Top 5 Zelda Games with the Best Music

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wind wakerThe Legend has Zelda has always been known for being of high quality in all regards. This of course extends to the musical compositions of the Zelda games. Ever since the original Legend of Zelda for the Nintendo Entertainment System, gamers have been drawn in by the catchy musical scores that have helped to define the series.

It has been over 20 years now since LoZ was first released and since then there has been almost just as many games that has continued to amaze us. The game-play, story, puzzles, and music has continued to be absolutely incredible. With so many great games it was hard for us to narrow things down to the top 5. However, in the end we have chosen these 5 Zelda games as our top 5 in terms of their music quality.

So now, we at The Hidden Triforce, present you our Top 5 List for the Legend of Zelda games with the best music.

#5 Link’s Awakening
Number 5 on our list is Link’s Awakening. This classic Gameboy game was the first Legend of Zelda game I ever played. Ever since I turned the game on for the first time I was drawn in, largely from the music. Re-playing the game today will obviously show how the music is not the orchestration quality that we have in many games today, but overall the musical scores are very riveting.

In fact, a large portion of the game revolved around music. Throughout the game Link retrieves various instruments that must be played to wake the slumbering Windfish.

Some of my favourites from Link’s Awakening includes; The Ballad of the Windfish, Tal Tal Heights, the Title Screen song, and Animal Village

#4 A Link to the Past
Number 4 is A Link to the Past. This Super Nintendo classic was the only Zelda game to make it onto the console. However just about everything was improved significantly. The graphics were much cleaner and the game-play much richer. The music in aLttP was fantastic and for the first time in the series was able to effectively convey some form of emotions. For instance, the music of the Dark World had a feeling of urgency and I could tell that the game was about to get harder. The ending theme was very joyous and had an overall feeling of accomplishment and celebration.

Some of my favourites from A Link to the Past includes; The Intro Song, Light World Overworld, Dark World, Hyrule Castle, and the Ending Theme.

#3 Adventure of Link
Number 3 is The Adventure of Link. Though AoL is often overlooked by many Zelda fans for its quirky game-play, its music is one of the best in the series.When compared to its predecessor LoZ one can definitely hear the vast improvement that was made in less then a year.

Though the game’s sound quality is still that of most NES games, the overall catchiness is so much better. LoZ is best known for introducing the overworld theme that would become one of the most recognized songs of the Zelda series, but AoL would bring a lot of classic hits to the table. AoL also offered a greater range of songs and began to offer more of a variety of music for Zelda gamers.

Some of my favourites from The Adventure of Link includes; The Intro Song, The Palace Theme, and the Shop Theme

#2 Majora’s Mask
Number 2 is Majora’s Mask. Once again this game often does not get the credit that it is due. Majora’s Mask was one of the most innovative to the overall Zelda formula but it also had some of the best music ever in any Zelda game.

Many still find Majora’s Mask to be an Ocarina of Time ripoff, but MM is really a huge departure. The game is, first of all, much darker then any other Zelda game to date. The musical compositions were made up of lower tones and a unique blend of sounds not yet heard in the series.

The music in this game is overall spectacular and lands Majora’s Mask a very close second place.

Some of my favourites from Majora’s Mask includes; The Deku Palace Theme, Clocktown Theme, and the Title Theme.

#1 Wind Waker
So here we are, the number one best music in any Zelda game. To me the Zelda game with the best music ever is none other then The Wind Waker. This game was looked down upon from the moment it was announced and shown to have cartoon graphics. People to this day are still quick to dismiss The Wind Waker and many will not even give the game a try.

However, The Wind Waker is now one of my favourite Legend of Zelda games for so many reasons. The cartoony graphics style actually enabled Nintendo to create one of the most expressive Links ever. To top things off, the music of this game was absolutely hands down incredible.

The music of The Wind Waker was very Irish sounding and was a great decision on Nintendo’s side as it helped to further enhance the graphical appeal and make this game by far the most emotionally involved Zelda game yet.

Some of my favourites from The Wind Waker includes; The Hero Prologue, Title Theme, House Theme, Outset Island, Dragon Roost, and Windfall Island

So here it is! Our Top 5 Zelda games based upon the in game music. Do you agree with this list? If you feel a game should have been listed then please sign up and discuss on our Legend of Zelda Forums.

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About Author

Noah Glaser is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati where he majored in Information Technology with a minor in awesome. Noah has worked in web marketing for over 5 years and has built a reputation that has followed him both professionally and independently. He is the founder and lead content contributor for The Hidden Triforce.In the 5th grade he bought Link’s Awakening for his brother as a Christmas gift. Since stealing it back, he has been hooked to the Zelda series and has never looked back. In his spare time you can find Noah frolicking with his Porygon and Kiwi Birds. He dislikes chocolate, cheese, and bacon.

  • I agree with this list. :P Although the Oracle Games has a few good songs here and there as well, but not as good as any of these. Heh.

    You seemed to pick all the songs I like in those games for this post. That's awesome xD.

  • yes

    Eat my meat stick

  • wampdog29

    Ummm… where the hell is Spirit Tracks???? have you even played that game yet!? The music and sounds in general are amazing! Really!

  • Daddy

    Good list. Personally, there were a lot of Wind Waker themes that I'd pick over the title theme, but fair enough. As for ST, I myself haven't played it yet (I know, "Where have I been?) I've listened to most of the tunes in advance though, and I gotta say that I was impressed. Time will tell though whether its music will age gracefully.

  • I did not like the Spirit Tracks music. I have heard a lot of people say it was good but to me it was repetitive and boring.

  • wampdog29

    Boring!?!?

  • Linked

    I agree with this list. I thought that Wind Waker should be number one,. definitely and MM being 2 makes sense as well. The other 3 could be in any order for me. I can't wait until Nintendo does full orchestra. I can understand that they might not want to do it for the whole game, but at least during epic battles and hyrule field.

  • NerdySide

    If you listen closely all zelda games have a main theme or underlying tune for many of the songs. Or at least many of the overworld themes and music are generally similar. Ocarina of Time has Zelda's Lullaby, Majora's MAsk has the Song of Healing etc. All I have to say is that Spirit Tracks went a little banjo crazy on a lot of their songs.

  • LinkmeetsYoshi

    I like the list alot! Only complaints are that I don't like Majora's Mask's music at all, and that there is no Twilight Princess on the list.

  • LegendofZeldaHylian

    I agree with this list, except Spirit Tracks should be number 2! The music is the reason why you CAN'T put down your DS, you are so entranced by it's melodious sound!

  • Colin McIsaac

    Spirit Tracks and Twilight Princess deserve a spot in the top five over Majora’s Mask and Zelda II, methinks. Both of those games had one great song and a few good ones, while Spirit Tracks and Twilight Princess were compositionally magnificent pretty consistently throughout.

    • Noah Glaser

      Thanks for sharing your opinion. I honestly was underwhelmed with Spirit Tracks. Twilight Princess did have some great music (Lake Hylia was great), but I felt as these other games were more consistently good across the board.

  • Gary Tran

    How is Twilight Princess not in this list? Does’t Twilight Princess have the best overall scores?

    • Noah Glaser

      Not in my personal opinion