The Zelda games and me...

[gorfias]

Zelda 1 for the NES was one of my first and most positive game console experiences ever. It came out around 1986. 2 is considered one of the hardest games ever and I beat it. I was younger and had more free time then.

Link for the SNES 16 bit system around 1991 is one of my all time favorite games.

Ocarina of Time came out around 1998. I played with my son on this N64 title but I think there was a glitch. He used a key in the wrong place and I think that broke the game. I never got past about ? way through. But! I have it for the gamecube, playable on the Wii as well as the N64 title, ?Majora?s Mask?. MM pushed the envelope of what the N64 with a 4 meg expansion pak could do but the time loop that took you back to the beginning of the game over and over again if you didn?t finish it after 3 game time days was tiresome to me.

The Cube had Wind Waker: a cell shaded departure from the usual. I hated the camera on it but they improved it in an updated, hi def remake on the Wii U. So, I have that and follow up that makes use of the Wii Mote + : a better, more responsive wii mote that came out ? way through the original Wii?s lifetime.

I had Wii?s Twilight Princess ( A version came out for the cube too) but lent it to someone before I really got into it and never got it back ☹ There is a lot to like in that game and I may one day get the updated Wii U hi def re-release? BUT! BUT! BUT!!!!

I just tried Breath of the Wild. It is a systems seller for the new Switch but I?ve read some prefer the Wii U release as it has better controls. So, I got it. And, I?m loving it.

Most positive Zelda experience I?ve had since the 1991 SNES game.

I've never played a handheld Zelda, sadly, as there was one that took all sorts of GOTY awards.

EDIT: I think it was this one...
Your Zelda experiences?

 

[stroopwafel]

For some reason I could never really get into the NES Zelda's but when I got A Link to the Past in 1992 it was probably the first time I felt genuinely immersed in a game. That Nintendo pulled off what even many modern games struggle with 25 years later is an astonishing achievement. I have to be honest and say Ocarina of Time never impressed me to the same extent. Speaking of 1992 that was a magical year though being able to play Street Fighter 2 at home on the snes was similarly exciting, Snes probably had the best launch line-up of any system to date with Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, SF2 etc.

 

[sXeth]

Got Zelda 2 with my first NES. Which aside from some well documented issues that made it infuriating I didn't really mind so much as many seem to. Side scroller was probably more suited to combat then the top down stuff.

I at some point did rent the first one. I don't really remember much of it and not sure I finished it. At the point I'd played some Link to the Past at a friends, so it seemed kind of like a cheap knockoff really.

Link to the Past is probably the only one I've done more then one run through. Around the same point though I'd gotten a PC and was playing some stuff like Ultima and other similar games that made the open world idea seem a little less impressive (though in better fidelity).

Ocarina was a solid playthrough, but felt a bit retready. They expanded the lore obviously, but the general structure followed a lot of the same beats as LttP. Majoras Mask was interesting, but felt more like a mod then a separate entity.

Ages later I played Wind Waker, which was alright, but had the giant open sea with basically nothing in it. Little short dots of activity that didn't feel too substantial.

That prettymuch also was the general take I had while babysitting my nephew and helping him out occasionally on Breath of the Wild. Giant expanses of terrain, but not a whole lot to really do in them. Shrines were one room puzzles (if that). 5 dungeons in the whole game (compared to LttP or Ocarina a dozen or so). Even calling the Divine Beasts dungeons might be overgenerous. In a series that has typically revolved around collecting unique loot items that do unique things that enable progression and backtracking for secrets, the open world felt really dumbed down. Even what loot there was dribbled down to just becoming Sword+++++ variants, and never felt like progression so much as obligation to take one more damage spongey enemies.

 

[Veylon]

That Nintendo pulled off what even many modern games struggle with 25 years later is an astonishing achievement.

They polished the heck out of it. A lot of games end up feeling incomplete or boring or unbalanced because the developers didn't polish them. Each and every graphic, mechanic, area, puzzle and plot element has to be gone over and over again to make a game as polished as Link to the Past. There's a gulf between games that are done and games that are finished. Nintendo went to the extra lengths to put this one in the later category.

