The First Annual Tingle and Navi Awards: Results!

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

Warning: Exceedingly long post ahead.

Ladies and Gentlemen, good evening and welcome to the results ceremony for the 2008 Tingle Awards. After almost a month of fierce competition (or a month of almost fierce competition, I don't quite know which), the results are in.

The 2-D Tingles
Best 2-D Title: Winner: A Link to the Past, SNES (16 votes)
Link's Awakening, GB (5 votes), Witheld (3 votes)
Introducing some of the key plot and gameplay elements of future Zelda titles including Heart Pieces, sidequests, the 3+5 dungeon formula, ALttP is a truly epic Zelda title that everyone should play. If not just to see that OoT was greatly inspired by it.

Best 2-D Dungeon: Winner: Ganon's Tower, ALttP (9 votes)
Dark Palace, ALttP (6 votes), Eagle's Tower, LA (5 votes), Witheld (4 votes)
Ganon's Tower shows how a final dungeon truly should be. First time I played it, I honestly thought I was going to have to fight through every boss again before taking on Ganon himself. Fantastic.

Best 2-D Boss: Winner: Ganon, ALttP (10 votes)
Vaati, TMC (6 votes), Trinexx (4 votes), Witheld (4 votes)
It's a clean sweep for ALttP, taking the third 2-D Tingle Title! I voted Trinexx so don't have much to add here.

The 3-D Tingles
Best 3-D Title: Winner: Ocarina of Time, N64 (10 votes)
Majora's Mask, N64 (8 votes), The Wind Waker (3 votes)
Were you expecting an upset and OoT not coming out on top? Too bad. Although it was a close run thing, OoT clinches the Best 3-D Title award, but I think it may want to watch out for MM in the next Definitive LoZ Review Thread.

Best 3-D Dungeon: Winner: Spirit Temple, OoT (9 votes)
Stone Tower Temple, MM (8 votes), Forest Temple (7 votes)
It's a complete reversal of the Top Three of hisak's Definitive Dungeon Insanity. Cries of foul play are heard from all corners of the forum...

Best 3-D Boss: Winner: Ganondorf/Ganon, OoT (12 votes)
Stallord (6 votes), Twinrova (6 votes)
Ganon really was awesome in the 90s, wasn't he? None of this running around in circles or charging at you for no reason nonsense...

Best Cutscene: Winner: Lanayru Cutscene, TP (10 votes)
Ocarina of Time Credits, OoT (8 votes), Giants Stop The Moon, MM (6 votes)
"ZOMG! This Zant fellow's one bad motherf*cker!" So was my first reaction to this scene in TP. A heartbreaking shame Nintendo could not maintain the frightening persona that Zant portrayed. The Interlopers fantasy wasn't bad either.

The Cross-Dimensional Tingles
Best Storyline: Winner: Ocarina of Time, N64 (12 votes)
Majora's Mask, N64 (7 votes), The Wind Waker, GC (5 votes)
Raise your hands if you're going to ignore the fact that OoT got most of its storyline ideas from ALttP... *does so*

Best Use of Graphics: Winner: The Wind Waker, GC (12 votes)
Twilight Princess, GC/Wii (11 votes), Phantom Hourglass, DS (1 vote)
So, how did you vote in this one? I hope throwing the word "use" into the title didn't mess with your minds too much. Although it took a while, it seems that people have warmed to cel-shading. Quite right too.

Best/Favourite NPC: Winner: Happy Mask Salesman, MM (10 votes)
Linebeck, PH (9 votes), Skull Kid, MM (4 votes), Witheld (1 vote)
Linebeck took an early (and quite impressive) lead in this one, but that was taken care of by the frightening bugger (and clear nominations winner) that is the Happy Mask Salesman. Just where did he get to...?

Best/Favourite Recurring Enemy: Winner: Darknut (14 votes)
Octorok (5 votes), Stalfos (5 votes)
But... Octoroks... *weeps*

Best Item/Weapon: Winner: Bow and Arrow, Various (14 votes)
Hookshot, Various (8 votes), Spinner, TP (2 votes)
Since the original LoZ, the bow and arrow has been a staple of Link's arsenal and long may it continue- even if in crossbow form.

