Title screen of the first Zelda game.
When I first played Zelda on NES as a kid in the 1980s, the sense of wonder was palpable as I explored and interacted with the virtual world of Hyrule. With a printed map on the table in front of me, I truly felt like an adventurer on a quest to save the world. The presentation of the beautiful 8-bit color was captivating even on a small CRT television. Staples of the Zelda series like bombs, boomerangs, and secret walls are guaranteed to capture a child's imagination. If Mario first piqued my interest as a child in videogames, then it's safe to say Zelda cemented it. The creator of those two iconic series, Shigeru Miyamoto, is now a cultural icon, and the Nintendo company is widely known as an innovator of gameplay thanks to the trends that Miyamoto and his development teams set.
A map for Zelda on the NES from the classic gaming magazine Nintendo Power. Many hidden places!
Where Mario was simply about saving Princess Peach, Zelda was more than about rescuing the titular Princess. It's about a war between Good and Evil centered around the Triforce symbol and follows Joseph Campbell's Hero's Journey template in a way similar to Luke in Star Wars. The hero, heroine and villain each represent a piece of the Triforce: Courage, Wisdom and Power respectively. This is an important distinction because it's saying Good does not equal Power; Evil does. Ganon represents the absolute corruption of power and he threatens the entire world, while holding Princess Zelda (Wisdom) hostage. Link, the main hero, doesn't speak and can be renamed because Miyamoto wanted the player to impart their own personality into the character, drawing something from their own reality and imparting it into their virtual avatar.
Box art for the Famicom version of Zelda.
A good friend of mine once said that opening treasure chests in the Zelda series is like a dopamine release that keeps you coming back for more. This is not to imply there's an equivalence between experiencing the fantasy land of Hyrule and the negative connotations associated with addictions, only that it illustrates the game designers brilliance with regards to human psychology. Maybe it's nostalgia, but with each generation of Zelda it makes me feel like a kid again experiencing that sense of wonder each time I play, and seeing my daughter also fall in love with the games has been extremely rewarding. The Zelda games have been some of the most innovative in videogaming history. Here is where I stack up each game in the series. The ranking is based on my own subjectivity and I have done my best to focus more on each game's individual merits instead of my nostalgia.
Classic cover of a Nintendo Power issue featuring Link's Awakening for the Gameboy.
Title screen of Ocarina of Time
My favorite game of all time, up there with Chrono Trigger, Mario 64 and Final Fantasy VI. I vividly remember first playing the demo at a N64 kiosk in KMART. I imagine that gamers get a similar feeling when first experiencing a great VR game, because first playing a 3D Zelda game was absolutely immersive. This one game alone set so many trends in the gaming industry, cemented numerous staples in design that some gamers may take for granted these days, and raised the bar so high that even Nintendo themselves have to work extra hard to try and surpass all these years later.
(Click play to hear me cover the song "Zelda's Lullaby" on guitar and other instruments. The song was originally composed by the legendary Koji Kondo.)
As if each previous iteration was just preparation for this game I felt I was seasoned enough to easily tackle whatever challenge the game would throw me when I first played it. I was still stumped for hours at the Water Temple like most people frantically searching for a missing key. I could write an entire article about all the things I love about this game, so allow me to highlight a few: I love that you acquire the hookshot early on in the game and how there are so many various ways to use it, making it an essential item for traversal and exploration.
Link carries the Biggoron sword as he explores the Spirit Temple.
I also love how dark the Shadow Temple is, probably the darkest dungeon in the entire Zelda series. The temple is filled to the brim with devious traps, zombies and ghouls. It's also the first temple that requires you to go back and forth in time to explore the dungeon correctly, both times requiring the use of the Lens of Truth to destroy a litany of illusions. On top of all that you also find a super special pair of boots that open up the physics system of the game even more. One sequence is so fantastic in this level that I have to spoil it (sorry new players) where you jump on a big wooden ship floating down an underground river. After landing on the ship, you can hookshot a skulltula (spider) for a golden token before using the ocarina to play Zelda's Lullaby, which engages the ship to start it moving. Suddenly, two skeleton pirates surprise attack you as the ship makes its way down the trench. During this tough battle you can actually avoid fighting them and just block their attacks with your shield while waiting for the ship to reach its port stop. When it does, you can simply jump off, watch and laugh as the ship sinks along with the skeletons who are stuck on it and doomed to drown. The oppressive atmosphere of the temple along with the freedom of the gameplay really makes this dungeon stand out in my view as a perfect example of why this is the best Zelda game of all time.
Title screen of A Link to The Past
This was the first time I remember seeing rain in a videogame. It felt the most cinematic of any videogame I had played up until then. It took what Zelda 1 created and improved it in every conceivable fashion, like Terminator 2 was to Terminator 1, a superior caliber sequel. One of the best entries that follows the Heroic Journey monomyth so well. Right off the bat, your Link character loses the only family he has, is thrust into action with a sword a shield and sent to the castle to save Princess Zelda and avenge his uncle. The innovation this time is adding an entire second world that sits alongside the main one, allowing you to transfer back and forth between them. The replayability of this title is so strong I play through it annually.
