Favorite Zelda games?

Although I was introduced to Zelda through "A Link to the Past", I never actually got to play it myself, until around a few years ago through the magic of emulation. When I finally did, it was still as fun as it looked back then. :) I suppose it may not be your favourite kind of game, but I certainly can't see how anybody could claim this not to be a good game.

The first Zelda I played is Ocarina of Time. At the time I didn't recognize the elements from previous, 2D Zelda games, but I still loved it. I do like exploring, and the Zelda games' exploring means you can spend a lot of time playing, in a good way, since it keeps introducing new gameplay elements to keep things fresh.

Those two games are my favourites, since they are the original 2D and 3D games respectively, for me. Later games have been fun, but always build on the original games' formulas. There aren't as many new gameplay elements, although there are always a couple of actually new things introduced in every title. I'm not saying sticking to your roots is a bad thing (although I wouldn't mind a little bit more experimenting done to the series), but I have to limit myself to the original two games.

For simplicity's sake I call ALttP the original game, since it was for me, but of course I skipped over the true original, for the NES. I did give it a try, but it felt a little outdated, a little too repetitive, with graphics that didn't really do it for me. (I didn't play it for very long to be fair.) It seems like Zelda needed ALttP to perfect the formula. All later/future 2D Zelda games tend to resemble it more than the original Zelda.

OK, that's my two pence worth. :)

A Link to the Past is my favorite. Started playing it when I was 6 years old, and still play it to this day.

There is something brilliant about the simplicity of the SNES graphics and audio of this game, creating a unique atmosphere.

I also have to say that A Link to the Past is my favorite, but if you have a bunch of friends and GBAs it's hard to beat Four Swords Adventures.

Uh, wow. I haven't even played much Zelda, since I grew up on Sega. I'd take recommendations, though.

@Spookty It's hard to go wrong. Pick anything on that list of games and go for it, though I'll warn you that a lot of people hate The Adventure of Link. I like it fine, but it's not for everyone.

A Link to the Past is definitely my favourite as well.

It's really hard to decide, they're all so awesome.

Yea, The Adventure of Link is just weird. It's the only side scroller in the series, and the only one in which you actually gain experience and level up (a very rough version of "leveling up" that is). It's not really a bad game, it just doesn't really feel like a Zelda game.

I still haven't finished MM. It's the only one I haven't beat in the whole series. I've came so close, so many times, and I just never finish. It's not because I get bored of it, it's my perfectionist kicking in. See, the whole bomber's notebook side quest stuff, the stray faeries, the extra weapons and such... I can't help but try to do everything. I have such a hard time finishing it -without- getting all that stuff, that I get sidetracked trying to do it all, and lose track of the main game. Someday I just need to go back and finish, regardless of what is missing.

I also suggest those that never tried Minish Cap to give it a shot. It's the closest thing to ALttP in the whole series. It's like if they took ALttP, gave it WW graphics/sound, and made it look just a little bit better. The story is a bit odd, and the side quest stuff is just as maddening in it as well, but it's very nice. Oh, and slight spoilier:



The last boss is a damn marathon, easily one of the most ridiculous in all the games.



Side note:
The CDi games don't count. Seriously, they're embarrassments.

Ok I'll be the freak here. Minish Cap! I can't put my finger on it. I think the 2D throw back but with the bright sharper graphics of a newer game. That and while it might not have been quite as challenging as some other Zelda games but it presented enough challenge to be something to over come but still be fun. Style, music, game play. Seemed kind of Zen-ish in how it came together.

For me, the two best Zeldas are The Ocarina of Time and A link to the past. Unfortunately, those are the only two that I have really taken the time out to finish. I have come to the conclusion that all the Zelda games essentially follow the same template. I really do feel as if I play the same game, from generation to generation.

I have never even tried Minish Cap... My brother has it, but he lives in another state... I might be marathoning that game come Christmas time...

Minish Cap is awesome! Classic Zelda right there.

@Vice_Destroyer Yea, they're all pretty similar, with a few exceptions (AoL, MM). Generally, it's "go find a dungeon, find item, use it to finish the place, and find your way to the next. Repeat until done." But, The pace in which you get new items, and the extra optional stuff (sword upgrades, extra items, etc.) makes it a generally fun layout for me. Call me old fashioned, but I like the template they use. It's just one of those games that I'm fine with it staying generally the same, with an occasional stray. Kind of like Castlevania.

Ahh nostalgia.. Link to the Past has got to be my favorite.. I can still remember a young lil' mnightwind sneaking into the living room at night after everyone had gone to sleep to load this up on our newly purchased SNES. As it was late in the evening when we got it the folks wanted to watch TV and then it was sleep time as it was a school night. I hadn't even gotten to try the new SNES yet! I just had to load this up. I can still see the triforce spinning in on the initial splash screen as I sat in the dark with the volume turned way down.. good times :3

@mnightwind Hah! No joke, I did the EXACT same thing. I'd get it from Blockbuster over the weekend (before buying it, which sucked, since I lost that save), and play it all night. Always at low volume, right in front of the TV, in hopes of nobody waking up and yelling at me for staying up all night.

