Game Informer recently posted up a special edition podcast titled The Great Zelda Debate, where they argued which Zelda title is the best.  While they could not agree upon one game as the best of the series, most of the staff seemed to agree that Spirit Tracks is one of the worst entries in the series, excluding the CDi games.  The four games that ranked highest upon the Game Informer staff (in no particular order) The Legend of Zelda, A Link To The Past, Ocarina of Time, and Twilight Princess. Head past the jump to see the reasons why these games reached the top of their discussion.

Each game had it’s own technological spearhead to make it a must own game for each console.  The Original Legend of Zelda for the NES was the first cartridge to introduce a battery for saving the player’s progress, eliminating the need for long, complicated passwords for restarting from where you left off.  A Link To the Past introduced a great in-game narrative, and NPCs that did more than speak one line of (sometimes entirely useless*) text. Ocarina of Time brought the world of Hyrule into 3D and created a control scheme still used in today’s modern games.  Finally Twilight Princess showed us how ambitious a Zelda title could be, presenting the largest incarnation of Hyrule to date and introducing motion controls.

So give the podcast a listen, be aware that there is some foul language around the 13 minute mark, and sound off in the comments. Did Game Informer choose wisely? Is Spirit Tracks that bad? What is your top Zelda game?

*Yes, I’m totally referring to Error from Zelda 2

Related: Twilight Princess Walkthrough
Source: Game Informer