The Legend of Zelda Challenge

The Legend of Zelda Challenge – Introduction

This is the master page, holding a list to all of the blog articles related to my Legend of Zelda Challenge.  There was also a master article, but I decided to transfer it to this page, for easier maintenance and site listing. I will try to also keep the original article up to date, though there will always be more information here.

I love the Legend of Zelda series of games. I find them imaginative and interesting, the overarching story complex and the gameplay fun. The thing is, I only ever played a few of them, and finished an even smaller number.

This is why I decided to try and finish all the main games in the series, in order of release. I won’t be doing this as fast as possible, or anything of the sort, but I do intend to eventually go through all of them, other than Zelda 2, since I really can’t consider that a proper Zelda game. Don’t get me wrong, it looks decent enough, and it’s definitely considered part of the story, but the gameplay is just too different. Plus, from what I hear about the difficulty, I’ll probably rage hard if I try to complete that, so it isn’t worth it at this point. I might decide to do a tool assisted walkthrough at least once, though. Of course, the various spin-offs on other consoles won’t be included, since most of them are complete crap and have nothing to do with the series.

So, the first thing to do is to make a list of all the Legend of Zelda games in chronological order. I will turn each list item into a link eventually, no pun intended. If there’s a remake for any of the games, I’ll try to play that one. A good example would be the Link’s Awakening DX. For now, the games are listed in chronological order of first release.

The Legend of Zelda Challenge – Series Listing

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The Legend of Zelda (1986)

The Legend of Zelda - Box Art, Cover

The golden theme is what most of the games in the series use.

I played through this one in a single posting, mostly due to me being too lazy to write more. I apologize about that, but it is what it is. Here you go:

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Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987)

Zelda II - Box Art, Cover

The similarities don’t go far from the Box Art with Zelda II.

As I said, I won’t be playing through this one for now, since it’s not your regular Zelda game. I still would like to at least try it eventually, though.
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The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991)

This one was amazing to play through. It has aged beautifully and it still looks and feels great. If you want to be a fan of the Legend of Zelda series of games, you need to play this one. There is no way around it.

A Link to the Past - Box Art, Cover

I actually quite like the wide boxes of the SNES era. I just wish it wasn’t all cardboard. Steel is the way to go!

It took me a while to get around to playing the next game in the challenge, which made it obvious it’ll also take a while to actually get through the challenge, but I’m positive the games will be worth my time.

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The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (1993, DX 1998)

Link’s Awakening had a DX color version release five years after the original. It looks nicer and has extra features, so I opted for that one. With this sequel, the game started rapidly becoming more approachable.

Link's Awakening - Box Art, Cover

We’re up to four official games and we still have the same golden cover theme.

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The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)

I actually played a bit of this one on an emulator a few years back, but I didn’t get far.  I haven’t played it as part of the challenge yet, though. There’s also a remake out on the 3DS, but since I don’t own one yet and I don’t think I’m getting it any time soon, I’ll probably play it on Project64.

Ocarina of Time - Box Art, Cover

Wide format and the classical golden style. Love it!

The actual, proper playthrough is started in July of 2014 and I was playing the game on an Archos Gamepad, an Android device with physical buttons.

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The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (2000)

Same as with Ocarina of Time, I played this one for a bit, but didn’t get far. There’s no remake at the moment, so I’ll be playing the original.

Majora's Mask - Box Art, Cover

The first one to abandon the theme. While the game is great, the box art feels generic.

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The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (2001)

I have no personal experience with this, or the other Oracle game. All I know is that’s is possible to play both games as sequels to each other, via a code you get after completing one of them. The order is arbitrary.

Oracle of Ages - Box, Cover Art

Again, no golden theme, but I get why the two Oracle games had to share something.

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The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (2001)

I’ll have to play this right after the other Oracle game, so I better make sure I have the time to do it.

Oracle of Seasons - Box Art, Cover

Red Seasons and Blue Ages. Reminds me of Pokemon.

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The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002)

This one had mixed reception, mostly due to the graphical style. I’ve played through Phantom Hourglass and I love the style. I think it’s timeless. Since there’s a pretty decent GameCube/Wii emulator, my Legend of Zelda challenge is looking forward to this one and the next few games.

Wind Waker - Box Art, Cover

This is sort of a return to the classic theme, but the Game Cube logo kind of ruins it. Still, at least all the Game Cube games have a consistent look.

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The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (2004)

The way I understand it, this one is meant to be played with three more people. I don’t have enough interested friends, so I’m hoping it’s doable alone. Otherwise, my challenge will have to overcome a big hurdle here.

Four Swords Adventures - Box Art, Cover

I’m fine with this cover art being unique. The game is supposed to feel that way.

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The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (2004)

This one is, again, quite unique. I’m not sure if you’re even Link, or some other random shrunken hero. I love the idea with the famous cap now being a living creature.

 

Minish Cap - Box Art, Cover

This will be the last truly classical-style Zelda game I’ll play, I think.

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The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006)

I think I’ll play the GameCube version of Twilight Princess, mostly because the controls will be easier to emulate. Considering the rate I’m going through these games at, though, it might be years before I finally get around to it.

Twilight Princess - Wii Box Art, Cover

The box art is Wii, but the game will probably be GameCube. There’s a hint of the golden theme here, with a hint of twilight.

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The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007)

I’ve actually played through this one, and I believe there’s even an article or at least a paragraph on the blog here somewhere, though I can’t find it. This is part of the reason I started making these “master pages” – stuff gets lost. If I find it, I’ll link it here.

Phantom Hourglass - Box Art, Cover

We have gold, but we also have the platform logo and characters. I prefer the minimal shield/emblem.

In any case, I intend to play through Phantom Hourglass again, either on an emulator, or on a 3DS, once I finally get it again. Who knows, perhaps the Wii U will one day allow us to play NDS games on the Virtual Console. Actually, I love that idea. I hope it happens.
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The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (2009)

I know almost nothing about this one, except that it’s in the style of Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass and that it involves a train. We shall see.

Spirit Tracks - Box Art, Cover

Nothing classical about this one. It looks good, but it feels a bit generic, again.

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The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2012)

There are probably going to be a few more games added to the list before I get to this one, but it’s out now, so it’s on here. People have mixed feelings about Skyward Sword, but it looks nice to me.

Skyward Sword - Cover, Box Art

Again, we have the gold, but it’s not the minimal sword/shield/emblem style anymore. I preferred that one.

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Related Links

Here, I’ll add links to anything I stumble into while playing through this challenge. If it’s interesting or useful and related to the Legend of Zelda challenge, it will be here. I might even add a description or two, if I’m not too lazy. Realistically speaking, I’ll probably forget about this section and completely neglect it. I’ll still keep it here, though. I wear my shame.