Feature: We Worked Out The Best Zelda Game Once And For All, Using Maths

As a great philosopher once said.....Math is related to science.

Please Nintendo, Minish Cap remake, please, 35th anniversary for crying out loud, please we need this.

Surprise surprise. Who woulda thunk it would be Breath of the Wild? Joking aside, it honestly fully deserves it.

I applaud the effort that went into this article. It's impressive.

My God that is an exhaustive piece, that really speaks to people like me who like raw hard fact. @KateGray you have killed it once again, please take a bow!

I still PERSONALLY believe that Link To The Past is the most perfectly constructed and fat free Zelda out there, and remains my favourite to this day. But I love Zelda 2 to bits as well so what do I know 😂

Bottomline there’s a Zelda game for everyone!

I'm just gonna say it! Ocarina is a good but very flawed game and is far from the greatest of all time.

Very interesting article. Thanks for the all the work put into this. BotW is now objectively the best Zelda, because science.

I would probably put A Link to the Past at the top, followed by Minish Cap, Wind Waker, Link's Awakening, and BOTW. I do not really like Ocarina of Time. Please don't crucify me.

I dunno, I’d still say that Ocarina of Time is the greatest game of all time, never mind just Zelda games.

You didn't carry the 1, this gets an F-.

Wow that last one is hilarious.

I’d say:

Ocarina of Time
Breath of the Wild
Wind Waker
A Link Between Worlds
Link to the Past
Majora’s Mask
Skyward Sword
Twilight Princess
Links Awakening
The Legend of Zelda

For me it remains 3. A Link Between Worlds, 2. The Wind Waker. 1. Breath of the Wild.

Breath of the Wild is my favourite Zelda game. Now, the thing that is super exciting is, once upon a time a link to the past was. And that got superseded a few times. So looking forward to the next one

A Link Between Worlds is really one of my absolute favorites, and I've played them all at this point. It has one of the most crystallized "Zelda Feels" compared to many others. Wish it were higher on the list, but I get it.

Breath of the Wild, while one of my favorite video games of all time, has very little "Zelda Feels" in comparison. It leaves me very conflicted as a rabid Zelda fanboy.

@TheJGG I cannot take a bow, for I have collapsed on the floor after finishing this behemoth

Nitpick: Why is “A Link Between Worlds” always correctly titled, but never “A Link to the Past?” I’ll look the other way on “The Wind Waker.”

Skyward is like most anime, where 40% of the game is dumb filler, but the core stuff is very good.

This list ends up being pretty good. Still have to vehemently disagree that the OG isn’t as good as something like Twilight Princess or Link’s Awakening remake, but this top ten does actually hit all the best games in the series.

@mandlecreed I'm with you there. ALttP is the crown jewel as far as I'm concerned.
And I really like Zelda II as well. I get some of the criticism for it (like Death Mountain), but I think if remastered with a few tweaks more people would actually see the great game it is. Zelda II ranks up there as one of my most replayed Zeldas.

I like Ocarina of time and it was amazing when it came out but I really don't think its worthy of the no. 2 spot.

At least I’m glad it wasn’t just me who thought skyward sword was “meh”

I love this, this is such a fun way to put coal in the steam train of Zelda debates.
What an incredible journey lol

@Nameless_Shame I knew there'd be someone who noticed! The answer is: I just like it that way, I guess?

I realised pretty early on that I was going to have to pick a style and stick to it, and I didn't fancy doing the entire "The Legend of Zelda: blah blah blah" titles, so I went with what most people tend to call them. Link to the Past is most often called that, instead of A Link to the Past - at least in my research

@Hero-of-WiiU
Close to mine except I'd switch Twilight Princess with Majora's Mask and Link's Awakening with Skyward Sword.

Link to the Past is loads better than Ocarina. OOT came when 3D was still getting ironed out, playing anything modern is a testament to that. There’s sooooo much empty space for the sake of padding, and once you get somewhere, it’s not even that good.

Meh.

My favourite is still Ocarina of Time, but I love the way every Zelda game is different, or tries something different.

These are all top 10 contenders without a doubt. I'd drop BotW to 5th and bump Twilight Princess to 6th, but I recognize that my personal preference does not match the majority on BotW.

People were upset about The Wind Waker because it didn't match the Space World demo, not Twilight Princess. Twilight Princess came out three years later as a response to the backlash.

The distinct writing made it obvious it was a new writer who wrote it. Nice article 👍.

@Leuke d'oh. Missed that one. Honestly, I'm surprised I didn't lose all sense of time altogether while writing this

"Kate gets a 8/10 for ranking ALBW a little too highly"

Being the best of the top-down Zelda games, IMO, it wasn't rated highly enough.