Link stands in front of the first dungeon in the Dark World.
This graphic novel of ALTTP is phenomenal:
Link wearing Majora's Mask
This was like a defibrillator shock to the heart when it released, once again raising the bar for the videogaming industry for a new generation. Taking Hyrule into a completely open and massive world hearkened back to the non linearity of Zelda 1 while transfiguring the gameplay for modern audiences. Sporting the best graphic engine of a Zelda title to date, and the largest world by far, the immersion is off the charts excellent. The dungeon tropes have been completely upended in this game, as instead of the typical crypts, there are large, moving levels called Divine Beasts and tons of smaller puzzle dungeons called Shrines. You also have an expansive inventory similar to an Elder Scrolls game with tons of breakable weapons, armor sets, food and tools. The player is given complete control and agency to chart their own path in the game, even allowing you to rush straight to Ganon while underpowered, a great thing for players who like to speedrun.
In the case of this game, the Japanese developers took some influences from Western developers like Bethesda (Elder Scrolls). In a way this has come full circle because those Western devs were also influenced by the original Zelda game. This reciprocal element of influence between the West and the East reminds me of the legendary Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa, who was influenced by the great American director John Ford, and Kurosawa would in turn influence other American directors like George Lucas and Martin Scorsese. 
Link is surrounded by enemies
Turtle Rock dungeon
"Human, monster, sea, sky...a scene on the lid of a sleeper's eye..."
The greatest handheld videogame ever created. Playing through the recent release of the remake on Nintendo Switch 100% reaffirms my opinion about this. This was the first Zelda game not to actually feature the characters of Zelda and Ganon, and also not take place in the kingdom of Hyrule. It was the first top-down perspective Zelda game to feature a jumping mechanic. The dungeon design is again phenomenal, with Eagle's Tower being a personal series favorite of mine. In an interview with Zelda Producer Eiji Aonuma and Link's Awakening director Takashi Tezuka, Takashi stated his game was inspired by one of my favorite TV shows, "Twin Peaks", which was being broadcast at the time in the early 1990s. It's a perfect "classic" Zelda style game like A Link to the Past, without any flaws to speak of. 
Link melts ice with the fire wand.
Please watch this fantastic review of Link's Awakening by Kotaku's Tim Rogers:
Title screen of Wind Waker
Now that Breath of the Wild exists, I think gamers have slightly forgotten this great title. This 3D Zelda had a beautiful cel-shaded art style paired up with an open ocean world you explore with your trusty sailboat. Some of the ocean can get redundant and boring, as there are a lot of "filler" islands populating the world. Manipulating the wind was a fun mechanic and the conductor baton was a nice change of pace from the usual Ocarina. This game is filled to the brim with cute moments, and is much lighter in tone than some of the other 3D Zelda games.
Link waits in the first dungeon, "Dragon Roost Cavern".
(Click play to hear me cover the song "Great Fairy Fountain's Theme", originally composed by Koji Kondo)
Surrounded by Darknuts, knights with shields.
Miyamoto was inspired to create Zelda after his time exploring the woods around his home as a child in Sonobe, Japan. The name itself was lifted from author F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife, the Master sword was inspired by the Arthurian legend sword Excalibur, and Link and the fairy were influenced by Peter Pan and Tinkerbell. The game released in 1986 on the NES. The first time I played it was around 1988 when I was 5 years old. The gameplay was mindblowing during that initial playthrough, where everything felt so fresh and innovative. What kid wouldn't enjoy a tool set consisting of bombs, boomerangs, arrows, a wand and a sword? The game was also very challenging especially during the last few dungeons. It was fantastic to link up with friends at school and share the secrets we had each uncovered in our respective games, and assist each other as needed.
Title screen of Twilight Princess
While it follows all the tropes set by Ocarina of Time, I don't necessarily see that as a flaw. More amazing gameplay with a more grown-up Link? Take my money, Nintendo. This title also features my favorite sidekick, Midna, a fun character with an engaging storyline embedded into the main arc of the plot. One of my all time favorite dungeons is in this game: Snowpeak Ruins. It's an icy dungeon that's actually not even really a dungeon...it's a castle owned by a Yeti husband and wife. The husband cooks you soup that heals you while you gather items for the wife, and there's a great twist in the boss room that tugs on your heartstrings. The biggest twist on the Ocarina formula is turning Link into a wolf (although transformations of characters began in Link to the Past with the Dark World). The wolf gameplay doesn't really add a lot of fun factor to the game which is why I rank this game lower.
Link stands in the rain in front of Hyrule Castle.
Title screen of A Link Between Worlds.
