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

[osirisjem]

I was going introduce my 6 year old son to the Zelda series. We have a Wii. Would it make "more sense" starting with an earlier version of Zelda ?

Here is the chronology:


1986 The Legend of Zelda
1987 The Adventure of Link
1991 A Link to the Past
1993 Link's Awakening
1998 Ocarina of Time
1998 Link's Awakening DX *
2000 Majora's Mask
2001 Oracle of Seasons and Ages
2002 A Link to the Past & Four Swords *
2002 The Wind Waker
2004 Four Swords Adventures
2004 The Minish Cap
2006 Twilight Princess
2007 Phantom Hourglass
2009 Spirit Tracks
2011 Ocarina of Time 3D *
2011 Four Swords Anniversary Edition *
2011 Skyward Sword

I was going to start with Skyward Sword .... but maybe that's not the best thing.

Any suggestions ? We only have a Wii - nothing else, but I would considering buying other hardware if that mattered.

On the same topic ... what are the "Best 5 Zelda games" ? Should I play the "Best 5" in order ? Which are the ones that you can play on the Wii ?

 

[RPG_Lover]

I'd start at the beginning - with the original Legend of Zelda from '86. It's available on the virtual console (or emulate it)

 

[HiroshiYamauchi]

I would introduce him first to Wind Waker, for two reason: it's easier and it's a lovely game with lovely characters. Great for his age.

My best Zelda games are:

1 - Ocarina of Time
2 - Wind Waker
3 - A Link to the Past
4 - Majora's Mask
5 - The Minish Cap

Play in any order, Zelda games are awesome!

 

[rehevkor]

Zelda doesn't really have a proper chronology, so playing in order isn't really necessary. Wii limits you somewhat, assuming you lack access to emulation, it let's you play some of the less accessible Zelda games.

For a 6 year old some of the hand held games might be a little more accessible. Link's Awakening, Phantom Hourglass, Minish Cap?

Getting a DS will give you access to a lot of good Zelda games, getting a flashcart and using emulation will give you access to more. Getting a DS Lite (dirt cheap at the moment) will let you play the GBA games too, unless you can get an Ambassador 3DS it's the only way to legitimately play Minish Cap, aside from an actual GBA.

 

[Bladexdsl]

play them in this order

 

[PolloDiablo]

It's probably that if your son plays Skyward Sword first (or any of the later ones) it will be harder for him to appreciate the older games
So... start with the the original '86 classic and keep going with the release order

I recommend trying the BS Satellaview version of Zelda 1 (it's a little shorter and prettier )

 

[Hadrian]

To appreciate the series its best to start with the first one and work your way up to Wind Waker...after that play whichever ones you feel like.

 

[giantpune]

if your kid is the age where he's learning his ABCs, you can play the games in alphabetical order to help him out.

 

[Maxternal]

As far as the question about what can you play on the Wii, all of them that are not meant for NDS, DSi or 3DS.
The only NDS emulator for Wii is too slow for that in my opinion.

 

[FIX94]

I would begin with wind waker or skyward swords, thats some good start. The older zelda games are hard, so dont start with zelda 1 or 2

 

[ploggy]

You should play them in order of release...that's what I do. (on a semi-regular basis)

 

[Clydefrosch]

your son wont have any fun on the nes zeldas. they are hard and have nothing to follow. he will wander aimlessly around forever. it wont be fun.

start with something like link to the past, or links awakening (its short, it gives you hints where to go and what to do, only 2 or 3 parts where you have to show him how to get a hidden key or how to move through the maze of shields to find wart the frog)

then, just stick to the gbc/gba/ds games before you move up to n64/wii

personally, i dont think any of the 3d games are really good on a child, so you may just want to wait a few years for those. wind waker can be a terrible game once you make it to the point where you have to get triforcemaps and collecting several thousand rupees so tingle decipheres them.
mayoras mask may actually scare him due to the moon and the whole after 3 days everyone dies thing
oot is not as scary, appart from the graveyard dungeon parts, but he will get stuck at either the fish dungeon, or the waterdungeon.


so yeah, link to the past, links awakening, oracle of seasons (ages is hard on the riddles so avoid it for now) the ds games.
oh, or minish cap! that may be an even better starting point than link to the past or awakening, as that game is colorful, not that hard, it has little dwarfpeople and shrinking and stuff.

my advice, start on minish cap. avoid nes games entirely (he may play those at 18 years out of interest) and wait with the 3d games until hes maybe 10 or 12.

also, dont force him to keep playing if he does just not care. just dont. buy him finding nemo if hes more interested in it, even when you think its a bad game, kids like what they want



in case you just want your son watching you play though, i'd say wind waker is a nice start. colorful, funny, etc. but its not made for a 6 year old to play

 

[Link615]

Do NOT start with the old NES games. Make him play Wind Waker and newer first, and if he ever wants to play the older games, let him play them after he's played the newer games.

 

[mightymuffy]

...Reminds me of a few years back - my 2 lads are now 12 & 10...... both have hammered Wind Waker and I'm 99.9% sure both will say it's the best Zelda (actually Clydefrosch you'd be surprised how well a 6 year old can handle Wind Waker et al)
During/since then they enjoyed Minish Cap, 4 Swords (GC) & the N64 Zeldas, Twilight Princess slightly less so but still played it... but weren't too impressed with the DS games... anything earlier though, not interested - even my fave game ever Link to the Past didn't interest them..... Nowadays they're big on Skyrim to the point of not even touching Skyward Sword (I don't think they care for the control scheme)

Wind Waker!

 

[Gnargle]

If you only play two, play Wind Waker and Majora's Mask. Wind Waker nails exploration and discovery more perfectly than any other game ever, and MM is a masterclass in storytelling through gameplay.

 

[Maxternal]

I think it ends up being a very important detail of about how old your kid is.

My kid's 3 but he at least loves watching me play any zelda game (sometimes I think he just thinks it's cool that he has a sword, but ... anyway)
He seems to have this ingrained in him since before I had a Wii and was playing Wind Waker in slow motion on Dolphin. He wasn't even 2 yet but liked to sit on my lap while I played.

It's quite a different case when they're actually old enough to play themselves. At that point they have to be able to read since I don't know of any zelda game that actually has voices to it.

 

[TripleSMoon]

I think Wind Waker is a perfect Zelda for beginners. it's the first one in the series that really goes out of its way to tutor the player on game mechanics, which makes it easier to learn.

Source: teaching my girlfriend to play Zelda right now

 

[mjh2260]

I'd have to agree with the ones that said do it in release order. Once you've played Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, or even Wind Waker, it will be hard to get past the low res graphics of the NES/SNES games.

 

[Fazermint]

The Wind Waker is probably the best choice to begin with. Your kid will probably dig the cartoony graphics. Also, sailing around with the boat, uncovering the map and fishing for treasure is a lot of fun. My 8 year old cousin some times plays the game just to aimlessly sail with the boat.

 

[Arras]

The problem with starting with the NES/SNES games is that they can be very hard. I recommend starting with either Oracle of Seasons and/or Minish Cap (if you start with OoS, Minish Cap after that) and then, in release order: Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword. Not sure about Oracle of Ages, Majora's Mask, Link's Awakening and A Link to the Past. Those are significantly harder than the others, and MM has that time limit where everyone dies. Probably somewhere between OoT and Skyward Sword, when he's a bit better at it.