The final list isn't too dissimilar to where I'd rank them.

1) Breath of the Wild
2) Majora's Mask 3D
3) A Link Between Worlds
4) Wind Waker HD
5) A Link to the Past

@YoungLink64 I don’t approve OOT, super sorry!

@Ralizah Kate's opinions have changed over the years but maybe she needs to play ALBW again

I think if I removed the nostalgia glasses aside with Ocarina of Time and get over my pleasant childhood experiences with Wind Waker.
It would boil down to:
1. Majora's Mask (for the Retro category) 2. Link's Awakening (for the Handheld category)
3. A Link to the Past (for the 2D category) 4. Breath of the Wild (for the Modern category)

@KateGray Me too. I think I'm going to start revisiting the various games in this series to refresh my memory of them. Not the ones on NES, though. I beat them once and swore never to touch them again.

Hard to argue with the final list... until Breath Of The Wild 2: Linebeck's Revenge that is!

@Kaori-chan it can be frustrating if you don't know where stuff is i.e. armor and Great Fairy Fountains and if what you really want is to clear epic dungeons. It might be worth playing with a guide so you can at least get the armor.

@YoungLink64 I will accept my punishment three weeks stuck listening to Gaebora, Tingle and Agatha arguing.

Based on this math, the cost of skyward sword remake doesn’t add up.

Four Swords Adventures is consistently underrated now that Minish Cap is getting some love.

Twilight Princess is consistently overrated.

I'm surprised Twilight Princess is so low.. Personally I loved it, but that's just me of course.

Link's Awakening was fun and cute and all, but it felt pretty shallow, and it was short. I would have put Twilight Princess far above it.

Not not to cause Nintendo Life Civil War...

But did anyone else not like Breath Of The Wild?

All great. Link to the past. OoT3D. BOTW

@sixrings yeah... it's... not looking great 😬

@gonzilla I'm surprised too! I really wanted to do a chart that shows that the more recent a game, the better its ranking, but I also wanted to finish this piece before 2022

@YoungLink64 Thaaaaaaanks : )

NINJA APPROVED

I love how brits put an S on math. They must be light years ahead of us. Here where we only have math. Which sounds like less.

Wink wink

Screw consensus, top 10 list of zelda games in order of “fun I had with them”:

10) Minish Cap
9) Ocarina of Time
8) Zelda 1
7) Oracles of ages/seasons
6) Wind Waker
5) Minish Cap
4) Breath of the Wild
3) Twilight Princess
2) Link to the Past
1) Four Sword Adventures

Also, I enjoyed Triforce Heroes. It’s a shame it gets such a raw deal.

@AggressiveCucco doesn’t need one honestly. HD remaster with sprites.

BOTW does deserve the spot imo, but OOT? In second? Switch that with A Link Between Worlds and then I'd agree with the list. All of the games are great though. Also my mind might be changed with an HD remake.

Generally though, how I rank them depends on what style they are. Open-World > Top-Down > 3d

That was a good read and a final solid top 10. Not too different to the games I would have had in my top ten in a slightly different order bar the original Legend of Zelda (no disrespect), I would actually have Skyward Sword in my top 10 instead. Sorry for the sacrilege.

1. BOTW
2. Ocarina of Time (3D)
3. Majora's Mask (3D)
4. ALTTP
5. Windwaker (WiiUHD)
6. ALBW
7. Twilight P (WiiUHD)
8. Skyward Sword
9. Link's Awakening (HDSwitch)
10. Minish Cap
11. Phantom Hourglass

A hair's breath between placings 4 to 11 and placings 6 to 19 are in a constant state of flux. Ask me again in a month and you may get slightly different placings!

Just going to get this off my chest. Minish Cap is a lovely game, however it has some of the worst item designs and uses in the whole of Zeldadom. A few hours in and i always scratch my head as to why i cannot use "X" to get there or use "Y" to pop over that little fence. Fantastic premise but wholely let down by limited imagination (some claim hardware, but that is baloney).

As a fan of the franchise, they're hard games to rank.

Ocarina of Time made me a gamer. Link's Awakening and A Link to the Past are the most elegant and fine-tuned. Breath of the Wild obviously has the best exploration. Majora's Mask has the most interesting vibe and themes. Wind Waker is the most loveable. And the original Legend of Zelda is still the most adventurous and pure Zelda experience.

I give them all the #1 spot. That's my list.

@KateGray
"You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn't consider it a masterpiece."

By all means, let me make it easy for you. [raises hand]

@ToadBrigade good eye! They actually ranked Link's Awakening as #6, and Twilight Princess as #8. Reading numbers off the spreadsheet I made was really hard!

