Favorite Zelda title(s) and why

[King Aquamentus]

I would have to say Alttp for me as well, at least for right now. Although it can be said that this is the first "modern" Zelda, This was really still a transition period between the days when Zelda resembled a jRPG and the days of Ocarina of Time. If I was to ask you to think of a Zelda game when I said something like "GET THE MAGIC FAIRY CRYSTAL FROM THE MAN ON MEDICINE MOUNTAIN" the first two games would probably come to mind. The thing is though, Alttp really still has some more primitive elements that make it beautiful.

For example, while some dungeons (keyword: some) had items that played an important part to the dungeons themselves, others were not afraid to give you something totally optional, like the Blue clothes. Then other times, they were literally like "lol idunno" and just tossed the very magical ice rod in a cave next to the lake. Both of these elements were *awesome*. It made the game feel a little less formulaic when you didn't know what to expect. Also however, I would like to give mad props to the overworld design in some places, especially near bodies of water.
If you don't know what I mean, go stand out on the peninsula east of Lake Hylia (you can see it on the map), or go stand on a ledge at the waterfall of wishing. It's a powerful, beautiful feeling in regards to nature.

[Orithan]

A Link to the Past and Skyward Sword are my favourites.
LttP should be pretty obvious - More than 10 well-fleshed out dungeons, many secrets, tons of exploration, many challenges and a nearly flawless engine.
SS comes in second because it really shook up the formula and it actually worked as well as having great design. Tired of Nature->Fire->Water? You now get Desert instead of water. You start out with 6 hearts and the enemies' attack power have been adjusted accordingly, making it that much more challenging. Most of the new items, particularly the Beetle, worked well and were used often. It gave me a lot of interesting scenarios and was very well fleshed out. The negatives are few and far between but they are annoying: Fi was the highlight while things like how the Whip is rarely used outside Ancient Cistern and how you were left to figure out how the Loftwing flight worked.

However, I will have to give Ocarina of Time the award for the most overrated Zelda title. I will admit, I liked OoT because it had great dungeons and a good story, but it definetly does not deserve all of the praise it gets. Navi is an obvious example, who most players hate, but there was a range of other problems I had with it, inculding the empty Hyrule Field, and I found some of the bosses to be pretty lame. Not to mention that it suffers from balancing issues - Faries and especially Naryu's Love are OP, Iron Knuckles hit way too hard, etc. Finally; It wasn't that innovative because OoT did basically everything LttP did except bring Zelda into 3D.
The fact that I live with a family of OoT fanboys who overract to me simply saying that it is not a perfect game doesn't help either .

[King Aquamentus]

Ocarina is stupid-overrated. Part of the reason is probably simply because it had been five years since a Zelda game had come out, so for some it was a revival, and for others it was Nintendo's brand-new franchise-BAAAHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaa not really funny though because this actually did happen and it pissed me the fuck off. "Oh, yeah, I have the first zelda! I play it on my N64!"

[Blanka]

So I'm the weirdo who really likes Zelda II? Jeez, how embarrassing.

Hi MasterSwordUltima.:) You aren't a "weirdo" at all! That was a great game. When I first played it took some adjusting. I was used to playing the 1st Zelda so much that the second one seemed so different. lol

[Orithan]

Keep in mind that while ZII was crazy difficult and different from Z1, a number of features from that game appeared in future titles. Especially the Magic Meter and Hammer.

[GrantGreif]

I always liked Twilight Princess the best. It had a very dynamic plotline, and in my opinion, Blizzeta's intro could easily rival Deadhand's. It was also my first Zelda game ever, however I kept falling off of Hyrule Castle as a kid, so I never really got more than 45 minutes into it until I was about 12. (In addition, merely getting to Hyrule Castle is the only objective you've been given so far that you haven't completed, so in my mind, I'd won) One thing I never understood about Twilight Princess is the mirroring between the GCN and Wii versions. All this did was confuse people who bought the Wii version and make someone go through every string of dialogue and change "west" to "east" and vice versa.
I've seen plenty of hate for Zelda II, and I personally hate it myself. However, I can understand why some people would like it. But there is one game that I cannot understand any like for. This game is Four Swords. In order to play it, you first have to personally know someone who plays Zelda, which, to this day, I do not. (I never got the original Gameboy release but rather the 3DS re-release, so I saved myself some trouble) Secondly, it felt more like a Mario Party game, and what's worse is that I think that's what they were going for.

[Binx]

The reason they changed TP for the Wii version is because it was easier to mirror the whole game than it would be to just make Link right-handed.

Personally, TP is my favorite, as well. Although I do have some "complaints" (it was extremely easy, and the later dungeons could have been longer), the gameplay style of the GCN version and the drastically improved swordplay and horseback fighting really made it to be the most fun I've had out of any Zelda games. Plus, I love turning into a wolf.

Second for me is ALttP for all the obvious reasons.

And #3 for me would have to be Wind Waker. It was just a lot of fun. The dungeons were great, the sound was awesome, the story and controls were wonderful. The only reasons it didn't take the top spot is because the controls for TP were better, and ALttP has so much nostalgia, and the Triforce charts were tedious as hell. I would have much preferred if they had just been 8 more full-size dungeons.

As far as Four Swords is concerned, it was originally not meant to be a major part of the series, it was just intended to be a little multiplayer romp to be included with the GBA port of ALttP, so I can excuse the fact that it was more of a party game.

Also, OoT was so overrated, it's ridiculous. It's a lot of fun, but the game is mostly a rehash of ALttP in 3D.

EDIT: Also, on the subject of Z2, I can see why so many "hardcore" players love it, but honestly, its ridiculous difficulty level ruined it for a lot of people, myself included. It would have been an insanely good game if there had just been a difficulty setting, in my opinion. And as far as my 3 most hated titles: Skyward Sword, Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks; It's all about how much trouble I had with the controls (I'm extremely left-handed)

[ctrl-alt-delete]

Every time I play a new console Zelda game it's my favorite Zelda game ever until I calm down. If I HAD to rank them...

LttP is my favorite, the rest of the list all stand solidly together.

[mrz84]

So I'm the weirdo who really likes Zelda II? Jeez, how embarrassing.

I like that game too. I'd say its number 4 on my Top 5 fave Zelda games.

[Majora]

1) Majora's Mask
Best villain. Both in the Zelda series, and is one of the best villains of them all. The dark tone and time system made it feel more epic and, of course, provided that 'race against time' feel which only made it feel even MORE epic.

2) Zelda II
The difficulty presents a challenge that is unparalleled within the series. If I were to rate them all on difficulty, Zelda II being the hardest would receive a 10 (of 10), but the next game (A Link to the Past) would receive a 7. The rest would go all the way down to a 1.


Random formatting is fun. I couldn't pick. Combine the described aspects of these two games and you have the perfect game.