What is the best Zelda Speedrun? (SPEEDRUNNER TIER LIST)

[@Linkus7]

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[@oceantallfan]

Cool

[@Me-qx3nf]

Love from Nepal 🇳🇵😂

[@Me-qx3nf]

@Lucia Pickel you're right

[@MapleLunii]

Used this before, good sponsor :D. CDkeys is good too

[@skitsibs7376]

What about Legend of Zelda Triforce Heros

[@Yesnomu]

Phantom Hourglass Devs: "Boss, it took a ton of effort, but we've eliminated every single glitch that could break the game!" Boss: "Great work team. I know the fans are universally going to appreciate the work you put in!"

[@kirbylover37]

He does though

[@raracool04]

I love most Zelda speedruns, but the one that has my heart is Majora’s Mask 3D. Watching a GDQ run of it by Gymnast and seeing the time system completely break was seared into my head and to me is such a great example of the work that goes into breaking down these games to understand them better.

[@tim000x3]

Shutout to that beautiful transition at 5:53 between Mario going through the wall straight into Link walking. That was smooth. It felt like a crossover game.

[@cb8699]

Linkus is a good content creator

[@Davi_L]

Really enjoying this video as a big fan of Zelda speedruns. Can’t wait for your Wind Waker run at GDQ on Saturday!

[@NaviVanni]

But the one who makes the run on Saturday is Gymnast, not Linkus

[@susu5331]

@@NaviVanni Gymnast had Covid so Linkus is doing the run instead

[@NaviVanni]

@@susu5331 Oh i didn't know, sorry, hope Gymnast recovers quickly from that :/

[@Davi_L]

@@NaviVanni He got sick a week ago and gave Linkus his spot

[@caw64]

As a guy who has beaten a grand total of 1 Zelda game, I never thought the Zelda speedruns we’re anything that cool but seeing all this tech for all the games is really eye opening. Thanks Linkus!

[@samk-j6735]

OOT is so broken that it breaks a whole separate game wide open (Paper Mario 64)

[@zekay_]

And it's so broken that you can actually brick your N64

[@Voidling242]

@@zekay_ wait wat

[@zekay_]

@@Voidling242 Yeah, it may be possible to brick/break your N64 by using glitches in OOT. You get ACE (arbitrary code execution) in the game by performing certain setups and glitches and use it to send an instruction that could send two signals to the same input on a component in the N64 and break it. It's not something that would ever happen under normal circumstances but it may be possible with ACE.

[@peter42466]

It’s so broken that people have added side quests that were never in the game without hacking and also can beat it on the brawl demo

[@DatHypnoboi]

I initially thought this was a tier list of speedrunners, which I feel would be much funnier

[@Timmzy27]

It’s fascinating to watch this, I’ve played most Zelda games at least once but hearing you talk about them this way on another level, the unique perspective and knowledge means very few can make such a tier list

[@onebizarrekai]

skyward sword speedruns seem like they'd be a pain in the ass to learn and play but learning ABOUT them and the fact that you have to repeatedly die on purpose throughout the course of the game in order to descend into the shadow realm where you can manipulate the inner game in your favor makes the whole concept meta as fuck

[@Skew0443]

I feel like a lot of people are criticizing linkus for his focus on glitches in his rating, but you need to chill. It’s his opinion. You don’t need to agree with him. Believe whatever you want to believe. Don’t let his opinions define yourself. That doesn’t mean you can’t agree with him, it just means you need to know the boundaries between yourself, your opinion, and his opinion.

[@Davi_L]

I’d love to see a Mario speedrun tier list next (including Mario&Luigi and Luigi’s mansion games)

[@cheese_vviz]

And Paper Mario*

[@redmetalpanda9051]

All mario universe speedruns

[@DueNorthGaming]

Sora pfp 😎

[@tattertot8259]

New saving Marin from being trapped as a seagull forever speedrun becomes ss+ tier.

