Ranking Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda Series

With so many Legend of Zelda games to choose from, which Zelda offering do Screen Critics believe is the best of the entire series?

[PressXtoBacon]

oof I think Skyward sword got cheated

[FernDiggidy]

oof oof oof oof oof

[Casepb]

Need to go outside boy?

[Sono421]

botw should be at the bottom, only thing keeping it up was a zelda drought, a popular new console, and hype. Absolutely no substance.

[septemberindecember]

@Sono

It’s super telling of your illogical vapid hate for that game when you feel it should rank below Wand of Gamelon, Faces of Evil, Links Crossbow Training and Tingles Rosy Rupeeland.

[ninsigma]

Of the zelda games I've played (which is only a few) wind waker was the best for me. Fantastic game that was brilliant to play, had beautiful visuals and was a great world to explore.

My list would be:
Wind Waker
Link between worlds
Ocarina of time
Breath of the Wild

Ocarina of time may be unfair. I got horribly bored in the middle and that's likely just because I played it in the last couple years and not back when it was all new. Link between worlds was just a fun little game from start to finish for me which is why I placed it higher.

[conanlifts]

I played ocarina at launch. For it's time it had the most amazing visuals. I often paused it to show people how amazing it looked.

[ninsigma]

I can definitely see Ocarina being amazing at the time. Even in terms of mechanics it's impressive.

[TheFirstClassic]

I played ocarina and majora for the first time a few years back, and while I enjoyed oot I felt like it hadn't aged as well as a lot of people claimed. Majora's Mask, on the other hand, has aged way better. The darker colors hold up better and there is still nothing like the game's time system, it easily has the best side quests of any zelda game. If you haven't tried majora I would recommend it, I was disappointed by oot but majora's mask is probably in my top 10 favorites. It can be a polarizing game, but a lot of times people that aren't that into the standard zelda formula like majora the best.

[Benjaminkno]

I was super psyched for OoT and I just wasn’t that blown away.
I think my expectations were unrealistic.
It was very slow, and little exploration.
The water temple keeps me from playing through it again

[conanlifts]

My top two.
1 Ocarina of Time.
2 Breath of the wild

[Relientk77]

Ocarina of Time
Wind Waker
Twlight Princess

Are my favorite 3 Zeldas, from the ones I played

[rivaldoo777]

Zelda games were always really good with my personal favorite as TP and OOT.

[Last_Boss]

1.Link to the Past
2.Twilight Princess
3.Minish Cap
4.Wind Waker
5.Ocarina of Time

[MadLad]

Majora's Mask still holds as my favorite of the series. Love the darker tone and aesthetic. Then Twilight Princess, Ocarina of Time, and Windwaker.

Only played a little Breath of the Wild while at a friend's. Not sure how I feel about it yet.

[Sm00thNinja]

1.Legend of Zelda OOT
2.Legend of Zelda Windwaker
3.Legend of Zelda BOTW
4.Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask
5.Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess

[Casepb]

Ocarina of Time is still my number one favorite. I think Wind Waker is next.

[PressPlayBros]

OoT still #1 for me, Just started BOTW maybe 2 weeks ago and have to say at the moment it feels a little overrated. Color pallete is meh, controller scheme is whack, voice acting and story are ok at best (besides Zelda's terrible voice), and I was still feeling a 10/10 after all this but then god damn does it get incredibly repetitive. I'm just doing the same thing over and over again and I feel the less linear/super open world concept is cool but takes away from any story telling at the same time. Maybe the end game will save it for me, that's yet to be seen. Still a very solid game, I just see so much lost potential. I'll be treating it as RDR lite for the time being XD.

[Sirk7x]

No love for Link's Awakening :(

[RPG1201]

Agreed, but how is Majora's better than Ocarina? That's just Heresy friends; a plague upon YOU.

[MadLad]

I think MM is better.
*shrug*

[Majinzo]

Link to the past is definitely #1.
OOT 2
Wind-waker 3

[LiViNgLeGaCY]

That's my top 3 as well.

[strayanalog]

Whether our rankings match up or not there's one thing everyone has forgotten... we all have incredible taste.

[il-JumperMT]

Breath of the wild is the only zelda i did not finish and will never finish. Its so boring I stopped when you are given the camera, and I bought a bloody switch for it.

At least other games paid for the switch.

[-Foxtrot]

Ocarina of Time
Majoras Mask
A Link to the Past
Wind Waker
Twilight Princess

The recent console games like SS or BotW just didn't have that Zelda charm like the old games did which made the franchise what it was. A Link between Worlds was the last one for me that felt like that.

[JimmyDM90]

Wind Waker is my #1. I’d put pretty much any 3D mainline Zelda over the 2D games.

[thegamefox93]

Top console zelda games:
1) Ocarina of time (Near perfect for its time)
2) Majoras Mask - 9.5
3) A link to the past - 9.5
4) Breath of the wild - 9.2
5) Wind Waker - 9
6) The Legend of Zelda - 9
7) Twilight Princess - 8.7
8) Skyward Sword - 8.4
9) Zelda II: The Adventure of link - 8

[Exvalos]

Good list, though skyward sword and windwaker should be higher, #1 and #2 spots are dead on though. Glad this person didnt blindly suck off breathe off the wild.

[Benjaminkno]

I actually loved ZELDA 2 and skyward sword.
LINKS Awakening is up there too.
GUEss im an oddball.

[MadLad]

Link's Awakening is fantastic.
I enjoyed 2, but didn't love it.

[Kosic]

Glad botw wasn't first. Link to the past is my fav Zelda game as well. Nothing comes close.

A link between worlds would've been great if they didn't give you every item at the start of the game. Ruined direction