Definitive way to play the through the history of 3D Zelda games?

PC emulation is probably going to get you the most systems under one thing, maybe phone if you want portable? But a New 3DS XL is what I would recommend if you want portable. You can then do a mix of emulation and native. NES SNES GB GBA DS 3DS on one system.

I say PC might be best for like GC and Wii and Wii-U

Edit: You get a CD-i for those games but the less said about those "games" the better lol

 

playing oot on the 3ds is pretty amazing. I haven't beaten a lot of zelda games. like you, I got pretty far, then quit. I've prepurchased link's awakening, so it's on my system ready to play. anyway, I beat oot on the 3ds, and I don't really play too many new games (this was back when it was new). also, you might try neutopia 1 and 2 on the turbo grafx. I think one or both will be on the turbo grafx/pc engine mini. there are a lot of similarities between it and a link to the past (if you're interested in the 2d games). in fact, some people say that neutopia ripped off a link to the past when in reality neutopia was released first in Japan, so they couldn't have.

 

I'd start with a link to the past and onward from release (even earlier games if they look nice to you)
emulation wise just crank the settings to your liking/pc limit and add some shaders if you want
also the zelda games on ds have a patch so they can be played almost entirely without the touch screen

 

I think a link to the past is on both the snes classic and the switch officially.

I own the real cart of the game for the snes, and I was playing it on my retron. I got to the third dungeon in the dark world, when I suddenly couldn't figure out where to go. that save has been lost.

 

Start over wait for link's awakening remake on the 20th but you could be distracted by borderlands 3

 

anything released pre windwaker+ plus the ones desing for ds/3ds i would say 3ds is the best way to play them. every thing else i would say pc emulation if you pc is powerfull enough, if not then native is also good

 

For OoT and MM, the 3DS remakes, and in the case of the latter, using the patch that brings back the zora swimming mechanics, are the best way to experience those games IMO. Played in an emulator to render at a higher resolution if you like.

As for Wind Waker the Wii U version looks stunning. If you don't have a Wii U then Cemu is what you want.

Twilight Princess you could go for either the GC, Wii or Wii U versions. The graphical improvements in the Wii U version other than rendering at a higher resolution are hardly noticeable. If you go with GC/Wii they are best played in dolphin at a higher resolution, GC/Wii games don't look great on modern TVs.

Skyward Sword is best played in Dolphin, using an AR code that disables the depth of field effect, as it looks weird in HD. There's a HD texture pack for it that does a really good job at recreating the original art style. Sadly it's incomplete, but it improves on enough areas that it's worth using anyway.

Zelda BotW performs slightly better on Switch than on Wii U. The Wii U version has better lighting but the Switch version has higher render distance. You likely won't notice the difference unless you do a side by side comparison (or watch one online) though, so either is fine. If you have neither of those systems, Cemu is the way to go.

That should be all the main series games I think.

The DS entries I don't know if count as 3D Zelda games. They are technically 3D but they play more like 2D Zelda. I found them highly skippable but you may enjoy them. The best way to play them would probably be in an emulator rendering at a higher resolution (DeSmuMe supports it and I don't know about melonDS or DraStic), using the most up to date D-Pad patches so you don't have to control using the touchscreen.

Same for Tri-Force Heroes and Zelda ALBW, they play like 2D Zelda so I don't know if they count. But as opposed to the DS games, I actually enjoyed these. Especially Tri-Force Heroes, which is a blast with friends. Less of a blast with randoms where it can get frustrating trying to explain to people what to do. For these games, rendering at higher resolution doesn't matter too much I think, but you can do that if you want with Citra.