My second favorite handheld Zelda game after Link's Awakening. This is a brilliant way to combine a part remake (of A Link to the Past) with a new Zelda game. They took the world from ALTTP and made a new game on top of that with some great innovation: Having access to all the tools early, allowing a non-linear approach to the dungeons, and also a system where you can enter the walls and turn into a 2D character like Paper Mario. There are a few nitpicks though as the villain is forgettable and some of the dungeons have some boring sections.
Dodging fireballs in a cavern.
An amazing action sidescroller that gets unfairly maligned sometimes for straying too far away from the original Zelda's design and being extremely difficult. Getting to the final dungeon alone can be a slog through the overworld. In my opinion this game was like an early version of Dark Souls (another fantastic series) in that after the repetitive nature of dying so many times you develop a true skill in the game, level up your character, and get good enough to actually beat it and feel rewarded. I want to say I broke a controller or two playing this game back in the day as the difficulty was, dare I say, legendary? This first sequel showed the world that Nintendo would always continue experimenting to keep things fresh and each entry engaging to players already acquainted with the series. .
My copy of Zelda 2 complete with box and gold cartridge, and my SNES cart of A Link to the Past. The gold carts were a great idea for making the games even more collectible.
Ahh, the Zelda game that features one of the creepiest characters in the series, the Mask Shop owner. What, you thought I'd say the Moon Face that's on track to crash into the world of Termina and terminate it forever? Well yeah this game is filled with creepy characters actually. That Mask Shop guy, though not technically a villain, acts shadier than the criminal penguin from the classic Wallace and Gromit episode, "The Wrong Trousers". I can't deny that this is a fantastic game conceptually, essentially Zelda meets "Groundhog Day", but I have to admit needing to be in the right mood to replay it. The dungeons are also on the weaker side of the Zelda series, except for the final dungeon which is unquestionably one of the best parts of the entire game. Arguably contains one of the best stories in the series with a lot of emotional weight and just plain weirdness.
There are things I love about this game, though I dislike just as many. The biggest stain on it for me is having to backtrack through the same areas over and over again without much rewarding gameplay offered for doing so. The Sand Ship level is by far my favorite part of the game, followed by the Ancient Cistern dungeon. I'm ambivalent on the motion controls. I love using gyro controls for aiming the bow and such, and for awhile when the game first released I did enjoy swinging the sword, but as Breath of the Wild showed, it's arguably more fun to just use a button press for the sword swings and leave the motion controls for aiming the other tools. The art style is fantastic and I hope they make a HD remaster of this for the Switch with optional control schemes.
The main draw of this game is the shrinking mechanic, turning Link to something like the "The Borrowers". This game and the Oracle games were actually developed by Capcom and not Nintendo. I also really dig the Mole Mitts (oh, the puns) and appreciate their reappearace in Skyward Sword. I rank this lower as I don't feel it has nearly as many memorable moments as the other handheld games above. I also found the shrinking mechanic to grow tiresome quickly, looking at it as more of a gimmick than a true innovation.
Using the same engine as Link's Awakening, while adding a mechanic that crosses over the two Oracle games, these were entertaining games with some great new ideas, especially with the seasons changing (time travel had already been done in Ocarina.) Like Minish Cap, the other Capcom developed Zelda, I feel that there just aren't as many memorable moments in these games compared to Link's Awakening or A Link Between Worlds. These are still great games in my opinion, but I honestly don't replay them as often as the ones higher on my list.
The two DS Zelda games that use the stylus exclusively for control. I just don't enjoy moving Link and attacking all with the stylus and touch controls. I do like the ways the games incorporated other features of the DS like closing the system to solve a puzzle, and adding notes to maps. Spirit Tracks slightly edges out Hourglass for me because the train system felt more fresh considering Wind Waker had already extensively used the open sea and boat travel.
I must admit I never played this in multiplayer, which is the way it's intended to be played. As a solo experience I found it extremely lacking compared to other Zelda games. The procedurally generated dungeons are no match for the carefully constructed designs of the other games.
It's a motion control based shooting game. I played it a handful of times and then it collected dust on the shelf. I think it's the only Wii game I ended up using the zapper attachment for.
Dishonorable Mentions:
The 3 Philips CD-I Zelda games. I actually played these on a kiosk in Sears in the 1990s. They are categorically terrible games and rightly disavowed by Nintendo. These are the only truly bad games associated with the Zelda name. It's a shame these even exist. I have to laugh at the Ebay listings of these games, as they go for pretty high prices. Come on, who the hell wants to throw away hundreds of dollars on these garbage games? The only possible thing they could be good for are some funny memes. We are talking Atari E.T. levels of bad game design. It's like "The Star Wars Holiday Special" in that yeah, they exist...but we really wish they didn't.
This art is nightmare fuel.
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Josh HurwitzMusic producer, video editor and computer technician humbly presenting thoughts on media and tech products. Archives
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