Ranking the Games and Extras Featured in the Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition

It is quite rare for Nintendo to take some of their classic games and compile them into one excellent package, especially since they can now use the Wii Virtual Console to release popular hits for players to download. However, in 2003, they released a collection of games from the Legend of Zelda series on a single Gamecube disc. The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition, as it was called, featured four classic games from the celebrated series along with a few extra features. Along with the Game Boy Player, which enabled players to play most Game Boy games on the Gamecube, the entire series up to that point would become playable on the Gamecube until 2006, when the Wii version of Twilight Princess was released. Today, I shall create two lists: one ranking the games from worst to best, and another ranking the extras from worst to best. First, here is the game list...

4. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask: I give Nintendo credit for creating a darker storyline for this game, which comes with a true sense of impending doom. It also has a lot of the same features that made Ocarina of Time so grand while adding nice new touches such as over twenty magical masks. What brings this game down, however, is the time limit, which I consider to be a feature that should not be found throughout a Zelda game. Having time limits in mini games and puzzles is fine, but a time limit that lasts for over 90% of the game limits the amount of free exploration that the series is known for, and messing up can really set you back. On top of that, this version tends to freeze at random moments, which would be something of a mild annoyance if it was not for the save system that only saves certain things. An already mediocre game is thus made even worse.

3. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link: I have nothing against Nintendo trying to place a series in a new direction or to try out new features. Indeed, this game has some elements such as a magic system that would become staples of future entries. I also do not mind the side scrolling format or the act of leveling up by defeating a lot of foes. What I do mind is the sheer, cheap difficulty that this game presents. Enemies can take a lot of health off of you, even if you are at a high level and you have the shield spell activated. You can be pushed around quite a bit, making it all too easy to fall to your doom. Since you have to restart at the castle when you lose all of your lives most of the time, even if you die in the middle of a boss battle, it just makes things even more frustrating. I do not hate this game, but I do wish that Nintendo made the difficulty level a bit easier to swallow.

2. The Legend of Zelda: Compared to later entries, this game is rather simplistic in story, graphics, and sound. However, it more than makes up for these features with challenging battles, clever (for their time) puzzles, and hours of exploration. Features that would become commonplace throughout the series, such as weapons, sound effects, and the iconic music, made their debut here, and even more than two decades after its release, it still succeeds in hooking players right until the very end. This is proof that you do not need the most impressive graphics to make a game so great. All you really need is game play that will hold players interest throughout the adventure, and this title certainly delivers in that regard.

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time: It surprises me that even after all these years, Nintendo has still not managed to release a Zelda game that surpasses this masterpiece. More than a decade after it was first released, this game still awes with hours upon hours of massive exploration, epic battles, and amazing storytelling. Granted, this port suffers from some music skipping on occasion and some out-of-sync elements in some of the ending cut scenes. However, these are minor quibbles, since the game as a whole is still awe-inspiring and has rightfully been deemed one of the greatest video games ever made. Will Nintendo surpass it with the next Wii Zelda title? Only time will tell, but one thing that is for sure is that this game will be fondly remembered as a classic for many years to come.

And now, the list of the extras...

3. The Legend of Zelda: Retrospective: This short movie features some of the highlights from every Zelda game released up to that point, from the first Zelda to the Wind Waker. It serves its purpose, but even more highlights would have been welcome. Nintendo could have gone as far as giving a behind the scenes look at each game or even giving us some little-known trivia about them. It is fascinating to see how far the series had come in over fifteen years' time, but it is otherwise lacking in depth.

2. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Trailer: The most recent (at the time) entry is given its own trailer, even though the game itself was about eight months old by the time this collection was released. However, it does a good job at presenting some of the game's highlights in just a single minute, even presenting some major spoilers (though players would still have to try the game out in order to see the biggest plot points). I feel that this movie was included so that those that were new to the Gamecube would become intrigued by it so much that they would go and get the game as quickly as possible. As such, it is a nice inclusion, although the trailer collection featured in the Ocarina of Time/Master Quest disc did an even better job of presenting a bigger variety of then recent or upcoming games.

1. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Demo: In this demo version of the Wind Waker, players are given a series of scenarios from the early parts of the game, from exploring a dungeon without a sword to sailing the high seas. The demo is short, with the game resetting after twenty minutes, but it is enough to give players a good idea of what the game features. While the game itself was not as great of a Zelda game as it could have been, the situations presented here are still quite fun, and you get the sense that you are barely scratching the surface of an epic adventure. If nothing else, players will likely enjoy the missions that the demo has to offer.

The compilation is hard to find these days, especially since it was not sold in stores as a stand-alone game and could only be obtained in such ways as buying a Gamecube and purchasing certain games and registering them online. However, it is still an overall solid collection, even if not every game or feature is perfect. If you have a Gamecube or a Wii and you do not wish to download all four games, then be sure to hunt down this disc filled with Zelda goodness. You will experience hours of puzzles, dungeons, battles, and much more, and you will see for yourself why the Zelda series is still loved today. Who knows...it may even get you excited about the upcoming Spirit Tracks and new Wii Zelda games, both of which are sure to solidify the series' solid reputation even more.