 

[DefunctTheory]

The Legend of Zelda (NES) - A fun, simple adventure game. Amusing at the time, but quickly forgotten

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES) - A much more colorful, fun entry than the original NES title, this game made many a venture to my cousins house enjoyable. It wasn't until I was much older that I was able to get this game on one of its re-releases (Never got an SNES) and play it all on my lonesome, but it was still fun.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (GB) - Hundreds of hours were lost to this game. Somewhere between the original and A Link to the Past, this was a perfect mobile game back in the day. Simple, fun and charming.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64) - I don't think I really need to get into this, do we? Lets just say I liked it. A lot. Insert the rhetoric in the games favor you've all heard for years. Also, Bonus: First video game crush!

Spoiler: Not Safe For Life

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GC) - At the time of release, I resented the art style and dramatic shift in setting. Later in life, I picked it up on sale for the Wii U to give it another chance, and wow, it's one of my favorites now. The art direction is endearing once you stop getting stuck up on 'what was,' the characters, including Link (For once) have a real life to them, and its just FUN.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii) - Like Wind Waker, it does something different, and it does it well. Unlike Waker, its a lot darker, thematically and visually, but still endearing. At times it can feel a bit derivative of earlier Zeldas (Namely, Ocarina), but the new characters and Wolf-Link keep it fresh enough to enjoy.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii) - A fun game, but DEFINITELY cookie cutter, without any truly unique mechanics to set it apart.

 

[Saelune]

Well...technically I started with the first cause my mom put her old NES in my room growing up, but my memories of Zelda 1 are beyond warped and I have yet to figure out why. Was not until Ocarina of Time that I accurately remember Zelda, and I beat it many times.

Never beat Majora's Mask cause of the water dungeon. The farthest I ever got I just got the ice arrow from it then moved on to the Ikana dungeon and beat that, but never went back. Was hoping to finally beat it on the 3DS, but the number of changes made me give up on it.

Link's Awakening DX is my favorite 2D Zelda. I beat it all on my own.

Played both Oracles, got to the boss of Ages but could never beat her. Never finished Seasons despite liking it more than Ages.

I got Zelda 1 on 3DS VC and beat it. Also got Link Between Worlds, and beat it but it was easy.

Oh, Windwaker, got and beat it. I think I finished the Photo Gallery, but not sure. My mother did though, and without any guides. She loved that game.

Phantom Hourglass is garbage. It is a DS tech demo game and it sucks.

Played Skyward Sword, but didnt get too far. Got to some desert area. I played the start of Twilight Princess on Gamecube but thats it

Never played Zelda II or Link to the Past.

I played a bit of Breath of the Wild, but I dont own a Switch of my own yet.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I just tried Breath of the Wild. It is a systems seller for the new Switch but I?ve read some prefer the Wii U release as it has better controls. So, I got it. And, I?m loving it.

Don't both versions have the same control schemes though?

Anyway, I find the Wii-U version slightly frustrating, because you KNOW it had touch screen support, which would've alleviated a lot of the issues with the crappy inventory management. But Nintendo decided to scrap it so that the Switch version doesn't like a lesser option by comparison. Now there's just a 'look at you TV' message on the touch screen. Pretty lame Nintendo.

 

[Hawki]

Of the Zelda games I've played/am playing, I rank them as thus:

9: Link's Awakening (currently playing this one)
8: Phantom Hourglass
7: A Link to the Past
6: The Minish Cap
5: A Link Between Worlds
4: Majora's Mask
3: Ocarina of Time
2: Twilight Princess
1: The Wind Waker

If I'm talking about the order I played them in, it goes roughly as thus:

-Ocarina of Time: First Zelda game I played, first I'd heard of the series. Loved it back in the day, still hold fond memories. Not without flaws in hindsight, but one of the first games I played that showed they could tell meaningful stories, and have meaningful characters in meaningful worlds.

-Majora's Mask: Bit of a weird one, how it seems to have flipped in popularity over time, to the point I consider it overrated - it strikes me as LoZ's equivalent to Final Fantasy IX. But, I still like it. Not as much as Ocarina, and I found the 3 day cycle annoying, but it's still pretty good.

-A Link to the Past: Might have played Wind Waker before this - played it a bit, only completed it much later. It's...okay, I guess. I can understand why this would be back in the day, but I'll be frank, I'm not that enamored with the game. The story is barebones, the characters are dull, the exploration is...okay, I guess, but while it's a more active form of exploration when compared to a 3D Hyrule field, it's still a less engrossing exploration for me.

-The Wind Waker: Didn't like this much when it came out - got up to the koroks and stopped. Disliked the gameplay, disliked the aesthetics. Went back to it a few years ago, and now it's my best Zelda game, and best game of all time. I now love the art style, love the exploration, love the story (a bit bare bones, but still there)...I'll be frank, even when I got the ability to teleport between locations in the sea, I still chose to sail most of the time. This is 3D Zelda exploration done right. Absolutely marvelous game.