Luckily, it was just a mistake in the article, not in the spreadsheet, so the numbers don't change

For me it will always be Ocarina of time. For its time it was an absolute master piece and "imo" still does 3 things hands down better than BOTW. 1,Atmospheric, themed dungeons. 2, amazing bosses that you looked forward to getting to the next one just so you could see what it was going to look like. 3, a story that made you want to press on and prevail to the end.
If ocarina was made fresh today using the assets and amazing world traversal that BOTW brought to the table peoples skulls would be blown.
Naturally tho, this is just my oppinion.

I definitely don't HATE botw, but it's on the weak side of Zelda for me

Fun article, although I wish all the lists were from ten to one, rather than just the final one. Here're my rankings:

10. Oracle of Ages
9. Oracle of Seasons
8. A Link Between Worlds
7. Majora's Mask
6. A Link to the Past
5. Link's Awakening
4. The Wind Waker
3. Breath of the Wild
2. Ocarina of Time
1. The Legend of Zelda

Great and interesting job!

A Zelda game without a single legitimate temple can't be considered the best for me personally. Those are what excite me the most about each new game, with new character designs and atmosphere a close 2nd and 3rd. To me BotW has the third of those in absolute spades but the first two left a lot to be desired. I'm hoping the sequel corrects this. Then you'll truly see the best.

Great article and final ranking. Minor personal changes but this must be the one.
I have played all the top 10 but the original one and (hope nobody fires me) A link to the Past. I guess I should start playing it ASAP.
Just wondering whether the GBA or the SNES version (Nintendo Online) is best.

CDI snubbed again.

No Skyward Sword means trash list. I think most people didn't get into it because it was at the end of the Wii's cycle we opposed to the beginning. I think the reason botw is so highly rated is for the opposite reason. Though there are short fallings it has far and away the best story of any Zelda game. BOTW has just about the worst. There's also obvious short fallings of Wind Waker, though obviously a good game, that people seem to ignore these days.

I still don't fall for this list. MM, OOT, and LBW would be much higher. And if anyone dislikes this comment a lot, then no attack.

I would honestly love an Ocarina of Time remake, but on a much grander scale like Breath of the Wild and where the world is made more lively and expansive. Probably won't happen, but if it did, it would have the potential to become the new GOAT.

This is pretty cool. Wholeheartedly agree with BotW being on top overall, such a masterpiece of a game. Twilight Princess is too low though, I used to think OoT was better than TP, but the HD remaster changed my mind on that. Not to mention nostalgia was in OoT's favor as well. Still think OoT is amazing being #3 overall for me personally.

If you weight the lists with a score of whether they fit your idea of an appropriate list, that’s bias. Just republish your own top 10

Ocarina of Time is starting to have the same oversaturation annoyance effect on me as Kanto in Pokemon games. I still had the most fun with the Oracle games, especially Ages.

perfectly Agree with this list

I have no issues with this list. Mines slightly different but you really can't go wrong either way. Unless you put phantom hourglass at 1, then you're wrong 😉

@KateGray I wouldn’t be as opposed to the mass consensus incorrectly naming and abbreviating it that way if it weren’t for the fact that the same mass consensus correctly names and abbreviates its direct sequel. Consistency matters to me in that regard.

More to the point, where titles such as “The Adventure of Link” and “Link’s Awakening” refer to the Hero’s name, the “Link” in “ALttP” and “ALBW” refers to a connection. I know I’m splitting hairs here, but in the same way Zelda fans mock normies for referring to Link as Zelda, I find it a bit hypocritical that Zelda fans would overlook and/or be okay with this.

I also understand that as far as titles go, articles can be omitted from abbreviations, which is why “The Wind Waker” doesn’t bother me as much, but when the noun of a title is the same as the Hero’s name, I believe the article is necessary to differentiate.

Nitpicking aside, I’m wholly impressed by your dedication to math your way through all of that data to give us the most accurate hierarchy of the franchise. Kudos!

After reading that I now don’t even know my own favorite Zeldas. It’s all just list of titles that could be anything...anything! It’s all lost all meaning!

I’ll say this: I like Spirit Tracks. Is it a #10? A #1....I can’t answer that anymore. I just like the train whistle.

Sounds about right. IMO, Majora's Mask and Wind Waker are overrated, but they're fairly popular so I'm not surprised to see them in there.

@timp29 I didn't weight them based on my opinion, don't worry! That was just for fun.

@Nameless_Shame A fair and thoughtful argument - I don't disagree with you! But the thought of going back and editing it makes me feel very, very sleepy, so I hope you'll understand 😅

A great feature, a great read.

Thanks @kategray!

