Barring the last sentence (I'm not as big of a fan of Zelda), Moomoo wrote pretty much everything I was going to write. So there.

the original Legend of Zelda for nostalgia, it was my first Nintendo game.

Link's Awakening is my favorite because it's the only one I've completed.
I played MM when I was a kid but didn't get into it because I was 7.
I have OoT on the N64 but have yet to finish it.
Four Swords Anniversary Edition was pretty good but I thought the story and overall length were lacking.
The Legend of Zelda is really confusing because there are no directions... maybe I'll use an online guide for that one.
Zelda II is the same as the first Zelda but even more confusing and extremely hard.
Minish Cap is good but I have yet to finish it.

Skyward Sword. Great visuals, creative dungeons, and amazing controls. Majora's Mask comes in second for me followed by Ocarina of Time.

@Jumpman GO PLAY MAJORA! Or I curse thee to over 9000 nights of the cdi dinner!

ocarnia of time

Links Awakening, because it was the first Zelda game that I really played a lot and I liked all of the weird characters.

A Link to the Past. It was like the original but everything was ten times better. The N64 games, and all the 3D Zeldas really, took too long to get started and didn't have enough action. LTTP always had you doing something, and I've replayed it many times over the years. The 3D ones, on the other hand, force you to read page after page of dialog you've already read and watch unskippable cutscenes. That really kills the replay value for me as I like to do speedruns.

i would say majora's mask, i like the dark tone of the atmosphere and the story was really emotional at times, and overall gave me an awesome gamming experience

That's actually the one problem I've always had with the game. It hits the ground running and if you stumble, it's not gonna pick you up. I restarted it not too long ago, and I died 3 times before I made it to the castle. That was more or less the tutorial level. And after you beat Aghanim, you get zero down time - There's enemies everywhere! Really, out of all the Zeldas, I always felt ALTTP had by far the worst pacing. Not to say it was bad, but it did hurt the game somewhat, and makes it more difficult for newer players to get into.

Also, I wouldn't say it takes everything from the first Zelda and makes it better. Zelda 1's most important trait was that it had almost complete freedom of exploration, and always rewarded curiousity and creativity. So long as you had the right weapons and items, you could always enter any dungeon you wanted to, and there were always secret paths in every dungeon. You could explore almost any area you wanted to. Whereas A Link to the Past was more linear with more restrictions on where you could go, secret paths were usually not so secret and were usually necessary to continue the game, and of course you couldn't enter any dungeon you wanted. It's actually quite a shock going from Zelda 1 to A Link To The Past - both good and bad.

The Minish Cap, because it is officially the first Zelda game I ever beat. I have started just about every other one and never finished them. I just could not stop with this game and loved every minute of it. Thanks to the Ambassador's games for making this happen.

My fav 3D Zeldas are:
#1 Skwyard Sword - because there's always something to do in that game (never a dull moment)
#2 Majora's Mask - ummm....because there's always something to do (lol)
#3 Wind Waker - i liked the story and the cell shaded graphics were awesome!

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages is my fav 2D Zelda. The ability to upgrade items along with all the different rings makes Link's inventory rather large. D:
Also, the puzzles in Oracle of Ages are some of the most difficult on any Zelda handheld. Also, The Goron Dance.... D: D: D:

Link to the Past!

my top 5
1 Ocarina of time
2 links awaking,
3 minish cap,
4 majora's mask
5 a link to the past

my top 10

majoras mask 1
ocarina of time 2
twilight princes 3
skyward sword 4
minish cap 5
wind waker 6
Phantom of hourglas 7
Spirit tracks 8
four swords(gba) 9
the legend of zelda(original) 10

majoras mask is 1 becuase of the open worlded map and you can transform in an goron deku nut and force diety AND goron? HOW FREAKING EPIC IS THAT! i want it portable NOW ON 3DS XD but the original 3ds zelda will be cool too:D

@Mickeymac

You made a lot of good points, but I'm still going to have to stick with A Link to the Past. To each his own, as they say. I'd put the original Zelda at number 2 on list of favorites, followed closely by Link's Awakening. I do enjoy the 3D ones, but again, the pacing is a little too slow for me.

