There’s still a day before The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releases to all gamers, but the consensus is mostly in from critics who received an early-access copy of the game. The feedback has largely been a resounding, “this game is awesome.” With 10/10 and 5/5 review scores all around, it made me wonder how it stacks up to the all-time greats.
According to Metacritic, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom currently sits at the 28th highest-rated game of all time with an aggregate score of 96. Perhaps, unsurprisingly, the highest-rated game of all time is also another Zelda title, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, for the N64 with a 99.
What is the G.O.A.T. Game?
When talking about the greatest game of all time, it’s pretty hard — just as it is in any other genre. For one, gaming tech over the past few decades has come leaps and bounds from the time of the PS1 or N64, so to compare titles that are literally decades apart is like comparing Nosferatu to the Twilight movies (Nosferatu is better, btw).
Another factor that plays into ranking is the volume of reviews written on a game. Logically, one would think that older games have more critical reviews, but that isn’t always true. At one point, gaming was still a niche industry, and few professional publications were writing about video games. Combine that with the fact that the internet wasn’t as widely used and many publications were still in print format, and you’ve got even fewer reviews for even the most popular games.
Fast-forward to today, and you’ve got a plethora of different media outlets, big and small, all writing reviews on the same titles. For comparison, the original The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time only has 22 total critical reviews on Metacritic, with some of the publications not even in existence anymore, while Tears of the Kingdom already has 83, a day before the game’s official release.
Gamers Will Have the Last Word
If The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom does hope to be the highest-rated game of all time, it will have to take out some pretty iconic titles like Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, which sits at the #2 spot, and Grand Theft Auto IV, which currently sits at the #3 spot, as well as a plethora of other amazing titles like the OG SoulCalibur and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Regardless of what direction the critics go, one thing is for sure. In gaming, gamers are the ones who make the final decision of whether a video game is good or not. And really, those unforgettable moments and experiences go down in history and last forever as memories in people’s minds. Just ask any millennial that played Zelda on the N64 as a kid.
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