In an effort to show my sons some old-school gaming, I recently played through The Adventure of Link on an emulator and was impressed that those skills came back to me. I'm glad that I've been able to share this interest with my children. Connor has been on a Zelda kick lately, having beaten four games in the past year, including beating A Link Between Worlds before I ever played it.
Thankfully, he let me play the game on his 3DS this week, and I think it has jumped to my favorite of the Zelda games (the top spot having been A Link to the Past, which was only slightly higher than Minish Cap). I completed the game today and was in awe of its simple complexity. It was everything that I could want from a Zelda game: exploration, puzzles, and a growing sense of power and accomplishment being the top three.
I am a little concerned about the new adventure that has now been pushed back (yet again) to a 2017 release date. Skyward Sword left a bit of a bad taste as I played it. I'm glad that A Link Between Worlds served as a palate cleanser.
I haven't played every Zelda game made (notably, Link's Awakening for the Gameboy didn't hold my attention), but those I have can be rated as follows:
A Link Between Worlds
A Link to the Past
The Minish Cap
The Wind Waker
The Legend of Zelda (original)
Twilight Princess
Phantom Hourglass
Majora's Mask
Ocarina of Time
The Adventure of Link
Oracle of Ages
Oracle of Seasons
Skyward Sword