Top 5 Favorite Legend of Zelda Games

With the remake of Wind Waker and a new Legend of Zelda game coming out soon, I thought I ought to do my next top 5 about my favorite LoZ games.  So... here's my top 5 favorite Legend of Zelda games!

5. Link to the Past
There are many who love Link to the Past.  In fact, some may hate this list already for it not being number 1.  Although Link to the Past is an incredible game (like nearly every other Legend of Zelda game), I didn't get "into" this game like others.  The amount of adventuring needed to be done was satisfying, and all of the things you could do was awesome.
The Light and Dark world split was a really nicely added feature into the game, making it much more challenging, and more adventures to be had.  It's a no wonder why so many people enjoyed this game so much, and it was no different to me.
Reason why it is not number 1 in my list MIGHT be because it has been a while since I last played it, but that might be it too.  With the newer Zelda games that came out, I just enjoyed them more, as well as what they had to offer.  However, that does not mean that Link to the Past is a game I would not go back on... just not AS often as others out there.

4. Ocarina of Time
Ocarina of Time not #1?  What is this madness?  I'm not mad, just... well, maybe I am.  But, that's not the main reason.  Ocarina of Time is an incredible game and step up since Link to the Past.  For one, it's a 3D Zelda game, and beautifully done.  The story?  Incredible!  The graphics?  Great!  The music?  Awesome!  It's a game that many Zelda fans love, and place it so high because of how great it was!  ... obviously, I am not as such.
I love this game for where you all can go to.  Each place felt like an adventure (otherwise, it wouldn't be a Zelda game), and a new challenge to overcome.  From collecting the Spiritual Stones to obtaining the Medallions and awakening the Sages to take out Ganondorf - all felt like a new challenge and... well, felt as if I were part of it.
Ocarina of Time had a lot to offer when it came out, and still does.  I mean, it was rereleased on the Nintendo 3DS, and I personally enjoyed it on that over the Nintendo 64 (mainly because I love Handheld consoles so much).  This goes to show just how popular the game was, and still is.

3. Twilight Princess
Now this might agitate others even further, but there are reasons why I do like Twilight Princess over Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time.  Put simply, I loved Hyrule for how it was, as well as all that you can do.  The items you get were great, and I enjoyed the music in it.
The biggest things I enjoyed in Twilight Princess were riding the Horse, and exploring Hyrule.  With the Horse, the mechanics for it were bigger, and served as an important part in the game.  For one, you have to ride your horse to take on the giant ogre monster thing ("insert name here"), and basically strive to knock him off of the bridge.  Not only that, but prior to that is simply taking out other enemies riding and shooting you with arrows.  And you're not using a bow as a sole weapon (like in Ocarina of Time).  What I hoped for in this game was to use my sword while riding... and that's what I got.  And boy, was I satisfied!
Exploring and adventure have always been a big thing for me!  It seemed like there were new places to go to - to explore!  Ocarina of Time had that, but I felt like Twilight Princess expanded that even further (hence why I love it so much).
Items are big too, and the few I loved were the Bow (especially bomb arrows and zooming like you were sniping), the Claw Shot (especially when you get two - man, that was awesome), and the Ball and Chain.  Traditional Zelda games received a giant hammer, but this took it a step up, and in a good way!  I loved using this item so much!  And you can still use it as a weapon afterwards (not as much as the sword, but it was still fun to bash enemies with).
And finally, you could gain more sword techniques, all of which I thought were unique, and awesome!  Originally, Link's main sword technique was the jump attack and the commonly known Spin Attack, but TP added more unique sword skills into that factor.  My favorites are the shield bash and helm splitter, the jump strike, and the mortal draw.
Overall, I felt like I was improving as the game progressed, and that there was more to be seen.  Like I said, Ocarina of Time had that, but I felt like Twilight Princess stepped up further on it!

