Shack Chat: What’s your favorite memory of The Legend of Zelda series?

Players have been exploring Hyrule and beyond for 40 years. Now we want to hear your favorite memory of the whole Legend of Zelda series.

Shackers, if you're anything like the rest of the staff, you've been playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on Nintendo Switch 2. It's a game that brings back a lot of memories, and not just of the original game. In fact, it got us thinking about some of our favorite Zelda memories. While we're at it, we'd like to hear yours.

Question: What’s your favorite memory of The Legend of Zelda series?

Facing Ganon in A Link to the Past - Ozzie Mejia, Senior Hero of Time

For a young child, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is an odyssey. Going through numerous dungeons across both worlds, with the Dark World's entire section preparing you for a rematch with the evil wizard Agahnim, was a trek that took a young me weeks. This was before everyone of my generation knew the game like the back of their hand, a knowledge that we all collectively take for granted these days. I still remember how many tries it took me to overcome Agahnim II, but the end was worth it. Watching the wizard finally fall, only to be greeted by a blisteringly quick sequence of events: the spirit of Ganon flees the wizard's body and flies away, Link plays the Flute and follows, and it all comes back to the center of the Dark World where this part of the journey started.

Ganon was hard, man. I spent minutes on end watching him hand me my ass, getting to the section where he'd collapse the floor and push me down, automatically ending the fight. That's when I found out about the Silver Arrows and how to get them. I still remember the first time seeing the giant bomb and sweating trying to get it to the big crack in the pyramid without it exploding. Then I got those Silver Arrows and the golden sword, got back in there with Ganon, and still struggled to stay in the fight without getting pushed away. When the King of Evil finally fell, it felt like a true young gamer victory.

The Ganon fight and the epic sequence of events leading up to it is what keeps A Link to the Past among the top of the Zelda pack. I still remember having a discussion on Weekend Confirmed about why A Link Between Worlds (which is also a very, very good game) ultimately couldn't hold up to it. I will always remember my victory over Ganon, even if it wouldn't be the last time I'd face him.

Befriending Moosh - TJ Denzer, Senior Moosh Friend

I think I’ve said it in other Zelda Shack Chats, but Moosh is my favorite side character in Zelda. In case you forgot, Moosh is a chunky blue bear with tiny wings in the Oracle of Ages/Seasons games. He’s a scaredy cat, but once Link saves him from monsters, they become besties. Moosh lets Link ride on his back and use his little wings to briefly float over pits. I know it’s not the most grand moment, but discovering and befriending Moosh delighted me and it’s almost always what I think about when I think of my favorite moments in the series. I continue to hope Nintendo will remember that Moosh exists in a future Zelda game, be it a remake of Ages/Seasons or a new game.

Rauru sacrificing everything to imprison Ganondorf - Asif Khan, Owns a Master Sword

I absolutely love The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and one of the best moments in that game has to be The Imprisoning War scene. King Rauru imprisons Ganondorf but does pay the ultimate price. It's an amazing scene, but there are hundreds of moments in the Zelda franchise's history that I could have chosen.

Cheesing the Flux Construct - Bill Lavoy, Shackmaps Overlord

My favorite memory of playing a Zelda game came from the early days of Tears of the Kingdom. I love to find ways to solve problems in games that are unconventional. The Flux Construct was one such opportunity. You can watch the video embedded above, but the long and short of it is that I built a structure with cannons on it so that I could shoot, take cover, and repeat. To me, that was one of the true strengths of Tears of the Kingdom, and it’s my favorite memory from a Zelda game.

The sun setting over Hyrule Field - David L. Craddock, Reviewer of Time

As I mentioned in my review of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time’s remake, the original Ocarina of Time was more than a game to me. It marked the first time I’d ever felt transported into a virtual world. It’s around noon when Link sets foot in Hyrule Field for the first time. By the time you near Hyrule Castle, the sun is setting. Full dark closes in. A wolf howls, and you hear the crank-crank-crank of the castle drawbridge being pulled up, securing the castle against the Skulchildren that prowl the night. It gave me chills then, and it gives me chills now to think about. Small touches, to be sure, but they added up to a world with heft and verisimilitude.

