The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was released for the N64 in 1998, and it blew the minds of fans everywhere. It was the first fully 3D Zelda game, and players got lost in how big its world was, which is funny to consider now. It is still the highest-rated game on Metacritic, sitting at a 99 overall.
No one can deny the cultural significance of Ocarina of Time, but should it really be remembered now as the best entry in the long-running Legend of Zelda series? There are a lot of limitations to the game, even on the GameCube or 3DS versions. In some capacity, there are better Zelda games that do things a bit differently and could just as easily be regarded as the best of the best in this stories franchise.
The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past
Perfecting The Formula
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
- Released
- April 13, 1992
- ESRB
- E For Everyone Due To Mild Violence
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo EAD
- Genre(s)
- Action-Adventure
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is still one of the easiest games in the series to go back to. It’s among the top Zelda games of all time, along with being near the top of the best SNES games of all time as well. It helped establish the Zelda formula that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time would go on to copy and tweak to suit its 3D design. The game starts with Link having to find three pendants, which then leads to him unlocking the Master Sword. This quest was a false beginning, because it ultimately led to a bigger quest involving seven maidens trapped in crystals.
Only then could players face Ganon, and the coolest thing about this twist was that they were transported into an alternate version of Hyrule. The Dark World made the game feel bigger, cleverly reusing the map and tweaking it just enough to make it feel new. This is one major feature that makes A Link to the Past better than Ocarina of Time. The game is also better because it feels less padded, the visuals look better as a 16-bit game, and the controls feel just as tight, no matter if players engage with it on the SNES or Switch 2 via emulation. There was very little to fault with The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past in 1992, and there’s just as little to fault today. For anyone who likes this game, they should also check out the 3DS pseudo-sequel, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.
The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
A High Seas Adventure
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD
- Released
- September 20, 2013
- ESRB
- E
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was the first big GameCube entry in the series. It had a dramatic art style shift from the N64 games, using cel-shading instead of 3D polygons, which caused an uproar among fans in 2003 who thought the game looked too much like a game for kids. Decades later, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker still holds up visually thanks to this art style, which was a smart choice by Nintendo in retrospect. As good as it looks, its Wii U remaster, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD, is the game that soars above The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for many reasons.
10 The Legend Of Zelda Games Most Fans Forgot Existed
The Legend of Zelda franchise has put out plenty of quality games over the years. These titles are fun for any fan who can remember them.
Both versions are very different from any other entry in the series, largely thanks to Hyrule being underwater and players having to sail between islands. This gave the illusion of freedom and an open world, even though there was little to see without proper navigation. The remaster fixed a lot of issues, like how navigation worked, how fast players could sail, Link’s basic controls, and a later quest involving finding pieces of the Triforce. Even compared to the 3DS version of Ocarina of Time, the remaster of The Wind Waker feels better to play in terms of its 3D controls, and while it is vast and empty, the oceans of Hyrule are more inviting. Perhaps the best thing that fans love about The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD is how expressive Link is, and that’s all thanks to the great art design.
The Legend Of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
Barking Up The Right Tree
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD
-
OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 85 /100 Critics Rec: 91%
- Released
- March 3, 2016
- Platform(s)
- Nintendo Wii U
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess was, in many ways, an even wilder departure for the series than The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. First, it was released on two systems, the GameCube and the Wii, which featured mirrored worlds between the two. Some preferred the Wii version at the time, while others swore by the GameCube release. Either way, the most staggering thing about the game was Link’s transformation into a wolf, and a new character, Midna, as his constant companion. As far as Zelda companions go, Midna was far less annoying than Navi, as she served a gameplay purpose and wasn’t constantly chastising players/Link for going off the beaten path.
Like The Wind Waker, though, there was a better Wii U version called The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD. The controls were tweaked a bit, but admittedly, all three versions still feel great to play. In many ways, the core experience, even with the wolf form, felt like an expanded rendition of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, which is what resonated with players in 2006. Without the child form of Link from Ocarina of Time, fans got to experience a full and more mature story from beginning to end, and that perhaps is Twilight Princess’s greatest accomplishment. If only Switch or Switch 2 players could experience either The Wind Waker or Twilight Princess in HD, as those versions are both still trapped on the Wii U.
The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild
The New Standard
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
- Released
- March 3, 2017
WHERE TO PLAY
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild pulled a Twilight Princess, as it was released on the Wii U and the Switch simultaneously. Both versions were identical, but the Switch version did load just a tad faster. Today, it runs even better on the Switch 2, which is the best way to play it. This game changed the series forever, just as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time changed the series back in 1998. It took Nintendo nineteen years, but they finally made the next revolutionary jump for the 3D Zelda games by giving players a true open world to explore. They didn’t have to worry about following a story or going through seven or ten major dungeons. After a brief tutorial, they were let loose to follow the narrative or carve their own path by exploring.
It’s the best-controlling version of Link in a 3D game to date, the visuals are impressive, the combat is challenging and responsive, and the list could go on. The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is also a very good Zelda game, with its expanded sky and underground worlds, plus the invention mechanics, but Breath of the Wild is still the superior and more groundbreaking experience, and stands as not just a better game than Ocarina of Time, but perhaps the best Zelda game of all time. Like Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has issues that diminish it, like rain-soaked landscapes hindering climbing or breakable weapons, but even with those faults, it is a game that has stayed on the minds of players since 2017.
Upcoming Games Like Zelda
Nintendo hasn’t announced a new mainline Zelda yet, but these similar upcoming action-adventure games should help fans get by.