and super dated, the story is basically non-existent, the world is lifeless, the howling system is token, it's extremely long and padded out and there's really very little connecting it all together. Waggle. Somehow Wolf Link is the coolest part??<3 Midna. (This is an HD edition hot take)

I've bounced off of Majora several times after just a couple hours. No real opinion of it one way or the other. The moon is pretty cool.

Gotta get around to playing Minish Cap, Link's Awakening and Skyward Sword before Breath of the Wild.

I only liked Link's Awakening DX for Gameboy Color. Could not care less about any of them, even the original.

I have never played a 3D Legend of Zelda game.

Links Awakening

I should have probably looked at the forums before I made this list, eh?

Oh well.

I voted for Ocarina, but I could have voted for Link to the Past or Wind Waker just as easily. I gave it to Ocarina just because I have a ton of nostalgia for it. They're all just fantastic games.