The Legend of Zelda: Game Series Rating.

Hello there,

I've made this thread for all those who haven't played all the Zelda games before, and would like to know which one to play next!

Note: I have never played Four Swords Adventure, Four Swords, Skyward Sword or Spirit Tracks. So, would someone please rate those games in a comment below?

The ratings will display the name of the game, my overall rating of the game and the reason why I rated it. Then, for the difficulty of the game, I will say either:

VE - Very Easy
E - Easy
M - Medium
H - Hard
VH - Very Hard
IH - Insanely Hard.

Okay, so without further ado, let's get started!

The Legend of Zelda (NES): 6/10 --- It was a very fun game, however, the overworld seemed far too difficult than what the dungeons were. The bosses were fun, and the ending wasn't all that "worthwhile". --- Difficulty: VH

The Adventure of Link: 3/10 --- I didn't find this game satisfying at all, nor did I like the side-on P.o.V. --- Difficulty: M

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (inc. GBA remake): 5/10 --- This game had a lot of add-ons to the two previous games. One major attribute that captivated me was the drastic change in graphics! Accompanied by a lot of worthwhile, challenging dungeons and a parallel "Dark World"! --- Difficulty M - H

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (inc. DX): 7/10 --- I thoroughly liked this game, due to the amount of freedom you feel while playing it. With all the previous games, I felt rushed, but this game was quite relaxed. I enjoyed it, but didn't find it difficult. --- Difficulty: E

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (inc. 3D remake): 9/10 --- although I found the game much better to play on the original console, I still absolutely loved the 3DS remake! The way this game rapidly evolved is outstanding. The story-line was captivating, and the game was great all-around. --- Difficulty: M - H

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: 10/10 --- as far as Zelda games go, this one takes the cake. If you're like me, and you enjoy a great puzzle as well as trippy, outlandish detail, this game is definitely for you! The interaction between the player and minor characters definitely makes up for the lack of dungeons. But also, the dungeons are considerably harder than the previous games. Difficulty: H - VH

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages: 7/10 --- my first ever Zelda game. This game incorporates a completely different plot from the previous games, making it unique. However, if you were to play a linked game, there may be some things you mightn't understand unless you play Ocarina of Time. All in all, it was a great game that I could play over and over again. --- Difficulty: M - H

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons: 8/10 --- Exactly the same as Oracle of Ages, however, I loved the fact that this game had a lot more recognizable characters from previous games! Difficulty: M - H

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker: 8/10 --- I've never actually completed this game, but I did enjoy it. I especially loved the new idea of the destinations being islands, and Zelda's new alter-ego. It was a great game, but it wasn't all that puzzling. --- Difficulty: M

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap: 7/10 --- though I did really enjoy this game, I found the lack of dungeons and difficulty to be somewhat annoying and disappointing. However, I loved the Kinstone trading... the mystery of what you're going to get was great! --- Difficulty: E

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: 5/10 --- I've played this game recently, and I have to say that I really don't like the realism that Nintendo is trying to put into the Zelda games we love. Other than that, it was a great game, but I'm not able to fully rate it yet as I haven't come close to finishing it. --- Difficulty: H

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass: 6/10 --- Although I really enjoyed this game, I hated the fact that you had to use the touch pad for absolutely everything. For some things it was cool, like drawing your boomerang's flight path, uncovering secrets, and it was great for pin pointing arrow hits. However, certain things like moving constantly anticipates that your hand will get sore very easily. --- Difficulty: M

The Legend of Zelda: Master Quest (Ocarina of Time): 7/10 --- I wasn't sure where to put this one, but anyway. I was pretty disappointed in this - I thought that Nintendo may have thrown in a bit of a twist to the story-line... other than that, the game had many great puzzles that were unseeable to the "untrained eye". And to make things better, Jabu Jabu's Belly has a few humourous surprises for you! --- Difficulty: H - IH

So, I hope you now know which game to play next! Difficulties and opinions will vary depending on the player.

And again, please, if anyone can possibly add the games that I missed out on, please please please do so. There's 4 games, but 5 if you include the Four Swords 25th Anniversary Edition.

