Daily Debate: Which Zelda Games Have You Not Finished, and Why?
Posted on March 18 2015 by Rod Lloyd
With over 15 epic titles and a handful of spinoffs, it’s quite an undertaking to play and complete every game in the Zelda series. Not every fan was introduced to the same set of games, not every title is readily available, and not every game can hold enough appeal to meet completion. With all these factors in place, we want to know exactly which Zelda games you didn’t finish for whatever reason. Use this opportunity to explain the reasons for this gap in Zelda completion and discuss the importance of playing / finishing games in the overall fanbase.
I commonly notice of younger fans choosing not to play or finish older games in the series because of archaic design or out-of-date graphics. I’ll be the first to agree that the NES Legend of Zelda is outdated and difficult. Even though I’ve finished the game a few times, I would only recommend it as a historical exercise. Zelda II is even more unpopular (as evidenced by last week’s relatively unpopular Daily Debate), for it is extremely difficult and different from other games in the series. I suspect that these older titles — despite being available on many platforms — occupy many fans’ unfinished lists.
Of the main series Zelda games, the only one I have not finished is Oracle of Seasons. The reason for such a fan-sin is that the two Oracle games were released on the Game Boy Color and stayed exclusive to that system for many years. I missed them when they were initially released, and finding used copies even a few years later was nearly impossible. It was only after these games were released onto the 3DS Virtual Console that I was able to finally pick up and play Oracle of Ages. But I’m still a real fan, right? I suspect similar circumstances led other fans to miss out on certain titles. Perhaps some fans skipped a generation of Zelda games for some reason, only to find difficulty securing certain used copies of these older games.
So what Zelda games have you not finished? Did you just not get a chance to play it when it came out? Was it too difficult or hard-to-find? Did it just not hold your attention for some reason?
As a fan, how important is finishing games in the series? Jump into the discussion, and join the Daily Debate!
Rod Lloyd is the Editor-In-Chief at Zelda Dungeon, overseeing the news and feature content for the site. Rod is considered the veteran of the writing team, having started writing for Zelda Informer in 2014 as a Junior Editor. After ZD and ZI officially merged in 2017, he stepped into the Managing Editor role and has helped steer the ship ever since. He stepped up to lead the writing team as Editor-In-Chief in 2023.
You can reach Rod at: rod.lloyd@zeldadungeon.net