Personally I loved phantom hourglass its the first zelda game a played

@Kaori-chan there’s nothing wrong with criticizing the game it has some flaws like the durability issue you cited and others like the limited variety of enemies to fight and lack of challenging dungeons. Vocalizing fair criticisms can only help the sequel be even better.

@KateGray Haha, no, I wouldn’t ask or expect you to do that. But perhaps with your commanding knowledge and sway on the topic, you might in the future be able to convince others to 🙂

For being such a simple series Zelda fans sure do like to overcomplicate things.

Wow this must have taken a long time @KateGray not quik maths! (But seriously great job)

I don't care at all about reviews and scores, but IMO any Zelda games ranking that puts any 2D Zelda game (even A Link to the past) above OoT and WW is immediately invalid. Specially handheld 2D games. Not because 2D is bad, but because WW and OoT are so much better in every possible way. But that's just my opinion.

1. Twilight Princess HD (10/10)
2. Majora's Mask (10/10)
3. Wind Waker HD (10/10)
4. A Link Between Worlds (10/10)
5. Ocarina of Time 3D (9/10)
6. Skyward Sword (9/10)
7. A Link to the Past (9/10)
8. Minish Cap (9/10)
9. Breath of the Wild (8/10)
10. Four Swords Adventures (8/10)

I love Zelda game ranking lists, so here's mine:
1. BotW
2. OoT
3. WW
4. MM
5. SS
6. TP
7. ALttP
8. LoZ
9. Z2

P.S. Only nine entries because there are nine tv console Zelda's. I don't like handheld gaming systems so i never bothered playing any of those.

We all know the correct result is:

Breath of the Wild
Link to the Past/A Link Between Worlds
Ocarina of Time
Wind Waker
Majora's Mask
Link's Awakening
Twilight Princess
The Legend of Zelda
Minish Cap

Sometimes Math is incorrect compared to common sense 😝

Funny how All the games have very long decimals expect "Minish Cap" with a 1.5

nice feature, really good read.

@KateGray what would you current personal top 5 be?

@MarioBrickLayer good question. Off the top of my head, and extremely subject to change:

5. Minish Cap / Phantom Hourglass
4. A Link Between Worlds / Wind Waker
3. Ocarina of Time
2. Majora's Mask
1. Breath of the Wild

Yeah, I know, I cheated. It's like choosing your favourite child!

Also, for the record: Link to the Past is great, but it wasn't one of my early Zeldas, and ALBW does a lot of great work with updating ALTTP's world (in my opinion!)

This is the correct timeline

Im sure the skyward remaster will make it much more popular , specially among switch owners

Breath of the Wild seemed like it had an automatic win. It has evolved to become its own entire thing, judging by how a large number of BotW players have only played BotW.

However...
1. Breath of the Wild
2. Ocarina of Time
3. A Link to the Past
4. The Wind Waker
5. Twilight Princess
6. The Minish Cap
7. Skyward Sword
8. The Legend of Zelda
9. Link's Awakening
10. Spirit Tracks

I have no real opinion on both the Oracle games, Tri Force Heroes, Four Swords Adventures (not to be confused with Four Swords), and A Link Between Worlds, because I've never played those.

I feel like Majora's Mask is sorely lacking an actual good version of itself. The original needed some QoL improvements such as text and control preferences, while the remaster had all the wrong "improvements" with physics changes. I would give the game a chance, but it needs a good version to play.

Four Swords, in and out of itself, needs a realistic release. Enough said.

Phantom Hourglass was nostalgic, but it definitely didn't age well compared to Spirit Tracks.

I like that this list is exactly 50% 3D Zelda and 50% top-down Zeldas. I'm very much into the 3D-style but I think it's good that the other half of the fanbase is strongly represented here. Also if you include the 3DS remakes then half of the list has appeared on a handheld.

Anyway, I personally liked Skyward Sword more than Twilight Princess but I understand that game hit different for a lot of folks so I'm not salty. There have only been 6 3D Zeldas and somebody has to be last. I hope SS will get a bump in favorability with the HD re-release but I think everyone will always remember the ones most magical to them.

I guess my list right now is:

1. Ocarina of Time/Majora's Mask
3. Skyward Sword
4. Wind Waker
5. Breath of the Wild
6. The Legend of Zelda

And then I don't have any strong feelings about the other games. I enjoyed them all, even Zelda 2, I just don't spend as much time trying to decide which is my 7th favorite Really hoping the Oracle games get that Link's Awakening treatment though and I hope to play Minish Cap and ALBW one day soon.

@Madder128 I hope it's not what all future Zelda games will be from now on, but if it is I hope Nintendo listens to negative feedback from botw to improve future games.

