- Ocarina of Time
- Link Between Worlds
- Majora's Mask
- Link to the Past
- Twilight Princess
Not the easiest decision, especially since I feel different iterations have distinct strengths and weaknesses, but this is what I can settle on.
Of the 2D and 2.5D games, I feel that Link to the Past was by far the best of them for about 20 years. I have to give a bit more credit to Link Between Worlds though, because I really like that game's pacing, wall merging, exploration, and the item buy/rent mechanic.
Of the 3D games, I feel that the two N64 iterations hit it out of the park in different areas. Ocarina of Time had a better main quest, overworld, and lineup of dungeons, while Majora's Mask had the better atmosphere, side content, and stuff to collect. Of the two, I have to give Ocarina of Time a bit more credit since a greater share of its best content is less hidden away than in Majora's Mask.
Twilight Princess gets onto my Top Five ahead of games like Link's Awakening and Wind Waker for a few reasons. First, I really like the world presented in Twilight Princess. It's a mixture of overworld environments, backstory, large areas to ride Epona in, and so on, but it adds up as one of the versions of Hyrule I've had the most joy simply travelling across. And I also think that this game's dungeons are possibly the best designed dungeons in the series. That said, I feel that the main story suffers a bit by juggling between newcomers Midna and Zant and the veterans Zelda and Ganondorf. Not to mention that Twilight Princess had some pretty disappointing items in its dungeons. The Spinner and Statue Wand were almost useless outside of their dungeons, and items like the slingshot and boomerang had trouble standing out from the bow and clawshot.
Love and tolerate.