[@daniell6610]

Cool list, other than it doesn't have Skyward Sword HD. That's an entirely different speedrun from the original, since the HD version doesn't have BiT.

[@Samura1man]

Fun video, I like the concept I agree on majority of these in terms of glitches actually

[@Superstarearth]

MM speedruns has changed quite heavily the past 2 years. They have crazy wrong wrap teleports everywhere. On Any% you can directly wrong warp into Majora's final fight while having crazy tools for it on the start of the game. The game is just as broken as OOT and some areas it does better as in major glitches. I would bring Breath of the Wild down a tier base on not as major crazy glitches has been found to break the game compare to the older game. Yes it has come a long long way but there is still so much stuff that the older games have over it.

[@lihavalokki5705]

On the flip side a lot of the runners who used to run the game quit running it, because they didn't find running the game fun anymore. For most categories most of the really good runs are several months old and some are even a year+ old records.

[@Superstarearth]

@@lihavalokki5705 A lot of older games have that shift in overall. Once they find the most overpowered way to beat the game. Tons of runners drop out the game basically saying: "It's not the same anymore and/or my buddies shifted to that to stay viable or they switched to a easier speedrun." . OOT had the same problem for a long time once SRM was found.

[@zekay_]

@@Superstarearth Though we have seperate leaderboards for SRM and no SRM through all categories. Some people have left yes, but those who i know of left due to them wanting to do something else after getting that last PB or WR.

[@ItsJurrrd]

Would be awesome to see some people deep diving into Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks!

[@clay2889]

I loved this video so muchh. Very unique idea ranking speedruns on a tier list. I would have to agree with your choices here. Lol the whole video I was wondering where Phantom Hourglass was, audibly oof'd when you ranked it as low but I think you give good reasons.

[@steeliodoesminecraft2645]

I think linkus needs to brush up on his zelda speedruns because mm is just as broken as oot and has wrong warps. So does one of the oracle games, and links awakening og/dx gives alttp a run for its money with its out of bounds.

[@stompee_]

half of these games he hasn’t even run

[@niamek127]

@@stompee_ I felt he also focussed too much on glitches. "no glitch = Bad speedrun". I was disappointed concerning that aspect as I genuinely believe that most of the zelda games (almost all of them in fact) are amazing in the glitchless category. Tons of menuing, C-buttons management, etc.

[@Skew0443]

Key words he said “my personal opinion”. Calm down man.

[@HomieStock1]

Butthurt niche game defenders😂

[@JgHaverty]

​@@HomieStock1majoras mask is a niche game? Wut? Majoras mask sold 3 times more copies than a link to the past 😂

[@endeavor_trevor]

For a second when I clicked on this video I thought it said a tier list of Zelda speedrunERs and I was like “Is it okay to be doing this? Why is he ranking people?”. Thankfully that wasn’t the case lol

[@harrisonfast3278]

I think MM deserves S tier. The tricks, movement, and optimizations in hundo are extremely flashy and entertaining.

[@ianorlandodavis]

Linkus7 :im not gonna put Twighlight Princess 50 seconds later Linkus7: Twighlight Princess

[@4203105]

Kinda seems like the last speedrun of MM you watched was 10 years ago. There is very little bomb hovering left in the runs and you don't seem to know that wrong warps, like the deku palace wrong warp to the moon, do exist and are way easier to achieve than in 3D. I don't see how you could justify putting this two lower than OOT.

[@hunbi1875]

Yeah, he plays some alot and others not as much which obviously changes how much he knows about some games, it be like that sometime

[@Gillgruntpro]

He did say his opinion, he has also played wind waker, Oot and Botw much more

[@firebert95]

Cool video. I agree, if you're interested in speedrunning a game, give it a try. I used to make excuses like "I don't own the fastest version," "the glitches look too difficult," or"I could never be as good as the top runners." All it took was just messing around with ALBW glitches when it released and I just dove right in. I have since picked up a handful of other games and started running those. Honestly, I have no intentions of being the fastest runner for any game I run but it's been a cool hobby, setting little goals for myself and just enjoying the tricks the games have to offer ( =

[@mrxRby]

Great video Linkus!

