Although I prefer the 2D Zelda titles (voted for 2D) my ranking would be:
01. Majoras Mask
(read below)
02. Links awekening/ A link to the past
(rich atmospherical worlds, defined the series)
03. Ocarina of time
(huge breathing world, good use of new technology and its benefits)
04. Minish Cap
(nice sprite work, lovely characters, graphics and overall atmosphere)
05. Wind Waker
(perfect embodyment by gorgeous style and animation)
06. Oracle of Ages/ Oracle of Seasons
(Classic Zelda revised)
07. Twilight Princess
(nice gameplay, puzzles and lots of dungeons)
08. Phantom Hourglas/ Spirit Tracks
(not bad but lack of atmosphere due to the "missing" overworld)
09. The legend of Zelda
(nowadays it lacks a bit of drama because of missing npcs, ingame story telling, etc.)
10. The adventure of Link
(a bit of an outsider due to its redone perspective and the resulting gameplay changes)
I do not list titles like Four swords adventures/ Four swords adventures plus because of them not being real single player experiences, freshly picked tingle's rosy rupeeland as it is at most a spin-off and I, like every Zelda fan, refuse to accept the CDI-titles as part of the series. Hope I did not forget any major release.
Personally I prefer Majoras Mask the most because it has this unique world (unfortunately it lacks a bit of size) and cast of characters with that strange mood to it. The grinning moon, the crazy Happy Mask Salesman (just look at his jerkily changing facial expression when first met inside the clock tower, looks just like the professor in haunted hill), the horror kid with Majora's Mask (shaking and turning his head by 360 degrees like the kodamas in Mononoke Hime), the transformation animations with their disproportionate mimic when morphing from or to one of the three different races, the engraving on the mirror shield, the shy and mysterious Kafei and many more that all account for this inimitably surreal world. Besides the presentational part as mentioned above the mask collecting with its associated side quests and the time mechanics were really appealing to me. They both expanded and enriched the gameplay value. The last temple was absolutely tricky and imaginative with its rotary puzzles. The boss battles are a stunner. Moreover the kinky sounds and the OST (especially clock tower theme = best Zelda track ever) are downright virtuoso and bolster the overall mood perfectly. The opening sequence in the brumous woods and the part at the blooming meadow before the end were absolutely out of this world and superbly implemented on this rather limited platform. Dispensable to mention those qualities common to every Zelda game. There would be another hundreds of reasons to come up with why Majoras Mask is my favourite Zelda game and one of the best if not the best game ever released on any console/platform.
To sum it up it is a masterpiece of art and gaming.
Last edited by Urkraft on Fri Jan 07, 2011 10:00 pm, edited 5 times in total.
2D all day. A Link To The Past 'Best Zelda Ever', and the The Minish Cap are my favorite 2D entries. Ocarina Of Time really never did it for me. The Wind Waker However, I felt like I was playing Zelda for the first time all over again. It was just amazing. Twilight Princess gave me mixed feelings. I loved some parts and hated other parts.
Urkraft wrote:
I do not list titles like Four swords adventures...because of them not being real single player experiences
It has a very good single player mode. Why don't any Zelda fans give this one a chance?
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2d has always been a better fit for Zelda from where I stand.
I'm playing through Twilight Princess at the moment and I'm enjoying it but thing is I feel like it's all scripted out as I know exactly what to do and when to do it because there are so many clues as to what to do next.
In the 2d Zelda's I've found the clues are more subtle they tell you what to do but how you do it is up to yourself.
Link to the past is my favorite in the series followed closely by Links Awakening.
However I generally enjoy all of the 2d ones more with the Minish cap and the Gameboy Color games Oracle of Ages Seasons.
I guess Ocarina of Time is probably the best 3d one simply because it resembles a Link to the past in many ways.
In parallel Link to the past had Light World Dark World and the Ocarina of time had the Child Link and Adult link time traveling mechanic.
Both had 3 dungeons to break you in followed by 8 dungeons once you lifted the Master Sword.
Anyone that thumbs their nose at Four Swords Adventures needs to rethink their stance and actually play the damn game. It is like a Link to the Past on crack. It's all the parts of Zelda I love and none of the wandering around the countryside, fishing and molesting chickens.
Maybe now Nintendo will acknowledge Metroid has a fanbase?
Flake wrote:Anyone that thumbs their nose at Four Swords Adventures needs to rethink their stance and actually play the damn game. It is like a Link to the Past on crack. It's all the parts of Zelda I love and none of the wandering around the countryside, fishing and molesting chickens.
I was under the impression that molesting chickens was a staple of the Legend of Zelda enterprise and to strip this feature from any of the games would be a cruel slap to the face of Zelda-chicken enthusiasts across the globe.
I really do need to get my hands on a copy of Four Swords Adventure though. It was one of the Zelda games I never found an opportunity to try out, along with Minish Cap.
Link To The Past is the greatest game ever made. I'm a much bigger fan of the 2D series than the 3D. In fact, Wind Waker is the only 3D one I love. But 2D has the original, Adventure Of Link, Minish Cap, Link's Awakening, Oracles... all amazing entries.
Molesting chickens is awesome! If they made a Link's Chicken Molestation Training stand-alone game, I'd totally get it, and if it used the Wii's motion controls that would be the shit. Think about it, sodomizing chickens with a boomerang with the motion plus sensing every move you make... in, out, in, out, in, twist... maybe even some chicken slapping... the possibilities are ENDLESS. Get some cocks in there too and give'em an old fashioned HJ. Fuck it... chickens, pigs, horses... the series has provided us with a whole plethora of barnyard animals to potentially molest. COME ON NINTENDO, make animal molestation an everyday household family activity! That's my vote.
...Oh... I tend to not prefer the 2D games over the 3D games, or vise versa. I've enjoyed them all.
