What are you playing?

[Xeogred]

Soul Caliber 6 is absolutely amazing.

[noiseredux]

Started playing Link To The Past this week just because I was excited that the Virtual Console on New 3DS has SNES games. LTTP is one of my favorite games of all time. Top top tier. Like, totally possibly the #1. I'm kinda flying thru that game. Have already done two of the first three dungeons. Got the fast boots and the ice rod. It's amazing how much I just remember that game. But then again, when I was in junior high or a freshman or whatever and that was the new game I had and it was probably months until I got something else, that game was like my whole fun life y'know? In my memory, LTTP was what I did EVERY Friday night all night for MONTHS. In my head, that game's soundtrack is basically these early 90's slow jams like "Bump N Grind" or "This Is How We Do It" or "Regulate" or "Lodi Dodi" because that's what was on the radio on those Friday nights. I probably explored that particular Hyrule deeper and stumbled upon more secrets by accident than any other RPG I've ever played.

[Xeogred]

Link to the Past definitely is... PERFECT!

[BoneSnapDeez]

Pretty much, yeah. Literally a game I could pop in and play at any time. It just rules HARD.

[noiseredux]

It is perfect. How would I improve Link To The Past? I can't think of anything.

Speaking of, let's go super basic Video Game Forum 101 - "Top 5 Zelda games, and why?"

[prfsnl_gmr]

I’ll bite...

1. Breath of the Wild - All consuming open-world LoZ game; incredibly fun and well-designed; brimming with secrets; breathtakingly beautiful; one of the best games in any genre and in any series

2. A Link to the Past - best traditional 2D LoZ game; established the gameplay formula that guided the series’ design until Breath of the Wild; tremendously fun; one of the few games I have beaten more than two times (I’ve lost count, actually...more than three times, less than ten)

3. The Legend of Zelda - the original remains one of the best; no handholding, non-linear adventure that clearly inspired Breath of the Wild; genuinely challenging gameplay; graphics and music have held up

4. Majora’s Mask - superb 3D Zelda game defined by incredibly bold design choices; fully-realized game world overflowing with detail; great non-traditional villain; pinnacle of 3D LoZ games until Breath of the Wild

5. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - bold departure from original with superb combat; great atmosphere; genuinely challenging gameplay with awesome, Metroid-inspired dungeons

Honorable Mentions: Link’s Awakening (still the best portable entry), The Wind Waker (beautiful, but heartbreaking, experience with deceptively deep message)

Please note that I have not beaten Four Swords, Hyrule Warriors, Skyward Sword, Tri-Force Heroes or any of the CD-I games.

[Xeogred]

noise wants to start a war... I'm sure we've had dozens of posts about Zelda before. Hmm, seems kind of hard for me to rank them though. Zelda is my favorite franchise of all time next to Metroid and with Zelda, I've been with it every step of the way which makes it even more special to me. Played the first one first and I had never played anything quite like it at the time, then my dad's side of the family had Zelda II and Metroid so I got to experience those together. Then I was exposed to Link to the Past and Star Wars around the same time, when I was 5ish... the rest is history.

1. Link to the Past = perfection. Back in the day, I had three completed save files and did a challenge with myself. First save = Red Tunic / Gold Sword, second save = Blue Tunic and Tempered Sword, and third save = Green Tunic and Master Sword. I'll always remember that. Also even as a kid before my collector mentality kind of kicked in, I liked owning both the original cart and the best sellers edition. But I'm a bit disappointed LTTP didn't get a gold cart!

2. Ocarina of Time = LTTP in 3D! This is the last of the simpler Zelda formula to me, which were mostly all about dungeon crawling. From Majora's Mask and on, the series would start featuring more fetch quests, NPC events, etc, so I think there's a divide in style here. OoT is the only 3D one I've replayed a good dozen or so times and I still have the fondest memories of the gold N64 release, you know, uncensored and with the original Fire Temple theme, etc. I finally played the 3DS version this year and it's fascinating to go back to this game in 2018, 20 some years later. But man, even if its world feels smaller now (maybe amplified playing it on a handheld, having that all in my palm), it still has the magic and was pure bliss to venture through yet again. Still holds up and forever will. I was still a kid when OoT came out and saved up a summer's worth of allowance to get my still CIB gold release of it. That and Majora's Mask are the only CIB N64 games I've managed to keep in full over the years, the rest are just bare carts.

