Best Overworld
Ocarina of Time
Everybody has a different opinion on what the Zelda Overworlds should be like. Should they be big and vast like those of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess? Or smaller and denser like the 2D entries and Majora's Mask? According to VGChartz, the answer may lie somewhere in the middle. The Overworld of Ocarina of Time, most notably containing the famous Hyrule field, was vast for its time, but easily traversible and explored. It had stuff to do in it, a day/night system that kept things dynamic, and even the ability to ride on horseback. This was not as clear-cut as some other categories, but Ocarina of Time seems to have gotten it best.
Runner-Up: A Link Between Worlds
Best Sidequests
Majora's Mask
How much of a Zelda game should be devoted to optional and non-main-story content? Majora's Mask's answer to that question was "As much as we can possibly get away with!" No other Zelda game apparently comes anywhere near the number and quality of sidequests of Majora's Mask. Many of these quests were fairly meaty, taking hours to complete. They were also rewarding, with the results of many quests being shown in the game's credits. It may have come at the cost of having many dungeons, but this was a fairly small price to pay considering what we got.
Runner-Up: N/A
Best Collecting
Majora's Mask
Did you know that Majora's Mask has the largest number of Heart Pieces of any Zelda game? In total, the game has over 50 pieces of heart, not counting the three containers you start with and the four you get for beating dungeons. In contrast, Skyward Sword, the most recent console Zelda, only had 24 pieces. This is just one piece (sorry) of the sheer quantity of stuff you got to find in Majora's Mask. Even more notable were the game's masks, which each gave Link special attributes or abilities.
Runner-Up: A Link Between Worlds
Best Innovations
Ocarina of Time
Many Zelda entries brought new ideas to the table, both for the series and gaming in general. And according to VGChartz, the most innovative of the lot was Ocarina of Time. This game radically changed how games were played, even more than many modern players recognize. From solving puzzles in 3D environments to lockling on to enemies and from context-sensitive buttons to the use of music as a gameplay element, this game brought a huge amount to the table, almost all of it wildly successful.
Runner-Up: Skyward Sword
Best Dungeons
Skyward Sword
Dungeons are arguably the real star of Zelda games, being culminations of the games' various elements. In this respect, Skyward Sword soared. The game's dungeons did not always follow the standard formula, and ended up better for it. For example, that ship up there? That's a dungeon. Manned by pirates. And of course, these dungeons worked very well with Skyward Sword's unique gameplay. These dungeons often contained elements that would be difficult to replicate on a system other than the Wii.
Runner-Ups: Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess
Overall Best Design
Ocarina of Time
Based on the above five categories, it is clear that VGChartz seems to consider Ocarina of Time to have the best Overall Design in series history. The Overworld and Innovations were amazing, and the sidequests and dungeons, though not as outstanding, were also above average. Even in terms of Collecting, OoT's weakest area in this category, the game did fairly well.
Runner-Up: Skyward Sword