[@TheRealFLDB]

A Link to the Past is by far my favorite with all my childhood memories. A few years back when Andy played at SGDQ w/ Patty on the couch was god tier comedy at 3 in the morning. Love the Zelda franchise!

[@Xalusc]

Bruh he straight up skipped the OG Link’s Awakening 💀

[@AdamoFC]

Great Video!! Just one correction - during a Hinox Warp in the Links Awakening Remake, he actually has 0 velocity and is considered to be teleporting. This is due to the fact that Link's hitbox is supposed to be changed to the "grab state" the moment the hinox grabs him. This grab state stops Link's coordinates from updating, and normally when the hinox picks Link up, his location is technically frozen in place at the spot where he is grabbed. However, by interrupting that grab with damage/falling it changes Link's state back to his "regular state" (where coordinates begin to be updated every frame) during the hinox throw animation. This causes the engine to freak out and teleport link everywhere in *some* sort of pattern. The teleporting ends when the Hinox Throw animation ends. This is why Hinox Warping with medicine extends the duration of the Hinox Warp. It is deterministic, but no one quite understands the path that link travels in during a Hinox Warp.

[@killianplaysgames]

You missed Skyward sword HD, unless the HD version is extremely similar to the wii version in terms of speedrun.

[@stythys2945]

SSHD is a pretty different speed run since you don’t have BiT. I’m surprised he forgot it too.

[@OliyTC]

I think this is a pretty great list and I agree with it for the most part! Most of the explanations were perfect, and some of them I'm less familiar with like Minish Cap and Zelda 2 I'm a bit more familiar with now! I think my main point of difference with this list is I would put Skyward Sword in S. I think all the technical aspects that go into bit magic and reverse bit magic and everything else is amazing, and I love all the minor skips. I love how you can see the shakiness in runners' hands when they get a really good run and are on pace for some kind of record due to the game's constant use of motion controls. It's the game that changed me from a casual speedrun watcher (watching one whenever I got the occasional KZbin recommendation) into someone who kept up with specific games and runners and trying some of my own games and things like that.

[@mmmargh4743]

I didn't think it would be the case but I agree with 100% of your tierlist and points.

[@stheno7312]

I would have put Skyward Sword much higher honestly. All of the bit stuff they do is really really cool, and I don't think that it gets to repetitive because pretty much every time you perform bit you are setting different flags. If anyone who reads this wants to watch a really good Skyward Sword run where they explain everything in detail, i recommend the AGDQ 2020 Any% speedrun by Gymnast86.

[@Schicksal1988]

Good video 👌Opinions differ, I'm just happy you didn't put z1 into low tier. :)

[@gribberoni]

I misread the title and thought you were going to rank the speedrunners and put yourself in the B Tier

[@kingofthesea3382]

would be fun to see one of these with side categories (i just want to see where low% twilight princess would go)

[@Auberry0m0]

You gain my respect for loving the ds games

[@JAGtheTrekkieGEMINI1701]

Imo Zelda 1 to low... Only cause this Game does'n get *"destroyed"* most of the time in a speedrun shouldn't mean it is boring to watch. The amount of "frames calculating" that goes into it is mind blowing for such an old Game

[@redpandaplush5980]

Curious if there are some major glitches for PH/ST that no one has found, would love for those games to get more love

[@LunaticJ]

OoT Numbah 1 baby for the rest of time!!! Gl on the GDQ run

[@JohnAllen-po5wd]

I love this video. Well done!

[@ERRandDEL]

I like to play a lot of OoTR, and for fun a friend of mine and I checked out some modern BotW stuff recently and agreed ragdolling Link across the plateau before gyrating through the sky with BLSS was the most hilarious.

[@4203105]

Um, MM has the same wrong warps as MM 3D and more. Like the deku palace wrong warp you showed was originally found in original MM.