Have a great day/night!

You must be amazing AoL is probably the hardest game in the series at least for me that is. I would rate it IA just for the jumping mechanics the fact that you die and you lose all experience and have to start miles away at the starting point for the game.

AoL wasn't all that hard for me. It was just like playing a Super Mario game.

black = original
Blue = my opinions

The Adventure of Link: 3/10 --- I didn't find this game satisfying at all, nor did I like the side-on P.o.V. --- Difficulty: M

You didn't go into enough detail as to why you gave the game a 3 out of ten, a score so low really should warrant an explanation. Saying that is wasn't satisfying isn't enough.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (inc. GBA remake): 5/10 --- This game had a lot of add-ons to the two previous games. One major attribute that captivated me was the drastic change in graphics! Accompanied by a lot of worthwhile, challenging dungeons and a parallel "Dark World"! --- Difficulty M - H


Again, you seem to like this game, but you don't go into why you gave it a 5/10. Also these "add-ons" you mention aren't explained, though I'm assuming you mean the new items and spin attack. Also the dark world was very important, so that could be explained too.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: 10/10 --- as far as Zelda games go, this one takes the cake. If you're like me, and you enjoy a great puzzle as well as trippy, outlandish detail, this game is definitely for you! The interaction between the player and minor characters definitely makes up for the lack of dungeons. But also, the dungeons are considerably harder than the previous games. Difficulty: H - VH

You do go into why you liked this game, but I'm not quite sure what you meant by "outlandish detail".

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages: 7/10 --- my first ever Zelda game. This game incorporates a completely different plot from the previous games, making it unique. However, if you were to play a linked game, there may be some things you mightn't understand unless you play Ocarina of Time. All in all, it was a great game that I could play over and over again. --- Difficulty: M - H

I think that this review is also lacking in detail, the only negative point you mention is that the player might not be familiar with twinrova's backstory if they played a linked game but that doesn't explain the 7/10.

The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons: 8/10 --- Exactly the same as Oracle of Ages, however, I loved the fact that this game had a lot more recognizable characters from previous games! Difficulty: M - H

You didn't go into the seasons/ages mechanics that set the games apart, and you didn't mention that they have different items and worlds, which makes the statement "exactly the same as ages" strange,when it is in fact, similar but ultimately a very different game.

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap: 7/10 --- though I did really enjoy this game, I found the lack of dungeons and difficulty to be somewhat annoying and disappointing. However, I loved the Kinstone trading... the mystery of what you're going to get was great! --- Difficulty: E

You could explain the kinstone trading, as well as the entire minish cap mechanic and why exactly you enjoyed Minish Cap.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: 5/10 --- I've played this game recently, and I have to say that I really don't like the realism that Nintendo is trying to put into the Zelda games we love. Other than that, it was a great game, but I'm not able to fully rate it yet as I haven't come close to finishing it. --- Difficulty: H

This review is obviously incomplete, so I'll just say, wait until you've finished it to review it.

The other reviews were in my opinion, fine. a little more info would be nice and just think about whether what you write is actually giving the reader any information.

My main problem with the reviews was figuring out exactly what you liked and didn't like and why each game got the score that it did.

VeganPolice - it's my ratings, I never said I will go into detail, did I? I'm just giving my personal opinion on the games.

The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword

Music - 7.5/10; It doesn't have the best music in the series, but there are some very good pieces of music here and there. Plus it's all orchestrated instead of the old midis.

Gameplay/controls - 9/10; Imo, very good gameplay. Unlike some people, I never had a single problem with the controls. I loved the controls very much. The gameplay was almost always fun and interesting.

Story - 9/10; A very good story with good foreshadowing sometimes and plot. It was deep, compelling, and had a nice tempo imo.

Characters/development - 9.5/10; Imo, SS had some of the best characters in the series. Especially Ghirahim and Groose among others. The main characters in SS were all very expressive and had some very good personalities and development. Groose had the best character development in the whole game while Ghirahim was a fabulous character from the start that got darker and better. Even Link has some development. One of the best sets of characters in the series. Only MM, TWW, and TP come even halfway close imo.