Yeah I agree completely.

Don't get me wrong, there was a lot I liked about it.
It just never really clicked with me.
I just found myself feeling, this doesn't really feel like a Zelda game anymore.

It just wasn't the Zelda game I wanted.

It was definitely a Zelda game, for a new generation.
I felt more at home with the Links Awakening remake.

I really enjoyed that.

Seems about right. Skyward Sword doesn't even deserve a placement...most of the handheld games were better than that. Really wish they would have tried reworking the game a bit for the rerelease...it'll be a good litmus test for how strong the Switch cult of fans have become and just buy it anyway. Really curious about the sales.

Screw science.
Majora's Mask will always be #1
(The original N64 version, not the garbage 3DS remake)

@FaroreAbhorsen I didn't even notice that 50/50 split - what serendipity

I didn't want to go into it too much in the article (in case it came across as rude) but I did notice that the older journalists tended to be the ones who picked the older games. Makes sense, though! And it means that old Zeldas are still good Zeldas!

I really enjoyed Skyward Sword. The motion controls made good on the promise of the Wii, and I liked the more linear take on the formula. Plus, a time traveling adventure on an ancient pirate ship? That's gotta be my favorite dungeon.

I remember playing my first Zelda game, Ocarina of Time. When I turned into adult Link I was amazed there was more game left to come.

For my top three it goes:
Link to the Past
Link Between Worlds
Ocarina of Time

@Aerona big agree! Lanayru Desert kinda sucks sometimes, but the time travel and the dried-up sea are incredible storytelling moments.

The list reflects in general my opinion about each game.
I'm aware that BotW surpassed OoT as the best Zelda, and it really deserves #1.
But deep inside, OoT the first Zelda I've ever played will be always my personal favorite.

No game in the world is benefiting from the nostalgia effect in collective wisdom more than Ocarina of Time. I loved it when it came out, but by god, it's borderline unplayable today.

Breath of the Wild, the only bad Zelda Game developed by Nintendo. ☹️

Metacritic list seems like the true list. Ocarina of Time being the only game to ever score a 99 on the site tells you all you need to know.

I’ll use this opportunity to say that Link’s Awakening is a good game, but highly overrated.

Just here to say that the best part of this article, hands down, is: 'handheldas.' Beautiful.

Twighlight princess , probably the best dungeons in a Zelda game. Shrines should kneel out of respect! Xxx

Number 1 is really Tri-Force Heroes and we need a sequel and Switch port.

Very comprehensive list, it was awesome seeing our list over on Zelda Dungeon being added in and rated so highly!

Anyway, I don't mean to be nitpicky or anything, but it's A Link to the Past, not Link to the Past, lol!

I love some hard science, interestingly the Top 3 are - as far as I’m concerned - the ‘blue print’ games. Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past are the templates for the 3D/2D games that followed and Breath of the Wild will surely be the archetype for the future of the Zelda series.

This was a really fun article. As a Zelda fan since the original (yup I am old enough to remember when it came out ans changed my gaming world), I seem to find something in almost all Zelda games that I love (minus the CD-i titles).

That said, I find it interesting that the game I go back to replay the most is ALBW. For some reason, it feels so much like that magical part of my childhood that included Zelda 1-3, but does some cool new things.

I have been replaying the DS games and the Oracle games, and they are pretty fantastic to me...

Well, at least I can agree with most of the final top ten lol. Though I'd change some of the ordering a bit.

Controversial opinion maybe, but while I love A Link to the Past, I do think A Link Between Worlds ever so slightly edges above it in my book. The latter has a little more character development, a fun gimmick, a neat rental system, and some nice QoL improvements. Some of this may be because I first played ALttP more recently than many - via a used ALttP/Four Swords GBA cartridge - and only a year or two before ALBW was revealed.

I loved Triforce Heroes! Teaming up with a couple of friends to use fashion to take down an old lady and restore the princesse’s glamour and style? Genius! I’m not being sarcastic it was so much fun!

Any top ten without Oracles/Seasons is bunk for me.

I think posterity is important here and it's key to note that the most recent Zelda is likely to get more praise in lists- regardless of whether it's the best or not (as was the case with Skyward sword). No doubt BOTW is a great game - but Ocarina is essentially the modern author of 3D games and was classed as one of the greatest games of all time for such a long period. I would love to see a list that takes time into account - for example how many years or features a game had in "greatest of all time lists" (Zelda aside). I have a suspicion that OoT would come out on top.

my top 5 Legend of Zelda games please don't burn burn burn burn burn me
1- Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
2- Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time
3-Legend of Zelda Majora Mask
4- Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess
5- Legend of Zelda Link Between World

funny that Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild and Ocarina of Time is most tied as the best Legend of Zelda game in this lists(you can see by this lists, that Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild managed to archive the same impact Ocarina of Time arcived when is released back in 1998.