-Twilight Princess: At the time, I declared this to be better than Ocarina. In hindsight, I still think that's true, but...well, I'll put it this way. Ocarina gave me a slate of characters to love. Twilight Princess only gave me Midna (broadly speaking)...but damn if she isn't an excellent character. Twilight Princess has reduced exploration when compared to Ocarina, but has the best combat in the series, and the darkest atmosphere. To be frank, Ocarina, TP, and WW form a kind of trinity in my mind, as in:

-TP: Best story, worst exploration
-WW: Worst story, best exploration
-Ocarina: Bit of both

By "worst" though, it's still good. So, yeah. I like Twilight Princess.

-The Minish Cap: Had to go back to this a few times, but overall, I like it. It's clearly wearing the influences of A Link to the Past, down to its basic geography. And while a bit more barebones in dungeon numbers, I like it more, if only for Ezlo, its themes, and aesthetics. Shrinking mechanic is reasonably fun too, and it has one of the best 2D boss fights in the series (the manta ray, and Vaati is pretty good as well). Minish Cap is endearing. That's all I can say.

-Phantom Hourglass: Bit of a weird one. On one hand, it's got Ciela (best fairy companion...there, I said it), and creative use of the stylus...half of the time. On the other, Linebeck is a walking cliche (did anyone not guess where his character arc would go), Bellum is a boring villain, and the stylus is tedious the other half of the time. Phantom Hourglass isn't bad (no Zelda game I've played is), but I feel it's one of the weaker entries, even though it's one of the most creative in terms of mechanics.

-A Link Between Worlds: I dare you to say that ALttP is better than this. Oh, sure, LttP is the more influential title, but what does it do better than Link Between Worlds? Better graphics, better characters, better story, better gameplay (the 2D feature). This is by far the most sandbox Zelda game I've played, and y'know what? It's damn fun. Really fun. I prefer the 3D Zeldas to the 2D ones, but this is easily the best example of the 2D formula. It might even surpass Majora's Mask for me because of its fun factor.

-Link's Awakening: Playing this now. It's basically a stripped down version of A Link to the Past. And...yeah. It's got a nice charm to it (the village, Marin, etc.), but it's tedious to play, given that I only have two buttons with which to use items, so I'm constantly switching between them. Even items that should be passives rather than equipped directly (e.g. the gauntlet that lets you pick up stuff. Also, it's got weird elements of Mario (goombas in tunnels) and a very Pokemon-esque feel at times (the grass, the village design, etc. So, got a charm, but really hampered by its controls.

Also, Bonus: First video game crush!

Spoiler: Not Safe For Life

Ruto? Seriously?

Bah! LinkxMalon OTP!

 

[cathou]

so in order, i've played :

-Zelda
-Zelda 2
-A link to the past
-Wind Waker
-ocarina of time
-majora mask
-Twiligth Princess
-Spirit tracks
-Breath of the wild
-A link between world (currently playing)

zelda 1 was one of my first games on nintendo, that i get after seing the lamest video game ad ever...


Zelda 2 was by far the hardest zelda game i've ever played. i beated it only once.

A link to the past is the one that i've loved the much for a very long time. i knew that game so much i could have played it eyes closed.

Wind waker was fun, but after such a long break of zelda game, i had a hard time to finally got invested in the game

ocarina of time and majora mask. i got those on a special game cube disk, i've played a bit, but never actually beat those two.

Twiligth princess: i actually love this one very much, except the final battle was too easy

Spirit track is the most bizarre zelda game i've played. i beated it, but i'm still not sure if i've loved it or not.

Breath opf the wild is my new best zelda ever. seriously, i've sink i dont know how many hours into it, and i loved the fact that i could play on my wiiu controller instead of the tv.

a link between world. it's funny because most of the old trick of a link to the past still work. like there's still a bottle under the bridge...

 

[WeepingAngels]

The Cube had Wind Waker: a cell shaded departure from the usual. I hated the camera on it

What? I don't remember having any camera problems, what exactly was wrong with the Wind Waker camera?

 

[DefunctTheory]

Also, Bonus: First video game crush!

Spoiler: Not Safe For Life

Ruto? Seriously?

Bah! LinkxMalon OTP!

Malon, the boring, 'human,' vanilla milk maid? Gross.

