Story/Plot (Pretty Basic)
1 - Wind Waker
2 - Twilight Princess
3 - A Link Between Worlds
Main Characters (aka which Zelda had the best Link, Zelda, and main antangonist)
1 - Wind Waker
2 - Twilight Princess
3 - A Link Between Worlds (Huh, same as the first)
Minor Charaters (which had the best one-shot characters, like Linebeck, the Old Man, TIngle, the Great Deku tree, Ravio, etc.)
1 - Wind Waker
2 - Twilight Princess
3 - A Link Between worlds (I'm noticing a pattern)
Writing (Which story was told the most elegantly? AKA the award Zelda 2 likely won't win.)
1 - Wind Waker
2 - Twilight Princess
3 - A Link Between Worlds (I promise I'm not just copying and pasting my answers!)
Overworld (Which was the best designed, had the most stuff to do, was the most fun to travel around, etc.)
1 - A Link to the Past
2 - a Link Between Worlds
3 - Wind Waker
Side Quests (Which games had the best non-story content)
1 - A Link Between Worlds
2 - Wind Waker
3 - Twilight Princess
Collecting (Which games had the best "collect every heart piece/upgraded item/little octopus things" factor?)
1 - A Link Between Worlds
2 - A Link to the Past
3 - Twilight Princess
Gimmicks/Innovations (Which game introduced the most great ideas, be it parallel worlds, Z-targetting, motion controls, etc.)
1 - Link to the Past (PArallel worlds mechanic is one reused for the decades)
2 - Ocarina of Time (Z-targetting)
3 - Twilight Princess (Motion controls without turning the game into a minigame haven)
Dungeons (Which game had the best collection of these? Overall consistency beats one-hit wonders here.)
1 - A Link Between Worlds
2 - A Link to the Past
3 - Twilight Princess
Controls (Do you prefer the conventional D-Pad and buttons of old, Wind Waker's dual analogs, Skyward's motion controls, etc.)
1 - Wind Waker
2 - A Link to the PAst
3 - A Link Between Worlds (Love the top down simple controls)
Combat (In which game was it the funnest to fight enemies other than bosses?)
1 - Wind Waker
2 - Twilight Princess
3 - A Link Between Worlds
Exploration (Which game made it the most fun to become intimate with every square inch of the game's world?)
1 - Wind Waker
2 - A Link to the Past
3 - A Link Between Worlds
Puzzles (Which game had the most ingeniously designed and clever Puzzles?)
1 - Twilight Princess
2 - Wind Waker
3 - A Link Between Worlds
Items (Which game has the best collection of these and uses them the most effectively?)
1 - A Link to the Past
2 - A Link Between Worlds
3 - Wind Waker (Srs, love the sailboat)
Bosses (Which are the most epic, best-designed, and are simply the most genious?)
1 - Wind Waker
2 - Twilight Princess
3 - A Link Between Worlds
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.)
1 - Wind Waker
2 - Twilight Princess
3 - Ocarina of Time
Art Style (Do you prefer Wind Waker's Cartoon vibe, Twilight Princesss darker shades, Skyward Sword's mix of color and realism, etc.)
1 - Wind Waker (nothing else compares)
2 - A Link to the Past
3 - Twilight Princess
Music (aka Soundtrack)
1 - A Link to the Past
2 - Wind Waker
3 - A Link Between Worlds
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.)
1 - Wind Waker
2 - Ocarina of Time
3 - Twilight Princess
Best Zelda Ever (Duh!)
1 - A Link to the Past
2 - Wind Waker
3 - A Link Between Worlds
yeah, I know, a lot of redundancy. I really didn't like Skyward Sword, I think Ocarina of Time is overrated, the first two on NES don't compare to modern entries, I didn't like Majora's Mask, and the handheld titles, while all GOOD, weren't as good as the console ones.
My Console Library:
PS5, Switch, XSX
PS4, PS3, PS2, PS1, WiiU, Wii, GCN, N64 SNES, XBO, 360
3DS, DS, GBA, Vita, PSP, Android