Recently I was talking about the upcoming The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom game which I am very excited about. However, The Legend of Zelda series is up there with my favorite video game series of all time. Since the days of the NES, you could make the argument that a Nintendo console is defined by its Zelda game or Zelda “games” if it is lucky enough to get more than one.
I decided to think really hard about what my favorite games in the series are and this is the list I came up for. Now, rather than striking up a deal with Gannon to use the Triforce to take me down because your game is not on here, I encourage you to come up with your own top 5 The Legend of Zelda games and share it in the comments section.
Number 5
Skyward Sword
I am talking about the original version on the Nintendo Wii here, that HD version did not click with me at all! The Legend of Zelda: The Skyward Sword is one of the few games to actually make great use of the Wii Motion Plus the Nintendo Wii introduced. This is more like a classic Legend of Zelda game where you go through dungeons, find the right item to use, and so on. Some may say that it is a bit on the linear side, but I have always enjoyed this game… well apart from the swimming controls! What made this a great Zelda game for me was Zelda herself. This was the first Zelda game where Link and Zelda had an actual connection at the start of the game and saving her felt like it was personal. It made the quest Link went on feel so much more meaningful due to him knowing and caring about Princess Zelda.
Number 4
A Link Between Worlds
How Nintendo has not given this a slap of HD paint and put it out on the Nintendo Switch is beyond me! The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is one of the best games on the Nintendo 3DS. This tool the formula we had with A Link to the Past and put a new twist on it, the way the game dealt with weapons was very interesting and it was like a mixture of an old school Zelda game, but with a few modern twists and it worked really well. I thought the gimmick of being able to go flat into the wall was really fun and it never felt overused. The game has great visuals too, I will admit I played this on a New 2DSXL, but from what I have seen, this game made some pretty good use of the 3D for those that played it on a Nintendo 3DS. I would love to see this get ported to the Switch at some point, I think it would be a huge hit if Nintendo were to do so.
Number 3
Tears of the Kingdom
I am sure some people will be coming for me with a pitchfork because I do not think that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is the greatest game of all time! However, while it is not at the top of my list, I still love this game! This took what they did with Breath of the Wild and just made it bigger and better. The way you could make all this cool stuff from basic rafts to mechs was so much fun. The game put a problem in front of you and most of the time left it up to you to decide what the best way to deal with that problem was. One thing that this game has that I think is great…. And bad at the same time is the story. This game tells an amazing story, but unless you follow a guide and find those teardrops with the memories in the right order, you lose what is actually a very well told and interesting story! The core gameplay here is so much fun, I often fire this up and just screw around making things and seeing how much destruction I can cause.
Number 2
Ocarina of Time 3D
I got the original Ocarina of Time for Christmas in 1998 and it was amazing, but The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D on the Nintendo 3DS is the better way to play this game. It has better visuals and I just think that it plays a little better too, but it is still that same epic adventure we went on in the late 90s. This was the game that made me buy a 3DS and I did not regret that decision one bit. This along with Majora’s Mask 3D need to be put onto the Switch, they could make a Zelda 3DS collection and it would sell millions of copies! Some may say that those who love this game are blinded by nostalgia and there may be a bit of truth to that. However, I played through this again recently, after playing through Tears of the Kingdom and Link’s Awakening and I still feel that this holds up. I would never argue with someone who said that this is one of the greatest games of all time.
Number 1
A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past was featured on My Top 5 Super Nintendo Games List and it is honestly one of my favorite video games of all time. This was actually the first Zelda game that I played and I have played through it so many times over the years and it has never gotten old. This was such a massive adventure at the time and I love the way that when you think the game is over, it flips you to the Dark World, and a whole new even larger adventure starts. The game looks great (even if Link does have purple hair) and it has some of the catchiest tunes this franchise has to offer. I have tried to decide if I like the Super Nintendo version or the Game Boy Advance version more and I do very slightly sway towards the SNES original. No matter what version you play, you are in for a great time. It would be a lot of fun to see Nintendo give this the Link’s Awakening treatment!
So there you have it my top 5 Legend of Zelda games. I have done a ton of these top five lists and some of them I think if I were to do them again, I may change the games or the order of the games. This list though I am 99.9999 percent sure that all these games and their position on my list is a lock.
Thanks for checking this out today, be sure to let me know what your favorite Zelda games are in the comments section.