Difficult Side Quests in the 'Legend of Zelda' Series

Every "Legend of Zelda" game encourages exploration. When Link begins to wander, he will usually find a side quest or other distraction. Some of these can be relatively easy, others make you want to punch the console. Here are a few of my favorite difficult and annoying side quests.

The Sun Mask in "Majora's Mask"
There are 24 masks to collect in "Majora's Mask." One in particular is an absolute pain. During the side quest to unite the Kafei and Anju, Link spends a lot of time running around. At the end of the quest, he must go get the Sun Mask. The annoying part is that it can only be retrieved during the final night. Also, if the thief, Sakon, sees Link by his hideout, he will run away and not open it up. To make things more difficult, once inside the cave you have to solve puzzles while controlling both Link and Kafei. Then you have to get back to town. All this takes place as the Moon gets closer and closer to falling.

Cave of Ordeals in "Twilight Princess"
The Cave of Ordeals is like Wind Waker's Savage Labyrinth but much worse. There are 50 levels of enemies. The enemies don't drop hearts, so all the health Link comes in with is it. After every tenth level, a Great Fairy releases fairies in a spirit spring. Too bad that doesn't help Link while inside. The cave can't be completed until almost the end of the game. Every tenth level requires a different item to access it. For Link's ordeal in the cave, he gets a bottle of Fairy Tears.

Dark Ore in "Spirit Tracks"
Getting five pieces of Dark Ore to Linebeck III seems like an easy quest, but it's not. Not only is the Dark Ore Mine on the opposite side of the map, it also melts in the sun. Forget about finding safety in the conveniently placed cave. Once inside, a gigantic rocktite and several smaller ones attack. If the train takes a hit, a piece of ore gets lost. Link starts out with 10 pieces. Between the sun, the distance needed to be traveled and the cave, the train can only get hit once. Linebeck won't count pieces from multiple trips, either.

Biggoron Sword in "Ocarina of Time"
This huge side quest includes many parts and spans from Link as a child to adult. During the quest, you need to win Epona, hatch a chicken and make many timed runs. The timed runs are what makes this quest difficult. The sequence with the frog requires Link to go from Zora's Domain to Lake Hylia. Of course, they're on opposite ends of the map. After stopping the scientist from eating the frog, he makes eye drops. These drops must be given to the Biggoron on top of Death Mountain within the time limit. Once again, these two locations are just about as far away from each other as possible. But when it's over, Link's rewarded with a sword so big, he needs two hands to swing it.

Mirror Shield in the "Minish Cap"
Like many Zelda side quests, the path to obtaining the Mirror Shield is multilayered. Not only do you have to fuse Kinstones with many people, you also need to fuse with walls. There are special parts of the wall in caves only accessible after getting the Mole Claws. By fusing with the walls, more Gorons will help the lone one digging near the Lon Lon Ranch. After finding the four caves, a Biggoron will wake up near Veil Falls. But that doesn't get Link the shield. It's only after Vaati is defeated and the game is saved that Link can go back to the Biggoron. He eats your regular shield and then gives you the Mirror one. Weird.

There are many other difficult side quests in the "Zelda" games, like saving the cows from the UFOs in "Majora's Mask" or the ridiculously hard shooting gallery in "Phantom Hourglass." While these quest might be annoying, there's nothing like the feeling of completing them and getting the reward.