Everyone remembers the first dungeon we ever played through in the Legend of Zelda series. While I did play Zelda on the NES as a kid, my first proper memory was when I played The Ocarina of Time. There are a huge amount of dungeons that could be put into the group of the “best legend of zelda dungeons” and also quite a few (ahem water temples) dungeons that aren’t so good. Here are my top 10 best Legend Of Zelda Dungeons
Deku Tree / Forest Temple – Ocarina of Time
The Deku Tree is the first dungeon you visit in Ocarina of Time. When you first see it its pretty damn cool until the tree has to go and ruin the vibe by dying. Inside its like your typical forest themed temple, a theme which I think was done really well in Ocarina of Time.
The forest temple seems is a lot like the Deku Tree but for big boys. The big giant at the front door lets you know that shit has changed now that your an adult. Inside its a bit mad with twisted hallways and my favourite part which is the boss fight!
Sandship – Skyward Sword
Definitely one of the more unusual dungeons in a Zelda game. Its not too often you find a ship in the middle of the desert. It seems more like a dungeon from Prince of Persia rather than a Zelda game but its a cool level and is one of the more happy dungeons, with the music helping to keep the mood quite positive.
Forsaken Fortress – Wind Waker
Windwaker Forsaken FortressStealth is a mechanic that isn’t explored too heavily in Zelda games but it is deployed somewhat in this dungeon. While it doesn’t add any new game play mechanics to the mix it is fun to be sneaking around the place. Metal Gear Zelda!
Ancient Cistern – Skyward Sword
This is a serious nice looking temple. Maybe I’m just a sucker for gold but it is a sweet looking level. Gold statues and gold trimming on almost everything in the level and what’s most surprising is its a water temple! I will forever hate water temples after Ocarina of Time! My favourite part of this level was the boss Koloktos. He is a 6 armed mechanical statue that gets brought to life to kick some ass, but he doesn’t have what it takes to defeat Link!.
Spirit Temple – Ocarina Of Time
The Spirit Temple is cool because in order to be able to beat it you need to visit it first as a child then come back when your adult to finish it off. Anyone who has played will remember the moment of defeat when you finally get the gauntlet and realise you must be an adult to use it. Its all worth it when you come back as an adult feeling like a complete boss, tossing boulders around the place just because you can!
City in the Sky – Twilight Princess
After many years of playing Zelda games it took me a while to get used to the whole double clawshot that was introduced here. The temple was designed to make the most of the double clawshot which i completely forgot about leading to hours of confusion. The dungeon itself was very nice though. Bright sunny parts with green grass made it nice and happy. Inside it was a different story with some less than happy enemies but sure its not a dungeon with out some enemies to kick the crap out of!
Stone Tower Temple – Majoras Mask
Majoras Mask didn’t have too many dungeons in it but i had to pick 1 from it and this was my favourite of the 4. Was an unusual temple in that it wasn’t quite a fire temple and wasn’t quite a desert temple even though it kinda took themes from those 2 styles. I remember getting stuck in this temple for quite a while but it was a handy enough level with some cool enemies. Being able to use the Goron man in the lava made life so easy! The boss was quite impressive due to it being quite large for a boss back in the day.
Dark Hyrule Castle – Minish Cap
I’ve never really been all that impressed by the dungeons in the hand held Zelda games when comparing to the console games, but I really enjoyed The Minish Cap. The first thing about Dark Hyrule Castle that I liked were the colours, lots of purples and green make it seem dark but rather than evil it was more like a Scooby Doo mystery.
Snow Peak Ruins – Twilight Princess
The first thing I think about when I think of this dungeon is that damn ice cube puzzle. It was frustrating but looking back at the temple in general it was really cool. It was more of a mansion than any typical temple we are used to which I liked. The old spooky abandoned house vibe it gave off was really cool, i was expecting Luigi to pop out at any moment with a vacuum cleaner to suck up a ghost.
Cave of Flames – Minish Cap
I really liked how this dungeon looked. I did get stuck in the mine cart part for a while but it wasn’t so bad since it looked cool with all the reddish walls with wooden planks around the place, reminded me a lot of some of the Team Fortress 2 maps. I was expecting a little more from the boss but he was pretty easy to kill so that counts for something.