In another, similar instance, you could see down into Kakariko Village from high up Death Mountain. When the sun sets, all the lanterns set in windows turn on. At sunrise, they turn off. Those little touches made Ocarina of Time feel real to me, and the remake’s graphical fidelity and gorgeous art direction make those moments even more effective.

Experiencing Ocarina of Time as a kid - Sam Chandler, I am Link

When Ocarina of Time released, I was a seven-year-old kid, about the same age as Link is in the game. So when my best friend invited me over to her house to play it, we both felt an instant kinship to this small boy on this big adventure. The world felt so large compared to anything we’d ever played before. Kokiri Forest was a verdant grove and Hyrule Field was a sprawling meadow.

We got stuck so many times, often resorting to a small walkthrough booklet that was included with a gaming magazine at the time. We poured over its pages to try and figure out the Forest Temple, and soon enough we had the knowledge to work out the puzzles for ourselves.

Most weekends and nearly every single day after school saw us gather around her Nintendo 64 in the den and continue our adventure. Emotions hit harder as a kid, and the atmosphere seeped into our bones. The first time we lifted the Master Sword from its plinth and returned to the market was a moment that shot through our nerves like lightning. We felt pure terror.

My favorite memories of Zelda are from these moments. A kid with his best friend, huddled around an N64 late at night, chowing down on snacks, and fulfilling our destiny as the Hero of Time.

Breath of the Wild in 2017 - Donovan Erskine, Lucky Clover Gazette Editor

I loved Nintendo as a kid, but it was primarily because of Pokemon. In 2017, I had never played a Zelda game, but the trailers for Breath of the Wild had wowed me, so I picked it up when I bought myself a Switch. My mind was forever changed. I don’t need to reiterate all of the game’s praise, but as a fan of open-world RPGs, it expanded my understanding of what the genre could be. It’s one of my favorite games ever, and it turned me into a Zelda fan.

Too Many to Count - Steve Tyminski, Stevetendo Show Host, These are not a secret to everyone!

What is my favorite memory from the Legend of Zelda series? I am a huge fan of the series and could take this in a few directions. I have shared on Shacknews a couple of times about the time I got Link to the Past as a Christmas present. The kicker from that story was that my mom hid it in the glove box of our old station wagon, and I found it months ahead of time. Wasn't looking for it, just stumbled upon it when she went into Burger King and left me in the car.

I could also go with playing Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom with my brother like we used to do as kids. One of us would play with the Switch docked in TV mode, and the other would play in handheld mode. We would help each other out with secrets and shrines. Those were some fun times. The music in the series has always been some of my favorites in gaming. I find myself sitting for hours listening to the likes of the Water Temple or Temple of Time Ocarina of Time renditions. Hell, even while writing this, I'm listening to the shop theme from the remake on loop.

But for this question, I'm going with the time my mom and I waited overnight for the Wii launch at our local Toys R Us. My mom has always done stuff like this for the family. We waited overnight the Game Cube and saw a cool meteor shower at the same time. It was a cold night, but we alternated waiting in line and sitting in the warm car. We grabbed food from the local Wendy's and at the end of the night, or morning if you'd prefer, we got what we came for. It just goes to show that I have so many memories from the Legend of Zelda series, too many to count. I even left out being in 5th grade when Ocarina of Time came out, talking about the game with my friends. If you caught the launch night Stevetendo Show stream, you heard that story!

Those are our favorite memories, but now we'd like to hear yours. What are your favorite memories of The Legend of Zelda, whether it be the classic 2D games, the original 3D titles, the handheld games, or the post-Breath of the Wild modern games? Join the conversation and let us know in the comments, across our social media, or on the Official Shacknews Community Discord.

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