Gaming Zelda series ... should I try to play them in order ? What order ?

[koimayeul]

Link to the past (though yes probably way too difficult), Minish Cap, Wind Waker, Skyward Sword. Those are eye candy and very fitting for the young player. The rest are either way too dated to put a 5 years old through (nes, gb), sickening 3d (n64) or too mature (twilight). Best pick Wind Waker for sure.

 

[Ace]

Personally, I was handed Gameboys and SNES controllers at your sons age when I first picked up Zelda games. To that end, I'm still a firm believer that playing the 16-bit era of games + Gameboy Color games on the real consoles will really help him into a transitional period of Zelda. Once those are beat, throw him right into the 3D Zeldas, just because of the challenge. The true retro Zelda's should just be more cute reminders for when he's older, I guess.

 

[10_0ARMY]

I'd suggest Wind Waker first as well. It was my favorite Zelda title, along with Majora's Mask.

Top 5 Zeldas:

1. Majora's Mask
2. Wind Waker
3. Skyward Sword
4. Twilight Princess
5. Ocarina of Time

I feel like the 3D games are much easier to play through than the original and any of the handheld games, plus I love the 3D games and haven't bothered beating any other Zelda titles. D:

 

[JulietStMoon]

I'd suggest Wind Waker first as well. It was my favorite Zelda title, along with Majora's Mask.

Top 5 Zeldas:

1. Majora's Mask
2. Wind Waker
3. Skyward Sword
4. Twilight Princess
5. Ocarina of Time

I feel like the 3D games are much easier to play through than the original and any of the handheld games, plus I love the 3D games and haven't bothered beating any other Zelda titles. D:

you and i are in the same camp. OoT was my first Zelda game, and no matter how hard i try, i can't get into any of the "top-down" games (and i tried all of them except the DS ones). they're literally completely different from the 3d games

 

[SanktyRG]

Personally the first Zelda I played was A Link to the Past and loved it, I really enjoy any top-view Zelda but I have to say, my all time favorite is Skyward Sword with Minish Cap in second place, after that I think is Wind Waker.

 

[JulietStMoon]

My favorite of the 4 I've played through completely (OoT through TP) is a tie between WW and MM (keep in mind, I haven't played through SS yet)

 

[Tornplaya]

Kids these days often lose their patience with Zelda games do to the time and thinking involved (like in dungeons). As most others already said, it's best to start with newer games like skyward sword, and when he gets older he might appreciate the classic Zelda games.

 

[Fishaman P]

1) OoT
2) OoT
3) OoT
4) OoT Master Quest
5) OoT

Get the point?

 

[gamefan5]

Hmm, start with Wind waker. It's gonna sink in the little boy's mind.

 

[osirisjem]

He is 6 and 1/2.
and we are just finishing Pokemon White.

If I was to pick the best "low res" "non 3D" Zelda game to start ... what would it be ?

Great thread everyone ... thanks !
gbatempers know their Zelda !

 

[spotanjo3]

Also you can do the follow here:

http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline

 

[JulietStMoon]

He is 6 and 1/2.
and we are just finishing Pokemon White.

If I was to pick the best "low res" "non 3D" Zelda game to start ... what would it be ?

Great thread everyone ... thanks !
gbatempers know their Zelda !

I guess you mean a top-down Zelda, right? I would say A Link to the Past because that's THE 2D Zelda game (according to most people), but it's also rather tough. Alternatively, maybe Minish Cap?

 

[osirisjem]

I guess you mean a top-down Zelda, right? I would say A Link to the Past because that's THE 2D Zelda game (according to most people), but it's also rather tough. Alternatively, maybe Minish Cap?

He found Pokemon White hard.
So easy might be better

 

[JulietStMoon]

He found Pokemon White hard.
So easy might be better

Definitely go with Minish cap, then. It's not the easiest one, but it's doable, and it looks modern enough that it might not "turn off" a kid to older looking graphics, if you know what i mean.

 

[Arras]

Minish Cap is a great game. I think it's the only Zelda game I finished twice. It's not that hard, although there are a few annoying armored enemies near the end that can be tough to take down. (Darknuts?)

