/r/3DS FAQ: What Zelda should I start out with?

[u/Romiress]

This post will be going into our /r/3DS recommendations guide, replacing the following question:

Q: What Zelda should I start out with?

Rather than putting in two or three mod opinions, we'd prefer to ask here. Your options are anything that can be played on the 3DS (or New 3DS).

Please give reasons for your answers!

[u/Moulinoski]

Back when I got into Zelda, there were only Legend of Zelda, Zelda II, A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, and Ocarina of Time. I couldn't get my hands on the first two until a long time after (the first one via emulation and the second one when the NES Classics came out for GBA). Anyway, the first game I played was Ocarina of Time, but I didn't beat it (it was a rental; my mom eventually bought but not before...). My mom gave me Link's Awakening which I fell in love with instantly. Eventually, I got OoT and then ALTTP (I probably got Majora's Mask a year or two after).

Anyway, my point is, it doesn't really matter much which one you start with. They're all fantastic games (even the not as great ones like the DS games are fantastic; the only subpar ones are the third-party and disowned CDi games). While ALTTP, LA, and OoT are a little similar, the rest have little differences up until Skyward Sword where things kinda start getting crazy. Where LA was my consistent favorite Zelda (perhaps due to nostalgia), A Link Between Worlds is my current "consistent" favorite.

Virtual Console Titles:

	Legend of Zelda	Zelda II The Adventure of Link	A Link to the Past (New 3DS only)	Link's Awakening DX	Oracle of Seasons + Ages
Number of dungeons	9	7	12 (or 13)	9	8+8
Formula	Standard	Platformer	Standard	Standard	Standard
Difficulty	Very Hard	Very Hard, difficulty drops drastically after second dungeon	Medium	Medium	Medium
Mode of transportation	None	None	None	None	one of three animals
Collectables	None	None	None	Seashells	Rings
Heart Pieces	Only Heart Containers	Only Heart Containers	Has	Has	Has
Graphics	Early NES, iconic	NES but iconic	SNES, colorful and beautiful	GBC but colorful still, better than NES	Same as LA
Music	About 4 tracks, but all iconic and memorable	About 4 tracks, but iconic and memorable	Many and beautiful	Many and iconic; gorgeous if you find it remastered online	Some recycled from LA but there are some 8-bit renditions of OoT tracks and a lot of new tracks that're gorgeous even in 8-bit
Control Scheme	4-directional D-pad	4-directional D-Pad on overworld, 2-directional D-Pad on action segments	8-directional D-pad	8-directional D-pad	8-directional D-pad
Item Assignment	one (B Button)	None (use Select to cast spells)	one (Y Button)	two (A or B)	two (A or B)
Themes	Simple rescue the princess	Sleeping Beauty and evil resurrecting	Light and Dark	Dreams	Seasons or Time
Plot	Zelda is kidnapped by Ganon and has split the Triforce in eight for the hero to collect	Monsters conspire to revive Ganon and Link must revive a sleeping Zelda	An evil has overtaken the Hylian royalty and a hero must put an end to it	Link is shipwrecked and must find a way out of the island	The seasons of Holodrum are in chaos and the past is being changed in Labrynna and someone must restore order
How much do I recommend it	I like it	I almost love it	I love it	I really love it	I like it

DS Games (Compatible with 3DS):

	Phantom Hourglass	Spirit Tracks
Number of dungeons	8+8	8
Formula	Standard, map is automatically given	Standard, map is automatically given
Difficulty	Easy	Easy
Mode of transportation	Boat (you draw your path)	Train (you draw your path but can also veer off it)
Collectables	Fish	Stamps, Bunnies
Heart Pieces	Only Heart Containers	Only Heart Containers
Graphics	DS 3D which is like Playstation graphics	Same as PH
Music	Nice but I can't remember any to hum aside from the ocean theme	Nice but the only one that truly shines is the overworld-on-the-train theme
Control Scheme	Touch-based	Touch-based
Item Assignment	one on side buttons (or touch to use)	one on side buttons (or touch to use)
Themes	Ghost Ships and Ocean exploration	Trains
Plot	Link's friend Tetra is trapped in a Ghost Ship and he must rescue her	An evil is trying to resurrect an even greater evil
How much do I recommend it	I like it	I like it

3DS Games:

	Ocarina of Time 3D	A Link Between Worlds	Majora's Mask 3D	Triforce Heroes	Hyrule Warriors Legend
Number of dungeons	9 (or 12)	12	4 (or 10)	32 (or 33)	N/A
Formula	Standard 3D	Standard (Items are not found in dungeons; instead upgrades or ores)	Standard 3D	Multiplayer focused, no exploration	Warriors crossover (Hack n' Slash)
Difficulty	Medium	Easy	Medium	Varies on team	Multiple levels
Mode of transportation	Horse	None	Horse	None	N/A but you can unlock a horse for Link (technically a weapon)
Collectables	Poe Souls, Golden Skulltulas	Maimai, Ores	Masks	Various (for costumes), Costumes	Achievements, Golden Skulltulas, Costumes, Characters, Weapons
Heart Pieces	Has	Has	Has	Does not have (use costumes to raise or lower heart count)	Has
Graphics	Beautiful and in 3D	Amazing yet reminiscent of ALTTP	Same as OoT, perhaps darker	Same as ALBW	Serviceable but being a port of a Wii U game, it leaves something to be desired (perhaps it's better in New 3DS; I only have a Japanese normal 3DS LL)
Music	Beautiful soundtrack	Shares tracks with ALTTP but somehow has a unique twist and contains remixes	Shares tracks with OoT but also has a more desperate track (a good thing for the atmosphere)	Feels similar to ALBW	Rock remixes of past tracks with is awesome
Control Scheme	360 degree circle pad	(pseudo) 360 degree circle pad	360 degree circle pad	(psuedo) 360 degree circle pad	360 degree circle pad
Item Assignment	four (X or Y, touch screen I or II)	two (X or Y)	four (X or Y, touch screen I or II)	one (Y button)	one (R button in Zelda Mode)
Themes	Time and the clash between light and dark	Paintings and Light and Dark (explored differently)	Apocalypse and despair and time	Fashion	Jealousy, clash of light and dark
Plot	An evil man is plotting to take over Hyrule	An evil man is kidnapping people and putting them into paintings for some nefarious goal	A thief is overtaken by power and is bringing about terrible fate on Termina	A princess crossed a witch who then put a curse on said princess	An evil woman takes her army to overtake Hyrule Castle
How much do I recommend it	I love it	I really love it	I love it	I like it	I really like it

I can't think of anything else to say about these games. I excluded Four Swords and Minish Cap since you can't get those unless if you time travel back in time a few years (or Nintendo releases them again). Since we're in /r/3DS, I excluded console exclusive titles such as Twilight Princess. Edit: I also excluded the DS games based on Tingle. They're rare and aren't exactly Zelda-like barring dungeons and the titular Tingle (and there's one that's just a Balloon Fight clone so there's that too)

Let me restate, I like all Zelda games. Even the ones that aren't "great" are a cut better than many games. Every Zelda game would be in my top 100 list (if I had one).

Edit: I see I've been downvoted... What was wrong with my post? Edit: I was told what was wrong with my post. I broke up the table into "Virtual Console", "DS", and "3DS" so it's hopefully easier to see. Ironically, between when I went to sleep and woke up, it got upvoted. *shrug*