@KateGray This is the best NL article I’ve ever read.

"The first to call out Oracle of Ages as not only a standalone game, but also the superior of the two"
...Wait. Did we need to debate this? It's quite obvious that Ages is better than Seasons when you've played both.

That was a nice read though. :3

And this article got me to dig up my contribution to ZD's Best Zelda Ever 2020 list. My top ten:

1. Majora's Mask
2. Ocarina of Time
3. Breath of the Wild
4. A Link to the Past
5. A Link Between Worlds
6. Twilight Princess
7. Link's Awakening
8. The Wind Waker
9. Skyward Sword
10. The Legend of Zelda

I can imagine Skyward Sword perhaps moving up slightly by time we do this year's version as a result of the HD Port.

@mandlecreed You’re not alone Zelda II is so very underrated. I remember drawing maps of the overworld, dungeons, and making notes about what clue led to what secret. Hard.Core.

Meh. Agree to disagree. I guess a lot of people think breakable weapons add a positive challenge to the gameplay. I just find them to be a pain in the ass.

Ah yes

Math

Mmmmmmm

At first I thought, oh really?
But at the end this was a result I can agreed with, well done guys!!
🙂

My own list is actually the same as your mathy list, except that I think most people slightly under-rate LttP and original LoZ. I’d move them each up two places, shimmying the others down.

1. LttP
2. BotW
3. OoT
4. WW
5. MM
6. LA
7. LoZ
8. LBW
9. TP
10. MC

@SpiritMaskMan you're not the first person to point that out! Technically, it's also The Wind Waker

Thanks for making such a comprehensive list!

@ObeliskDrakon I couldn't help myself 😅

1. Breath of the Wild
2. Ocarina of Time
3. The Wind Waker
4. Majora’s Mask
5. Twilight Princess
6. Link’s Awakening (remake)

It just occurred to me that these are the only six Zelda games I have finished. What’s wrong with me?

Maths. We love you, UK friends.

I still have to say my personal favourite is Ocarina. I remember when I played that for the first time. It had so many brand new things. So amazing for its time. Just so fresh. And new.
Breath of the wild took everything ocarina did and expanded on it. But also expanded
and perfected on stuff OTHER games/series did way earlier.....sometimes decades before BOTW did them (breakable weapons, wide open world, no dungeons, side quests for days, stamina meters, etc) Don't hate me, it's true.

And again BOTW is a better game, but the mindblowing factor was bigger in OoT.

Basically Ocarina is my fave because it did so many new things for the time and did them all so well.

BOTW did ESTABLISHED things, with slight additions, but did them perfectly.

@KateGray Take a well earned rest, and lie on the floor for another few days, this was serious quality.

@KateGray I don't even want to post my opinionated list...

It's been a while since a gaming article has interested me so - this was well-produced and very engaging... I hope you get your due recognition. Certainly have my respect!

I can't helped it, but I'm so bothered that every instance of "A Link Between Worlds" uses the full English subtitle, but that none of the "A Link to the Past" entries do. It's "A Link to the Past", not "Link to the Past". If you're going to take out the A, why leave it there with "A Link Between Worlds"?!

OoT felt like 3D A Link to the Past. ALttP did it first and better in my opinion, though I generally agree with the top 3, just not in the order they came in.

Hot take - Phantom Hourglass was garbage, and Spirit Tracks was a million times better.

In terms of design, world building, UI, etc, OoT hasn't aged nearly as well as many of the other 3D Zeldas (or even some 2D ones), so its only natural if a more recent ranking places it lower. Only people's nostalgia is propping it up.

You keep writing “Link to the Past”, but you still write “A Link Between Worlds”. It’s “A Link to the Past”. Sorry, but it bugged me. Please be consistent and used the Forrest “A” in either both or neither.

1. Ocarina of Time
2. Breath of the Wild
3. Majora's Mask
4. A Link Between Worlds
5. Wind Waker
6. Minish Cap
7. Twilight Princess
8. A Link to the Past
9. Oracle of Ages/Seasons
10. The Legend of Zelda
Honorable Mention: Skyward Sword

The beauty of the Zelda series is that everyone has a different favourite. Currently 25% through Breath of the Wild and it’s pretty darn good. Could it challenge Ocarina for my favourite? Remains to be seen.

1: Ocarina of Time (10/10)
2: Majora’s Mask (9/10)
3: Twilight Princess (9/10)
4: Wind Waker (9/10)
5: Skyward Sword (8/10)

I need to play the 2D Zeldas. Fact.