 

[Maxternal]

Also you can do the follow here:

http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline

Thanks, that was a very interesting read.

 

[spotanjo3]

@Maxternal

You are very welcome.

 

[vicinity]

The advice you're getting here is so incredibly bad I just had to sign up and add my 2 cents.

I was 5 when Lttp was realeased, played it maybe when I was around about 6. Most of the people here are telling you that the older ones are too hard and it is my opinion that either a) they're too old to remember that kids are better at games than adults or b) they're too young and grew up in a time where games just had to hold your hand every step of the way. Give kids a little more credit, they're not stupid and they learn fast. Another thing i'd say is that if he does find a game particularily difficult to not automatically let him skip on to another or help him out straight away (within reason of course). When I was growing up games were much more scarce i.e. we would play maybe less than 5 games a year, this meant if you got stuck on somewhere you were more or less guaranteed to solve it at some point, and that's a good thing - that's learning. Now games are so widespread & numerous (and can cost next to nothing) that kids don't appreciate them like they would have just 15 years ago because if they can't figure it out they'll just play something else.

I say you should start him off in the order they were released. As I think someone has already said, he will probably not appreciate the older ones if you start him off with one of the newer ones as the games have changed a lot and evolved with time. If he plays them in order I think that he will be more likely to play more of them and understand and appreciate the change the series has went through. Link to the Past is still my favourite, and I guess i'm probably biased since it was the first I played but story wise it's better than most (if not all) the others. Graphically speaking, there isn't a Zelda that looked so beautiful on release and has aged as well. Oot's graphics, for example, have aged horribly. There are a couple I personally wouldn't bother with, Zelda II, for example never felt like a Zelda game to me (and I realize the irony as I read earlier in the thread someone who's first Zelda was Oot who couldn't get on with Lttp), or the DS ones that bored me to tears.

If you can, it would also be cool to get whichever one's you choose on the original systems. While this will obviouslly be more expensive remember that there is 26 years of videogames there and they don't all have to be played in the next year or two. Plus, if you take your time you'll probably find some bargains and your son will end up with a very nice collection one day. Oh how I wish I had never before played a Zelda game, just so I could appreciate them all over again...then again, maybe I would end up not appreciating most of them had I just played my first one today...

 

[JulietStMoon]

The advice you're getting here is so incredibly bad I just had to sign up and add my 2 cents.

I was 5 when Lttp was realeased, played it maybe when I was around about 6. Most of the people here are telling you that the older ones are too hard and it is my opinion that either a) they're too old to remember that kids are better at games than adults or b) they're too young and grew up in a time where games just had to hold your hand every step of the way.

You created a account on a forum just to slap a dozen of its members in the face? WOW. Good luck making friends. Do you do this regularly?

A) "Bad advice" is subjective.
B) He said his son had trouble with Pokemon. That's not too difficult of a game.
C) Many of us (me included) grew up in the NES and SNES era, but we realize that today's kids generally aren't used to the more difficult games that we were basically accustomed to growing up.
D) Harder doesn't necessarily equal better. There's really no denying that games like the original Zelda that just sort of added guesswork with no real way to figure it out but mindlessly wandering (like finding the dead tree where the first dungeon is) were just shameless examples of poor game design. Stop being an elitist and viewing everything through the nostalgia lenses.
E) There's nothing wrong with disagreeing and making your own opinion. But it's just stupid and rude to just charge in here with your first post about how "everyone here is wrong, or else dealt only with handholding games." Show other tempers respect, and you'll find you might like this site enough to use it regularly.

 

[JoostinOnline]

There are only a few games that relate to each other. It doesn't really matter what game you pick to play first, with three exceptions:

1. Ocarina of Time should be played before Majora's Mask, as MM is a direct sequel
2. Play either of the Oracle games (I like Ages better, but they are both good) before Link's Awakening (or Link's Awakening DX)
3. Just like OoT and MM, Phantom Hourglass is a sequel to Wind Waker, so play those in order

The second one doesn't even really matter, you just get a little background to the shipwreck at the beginning of Link's Awakening.


For a kid, I suggest starting with any one of the Game Boy Color games. Keep in mind that there is almost no way a 6 year old is going to beat the original Zelda game on his own.