Ranking Every Legend Of Zelda Game From Worst To Best
1. Link's Awakening
Ostensibly, Link's Awakening is a quaint jaunt chiefly concerned with trying to rouse a slumbering fish from a massive egg. But crack it open a little more and you discover this simple albeit surreal plot and the humble handheld habitat in which it is enshelled belie an unexpected yolk of existentialism, as Link is forced to question the very nature of existence after washing up on the shores of Koholint Island. Is this just a dream, and if so, what does it mean to be 'alive'?
Whilst Majora's Mask confronted the theme of certain death via an unavoidable lunar catastrophe, Link's Awakening was already answering the big questions seven years earlier, offering subtle commentary on life, love, regrets, and even the role of free-will in a linear narrative. Forget Andrew Ryan; Koholint's coercing owl was the first to ask "would you kindly", leaving the player the choice to either unhesitatingly follow his command despite it leading to the destruction of the world, or put the Game Boy down. For the first time, a game presented the difficult dilemma: am I really the hero here?
It's a ridiculously nuanced narrative, and one never failed by the unassuming hardware's technical limitations. It doesn't matter that it's miniature, and it doesn't matter that it's monochrome; Link's Awakening's world may be deceptively small, but like the plot, there's more there than it seems, and each screen is imbued with secrets just waiting to be discovered.
The dense reflections on the essence of reality are disguised by an endearingly whimsical charm, and the purity of the game's dungeon design hasn't been bested yet. Aesthetically, it's ideal: iconoclastic as this may sound, Link's Awakening features the absolute best version of the classic Zelda theme of all time, plus I challenge anyone not to be moved by this ending theme.
That ending is ambiguous, and the true nature of Koholint and its inhabitants is never revealed, but either way, the game is a dream. And it's one you never hope to wake up from.