So glad to that Twilight Princess wasn't on your list... I think that game, while still good, is extremely overrated.

The list was great, btw! I love talking Zelda.

Where is the love for Majora's Mask? I would have dropped the first Zelda from the list all together and given the number one spot to Majora's Mask. That game is 7 different shades of amazing, a real masterpiece and I think the best example of how fantastic the Zelda franchise can be. If I just had one word to describe how I felt while playing Majora's Mask, it would be immersed. Every character is so vibrant, so full of life and secrets. All the environments are so impressive. The main storyline would be enough but it's the side quests that really push this game from amazing to masterpiece. I mean, I honestly can't give this game enough praise. It's like nothing else I've ever played. By far and away, Majora's Mask is my favorite Zelda.

Actually, here's how I'd rank the Zelda games:

5. Link to the Past
4. Link's Awakening
3. Wind Waker
2. Ocarina of Time
1. Majora's Mask

Link to the past at 5? below awakening? madness!

Mine would go something like:

5.Majora's Mask
4.The Legend of Zelda
3.Wind Waker
2.Ocarina of Time
1.A Link to the Past

Thing about the list is if you were to give it all a numerical rating They'd all be really close.. like the difference between 99.97, 99.98, and 99.99. But If I must pick one over the other, that is how it'd go.

Mine would go:

5. Wind Waker
4. Link's Awakening DX
3. Link's Awakening DX
2. Link's Awakening DX
1. Link's Awakening DX

(I haven't gotten to Link to the Past yet, if you're wondering.)

every zelda game that came out after the SNES is more or less a modified version of A Link to the Past.

regardless of what comes in at 5-2.

A Link to the Past is numba 1.

I like the one where you get a boomerang.

People say that all the time, but I just don't see it. If you mean there are similar environments... I guess. I mean, how generic are woods, mountain, and a lake? Maybe the whole Dark/Light world gimmick but that isn't copied in every Zelda game and since when is the concept of having dual worlds a Zelda specific gimmick? The master sword I guess, but that is more just an addition to Link's repertoire of weapons. If it wasn't the Master Sword, it'd just be some other MacGuffin that would be the end all be all of weaponry.

Link to the Past is a fine game but I have the feeling that people really overrate it in relation to the other games in the Zelda series. It's the game that everybody tells you is the greatest but they never say why.... so say why. Why is every Zelda game a modified version of Link to the Past? What makes it so sacrosanct that to not make it number one is a crime? I've played every Zelda game except for the ones on the DS and Link to the Past, while still good, is certainly not the best example of the creativeness, shear magnitude, and just plain fun that the Zelda franchise is capable of.

I still think Majora's Mask is number one.

I don't know what that means...so this...

It's the best because it perfected the Zelda formula, and they stuck with it ever since. The first was like the alpha phase, the second was the beta....ALttP is the final product, the epitome.

Ocarina is a legendary game, sure. But it's just the 3D version of ALttP IMO. You can't have Zelda the way it is now if ALttP didn't perfect that 2D version. It's like comparing Mario Galaxy to Super Mario 64.
People will always remember Mario 64 to be more memorable than Galaxy.

So that game is why Zelda has been so stale and dull for decades!

Ok, I get that it got the formula down.... but is the game itself that good? Objectively, ignoring it's influence, is it better than what came after? I'd have to say no. If you're ranking Zelda games on importance, then I guess it'd go near the top or number one every time, but I'm ranking them based on the game itself independent from any other Zelda title. Sure, Maio 64 is memorable, but I think Galaxy was a better game. Same goes for A Link to the Past when compared to some later Zelda titles. I recognize what it did for the franchise, but using that as an excuse to be dismissive of the other Zelda titles isn't doing justice to how amazing the more recent games are on their own right.

I think it's just a little overrated. It's good, but it's not jizz in your pants every second while playing good. Majora's Mask was that good.

