The Legend of Zelda is a long-running series that has many entries spanning different consoles and genres. Everyone has their favorite, whether its The Legend of Zelda on the Nintendo Entertainment System The Legend of Zelda: Winder Waker on the Gamecube, or The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask on the Nintendo 64.
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However, the 2 that you will most often hear people say is their favorite is The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. To settle the debate on which beloved classic game is the superior of the two, here are five facts about each celebrated title you can use to make your own mind up!
10 A LINK TO THE PAST: It Provides Challenge
If there is one thing that Ocarina of Time is missing, it's a sense of challenge. Most of the game is as simple as knowing where to go at the right time rather than having you develop more and more proficient skills as you make your way through the game.
In contrast, A Link to the Past offers plenty of challenge. You will need to have a good knowledge of all of your equipment, the patterns of enemies, and the gimmick that every boss is based around. The final battle with Ganondorf is especially hard, almost feeling like a disproportionate difficulty spike.
9 OCARINA OF TIME: The Story
While A Link to the Past is littered with text here and there, Ocarina of Time’s story is at the forefront of everything you do. Ocarina of Time is the first game in the series to really emphasize story over gameplay, where every mission has something to do with finding Zelda, defeating Ganon, or locating the Sages.
Ocarina of Time is also the point of the Zelda timeline that breaks off due to the use of time travel and Link being sent back in time to get a chance to live out his childhood.
8 A LINK TO THE PAST: You Actually Get the Triforce
In Ocarina of Time, the triforce is often spoken of - Zelda speaks highly of its skill, and its important to Hyrule, Link, herself, and Gannon. However, you never actually obtain the legendary three-pieced relic for yourself. Instead, you only temporarily see one piece of it in Link’s hand.
In A Link to the Past, you are collecting pieces of the triforce throughout the entire game in hopes of using it to banish evil from Hyrule. After you defeat Gannondorf, you are awarded the triforce and see Link hold it proud after his great victory.
7 OCARINA OF TIME: Collecting The Golden Skulltula Is Fun
Skulltula Tokens are gold pieces you collect after you defeat one of the many hidden Golden Skulltulas throughout the game. There are 100 of them hidden throughout the game, some are very much out of sight and will require some hunting - luckily they make a distinct sound when you are close enough.
As you collect the Gold Skulltulas, you will have the option to cash them in for different prizes in a creepy abandoned house. When you have 10 you get an adult wallet, 20 you get the Stone of Agony, 30 you get the giant’s wallet, 40 you get bombchus, 50 you get a piece of a heart, and 100 you get a huge rupee.
6 A LINK TO THE PAST: Entertaining & Challenging Bosses
While Ocarina of Time does have many cool looking bosses, they offer very little in the way of challenges and often go down after you figured out the one obvious technique you have to use that usually correlated with the item you found in that very same dungeon.
In A Link to the Past, each boss requires you to both figure out their pattern and overcome them with dexterity and skill. Some of the bosses are taken down with the item you found in the same dungeons but others simply require skill or items not even found in dungeons.
5 OCARINA OF TIME: Switching From Kid To Adult Link
The main gimmick in Ocarina of Time is the ability to turn from kid Link to adult Link. A few hours into the game, you are sealed into the temple of time by one of the Sages for seven years but you can later go back and change from adult to kid Link whenever you would like.
Not only is this a crucial part of the story, but it also is how you complete many of the game’s puzzles. Both forms of Link have different equipment and can access different parts of the world.
4 A LINK TO THE PAST: The Dark World
Similar to Ocarina of Time’s ability to change from adult Link to kid Link, in A Link to the Past you can go from Hyrule to the Dark World. At first, you have no control over when this happens but later, you have the ability to go from one world to another at will.
Switching between worlds is crucial to finding many of the hidden items and completing many of the side quests in A Link to the Past.
3 OCARINA OF TIME: Epona Is Reliable
When you turn into adult Link in Ocarina of Time, you can go to Lon Lon Ranch and unlock a horse named Epona. Epona will come on command when you play Epona’s Song on your ocarina and is a very quick way to get around the large overworld, saving you plenty of time.
While this is great at first and even has some horse-based mini-games attached to it, eventually, your ocarina will be able to teleport you wherever you would like to go. This effectively makes your carrot eating friend practically useless.
2 A LINK TO THE PAST: The Pegasus Boots Rule
As mentioned previously, Epona in Ocarina of Time is great. At least initially, that is, since the horse quickly becomes useless and leaves you with the same wish you had before unlocking her: wanting to move faster.
Unlike Epona, the Pegasus Boots in A Link to the Past can be used anywhere at any time while Epona can only be used in Hyrule field. When the Pegasus Boots are used, Link will hold his sword out in front of him and take out any enemies who happen to get in the way.
1 OCARINA OF TIME: The Ocarina of Time
In Ocarina of Time you are given the eponymous musical instrument, which has the power to control time, teleport Link around Hyrule, play some cool tunes, and whatever other magical nonsense Link needs to have done.
The ocarina is at the center of the plot and most of the puzzles you will be solving throughout the game, it is also one of the most iconic items in the series as a whole, even more than 20 years after the game has been released.