Funny, math or not I accept this list.

The final list is pretty good... My appreciation for OoT has grown over time and I now would place it above MM. As unhappy as that wolkd make the teenage me.

Most popular isn't the same as 'Best', guys.

@IronMan30 no it gets an E minor.

Not crazy on BotW getting so many top spots. Recency bias maybe? The game is amazing, but the lack of dungeons/monotony of shrines really knocks it down a peg for me. The world exploration is unrivaled, but its lacking that meaty center. I'd still put ALttP over it in a heartbeat. Either way, here is my list, of all the games I've played:

A Link to the Past
Ocarina of Time
Majora's Mask
Breath of the Wild
Wind Waker
Twilight Princess
A Link Between Worlds
Link's Awakening
Skyward Sword
Zelda 1
Phantom Hourglass

Good list. (Though admittedly I haven’t played several titles yet.)

If I had to make one change I’d probably knock BOTW down a spot. It’s obviously amazing though, so I’m fine with it claiming number 1.

Just interested to see how it fairs against BOTW2 a year or so after that game’s release.

A listicle of listicles? Quite the concept, I must say. Unfortunately I made the mistake of clicking and reading through all of the links. But this puts too much weight on the so-called experts' opinions; I would be interested in seeing how normal people would make the list. Time for another user score-based ranking I think.

Anyone doubting A Link To The Past needs to go play through the original LoZ, then spend a fair amount of time with Zelda II. After that, then jump on ALTTP.

The leap feels like SS to BotW.

When you see Kate's Opinion on the Famistu List on Page 2:
Speeling iz fon

It honestly amazes me that BotW takes the top spot. I hear far more polarising opinions on the game than LttP or OoT.

I just finished my second playthrough of BotW - I didn't enjoy it first time around but I hoped I might feel different second time around (I didn't).

I'm not surprised that BotW has its fans, but I'm honestly amazed that more people weren't disappointed by many of the Zelda concepts that it abandoned for a new format, and therefore land it more around the #4 mark.

Nice article 👍 I've been playing through some of the classics again recently after finishing BOTW and come to the conclusion that Link's Awakening was actually the best one. OoT and LttP are stone cold classics sure, but some of the game design is starting to show it's age. In particular some of the later puzzles and difficulty spikes in the games can be somewhat impenetrable without YouTube guides etc and the 3D design/camera controls in Oot is a is a little dated. BOTW is is great but I'm not sure people will remember it as fondly in another 35 years. Links Awakening is completely timeless; A golden nugget of gaming perfection that's still as good to play in 2021 as it was in 1993. ❤️

The kotaku list is objectively correct

I enjoyed your maths. But im going to stick with legend of zelda: a link to the past as the best. Very accessible, for a lot of people/age groups.

Majora's Mask is better than Ocarina of Time, and Oracle of Ages and Seasons are underrated.

Spirit Tracks got snubbed.

"We love Skyward Sword, but it's definitely not a 40/40 game" - Nintendolife review: 10/10. Makes absolutly sense. 🤔

@MichaelP famitsu gave it a 40/40 which sparked controversy back in the day. It’s a reference to that. Famitsu and western game outlets often don’t align as some of the most praised games in the west get a measly 25/40 and some of the most mediocre games in the west get a 40/40. (Keep in mind famitsu basically has 4 critics review each game with an X/10 and they combine the scores to a X/40.)

40/40, 10/10 - What's the difference? Both sites gave the game a "perfect" score.

Am i the only one who's not very big on link to the past?

The very fact that Ocarina's re-release on the 3DS was rated as one of the best games on the 3DS and even sold almost as many copies as the original is proof that the game isn't just "rose tinted glasses good"... the game holds up.

That being said, i do agree with this list because Botw is easily the best of the bunch.

For me Zelda topped at link to the past, nuff said

Personally, Twilight Princess will always be #1 for me. It's the best of both worlds between Breath of the Wild and Ocarina of Time.

I know a lot of people think it's just a rehash of OoT, but I like to think it expanded upon the formula and perfected it. Like OoT, it has complex dungeons, memorable characters with deep development arcs, a fleshed out and engaging story, and epic music.

But like BOTW, it has a wide, expansive world with all sorts of nooks and crannies to explore and a variety of weapons to choose from, allowing for different gameplay styles.

And let's not forget Midna, the best sidekick in a Zelda game, ever. I loved her so much, I splurged and got the Definitive Edition of her statue from First4Figures. She stands proudly in her glass case on my desk, right next to Zelda from BOTW and Sophitia Alexandra from SoulCalibur VI, plus all of my amiibos.