The Legend of Zelda. The original and still the best, that's what they are all saying anyways. I was about 10 when it came out and nothing before it and nothing since has ever come close to giving me the same sense of wonderment and awe as it has. It was released at just the right time in my life, a time when I was 100% able to suspend disbelief and feel like I was in the game. Never too easy or too difficult with just the right amount of hints to help me progress. I never felt stuck or that something was hand fed to me just to push the game along. And man oh man that tune when I bombed a secret door or wall made me shit my pants.

The great part about Zelda is any top X list can pretty much have any order to it and you can make a case for any of the games to be at the spot they are in. I could easily put Majora's Mask, LttP, OoT, Links Awakening, or Wind Waker at number one and make a good argument as to why it's right. Each game has flaws that you can pick out that you can say drops it down a spot or two. And yeah, it's a pretty cookie cutter formula they have stuck to but that's because that shit tastes GOOD.

My top five would be -

6. Links Awakening
5. OoT
4. Wind Waker
3. Majoras Mask
2. LttP
1. Legend of Zelda

I redid that list 10 times before adding on a sixth spot.

Zelda isn't stale, it's just the usual. Explore, unlock, dungeon crawl, boss. I'm a 90's kid and was blown away by how awesome ALttP was.

Oh yes it is.

That said, I'm liking what I've been seeing from Skyward Sword...although some part of me is still wary.

I don't know man...maybe it's the dungeon aspect that stays the same but I enjoyed Majora's Mask and the time shizz, I enjoyed Twilight Princess, I enjoyed the Minish Cap. They switch it up enough to keep me coming back. It's Zelda, looks repetitive but it works.

It's no Dynasty Warriors where it's exactly the same thing over and over again. Varying opinion it's what I think.

Yep, I think for the most part Zelda sticks to a tried and true formula with minor tweaks to keep it fresh. I have no problem with it because it works so well. I always enjoy Zelda games. I actually planning to run through the Gameboy and GBA games because I never really got in to them (with the exception of Minish Cap which was excellent).

Nothing wrong with sticking to what works as long as it delivers. I eat the same pizza all the time, I make my sandwiches the same way all the time, etc etc. Same with Zelda, there is always enough fresh stuff happening that I don't feel like I'm playing the same game on a different system.

No one liked Four Swords?

Funny how everyone says the series never takes risks yet when they do, that title gets totally ignored. You claim to want change but you stand by that those stick closest to the stardard formula are the best.

Zelda fanboys worse than Sonic fanboys

I never found 3 other people who had it.. So I never got to play 4 swords.. It makes me sad.

And I'm not going to praise something just for taking the risk. . . the risk has to pay off.. Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link was a risk and I loved it. Majora's Mask was a risk and I liked it as well.

I hope people aren't viewing other people's top 5's and thinking that they DON'T like the games not listed on them.. There's more than 5 games in the Zelda series.. I, personally, love all of them, but you can only put 5 on the list.

Risks?

They were pimping out that stupid GBA/GC connectivity. It existed only for a gimmick, just turned out to be better than the other gimmicky games made for that thing.

Not going to lie, I haven't really enjoyed a Zelda game since Link's Awakening. A Link to the Past is still 1a in my favorite games of all time. While people say it's overrated it's cemented into my childhood. My brother and I taking turns and working together to plow through dungeons and find secrets. If we got stuck we would call one of our friends who was further than us to get tips on how to proceed. To this day I need to replay it at least once a year and it simply doesn't get old.

Now, I know I'll get flack for this but I think Ocarina's overrated. I don't know, even when it came out all my friends, even my brother were sucking the game off but I just didn't find it as memorable as Link to the Past or even Link's Awakening (my second favorite Zelda game). I just get bored of it after awhile. I dunno... something about the Zelda games in 3D... I just don't enjoy them. I think my top 5 would go like this:

5) 3D Dot Gameheroes (it's pretty much a Zelda game and it's fucking AWESOME)
4) Legend of Zelda
3) Zelda II (fuck the haters, the game's awesome. Want man points? Beat this game without Game Genie)
2) Link's Awakening
1) A Link to the Past