[@rutgervannahuijs263]

The first speedrun I watched was the legendary 18.10 by Cosmo. The new runs / route (SRM) and the newer glitches make it not so fun to watch in my humble opinion. I tried to watch a speedrun by Gymnast were he did Skyward Sword, and I love Gymnast but I just don't get what's going on with the back in time glitch...very confusing to watch as a casual player / watcher. Fun video Linkus7! Thanx!

[@Pika250]

what about skyward sword HD? you said skyward sword would've been low if it wasn't for reverse bit magic, and ss HD patched out bit entirely, probably D or F

[@arcticcon]

Despite being an “opinion” based video this is very informative, thank you Linkus!

[@thisisfyne]

Insanely good ranking!! :O I would only drop BOTW and WWHD to S tier instead of S+.. they just doesn't feel on par with OoT. Nothing really does, tbh. gg on the GDQ run btw, super entertaining!

[@lvap.a.b5210]

TP it's my favorite speedrun with no doubts but i agree that the way that this speedrun are it's really punitive. My best time it's about 5 hours (i skip the S&S skip and the rupee glitch).

[@mochapoke3100]

There is a TON of cool glitches in OOT which I love then there's ones that just let you not have to play the game basically. Not that fun to watch but that's why there's a bunch of categories

[@BrandonWestfall]

A Link to the Past has always been my favorite LoZ game speedrunning or normal run. It's a perfect game in my book.

[@jaredgilmore5792]

What a great series, so many great games

[@siritachi31]

Definetly doesn't feel like a fair tierlist if you don't run all the speedruns you list and do proper research. MM has an insane number of glitches and categories that very much rivals OOT. Also you are putting alot of emphasis on glitches being what makes a speedrun. there's tons of speedruns that don't need glitches to show why they're so popular and fun to watch and run. I agree with most of the tier list, but not the reasoning and thought process it just doesn't work like that

[@CoachJohnMcGuirk]

A tier: MM, OOT, WW S tier: hitman horse

[@Merchantic]

what about Link Between Worlds?

[@SamCPare]

Four sword was a Gameboy advance game before , came with a link to the past in a dual cartridge

[@discotrain173]

Am I the only one who thinks the DS zelda games are low tier speedruns because people don't speedrun them as much and there may be a lot of glitches that haven't been found in them yet?

[@Hornlitz]

It's a bit of a shame you ranked PH so low. The game may not be as broken as other Zelda games, but it has a lot of cool stuff in it regardless. The movement is pretty interesting, trying to manage the roll counter to not dizzy, and you can swap items without pausing the game, which makes for some pretty fluid gameplay when done well. And there have been some really cool discoveries in the last few years, including being able to skip an entire island with basically a wrong warp. I won't pretend that the game is an amazing speedrun. It is one of the longest Any% runs of all Zelda games, and I do think a lot of other Zelda speedruns are a lot better. But I do also think the run is a fair bit better than you gave it credit for. I'm not as familiar with ST, but that game has seen a bunch of new skips in the last couple years as well including a boss key skip, which is really cool given that it was basically an entirely glitchless run for so long. Anyways. Nice video! I've been curious to see someone make a tier list on this topic for a while now.

[@alexves11]

great video

[@Kurachi84]

My 2 favorites to play are OoT and ALttP, both nr 1 :P But watching, i prefer Z1 and OoT, as i'm no speedrunner, but love these 2 as speedruns i watch. ALttP is kinda stale to watch(except ALttPR), and Z1 and OoT basically can amke me watch them more than ALttP, as OoT has lots of freedom, and Z1 is more straightforward. In the mood for more complex runs? I watch OoT! In a mood for just some nice runs? Z1 is the way. ... Although when Linkus plays WW, i watch that, too, especially WWR. I like the way he plays it... same with TP-R. The rando versions always are more fun to watch, imo XD

[@BerdiePipes]

skyward sword HD?