Replay value - 8.5/10; Replay value is very opinionated, but I believe that SS has some of the best replay value in the series. (Although my opinion could change with time). Once you beat the first adventure, you unlock Hero Mode to play it all over again with a little more difficulty. It's a very good way to raise replay value.

Sidequests - 6.5/10; This one is a bit iffy. I personally enjoyed the sidequests for the most part and liked the amount. But there have also been many complaints about the sidequests too. It is true that there aren't many sidequests, and some are more like fetch quests, but they can be fun and the number of them isn't too small imo.

Dungeons - 9.5/10; I loved the dungeons in SS. They were very diverse (bar the Fire and Earth dungeons), and they had some very interesting and unique qualities. Dungeons like the Sandship, Lanayru Mining Facility, and the Ancient Cistern were very fun, unique, and interesting. The length and size of the dungeons was also quite good imo. They are slightly smaller than the dungeons in TP and OoT, but I liked that a little. They weren't extremely short, and they were simply packed into a slightly smaller area and they still worked out well. Sky Keep was also one of the most interesting dungeons in the whole series.

Enemies/Bosses - 7/10; I have mixed feelings about the enemies/bosses. Some of them were good and fun, but a large number of them were just too repetitive. Bokoblins became very old very quickly. They seemed to be pretty much the only enemies for many parts of the game aside from their variations. The Imprisoned and Ghirahim were both battled multiple times, they were pretty repetitive, and just those two took up about half the bosses. Plus, some enemies were simply too gimmicky to the controls. But I will also note that there were a few very good enemies (like Koloktos in AC)

Overall - 8.5/10 Overall, a very good game and is worth playing.

Originally Posted by Hylian Sam

VeganPolice - it's my ratings, I never said I will go into detail, did I? I'm just giving my personal opinion on the games.

You didn't always explain your opinions, you don't have to go into detail but you should explain why you have those opinions.

Originally Posted by Hylian Sam

The Adventure of Link: 3/10 --- I didn't find this game satisfying at all, nor did I like the side-on P.o.V. --- Difficulty: M

Originally Posted by Hylian Sam

AoL wasn't all that hard for me. It was just like playing a Super Mario game.

Dare I say, those who rate AoL as Medium difficulty or not that hard never actually finished the game (and probably didn't even get to the second island). Without a doubt the hardest Zelda in the series!!

Originally Posted by MissingLink

Dare I say, those who rate AoL as Medium difficulty or not that hard never actually finished the game (and probably didn't even get to the second island). Without a doubt the hardest Zelda in the series!!

True. And u just cant make a list for people who never played zelda games and list Aol as medium hard... Maybe it was ''easy'' for u, but in general it's one of the hardest zelda's

Originally Posted by MissingLink

Dare I say, those who rate AoL as Medium difficulty or not that hard never actually finished the game (and probably didn't even get to the second island). Without a doubt the hardest Zelda in the series!!

Actually, I've completed the game several times.

---------- Post added at 11:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:57 AM ----------

Okay, guys... just to make things clear, this was just a quick rating of the game series, not going into detail. I may make seperate threads for each game in the near future that will go into detail, but as of now I'm too darn lazy.

And thank you heaps, The Doctor!

Originally Posted by Hylian Sam

Actually, I've completed the game several times.

And you're telling me the trail to the great palace and the great palace was easy or medium difficulty at best? Somehow I don't believe you...

Wow, you have some interesting difficulty curves... Rating AoL as M, LA as E no less and TP as H?

Oh well. Everyone has their specialty I guess.

