Which Zelda game were you most excited to play?

[Anayo]

The reason for this topic was me reminiscing over this E3 2004 trailer for Zelda: Twilight Princess:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VE2Dc1sx71U

I was about 14 years old when I saw this, and I could not have been more desperate for a game to come out. I remember there being a lot of buzz online over it, too. People on the message boards I frequented would change their avatar to a .gif of that part at the end of the trailer where Link stylishly sheaths his sword and glares at the camera. The game didn't come out until almost 2 and a half years later, then it was another year and a half before I got an affordable copy. So I ended up waiting 4 years to actually play the darn thing.

The Zelda game I was second most excited to play was Majora's Mask on the N64. I was 11, had pretty recently finished Ocarina of Time, and couldn't wait to go back to Hyrule for more adventures. I got the game cartridge for my birthday, but not the RAM expansion pack needed to play it. I spent several afternoons staring at the screen telling me, "RAM EXPANSION NEEDED" before making another trip to the mall to buy it. That was an expensive game for 11 year old me.

Most disappointing one would be Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on the Nintendo DS. I hoped for something like the Nintendo 64 games. What I got instead was something I'm not even sure deserves the Zelda namesake. I was never particularly immersive or excited while playing it. It still bums me out thinking about this one.

Weirdly enough, for as much as I'm enjoying Zelda: Breath of the Wild now, I never spent much time yearning for it to come out. I think I just sorta put it on my mental backburner, then when it came out I was like, "Oh, yeah, this was coming out? I guess it was."

[BogusMeatFactory]

To be very honest, Breath of the Wild is the one for me. I had never been a big fan of the series as I grew up as a Sega fanboy. The games in the series were ones I picked up and played after release with no prior knowledge or information about. Games from Wind Waker and after, I had interest in the series because that was when I started digging into the likes of Majora's Mask and becoming engaged. While there was interest, there wasn't anything that hit me quite like Majora's Mask and piqued my curiosity... until Breath of the Wild and it was well deserved. So few games live up to the hype buildup and even after 6 years of teasing and delays, you would think that the interest would fade, but not so.

[dsheinem]

the original

[ElkinFencer10]

Probably Skyward Sword for me. I didn't start getting "hyped" for new Zelda games until 2006, and Twilight Princess looked good but not incredible to me. I had reservations about Breath of the Wild's open world before launch, so while I was excited, it was a cautious excitement. Skyward Sword, on the other hand, was pure and unadulterated hype for me.

[beatnix]

Ocarina of Time. I was never allowed to have a game system growing up. My dad and I snuck off to sun TV once and bought a Genesis and NBa Jam. I played one game, mom came home and forced dad to take it back. I was a senior in high school in 1997. The first thing I did when leaving for college was buy a N64. I played the crap out of OoT in my dorm, racing my neighbor to be the first finished. It was a glorious time.

A very close second is Breath of the Wild. It is the entire reason I bought my Wii U a couple years ago. I have been waiting and waiting and thankfully it has exceeded all my expectations. Wii U purchase 100% validated.

[mas]

Original two on the nes.
Seen my buddy Mike go out of his house with a gold cart and had no idea what it was. After I finally had a chance to play it at another kids house and had to have it.
Same story goes for adventure of link. Hoping to get a chance to play it and my buddy had Nintendo power and when I seen the pics of the game I had to play it so he gets it at launch day and I get to just watch him play.
After that I was determined to get a nes for xmas

[prfsnl_gmr]

the original

+1

I recall that the playground hype surrounding this one was simply unreal. ("You can save your game!")

[fastbilly1]

Either Link to the Past or OOT. Link to the Past was a landmark "Zelda but prettier moment" but that jump to 3d cannot be understated.

[Xeogred]

Every single one except Spirit Tracks.

Zelda releases are a religious experience for me.

[isiolia]

Notable ones for me...

Link's Awakening because I bought myself my own Game Boy when my family was moving to Japan, and it included a copy. I'd never tried a Zelda game prior to that, but knew the hype.

I wound up buying an SNES bundled with Link to the Past on base there (it was on sale for $40-50 I think).

I'd put Wind Waker up there, since between the preorder bonus for that (the Ocarina of Time combo disc) and the free game promo on the Gamecube at the time, I actually (re) bought a Gamecube to play it.

Breath of the Wild I wasn't too stoked on prior to release, but I found it much more compelling to keep playing than most of the other 3D ones I've tried.