The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is my favorite game of all time. Period.

I actually think that it is the most under appreciated game of all time. If you are a member of IWtEOSR, you will know full well that I adore Gameinformer and every bit of work they do, but I am going to have to call out everyone who was in the Great Zelda Debate podcast for falling into the pitfall that every single podcast that discusses Zelda falls into. Every time, without fail, someone will say "And I know some people will defend that other one, Link's Awakening..." Then continue on their merry way, not once bringing it up for the rest of the podcast. If I was sitting there in that room, I would have argued for Link's Awakening over Ocarina, Wind Waker, and even A Link to the Past with all of my might.

Every time Majora was mentioned, someone talked about how "It was going for something different storywise." Majora was not the first Zelda game to have an interesting princess-free story, Link's Awakening was. In case you never played this beautiful gem, the basis of the story is that Link shipwrecks and wakes up in a strange house, brought there by strange people, on a strange island, with a strage deity and talking owl. As you progress through any and every Zelda game (with the possible exception of Majora), you gain items, rupees, and some self-esteem, but nothing more. In Link's Awakening, every boss gives you a tiny bit of insight into what the hell is really going on here.

There is an awesome trading sub-quest that winds up converging with the critical path, there are classic hidden puzzles, heart pieces, and even mysterious shells, collectables that upgrade your sword. There are Mario-style sidescrolling sections within dungeons that have straight up goombas in them! There is a hidden maze in which signposts give you directions around a hazardous area, and the reward is more gratifying then a thousand master swords. There are sections in which you are followed around by a magical flying zombie rooster who you can grab onto to fly. Before the second dungeon, you have to take a chain chomp out for a walk. There are amazing sequences all over the place, on the scale that no other Zelda game has matched, to date.

But if the gameplay is fantastic, the story is by far the best in the series, if not one of the best Nintendo has ever done. As the world begins piecing itself together, it becomes all too apparent that there is something wrong with it. Like the entire world is just one step away from reality. It gives this fantastic impression that everything happening is off. It is almost impossible to explain. It is like playing ICO. You know there is something up, but you can't put your finger on what it is. Whether it is the characters, the bosses, or your mentor, the owl. As the ending nears, you start to figure out that you have no idea why you are working for the goal you are, and it isn't until the very end that you discover what exactly the mystery of Koholint Island really is.

So we need to make a vow to end the silence. Never again will Link's Awakening be the game that "some people defend" but never fails to merely be a name drop. I still pop in Link's Awakening around every 6 months, and I love it every time.

I went over to my friends house to watch him play Ocarina of Time from Water Temple to the end on the gamecube port. Which we did, and even just watching it there was this extreme feeling of astonishment in the Battle against Ganon. I'd say it goes down as one of the best boss fights of all time.

Ocarina of Time blew my mind... I have Majora's Mask tattooed on my left shoulder/arm with downward extending digital tentacles. No Bullsh*t

Best Zelda memory: My cousin Dan and I making up a minor backstory for Error in Zelda II. We figured he was an unplanned pregnancy and his resentful parents cruelly, yet accordingly, named him so. We still laugh about that to this day and still refer to unplanned children as "Errors."

We're pure evil.

My favorite was beating Link to the Past after playing without stopping (figure of speech) for hours.

I loved the Twilight Princess because Zelda is my favorite game series and because Link turns into my favorite animal!!

Robin Williams' magical beard in the Robin Williams/Zelda Williams 25th Anniversary spots.

Snagging the top spots for biggest fish on three different friends' OoT carts, never to be beaten ( I loved that whole game but I was really hooked on the fishing).

i played a link to the past on the snes when i was about 5 or 6. i couldnt understand the full concept of the game until i was about 10 or so. I fell in love with the game ever since. In total from then on... i have beaten that game about 25 to 30 times..

My favourite part of that game is a tie between beating the two headed Turtle in turtle Rock and going back to the Palace with the Master Sword in hand... it was and still is an awesome beastly game.

That time I saved Zelda.

My parents and I are only 19 years apart. I'm 25, Nintendo and The Legend of Zelda came out about 20 years ago. I remember spending HOURS with my father playing through this game. I have so many fond memories playing through it MULTIPLE times because my mother would unplug it "on accident" WRECKING our save file. This was also before the days of the internet, so there were no online guides, just plain ole grinding, and trial and error...like the time we learned that you had to complete the dungeons in numerical order or you couldn't progress.... after YET ANOTHER new game...finally, we completed it. Just me and my dad, and since then, every time a new Zelda released, we would go through it together. I feel I'm very blessed to have a dad in his 40's who was just as horrified when the "Legend of Zelda Movie" was announced, and equally relieved when we discovered it was an April Fools prank. We still game, and we still laugh about those memories of playing an amazing game that played a special part in our relationship as father and son. A family that games together, stays together.

The whole final boss segment of The Phantom Hourglass

As much as I love A Link to the Past, I have to say that my favorite memory is definitely getting Ocarina for Christmas. It's the perfect time of year for a game like that. Seeing Hyrule in 3-d, watching the day and night cycle on the field (I always loved fighting the Stalchildren until the sun rose to pass the time), hearing the soundtrack which still holds up so well... I remember hearing the Gerudo Valley theme and immediately going for my acoustic (which I had just started to learn three weeks beforehand). It all brings back fond memories to this day.

Never played it, never going to.

I think Wind Waker was the first one I played solo all the way through. I know it gets a lot of hate but I loved it.

The entire experience which is Wind Waker.  Filling in that big, uncharted map was the most fun I've ever had with a Zelda game.  

the first time i put on Fierce Deity's Mask and looked at the new awesomeness lil Link had become. I became a freaking god (digitally speaking)

my first game that i played with Zelda Characters was Super Smash Bros, from then i decided to find out who these characters were and play their games. For me though one of the hardest things to believe is that A link to the past is the best game in the series. The first one i played was Ocarina of Time than windwaker and I and II and then A link to the past but that one i thought had the tightest gameplay of all and made me a believer that 2d games can often do better gameplay than 3d.

Playing Ocarina of Time for the first time when I was 7. It was the first 3D game I had ever played

My favorite memory? Disovering about this series.

My brother, father and I making detailed maps of dungeons by hand during the original LOZ. Ah the internet changed everything.