[@Raebae69420]

Ugh I came here for the original Link’s Awakening with the screen hopping glitch we all learned as kids! Great tier list anyways!

[@TheSaksutin]

Even tho you're not a native english-speaker, you are very well spoken. I respect that.

[@DessertArbiter]

the cool thing about ALttP is that the glitch to skip to the end of the game is quite easy to pull off

[@itsDeej.]

the way this was worded made me think this would be a tier list of actual runs of the games and not how good the games are, like iconic runs of zelda games. this is still just as good, but that might be a cool idea for a video!

[@GoblinWar]

What about the original link's awakening with the select glitch?

[@cuauhtlitorres3742]

I think that even with new glitches, Breath of the Wild is not an S+. It's always finishing Great Plateau in a slightly different way every new glitch and then use a glitch to go straight to Ganon. The movement glitches are super cool, but that alone doesn't make it an S+ speedrun, but an S tier

[@Yussnan84.]

It seems you were affraid to put Zelda II on the lowest tier.

[@zekay_]

Majoras Mask has goron missile, srm, ace, gim, equip swap, action swap, remote hookshot (one of the coolest tricks in the game), ww, 0th day, song storage and much more.

[@watchf]

Majoras mask 3D****

[@zekay_]

@@watchf No, n64 mm.

[@watchf]

@@zekay_ but the Goron missel is only is mm3d

[@zekay_]

@@watchf It's not. Goron missile was first found in n64 mm.

[@OrgyAtMyPlaceNOW]

I knew OoT would be an S+ I soon as I saw that as a category. It's my favorite by far, but I was born in '90 so it was my childhood game.

[@wiiztec]

You forgot the CDi games, fourd swords, triforce heroes, and skyward sword HD

[@ws04]

PH/ST is so unbroken sadge

[@666blaziken]

Haven't watched the video, but my opinion is this, most of the zelda games are the best in different categories. For fast paced franticness and spectacle: botw For longest history and unique twists to the any percent progression: ocarina of time For the most confusing and complex Speedrun: skyward sword For the most glitchy: a link to the past or Zelda 2... And oot Hardest most difficult: windwaker

[@zekay_]

I think OOT and MM is far more complex when it comes to RBA, BA, WW, and SRM/ACE.

[@666blaziken]

@@zekay_ I think that while the explanation and coding is more complex, I think back in time in skyward sword makes the game the most confusing one, but oot and Majora's mask are both pretty complicated no lie.

[@XxILikePie03]

Find more Phantom Hourglass glitches, let's goooo

[@MelodiusRL]

Pretty agreeable tierlist! Would only change Minish Cap from B to A.

[@pablo2001nov]

I like how Triforce Heroes isn't even mentioned, like literally most people don't even know of the game or remember it well enough..

[@markabyss1200]

As much as I love the DS zeldas and the oracle games, I completely agree with their placement. This isn't a rating on the quality of the game after all, just the speedrun.

[@runtuntbadunt96]

what brings MM down for me mostly is first cycle: makes watching reset heavy runs very tedious. A shame too because MM has some really cool stuff in it like OoT

[@jorgesynchro]

I like A Link To The Past speedruns just because I did One, im rank like 400 and something but I love that

[@trevdoesweirdthings]

Personally I love doing oot3D runs because of how portable it is. If I have time to kill on a trip or something, I just speedrun the game

[@cheese_vviz]

I would personally put FSA in A tier just because of it's movement.

[@simoneazzoni3882]

4/10 did not mention the cdi games

[@robinmiersch1451]

Can you also rank them on how easy the glitches can be performed? Because I only ever tried glitches on Ocarina of time 3D. (The Version I only played) I could do: ledge clip, death hole wrong warp, grappling hook wall clip, early bottom of the well via chicken and some others, but I couldn't do many that are basic requirements to speedrun the game, like: Isg, bomb hover, moon jump via grappling hook, bomb damage boost jumping (e.g. to ganons castle). Warp hole wrong warp did also not work out. I created a file a while ago where I death hole wrong warped to temple of time early and now can't become a child again. And one way to progress to shadow temple (since I dont have dins fire). would be to wrong warp out of Dodongos cavern with setting Farores wind in hyrule town first but I couldn't get the item change glitch in dodongos cavern. And I cant hookshot moonjump or bomb hover on the graveyard. That was so frustrating.