@PuyoDead Yup! The ever present terror of a sleepy-eyed parent shuffling down the hallway to yell at me XD

Mmm. Link to the Past has a lot of good memories for me. Then again, they all do. I remember watching the original Legend of Zelda commercial on TV. It haunts me. I purchased a used N64 (after the GCN was out) explicitly as a "Zelda machine". I tried to write a Zelda 2 clone in Turbo Pascal on my 286 :)

But Zelda 3 was the game I'd run home from school to alternate play with a friend for over a month solid. The only other game I had a similar experience with was 6 years later with FF7.

Oh wow.. I had forgotten the 'Zelda Rap' commercial XD Repressed memories activate!

How about this atrocity?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUAYO7Zyydk

@PuyoDead I've seen that, hehe.

Makes me wonder what the lyrics would be in English.

@PuyoDead That is disgusting.

I'd have to say Link's Awakening, then Oracle of Seasons/Ages. I can't define the qualities that make me like it so much, but they're the only ones I've replayed from the start and beat each time. Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask I've tried to get into several times but something about em just seemed to push me away. It's possible I just wasn't letting myself open up to the idea of a 3D Zelda.

LttP fits in third. The structure and design are flawless, but something or other would always hold me back from being able to beat it, usually some piece of hardware dying or no longer being available.

I'm a Zelda fan from day one, and i played every game. 'A Link To The Past' is my all time favorite followed by 'Ocarina Of Time'. The original 'The Legend Of Zelda' fills my #3 spot.

It's really hard to create a top 3 because I like all the games in the series one by one. (Only the real Zelda games though, as @PuyoDead said the CDI games are a real embarrassment to the series.)

I'm really curious about how 'Spirit Tracks' will be. I really don't know if I like the train element though, but what the hell it's a Zelda game and Zelda games never disappoint.

My favorite is definitely Ocarina of Time, most likely because its the first one I ever played and spend so much time on it the first way through getting everything. It remains my favorite game all-time to this day, though i also like Twilight Princess and A Link to the Past.

I've played and completed most of the Zelda games, and I will have to say that my favorite is still Ocarina of Time with A Link to the Past and Links Awakening at a close second.

I've played nearly every Zelda Game out to date and I still think to this day, while I'll play any of them again in a heartbeat, the black sheep of Zelda II will always hold a place in my heart XD

I'm going to have to go with Ocarina as my standout favorite, with Link's Awakening as my second favorite.

There are too many to pick out a favorite.
But when I think about it...

The Legend of Zelda is one op my tops.
Just because it is the first game in this awsome series.
I actually just begun with A Link to the Past, but I have read the comic and the story line is great.
Also one of my favorites is The Windwaker. The cell-shaded graphics are great and the "comics-look" disappears after a while playing. And I love to sail, so that's a plus for me :)
The rest of the series are pretty much on the third place.
Can't decide really :P

Lets see...
I'm not a Zelda nut or anything but i have played a good amount of Zelda games to tell which one is my favorite and not. My favorite is the same as many others, A Link to the Past. I played it on my Gameboy Advance a while ago when the remake came out and it was AWSOME. Out of all of the Zelda games, 2D and 3D this one was the most fun for me. It had somewhat of a storyline, fun dungeons and cool items. The mirror world aspect was the fun part. Now a days i feel like some of the Zelda games are a little bit repetitive and overdone. Twilight Princess was fun but it was the same old and i got bored and stopped playing 3/4 of the way through. OoT was a fun game but my hatred for the ending scene of the game keeps it of my favorite Zelda games. I didn't like the first Zelda cause there was no plot and no directions in the game at all... I'm one of the few people who doesn't like OoT much and I'm also one of the only people who though Wind Waker was lots of fun...

Once again, A Link to the Past. After that I'd say OoT or any number of the gameboy ones. But definitely ALttP above all

I'm with @WILDMAMMOTH. It's hard to go wrong with any of them.

@ahippie windwaker WAS lots of fun :)

I've played almost every game in the series (only missed Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons) and I'd have to give the nod to Twilight Princess. It took everything that had been done right in past games and gave it a good tweak. Variety was the name of the game, since you could be doing one thing, and just when you think "oh, God, here comes that X section" and then before you know it you're sumo wrestling an old rock man with old rock man nipples.

The original Legend of Zelda will always have a special place in my heart because it's the first game I ever beat, way back when in the mists of time, with lumbering form half-spotted moving slowly through the morning fog (1983 or thereabouts).

Probably Wind Waker is my favorite.For the handheld versions i would have to go with Awakening DX

I'm in the Link to the Past camp, though I also have Twilight Princess and Majora's Mask up there right under it, followed by Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker.

I grew up with A Link to the Past, and Twilight Princess was everything I liked about Ocarina of Time with updated graphics and weapons, which I thoroughly enjoyed. Majora's Mask was also an example (in my opinion) of Nintendo taking a risk and actually making something good and new out of a classic series.

A Link to the Past will always be my favourite though, since it was one of my first (and best) games I've ever owned and played.