I know people will disagree with me on this, and they have every right to. But frankly, if you're looking for a more expansive Hyrule to explore than OoT could ever hope to give, but were put off by the lack of proper dungeons in BOTW, then Twilight Princess is the game for you, and easily makes it a contender for the definitive Zelda experience, in my opinion.

I agree 100% with the Nintendo Life 2021 list.
I would place them also in that order.

Wat i really want back in a zelda game, is where Link can transform (Majoras mask) i freaked out when i saw that i can turn into a Zora, Goron etc, heck, fierce deity. Also what they did with Breath of the wild (powers from the Champions)
I liked that also in Ocarina of time where link had the powers of the gods. (Dins fire attack, Farores wind and nayrus love. I would love to see that link gets that once more (powers of the gods) more magical stuff. I also miss the Ocarina and the part where you start as young link and turn into an adult.
Thats was makes Ocarina of time my all time favorite.

That's very interesting as it is not too far from my personal top ten! I would have Skyward Sword HD in that top 10 instead of the first, respected, Zelda. Other than that, the games would be exactly the same for me just placings little different.

1. BOTW
2. Ocarina 3DS
3. Majora's 3DS
4. ALBW
5. ALTTP
6. Windwaker HD
7. Skyward HD
8. Twilight HD
9. Awakening (HD Remake)
10. Minish

The top 3 always remain the same, but 4 to 9 are always changing places as there is a hair's breadth between them for me. Ask me again in a month and those placings would have changed (between 4 and 9). I find Windwaker sometimes embeds itself at no.4 at certain moments of reflection for me, but not right now. Lol

Being such a big LoZ fan it hurts me that I just can't enjoy BotW..maybe I'll try again for the 5th time..

This is not a bad list. It is a hard list to pick and you did it with math. They are all good and classics. My least favorite would be the DS games. I am so glad they didn’t make the list. They weren’t bad I just didn’t like that stylist thing so much. This is my list.
1. Breath of the wild
2. The Wind Waker
3. Link to the past
4. Links awakening
5. Majora’s mask
6. Ocarina of time
7. The Minishing Cap
8. Twilight princess
9. Skyward Sword
10. The Legend of Zelda
It’s a hard list when the replay value is high for most of them. For me I can go back to them every two or three years.

I’m surprised that my Top 10 largely resembles the conglomerate version, though I personally feel that Wind Waker is a bit overrated.

Interestingly enough, the screenshot for the story gave away the top three in order.

@AggressiveCucco

Minish Cap is a personal favorite! I'm not excited for BotW 2 at all, but I would lose my $#^+! If Nintendo announced a sequel to Minish Cap!

Any list that puts BotW at #1 loses all credibility with me. Is it a bad game, arguably, no. Is it a bad Zelda game, arguably yes.

Breath of the Wild, but add about 10 fully realized dungeons with unique item, then mid boss and main boss for the perfect Zelda game. Only thing I missed were the awesome dungeons and huge, unique bosses in other Zelda games. Link to the Past or Ocarina are still my faves, but it's probably nostalgia talking

This was very well made! Can't really agree disagree as I haven't played most Zeldas. If they're ever eventually on the switch, I'll surely play them. I played Link's Awakening, and BoTW and recently just got Skyward Sword. I'm really really hoping Wind Waker and Twilight Princess comes eventually!

Your final list is very, very close to mine. The top 8 are exactly right.

Ocarina was nothing more than, "We're too lazy to do both story and 3D; let's just redo Link to the Past but in 3D and call it a day."

Then they just never ever stopped remaking Past. Tell me if this sounds familiar: you wake up. You get an unexpected sword (usually). You get three treasures (pendants/gemstones). You fight a fake final boss who then opens up some alternate dimension (dark world, time travel, alternate reality, etc). You then nab 5-8 (2 if we're being forced to glance at Wind Waker) more treasures to get to the real final boss. That's the formula of almost every Zelda game since LttP. LttP should get number one due to that very fact: Nintendo couldn't stop remaking it and we couldn't stop eating it up.

Would like to note some of those elements appeared in Zelda 1 and 2, however very loosely; it wasn't a direct formula like above until LttP.

@Classic603 I'm glad I found you in this comment section. Seeing all the unadulterated love for BOTW everywhere makes me feel like I played the wrong game or something.

The correct answer is Minish Cap.

I actually agree with the final list. It's close to what I'd rank it. I've always had a love hate relationship with Zelda games and never liked when they got too caught up in side quests. "I don't want to find your freaking coocoos!. I want to adventure and fight monsters."

Ironically there's something I like about Majora's Mask. But for me Skyward Sword was painful to play.