Of the games you requested I haven't played Four Sword Adventures, so can't rate that, and of FS only the Anniversary Edition so I don't know how it plays in multiplayer;

Four Swords:
My least favorite Zelda game of all time, what are you doing in this game? There is next to no story and extremely short. A nice experiment, because that's all it is.
Difficulty: M
Spirit Tracks:
Quite a good addition to the series. Fun story, imaginative items and good dungeon design. Original soundtrack also, especially the catchy overworld theme. Puts it immediate predecessor to shame. As with most newer games though, difficulty is lacking.
Difficulty: E
Skyward Sword:
Good game, very innovative and immersive control scheme which works surprisingly well. Finally a change in the basic gameplay mechanics of the series make it less predictable and increases the difficulty. It is topped off by an original storyline and interesting characters.
Difficulty: H

The others you've played so I won't give a summary, but here's how I'd have rated their difficulty;

The Legend of Zelda: IH
Zelda II: Adventure of Link: IH+
AoL get's it's own category, one of the most difficult games I've played, couldn't even get passed the first Palace. I probably would nowadays, but I don't dare anymore...
A Link to the Past: H
Link's Awakening: VH
Ocarina of Time: M
Majora's Mask: H
Oracle of Seasons: VH
Oracle of Ages: H
The Wind Waker: VE
The Minish Cap: VE
Twilight Princess: E
Phantom Hourglass: E

As far as I'm concerned, there's definitely a pattern here, and with Skyward Sword being harder again, I think the difficulty goes up again. The low point was WW and MC, incidentally the ones with the most 'kiddy' appearance.

Twilight Princess was hard simply due to pressing past all the annoying parts.

AoL was quite possibly one of the easiest games I've ever, ever played. I mean, sure, it had its annoying parts, such as the side on view, and the fact that much like the original TLOZ, the only sword attack Link had was to stab, but apart from that, it was just like playing Super Mario... it was hard at best.

Twilight Princess hard ? I never even lost a single life on that game.

Originally Posted by Hylian Sam

AoL was quite possibly one of the easiest games I've ever, ever played. I mean, sure, it had its annoying parts, such as the side on view, and the fact that much like the original TLOZ, the only sword attack Link had was to stab, but apart from that, it was just like playing Super Mario... it was hard at best.

The "side on view" and "stab" were not the factors that make AoL difficult. The majority of the game I could say 'Hard' is an acceptable level of difficulty, however, the Great Palace holds its own level of difficulty that goes beyond even 'Insanely Hard'. After countless attempt I am yet to complete it without cheats (game genie) as I know is the case with many others.

Hylian Sam, how many attempts did it take you to complete the Great Palace and what was the most difficult part of that particular palace for you?

Now I'm worried about Majora's Mask because it's H and VH!

Originally Posted by Hylian Sam

AoL was quite possibly one of the easiest games I've ever, ever played. I mean, sure, it had its annoying parts, such as the side on view, and the fact that much like the original TLOZ, the only sword attack Link had was to stab, but apart from that, it was just like playing Super Mario... it was hard at best.

I'll agree that the game wasn't too hard, especially if you 'farmed' some XP before continuing your journey.

The ending is what is hardest. You get 3 lives... I always lose at least 1 in the big temple on the way to the boss. When I get to the boss, I only have 1 or 2 lives to find his weak spot.

I tried for a few hours and then gave up. It's now on my list of unbeaten Zelda games.
(And please don't go spoiling how to defeat the boss!! I'll figure it out eventually.)

You thought Master Quest was IH?! Unless we're talking about one version or the other, the first one kinda trolls you in some places, but it was still fun as heck...

But I suppose that's my opinion

Well I would agree that Master Quest is quite challenging, most puzzles are really brain-breakers and the hardest in the series bar maybe the ALttP's Ice Palace block puzzle. Especially if you've known the original inside out.

I would however give OoT3D's Master Quest indeed a VH because of the double damage you take from enemy hits and the mirrored lay-out which is extra confusing.
I mean, in OoT3D's MQ, Iron Knuckles do 8 hearts damage! You already meet one in the Fire Temple, after fighting 2 Stalfos which also do 4 hearts damage. You barely have 8 hearts by then so getting hit once by a Stalfos means 1-hit KO vs. the Iron Knuckle.
Took a few deaths there.

Originally Posted by Zelda-101*

Now I'm worried about Majora's Mask because it's H and VH!

It's not that bad. It's mainly challenging because it requires a lot of 'out of the box' thinking, and in-game hints are few.
Have you played OoT? If so, you have the basics. MM's just a more complicated OoT.