Man, I don't know if I can do it from here. Not to mention I think the overhead games and the 3D games are quite different in style, I can see how some might prefer one side of the series and not the other, but I personally love both. I would say after those two, Link's Awakening, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II, and the Oracle games are all high on my list. The original is a bit odd in ways to look back on, since the dungeons are really simple and it's more combat heavy. I might like Zelda II just as much and I think RB's had a lot of fans of II which is cool, you don't see that everyday. But it really is Link's Awakening and Link to the Past that defined the real formula for the franchise. Twilight Princess is fresh in mind since I played the WiiU HD release a few years ago and I still love it, it's like a beefed up Ocarina of Time with a more original story here and there. I don't love the wolf Link stuff, but it doesn't last forever. Skyward Sword has a slow burner start like some of them, but it might be my favorite art direction wise for the 3D games, the OST is incredible, and the story is one of the best, I love how Zelda was more of a cute girl next door character in this one and more down to Earth. She was finally different. As a long time fan, Breath of the Wild still captured my heart and definitely reminded me of playing other Zelda games and the original for the first time. Last year, I was putting in 12+ hour BoTW binges in over the weekends and I can't say that for very many other games. There are things it could have done better, things I miss like real classic and big dungeons, the story was weak, but overall it still blew me away and I'm excited to see what Nintendo does next assuming they stick with that formula. A special shoutout to the two Oracle games as well, I like how they're much harder than Link's Awakening. But I have to give major props to Link's Awakening for having a cool non-Hyrule setting and story, the Feather making Link jump is a huge game changer for dungeon ideas, and I love how every dungeon had its own theme. Link's Awakening is incredible.

I don't love Wind Waker or Majora's Mask, but they're still leagues above other games out there. I'm excited to checkout the 3DS version of Majora's Mask someday.

The only Zelda games I legitimately dislike? Phantom Hourglass, didn't even care to finish it! And since Spirit Tracks looked like more of the same, I skipped it.

The Zelda's I've beaten once and could go for another playthrough someday:
- Majora's Mask (gonna checkout the 3DS version)
- Skyward Sword (keep hoping it'll get a HD release)
- Both Capcom Oracle games (think I emulated them but I'll buy them and LA on the 3DS eshop someday)
- Minish Cap (don't recall thinking much of this one but it's been awhile, I own it on the WiiU eshop for a replay sometime)
- Breath of the Wild (played the WiiU version, so I'll double dip for the Switch release someday)

[BoneSnapDeez]

My taste is games is very much tied to hardware/generation. I prefer retro, and my favorite Zelda games are the first four. If I had to rank them:

A Link to the Past
Link's Awakening
The Legend of Zelda
Zelda II

After that everything gets a bit muddled. My least favorite entries are the ones on GameCube, Wii, and DS, and I have yet to really play Breath of the Wild.

[BogusMeatFactory]

Top 5 zelda games are ...

1. Majora's Mask
2. Link's Awakening
3. Breath of the Wild
4. Wind Waker
5. Skyward Sword

..... Link to the Past? May be my least favorite....

[noiseredux]

..... Link to the Past? May be my least favorite....

weird, dude. How come? Just curious.


For me,

1. Link To The Past - nostalgia of course, and as mentioned spending much of 1994 (I didn't get a SNES right away) playing LTTP really cemented it as something special to me.

2. Breath of The Wild - I really can't believe that I'd call a 2017 Zelda game my second favorite, but here we are. I just feel like it's the most perfectly realized version of the vision of the first Zelda game. And I've written MANY words about what I love about BOTW without ever really nailing what I was trying to say. See: https://noisereduxinstalled.weebly.com/ ... -wild.html

3. Wind Wake - OMG this game is still beautiful. I guess for me a big part was that I was not a N64 fan. And while I *like* Ocarina, and Majora's Mask even more... I think they were fairly ugly games. When Wind Waker came out my jaw dropped. I don't know, cartoon kiddie link seemed to bother some, but I thought that game was a blast. It used to my 2nd favorite.

(this is where it gets more difficult)

4. Link Between Worlds - another weird surprise, but yeah this game was fantastic. And it circles back to the nostalgia. LBW was proof that you can go home again, and I feel like it was a love letter for those (many) fans of LTTP.

5. Link's Awakening - much like how so much of my love of LTTP is wrapped up in a memory of a certain time, Link's Awakening reminds me so much of freshman year of high school. While my GB should have been long in the tooth by this time, it was amazing to me to have this Zelda game that felt so much like the SNES game but that I could carry with me and back and forth between my mom and dad's houses; play at lunch at school; or pop the cartridge into the SNES Super Game Boy and play in glorious color!


Honorable Mentions: The Adventure Of Link was my intro to the series in 1987 and as such is super special to me. Yes it's a black sheep, but I think it's an incredibly awesome game. The original Zelda is unfuckingwithable and the fact that I could think of five others to put before it means a lot.