The Legend of Zelda is hitting its 25th anniversary this month. Easily the most legendary franchise in the history of Nintendo (and perhaps…all of gaming), Zelda has one of the most rabid and most loyal fanbases in all entertainment. The fanbase is definitely justified though, as the series has delivered great game after great game with very few disappointments in between. It has revolutionized gaming multiple times in many different ways, and has set the bar for adventure games on a consistent basis. Although the last installment hasn’t exactly thrilled me the way previous Zelda titles did, it was still better than most games out there.
In order to fully celebrate the 25th anniversary, its time for another list! In this list, I place what I think are the 10 greatest adventures in the Legend of Zelda canon. To add to that, in between songs I am mixing in masterful musical tracks that can be found in Zelda games made by the master maestro Koji Kondo. Let’s celebrate Zelda!
#10: The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
System: Nintendo DS
Year: 2007
Picture Zelda and add an innovative mix of gameplay and exploration. Phantom Hourglass was the first of Link’s adventures in the Nintendo DS and remains his best. It’s the same old-school Zelda gameplay with a little edge of uniqueness with the extra screen and the stylus. The DS had a lot of great games, but was severely lacking in the adventure genre. Luckily, Phantom Hourglass (and to a lesser extent Spirit Tracks) was able to fill the void.
#9: The Legend of Zelda
System: Nintendo Entertainment System
Year: 1986
While the formula was improved upon many many times, the original remains a classic that set the bar much higher for video games everywhere. Not only was it the first truly epic video game in the history of Nintendo, but it’s also the first major video game that allows you to save your progress. And to top it all off, there was an entirely new quest hidden behind a password. Classic to the utmost level. Where is the remake though? Its about time it gets the Metroid: Zero Mission treatment.
#8: The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap
System: Game Boy Advance
Year: 2005
Just like in the DS, the GBA didn’t have as many adventures in the older brother systems like the SNES, the N64, and the SNES (yes, we should mention it again). Minish Cap eliminates the cravings of a good adventure by throwing Link into another grand adventure full of fun dungeons, exhilarating gameplay, and a nice story to weave it all together. While the game isn’t as long as Link’s other quests, it definitely remains one of the best GBA games of all-time.
#7: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
System: Nintendo Gamecube
Year: 2003
This is an example of a video game being amazing for 3/4ths of the way, and then suddenly dropping off in quality as the climax approaches. The saddest part? This was still one of the best Gamecube games during the system’s slow and pathetic lifetime. Wind Waker suffered most from this fact: it just did not feel like Zelda sometimes. The graphics, the art style, and the absolutely daunting exploration aspect in the latter third of the game. Did not feel much like Zelda, but boy was it fun throughout most of the trip.
#6: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
System: Nintendo Wii
Year: 2006
One part of me wants to rank this game higher. Another part of me wants to rank this game lower. Overall, this Zelda game was a vast improvement over Wind Waker, but at the same time dwelled into a familiar formula to achieve this. While most Zelda games create and introduce new gameplay elements, and sometimes at the same time perfect what is already there, Twilight Princess was epic Zelda shifted into autopilot. It is a great game, but just lacked the special edge that previous games contained. There is now too much competition in gaming for Nintendo to just shell out a familiar Zelda game. Its time for the next level. Twilight Princess could have been that next level.
#5: The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
System: Nintendo Game Boy
Year: 1993
The game that killed the Sega Game Gear once and for all, this was a very successful and very good transition from the bigger Nintendo systems to the handheld one. Despite just using a couple of colors, Link’s Awakening delivered a massive, massive adventure with a very unique story and many gameplay elements not before seen in Link’s previous quests. This was the Game Boy being pushed to the absolute limit in terms of memory consumption, and the end result is a handheld classic that remains among the best video games in any Nintendo handheld system.
#4: The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Seasons
System: Game Boy Color
Year: 2001
The Game Boy Color was easily the weakest of Nintendo’s handheld systems (The Virtual Boy does not, shall not, will not count) but contained some incredibly excellent games. There was the phenomenal Wario Land 3, the underrated Metal Gear Solid, and this 1-2 legendary adventure punch of the Oracles. This is two games linked together with an extra section of the quest hidden underneath the cluster of activity and superb gameplay. Clearly one of the most underrated game(s) in history, these two games provide endless hours of absolute fun and gives you perhaps the only reason outside of Pokemon to ever use a link cable. The 3DS better have these games ready for sale immediately.
#3: The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
System: Nintendo 64
Year: 2000
Gamers wanted a more mature Zelda, especially after Wind Waker. Perhaps they should have gone back to this game, which sold a little past a million. Majora’s Mask is not only the most underrated video game in history, but it’s also one of the darkest stories gaming has ever told. This game was not as long as other video games, but whatever it lacks in length is made up for with gameplay, intensity, variety, great storytelling, wonderful musical score, and some of the cruelest challenges you’ll ever experience. It is a beautifully tragic game that is among the few out there that isn’t just a game; it’s a work of art.
#2: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
System: Super Nintendo
Year: 1992
This isn’t a game. This is an experience. Link to the Past didn’t just overwhelm gamers back in 1992, but utterly took the genre of action/adventure and launched it so high that it would take an entire generation of gaming before any other company got even close. From the very beginning, when Link is quickly thrown into a dangerous world to the final moments, when you enter a totally different dimension, Link to the Past grabs your attention and does not let go until the final credits. The game was massive in scale from the presentation to the graphics to the soundtrack to even the sheer amount of hidden goodies present throughout this masterpiece. Link to the Past is leagues above every other video game in the SNES/Genesis generation; and still leagues above your average video game.
#1: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
System: Nintendo 64
Year: 1998
The purists and true-blue old-schoolers will tell me that I am wrong, and should have Link to the Past in first place. And trust me when I say this, but it was tough organizing the top 3—they all deserve the top dollar. However, Ocarina of Time is…Ocarina of Time. We all know where we were and what we were doing when the game first came out. The hype machine for this was at its max and the difference between this game and most other heavily-hyped games: it met the hype and surpassed it with flying colors. This is Link and Nintendo at their absolute best: in terms of game design, presentation, music, scale, graphics, and overall quality. 1998 in gaming was all about Zelda, and all about how gaming will never be the same with this tour de force out in stores. If Nintendo had stored this much effort to more of their games, they would not have trailed so badly to Sony for 8 years.
In my opinion, the game that best represents the quality and timelessness of the Legend of Zelda is Ocarina of Time. This game brought all the things that made the previous Zelda titles great and upped the ante in scale and scope. There just aren’t enough games like this nowadays. And it stands as the best of the Zelda games. Although the previous four Zelda titles I’ve graded as a perfect 10/10, Ocarina of Time is the tallest of the 10s.
Happy 25th Anniversary, Legend of Zelda! May your legends continue to bring more memorable gameplay in the years to come.
P.S. More Music:
My Favorite OCRemix of a Zelda song
Close 2nd place:
The Trailer to the Next Zelda Game:
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