2013 has been a good year for The Legend of Zelda fans. Between a whole new game for the 3DS, an HD remake of a GameCube classic, rumors of a Majora's Mask remake, new Zelda-themed hardware, Virtual Console rereleases, and who knows what else I'm forgetting, 2013 has been the best year for fans since... 2011 actually. You know... cause we also got a remake, a new game, and rereleases... not to mention that Symphonic Concert Tour...
But other than 2011, this was the best year for fans of the series! Which is why I figured, why not we have a contest of sorts within our beloved series.
I'm not just content with people voting for a single game, counting them up, and calling it a day though! No, I realized that in order to fully appreciate Zelda's history, we have to break down the games piece by piece. Hence, you'll be able to vote for a number of categories, in addition to the Best Zelda Ever.
Please Read the Rules before Voting!
People may vote for up to three games in every category. The game marked #1 will receive 3 points, a game marked #2 will receive 2 points, and a game marked #3 will receive 1 point. If you want to vote for less than 3 games in a category, or skip a category entirely, feel free to do so!
Example:
Best Main Characters:
1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (Gets 3 Points)
2. The Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past (Gets 2 Points)
3. N/A (Nobody gets points)
The Categories are as follows:
- Story/Plot (Pretty Basic)
- Main Characters (aka which Zelda had the best Link, Zelda, and main antangonist)
- Minor Charaters (which had the best one-shot characters, like Linebeck, the Old Man, TIngle, the Great Deku tree, Ravio, etc.)
- Writing (Which story was told the most elegantly? AKA the award Zelda 2 likely won't win.)
- Overworld (Which was the best designed, had the most stuff to do, was the most fun to travel around, etc.)
- Side Quests (Which games had the best non-story content)
- Collecting (Which games had the best "collect every heart piece/upgraded item/little octopus things" factor?)
- Gimmicks/Innovations (Which game introduced the most great ideas, be it parallel worlds, Z-targetting, motion controls, etc.)
- Dungeons (Which game had the best collection of these? Overall consistency beats one-hit wonders here.)
- Controls (Do you prefer the conventional D-Pad and buttons of old, Wind Waker's dual analogs, Skyward's motion controls, etc.)
- Combat (In which game was it the funnest to fight enemies other than bosses?)
- Exploration (Which game made it the most fun to become intimate with every square inch of the game's world?)
- Puzzles (Which game had the most ingeniously designed and clever Puzzles?)
- Items (Which game has the best collection of these and uses them the most effectively?)
- Bosses (Which are the most epic, best-designed, and are simply the most genious?)
- Graphics (Which game is the best-looking Zelda from a more technical standpoint? Try also focusing on things like distinct sprites that stand out from the background, the little death effects of enemies, etc., rather than just resolution, polygon count, and textures.)
- Art Style (Do you prefer Wind Waker's Cartoon vibe, Twilight Princesss darker shades, Skyward Sword's mix of color and realism, etc.)
- Music (aka Soundtrack)
- Tone (Which game most effectively sets the tone it tries to make for itself? Examples may include the desolation of the original game, the silly humor of Link's Awakening, the impending doom of Majora's Mask, etc.)
- Best Zelda Ever (Duh!)
Vote for your top 3 or so in as many categories as possible. I'll tally up the points and, no sooner than January 1, announce the results.
Let the Battle of the Zeldas begin!
Space Reserved for Clarifications and Extra Rules
