The Legend Of Zelda is the best video game series ever – Reader’s Feature

The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time – number one again (Nintendo) Excited by the release of the Ocarina Of Time remake, a reader insists that Zelda is the greatest video game franchise of all time, ahead of Grand Theft Auto. We’re only two weeks out from GTA 6 and the only thing I can think about is the remake of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time. I haven’t played it for more than a couple of hours yet but it’s amazingly beautiful and, from what I can tell from the trailers and reviews, it’s exactly what I’ve always wanted. It’s currently the highest rated game of the year on Metacritic, with only GTA 6 to go, and the highest rated remake of all time, ahead of all the Resident Evil games. It literally couldn’t be any better. So that means Ocarina Of Time has been one of the best games ever made twice now, with the original and the remake. And that’s in a series that has at least two other games that have also been called the best ever made, with A Link To The Past and Breath Of The Wild. And Tears Of The Kingdom basically was as well, even though it wasn’t an entirely new game. When games like The Wind Waker are considered lesser entries, and you’ve got portable spin-offs of the quality of Link’s Awakening, you know you are dealing with a very special set of games. Zelda turned 40 this year and it is healthier than ever. The only time it’s not been is the Twilight Princess/Skyward Sword era, when you had two only okay games in a row, but that’s literally as low as it’s ever gone. The problem then was a lack of innovation, with the games too scared to do anything different to Ocarina Of Time – because it was that good. Breath Of The Wild was the solution to that problem but not only was it a massive hit with reviewers but it was by far the best seller of the series too. Most people don’t realise but Zelda has never been that big in terms of sales. The original Ocarina of Time did okay but nowhere near what it should of for how good it was. Want GTA 6 news? Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for the latest GTA 6 news, reviews of new games you should play and exclusive analysis of the biggest stories of the week. It’s because the games are a lot harder and more involved, but Breath Of The Wild, helped by being a launch game, changed all that and now the series is one of Nintendo’s biggest sellers as well. It literally could not be doing better. Maybe I’m biased because I love it, but I don’t see an argument for any other franchise being better. I guess GTA is the obvious suggestion, especially with GTA 6 coming up, but I feel as soon as a new one is out it’s very hard to appreciate the previous ones. People play GTA for the open world and the vibes, not the gameplay, which is consistently mediocre. Maybe GTA 6 will be better, we don’t know yet (as far as I know there were no previews at all), but I’m willing to bet that Ocarina Of Time will still be the best game of the year by the time we get to December. The only real contender I’d say is Super Mario, also a Nintendo franchise (obviously). These series have been around for 40+ years now and the consistency and quality and reinvention is just off the charts. Something like GTA, it’s just better graphics each time and nothing else really changes. But compare Ocarina Of Time to Breath Of The Wild and there’s almost no comparison. Except both were very closely based on the original NES game, with Nintendo specifically going back to the original for Breath Of The Wild. I love everything about the games. The mix of action and puzzles and stories is just the best, and there’s so many loveable and memorable characters and moments. The dungeons, the bosses, the secrets, the whole style and tone of the games… it’s great. It’s always been great and it’s clearly going to carry on being great. GTA can get in the bin as far as I’m concerned. By reader Onibee A Link to the Past – the best game ever made in 1991 (Nintendo) The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro. You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email. Arrow MORE: Why I bought Gears Of War: E-Day despite not being a fan of the series – Reader’s Feature Arrow MORE: Call Of Duty will never die no matter how bad it gets - Reader’s Feature Arrow MORE: Why EA killed my favourite developer (and I don’t mean BioWare) - Reader's Feature GameCentral Get the latest GTA 6 news, reviews of new games you should play and exclusive analysis of the biggest stories of the week.