2. Skyward Sword
In terms of story, Skyward Sword is my number 1 favorite in a Zelda game.  Obviously, not over all, but still!  The story was well put together, and incredibly interesting!  In addition, this took part before Hyrule came to be, so it was great to see how it all started!
Unlike in previous games, Zelda is best friends with Link, and a lot cooler too.  But my favorite has got to be Groose!  He's pretty much Link's "rival"... except Link doesn't view him as such.  Groose is kinda a bully to Link at first, but in time, they become better friends and Groose ends up becoming a key role in helping Link a few times.
This game was released on the Wii, so it would be obvious it would be motion controlled (like Twilight Princess)... and it was - except better!  With the introduction to the Wii Motion Plus, it made the gameplay feel fluent and "life like".  Swinging the Wiimote around may look a tad silly to others, but not to the gamer (at least me).  I loved it!  I felt like I was actually wielding the Master Sword and taking on evil head on!  Speaking of...
The best parts I thought were the development of the Master Sword and obtaining all of the Triforce!  It became something... more!  The sword you receive is the Goddess Sword, with a spirit residing in it named Fi, who will be your partner along the way (like Navi from Ocarina of Time and Midna from Twilight Princess).  The Goddess Sword will later be forged and become the Sword of Evil's Bane we now know as the Master Sword.  In addition, you will be searching for all three pieces of the Triforce, which was awesome!
Searching for these was one thing, but the story was pretty awesome and epic.  I wish I could traverse more like I could in TP, but the story alone was well worth it.  I especially enjoyed several of the bosses, especially the last boss!
The only thing I wish was added was more adventuring to be had, but the incredible story and controls more than make up for it!

1. Wind Waker
Now, I'm sure I know what some are thinking: "What the heck?  Why Wind Waker as #1?  It wasn't even that good!  All of that sailing, and..." blah blah blah.  Well, this is MY top 5 favorites, and it is my own opinion.
Yes, Wind Waker is my favorite Zelda game.  Some Zelda fans are not too... intrigued with the graphics and the colorful cartooney style of the game, but I am.  In fact, that kinda reflects my personality a bit... maybe that's why I like it so much?  I thought the style was a new and great step up from the former Zelda games, which were more "life like".
The land?  What land?  ... except for the islands, it consists mostly of fast oceans.  And, to be honest, was a new thing to us.  Some didn't like it (mainly because there were A LOT of sailing), but I didn't mind it as much.  In fact, I enjoyed it.  There was always a new place to go to (and treasure to find).  I love to just explore and experience new things, and that is what I got out of Wind Waker.  I like to keep my feet on the ground, but this is one of few games where I actually enjoyed being in the water.
The story and plot, I thought, were nice and awesome!  I enjoyed it, and all of the dungeons you had to go to (and some of the bosses were fun to fight against).  I always did wonder what happened to Hyrule... and you do (eventually).  The characters were pretty cool.  Some were silly, and in a good way (to me).
Speaking of characters, I always wondered if we would ever meet the King of Hyrule... well, we got that too.  And especially, later on in the game, you obtain the Master Sword... in its powerless form... but, you eventually go out and reawaken it, making it the Master Sword again... in it's full power to slay evildoers!
Aside from the Master Sword, the items you obtain are interesting and fun!  I especially like the Deku Leaf, the Skull Hammer, and the Mirror Shield.  The return of the Fire, Ice, Light arrows for the Bow was good too, since I loved using those kind of arrows in Ocarina of Time.
And after beating Ganondorf and all that good stuff, a second play through was to be had, and I liked it.  For 1, instead of playing in the traditional Link costume, you get to play the game in your Blue Crab Shirt and Orange Pants get up, and you obtain the Delux Picto Box when you start, which was awesome!
The only thing I did not like about Wind Waker was the tedious searching for the pieces of the Triforce of Courage.  It became a hassle to deal with, but it did not bump it down from #1 (I hope they fix that in the HD remake for the WiiU).  Speaking of... I am excited for that.  Just thought I throw that out there!

So that's my top 5 favorite Zelda games.  What's your favorite Zelda game?  I hope you leave it in the comments section (if anyone DOES comment... haha!).  So, uh... yeah, later!