My Official Top Ten:

1: Link to the Past (SNES)
2: Ocarina of Time (GameCube and N64)
3: Majora's Mask (GameCube and N64)
4: Skyward Sword (Wii)
5: Wind Waker (GameCube)
6: Minish Cap (GBA)
7: Four Swords (GBA)
8: Ocarina of Time (3DS)
9: Twilight Princess (GameCube)
10: Link's Awakening (SNES and 3DS)

My top favorite Zelda game is of course Skyward Sword; because I was waiting forever for a game like it ever since I got my Wii back in 2006! Granted I got Zelda Twilight Princess when I got my Wii, & I played it at least 16 times during the 5 years; because it's also my favorite Zelda game! But I was so excited for Skyward Sword ever since it's reveal at E3 2010! And what drew me in the most of Skyward Sword, other than the awesome 1 to 1 sword motions & gameplay; was the immerse story & characters!

Since Skyward Sword, the demon Lord Ghirahim became my most beloved Zelda villain; & I love him ten thousand times even more than any other Zelda villain... especially Ganondorf! And Demise was a good villain too; & I loved the ending of Skyward Sword... (since it makes since someone as awesome as Demise would be the reason Ganondorf exists)! But Lord Girahim is just way too cool; he's got that cocky wicked smile, cool emo-style hair, & thinks he's a murderous freak with flair & such elegant poise! Plus whenever I've played through Skyward Sword; I'd always stand up & love acting out Ghirahim's super cool dialogue through the EPIC cutscenes! My top 3 favorite cutscenes with Ghirahim are: where he meets Link for the first time in the first dungeon (got to love it when he does that wicked silly tongue gag), where Ghirahim BURSTS through the wall near the Lanaryu Gate of Time & goes after Zelda with Impa protecting her (it's one of the BEST MOMENTS in the entire game), & where Ghirhaim abducts Zelda & kicks Groose down before escaping back to the past! But of course I also love the HUGELY EPIC scene where Ghirahim sucessfully resurests his master Demise; only for him to change into his master's sword, (talk about a twist)!

But also I love Ocarina of Time quite a lot; for I've played it countless many times before... both N64 & 3DS! I'm even almost at playing 100 hours of OOT 3D too; for the many times I've played it in the year! I even love replaying Majora's Mask; it's my next best favorite Zelda after Ocarina! Wind Waker comes after that; because I love the charming cel-shaded graphics... which are hard enough not to love! 2 of my all-time favorite Wind Waker moments are when Link gets sent flying through the air... it's priceless LOL! But A Link to the Past was my first Zelda game; for I love the SNES classic! I think I've played ALTTP way more times than OOT btw; for I can breeze through ALTTP like it was nothing! Link's Awakening is also my favorite too; for I love playing it because of the classic dungeons & story of the Wind Fish & Marin! Plus I love playing Link's Awakening more on my 3DS!

So here's how I'd rank my favorite Zelda's:
#1) Skyward Sword (Because it's perfectly awesome; for it's gameplay & characters like Ghirahim!)
#2) Twilight Princess (I love the feel for it; it's really dark & got that epicness... like Lord of the Rings!)
#3) Ocarina of Time (Obvious I've played it too much; & it's legendary the best in the series!)
#4) Majora's Mask (Right up there & next to OOT; & because of the masks!)
#5) A Link to the Past (Being my first Zelda game!)
#7) Link's Awakening (A GameBoy classic!)
#6) Wind Waker (Charming as it is; I love Link's emotions in the game! But dislike the sailing!)

I can't understand myself how anyone could include the original Zelda in their top 5 besides nostalgia but to each his own. I can't really say which game is my favorite but rating the ones I have actually beaten so far it would probably be:
1. Ocarina of Time
2. Link's Awakening
3. The Adventure of Link
4. Phantom Hourglass
5. The Legend of Zelda

1.ocarina of time
2.majoras mask
3.wind waker
4.twilight princess
5.a link to the past
6.minish cap
7.adventures of link(o hell yes 7 )
8.skyward sword
9.four swords adventure
10.oracle of ages/seasons