[@robinmiersch1451]

But what's the point of speed running these mainstream games anyways, when there are so many people already doing it? I just tried to find glitches in some other games then like Power Rangers Super Legends DS and Lego Battles.

[@Narutimake]

Spirit tracks dungeons are very Pog. But the train sections are so painfully boring that holds back the game a lot. Also the game having almost no skips is a sign that not many people have interest in the game. Sadge

[@kaitengiri]

You forgot the most important games in the series. The CD-i games.

[@SplatzicYT]

where is tri force heroes

[@mollyfaucet]

every single thing that linkus has ever said i have taken as fact.

[@zekay_]

Dont

[@coolsans6571]

My personal picks for top tier are: a link to the past, majora's mask and breath of the wild. Eevrything else is just ok

[@watchf]

HUH?

[@nickfahlstrom1073]

What about skyward sword HD, idk anything about the speed run but I would assume it’s different than the original release

[@daniell6610]

SSHD is a different speedrun from the original since you don't have BiT. Why he didn't include it, I dunno either lol.

[@Starluck40]

I understand how glitches add mechanics that make speedruns unique, but is that really the most important thing about a speedrun? I notice this when people are upset about bug fixes or when remasters are more stable and they dislike it. Isn't it still interesting to see how fast you can go, even if it's a well programmed game? That being said Wind Waker is my favorite Zelda game to speedrun, so I do love glitches.

[@GlichCentral]

You forgot the CDI games >:(

[@JohnnyYeTaecanUktena]

Honestly to me if a game could have more than 1 category like aside from Any%, 100%, and Glitchless like the 3 main ones that pops into people's head then you know it's a good speed game bonus points if it is actually more easy to learn which is why I say A Link to the Past should be S+ and Ocarina of Time should be S as even in the Glitchless categories the tricks in Ocarina are not easy to pull off except for Bongo bongo lenseless and the wastelands without the lens as you could memorize the route. Now we also gotta take into account how fun the games themselves are for the runners to play which is why I would agree with Zelda 2 being at D despite being one of my fav games. Now movement is also a huge factor as the better feeling movement will have more runners thus is a better speed game which is why I would agree Phantom Hourglass and Spirit tracks being low tier as traversing the overworld is more of a downgrade than windwaker

[@LustNoel]

Triforce heroes is not under handhelds :D also worth mentioning you cant use stream capture to seriously run albw because of overclocking and since 3ds capture is literally close to impossible you're basically screwed

[@nitrospidergaming7394]

Linkus, you forgot Four Swords which is a seperate game from Four Swords Adventures.

[@niamek127]

I felt you are judging most zelda based on their glitches. What about the glitchless categories that can be amazing (or terrible?)? Item management or menuing for C items / Items buttons? Aside that, it was a good video, looking forward to more.

[@zosonaigh2814]

Spirit Tracks actually has a lot of glitches now

[@CosmosProvider]

To me MM and it's speedrun history is S tier. I get that first cycle is annoying but past that it's just one of the most glitch and tricks packed speedrun.

[@victini6266]

I was afraid that Low Tier was reserved for Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks 😔 Oh well, at least I’m not the only one who likes those games now

[@watchf]

We all love the games, he was rating the speedrun

[@greilthelegendaryhero252]

What about the oracle games or minish cap?

[@MrLeerot]

Can't believe you skipped the Philips CDI games

[@katsucrow]

majoras mask is S+ tier! it has a rich history of glitches and ennop streams were some of the most fun streams to watch.

[@gameboy_matthew7181]

Majora Mask Is really only bad because of First Cycle.