 

[CaitSeith]

I have played almost all of them (except Triforce Heroes, Four Swords Adventure, Spirit Tracks). Most of them are good, a few are pretty great (A Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, A Link Between Worlds) and a couple just "meh!" (The Phantom Hourglass, Four Swords).

 

[Fijiman]

I've never played a Zelda game so all the knowledge I have of the series comes from people who have played them.

 

[CritialGaming]

I've only tried to play a couple of the Zelda games. The first one I played was Link Between Worlds and I just didn't care for it. I honestly can't see what makes people love Zelda games so much, especially after playing Breath of the Wild and having nothing but a complete and utter miserable time. Yet people love it, there is no denying that, clearly there is some magic in these games that really clicks with tons and tons of people. I just don't fucking get it.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I've played every Zelda game except Spirit Tracks, TriForce Heroes, and Breath of the Wild (well and the CD-i games, but those don't count). I want to play Breath of the Wild, but I don't have the funds for it right now. I've enjoyed just about all of them except I didn't like the controls on Phantom Hourglass. Also Zelda 2 was insanely difficult and I was never able to beat it without cheating.
I think my favorites are Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and Twilight Princess.

 

[gorfias]

Don't both versions have the same control schemes though?

Likely but I'd heard the analog sticks on the Wii U feel better than the Switch.

I will write I watched a graphics comparison on youtube and the Switch version is impressive. But I think I'd need to watch them side by side to really notice. I was very pleased with the Wii U presentation.

Anyway, I find the Wii-U version slightly frustrating, because you KNOW it had touch screen support, which would've alleviated a lot of the issues with the crappy inventory management. But Nintendo decided to scrap it so that the Switch version doesn't like a lesser option by comparison. Now there's just a 'look at you TV' message on the touch screen. Pretty lame Nintendo.

Is the Switch screen touch capable? I thought it was. I've mostly used the Wii U screen with Bayonetta 2 and doing so took my concentration away from the TV screen so, it gave me the option to not use it.

The Cube had Wind Waker: a cell shaded departure from the usual. I hated the camera on it

What? I don't remember having any camera problems, what exactly was wrong with the Wind Waker camera?

I don't own it anymore (but did get the Wii U HD remake) and I rage quit in a dungeon where I was being attacked by a mouse and did not have enough camera control to even see him. On the Wii U, it is fun. But, I've gotten a taste of Breath and am VERY impressed. I only regret getting it for the Wii U in that, if I do end up getting a Switch, I just bought its system seller for the Wii U. What is left? (In fairness, the next Mario sounds amazing). But I already have Mario Kart and Smash Bros for the Wii U so, not in a hurry yet.

I may go to the store and see if I can get the SNES Link to the Past for Wii U. The SNES box is dropping soon. $80 and I think it has LTTP on it... as well as Super Metoid. I have options. First world problems.

Never beat Majora's Mask cause of the water dungeon.

I?ve heard that was legendarily difficult.

Link Between Worlds, and beat it but it was easy.

I like easy! May have to get it for this reason!

I played a bit of Breath of the Wild, but I dont own a Switch of my own yet.

Me neither. Yet. Needs a much bigger library just to get me interested. Got Smash Bros and Kart for Wii U, Doom and Skyrim on PC. I?ll keep an eye on it. It is selling well and may be worth a purchase soon.

2: Twilight Princess
1: The Wind Waker

I got the HD remake of Wind Waker and given your strong opinion of it, better play some more ASAP? after I finish Breath of the Wild which is blowing my mind. Beautiful and fun so far.

Twilight Princess, I JUST got into, lent it to a friend who I very rarely see anymore and never got it back! It was for the Wii. I?ll reach past the broken glass and fish hooks in my wallet pocket and buy it for $40 HD remake for Wii U some time.

Breath opf the wild is my new best zelda ever. seriously, i've sink i dont know how many hours into it, and i loved the fact that i could play on my wiiu controller instead of the tv.

I?m inclined to agree. Having a blast with it. As would this guy:

I've never played a Zelda game so all the knowledge I have of the series comes from people who have played them.

Is it a platform thing? Not have Nintendo stuff? I loved Link to the past. For $80, the SNES classic comes out with 20 games, including that one. Great place to start if it interests you.


And the game?


Number of ways to get Link games and they range from really good to perfect 10s. Hard to go wrong.

Zelda 2 was insanely difficult and I was never able to beat it without cheating.
I think my favorites are Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, and Twilight Princess.

Got to get that Twilight Princess Again! I keep hearing great things about it.