Being a big-time fan, commercials are never the first place I hear about a new Zelda game, but they can certainly hype me up as one gets close to launch. Whether or not they’ve convinced fans to pick up a new game, the Zelda series has quite a few iconic television ads. From heartwarming, to bizarre, creative, and catchy, we have a fantastic selection of commercials to choose from — but which one is the best? Get ready to open some links as we dive into discussion, or for easier viewing, just click here.

Before we get to the main course, let’s look at some interesting appetizers that I think fans should see if they haven’t yet. I recently came across a French TV spot for Zelda 64, which is unremarkable, except that the funkiest music plays in the last half of it. There’s a peak 90’s Link’s Awakening rap commercial that everyone should hear, and an ad for The Minish Cap that is trying really hard to be punk. There’s also a US commercial for the Oracle games that has some impressive Zelda-tech-demo-at-Space-World-2000-esque animations in it that I can’t believe I hadn’t seen until now, so check that out too.

Next up, honorable mentions! A runner up that I hold dear is the Skyward Sword ad in which it’s raining Master Swords, mainly because this was the first game to come out after I became a serious fan of the series. Thus, it was the first Zelda commercial I paid any attention to. And then there’s the Spirit Tracks commercial where a young man sits on a train as vignettes from the game play out behind him. The commercial does an incredible job of setting a mood and building tension. It’s short, but great!

Finally, we come to the top contenders — the fan favorite Zelda commercials. There is a Japanese A Link to the Past commercial in which an ensemble of Zelda characters do a choreographed dance to an original song. It’s a perfect example of the wacky kind of ads that accompanied video games of that era. To make it all the more iconic, the song made a triumphant return in a Japanese A Link Between Worlds commercial. Then of course there’s the NES Legend of Zelda rap, featuring two memorably nerdy 80’s gamers. Sing it with me everyone —

Octoroks, Tektites and Leevers too. But with your help, our hero pulls through!

And this is hardly a hot take, but my vote for the best Zelda commercial has to be the first Robin and Zelda Williams ad for Ocarina of Time 3D. The commercial was nearly 25 years in the making, with Williams being a fan since 1987, and naming his daughter after our title princess. Both father and daughter are absolute darlings! They also did commercials for Four Swords on the 3DS and Skyward Sword, which I hadn’t seen before now.

I’m glad I got to dig through this treasure trove of Zelda commercials, ranging from zany to historic. Would you agree with my choice of which Zelda game has the best commercial? If not, which one do you think is the best and why? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

This Daily Debate was inspired by Discord user @r2d93.

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