I have been playing lots of Zelda lately, as you may know I downloaded all Zelda games available on VC. So I decided to make this top 5. Here we go:
1- The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
No surprises, here. This game is considered to be the best of all time by most gamers. It has great graphics, a gameplay that has been used by many other games since 1998, a huge storyline and it was the first 3-D Zelda. It is a pretty lengthy adventure which features many challenges such as the Water Temple and Shadow Link. The puzzles were very creative and all dungeons had perfect design.
The game also had tons of sidequests, pieces of heart and secrets. By using the Ocarina you could play several tunes and have some fun creating your own songs, the soundtrack was also marvelous with many amazing songs like Gerudo Valley and the Title Screen. Even almost a decade after its release Ocarina of Time is still an engaging adventure that hasn't gotten old.
2- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
The main complaints I hear about Twilight Princess on the forums is that it is similar to Ocarina of Time, but if you analyse both Ocarina and Twilight as a part of the whole series you will notice that although Twilight has the same scenarios when compared to Ocarina of Time, so does Ocarina if you compare it to A Link to the Past. Honestly the series has played the same since its first installment with dungeons on which you collect items that will allow you to defeat the final boss. So Twilight is as much repetitive as Ocarina is, the main difference is that Ocarina of Time was the first 3-D Zelda, thereby it was considered to be a huge revolution.
I guess too much hype was the main reason for most of those complaints. We had to wait years to play this game and when we had the opportunity people were not happy with it. But this game has so many qualitites, it is by far the longest Zelda game and the graphics are one of the best you will see on the GC.
3- The Lengend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Once in a while a great series like Zelda needs something different to keep going and that's what Majora's Mask is all about. There is no Ganon, no Zelda, no Hyrule and no Triforce . Instead, you are taken to the land of Termina where a skull kid has been possessed by an evil Mask that wants to destroy the world by striking it using the moon. Quite an odd and dark storyline.
The main feature of the game is the ability Link has to use Masks, it is awesome to feel what is like to be a Zora, a Goron or a Deku. Gamers disliked the fact that this game only presented 4 dungeons compared to 8 of its predecessor, still Majora's Mask managed to be really nice and in order to compensate for its lack of dungeons it was the zelda game with the most sidequests up to that day.
4- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Quite a polemical game here. As the Gamecube's release approached Nintendo fans were crazy to play a new Zelda game with great graphics and a deeper adventure. But Nintendo decided to take a huge risk. When footage of the new Zelda game was first shown everybody was disappointed. Where did that amazing adult link go?? What about the graphics?? What is Nintendo thinking?? Most people started to criticize the game, even expecting it to be the start of the downfall of the series, but then its launch day came and people who gave it a try were soon happy and astonished.
The Wind Waker is perfect, the graphics couldn't fit a Zelda game better. Never had a Zelda such a big overworld full of secrets and with lots of treasures spread through the land. Although it ended up being much better than expected the game had some problems such as too much sailing, weak enemies and lack of dungeons. But is impossible not to feel overwhelmed everytime the daylight comes while you are sailing and you know that there are still a lot to explore.
5- The Legend of Zelda
This game is easily considered the longest game of the NES era. It was the first game where you were not supposed to finish it in a couple of hours. Actually you had to explore the land of Hyrule for a long span before you could find the first level. Despite being the first game this game is still the one on which you can find the most secrets, there are hidden caves everywhere.
Link's first adventure already announced what was to come. The biggest series of all time.
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