It's been a few months since Skyward Sword's release. Now that everyone who's anyone has finished it, let's take a look at how it ranks among all the other Zelda games. Using Negative World's Game Database, I compiled a list of our community's top ten rated Zelda games. Let's get started.

No ports or remakes allowed!

So what do you think? Disagree? Too bad, there's nothing you can do about it. Nah, I'm just messing. Head on over to the Game Database and start rating some games yourself! You just might make a difference.

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I didn't finish 10 Zelda games... so if I only count those I finished it would go in that order

#5 - Phantom Hourglass
#4 - The Minish Cap
#3 - The Legend of Zelda
#2 - Link's Awakening
#1 - A Link To the Past

*Please, bear in mind that I only factored in the games I finished... Wind Waker is definitly up there...

@PogueSquadron, it depends. Flipping the Character models means that the bounding boxes & collision boxes changes ever so slightly. When there are interactions between characters you would need to flip the position of characters so that they would interact correctly & would look at each other if they are not face to face. Doing this mean that you would have to change some camera angles also... Just so the scenes, while only the characters are flipped, looked similar. The characters wouldn't be placed at the same place some animations would need to be redone... At this point, I'm not even factoring in the gameplay, only the universe's "basics". With so many minor variance & occurences it would require more testing. Nintendo did the right thing to minimize the costs.

@PogueSquadron, just think about Link's Awakening. In that game, Link swipes his sword in a particular fashion. Doing a 90 degrees motion from his left to his front. This is just a 2D game and we are only talking about one item... But flipping Link's sword animation WOULD change the way the game plays & the possible collisions paths. Now imagine the same in a full blown 3D game where there is a larger cinematic type experience, with characters looking at each other and with limbs that sometimes have to make contact or reach to one another to make sense. So yeah, flipping Link's model has alot of implications.

I think this list is pretty much perfect. I didnt like any of the DS zelda games tho. the fact that minish cap exists on this list makes me frown slightly.

I really want the Oracle series for download on my 3DS. I loved those games so much.

@CommanderRadio

Your comment makes me frown slightly.


16. Four Swords
15. Four Swords Adventures
14. Legend of Zelda
13. Spirit Tracks
12. Phantom Hourglass
11. Link's Awakening
10. Oracle of Seasons
9. Oracle of Ages
8. Adventure of Link
7. The Wind Waker
6. Skyward Sword
5. A Link to the Past
4. Ocarina of Time
3. Majora's Mask
2. Twilight Princess
1. The Minish Cap

That's my personal current ranking for the games.

@V_s
your list makes me frown slightly. you know what? I wanna play.
15. spirit tracks
14. phantom hourglass
13. four swords
12. legend of zelda
11. adventures of link
10. minish cap
9. Ages
8. Seasons
7. wind waker
6. link to the past
5. skyward sword
4. links awakening
3. twilight princess
2. majora's mask
1. ocarina of time.

this is mine. Im sorry, but link just shouldn't be a cartoon. Trust me. Ive watched them. Its shameful and embarrassing.

Skyward Sword has overtaken Wind Waker! Wind Waker's rating dropped a tad while Skyward Sword's rose.

The rest are still where they were when this list was made.

Seems I haven't chipped in yet.

14. Four Swords
13. Legend of Zelda
12. Legend of Zelda II
11. Phantom Hourglass
10. Wind Waker
9. Oracle of Seasons
8. Majora's Mask
7. Minish Cap
6. Spirit Tracks
5. Link's Awakening
4. Link to the Past
3. Skyward Sword
2. Twilight Princess
1. Ocarina of Time

@Zero
Good. thats the way things should be.

@CommanderRadio - What do you mean when you say, "Link shouldn't be a cartoon"? All of the Links are technically cartoons. And all but maybe OoT, MM, and TP Links are caricatures rather than being more "realistically" portrayed. The only Links that are really further out there in their portrayal are TWW, PH, and ST Links.

None of the sprite-Links are cartoonish, and why would you base your opinion for a game entirely on looks anyway?

@V_s
hey hey hey, lets not get hostile. i dislike, tww, ph, st, and tmc. they are what i mean by toon. well minish cap doesn't quuuite fit in that list but its close. Im not baseing my decision on it. its just coincidently that its those games i dont like. skyward sword is colorful, but i dont know. its kind of in between which is probably what they were going for. i like that one tho. do you know what i mean?

@CommanderRadio

Not sure where you're reading hostility from my post...

And if the graphical representation of Link is so huge in your decision (if not the main reason for your decision, as you say), then I don't get why you place TWW above TMC, given that TWW Link always looks chibi, and TMC Link only looks chibi in concept art, never in-game. (Basically, I don't understand why you would dislike TMC's graphics and not have a problem with ALttP's or SS's graphics, for example.)

@CommanderRadio
@V_s

I think it's interesting how you both put Phantom Hourglass over Spirit Tracks. In terms of exploration, PH is definitely more fleshed-out, but I prefer ST's story and dungeons.

@Zero I probably had something to do with that. I loved Skyward Sword but find Wind Waker to be one of the worst Zelda games.

I really can't compare the 3D games to the 2D ones though, they just feel so different to me. So I'm going to rate them separately, but I haven't played every game yet, so this list may change.


3D
5. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
3. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
2. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

2D
6. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
5. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening
4. The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
3. The Legend of Zelda
2. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
1. The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

Secret_Tunnel said:

In terms of exploration, PH is definitely more fleshed-out, but I prefer ST's story and dungeons.

Definitely understandable, and I absolutely agree on two of those three points (i.e., exploration to PH and dungeons to ST). Not sure which game's story I prefer. On the one hand, PH's story was in many ways a bit of an LA retread, but it was more memorable to me, and ST's story was far too ambiguous for my liking... (It just introduced many questions that it didn't bother to answer. Like: Why did Malladus's spirit have to be placed in a member of the Royal Family's body when the Royal Family didn't even get to New Hyrule until after he was sealed away? Why did Cole specifically try to unseal Malladus's spirit instead of his body as well? How was Cole unable to free Malladus's spirit when all of the Spirit Tracks and most of the Spirit Tower were gone, but after they were all put back in place (and even more Spirit Tracks were laid), he suddenly was able to free him? There may be more questions that were brought up and never answered, but I can't remember them now.) And my parenthetical leads me to another point: ST was just so much more forgettable than PH to me. Even though I think I preferred ST's dungeons, ST's items, and probably more, I remember very little about what of ST I actually liked. (I remember not particularly liking the sidequests, and I remember not having nearly as many problems with the instrument as most people seemed to, but little else that didn't have to do with the story, items, or some of the bosses.) And I have no real desire to go back and play ST again. I've gone back and replayed PH, and I enjoyed it. That desire to replay it never really hit me with ST.

@V_s

I love the fanservicey stuff in ST's story, but other than that, I agree. Neither of the two games are very memorable to me, aside from a couple of really genius puzzles.

@Mop it up

Majora's Mask rated the last of the 3D games? Blasphemy. @V_sAt least you have OoT on top though. But I'm watching you....

@V_s

ST's biggest flaw was the damn Lokomo pipes. Far too frustrating for an element that is required to beat the game. They're the main reason why I'm unlikely to replay it.

PH was sublime though. Temple of the Ocean King haters are doing it wrong.