Best Sidequest: Winner: Anju and Kafei, MM (17 votes)
BigGoron Sword Trading Quest, OoT (4 votes), Cave of Ordeals, TP (3 votes)
No surprises here? Anju and Kafei dominated the nominations stage and it seemed logical that they would do the same in the voting round. Nice to see I'm not the only one that likes a good trading sequence though.

Best Link: Winner: Hero of Time, OoT/MM (14 votes)
Twilight Link, TP (7 votes), Hero of Winds, TWW (3 votes)
Old news: The N64 games were brilliant and had the best Link of all.

Hottest Hylian (or Non-Hylian) Female: Winner: Adult Malon, OoT (11 votes)
Din, OoX (5 votes) Zelda, Various (4 votes), Witheld (4 votes)
Hooray for the "hot farm chick"!

Best Single Piece of Music: Winner: Gerudo Valley (15 votes)
Zelda's Lullaby (8 votes), Gerudo Desert (1 vote)
I never quite got the attraction to the Gerudo Valley theme, but apparently a lot of you did. Right now I'm still whistling Zelda's Lullaby... *shrug*

Best Full In-Game Soundtrack: Winner: Ocarina of Time, N64 (15 votes)
The Wind Waker, GC (6 votes), Majora's Mask, N64 (3 votes)
More love for Ocarina! The ocarina songs are definitely some of the finest that Koji Kondo has come up with during his tenure as series composer. And of course there's Gerudo Valley... *double shrug*

Most Challenging Title: Winner: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (17 votes)
Majora's Mask, N64 (4 votes), A Link to the Past, SNES (3 votes)
No surprise with this one. Is this a good or bad thing for AoL to have its name attached to? I'd say bad, but it's all a matter of taste.

Most Revolutionary Title: Winner: Ocarina of Time, N64 (13 votes)
A Link to the Past, SNES (10 votes), The Wind Waker (1 votes)
And one more award for OoT. That makes eight. 'Nuff said.

The Navi Awards
Least Challenging: Winner: The Minish Cap, GBA (10 votes)
Twilight Princess, GC/Wii (8 votes), The Wind Waker, GC (5 votes), Witheld (1 vote)
The challenges posed by being half an inch tall, the Kinstone collecting and the Four Sword puzzles were all nice, but apparently not tough enough. Will Capcom get another bite at the Zelda cherry to make up for this? Only time will tell...

Least Revolutionary: Winner: Twilight Princess, GC/Wii (14 votes)
Link's Awakening, GB (4 votes), Majora's Mask (3 votes), Witheld (3 votes)
Confirmation for most of us, I think. Adding waggle doesn't necessarily make for a revolution. Although maybe TP just had a rough shunt going against the first handheld title and the bloody brilliant MM...

Least Favourite NPC: Winner: Navi, OoT (9 votes)
Tingle, Various (8 votes), Midna (6 votes), Witheld (2 votes)
Well, the awards were (eventually ) named after her... Altogether now... Hey! Listen! Hello!

Least Favourite Dungeon: Winner: Hyrule Castle, TP (11 votes)
Twilight Palace, TP (8 votes), Tower of the Gods, TWW (4 votes), Witheld (1 vote)
More bad news for TP. But if you compare ALttP's conquered castle with this gutless monstrosity, you can see the problem. Right...?

Worst Boss: Winner: Giant Green Chu Chu, TMC (12 votes)
Goht, MM (6 votes), Ganon, TP (5 votes), Witheld (1 vote)
I thought going against a giant Chu was a pretty neat idea, but I clearly don't know jack. *decides to run in a circle, mocking both the runners-up*

Worst Recurring Enemy: Winner: Keese (11 votes)
Floor/Wallmaster (6 votes), Like Likes (5 votes), Witheld (2 votes)
The question posed in this category turned out to be: Which is more annoying? Losing your shield, getting sent back to the dungeon entrance or having a bat flapping around randomly with no purpose. Turns out, it's the third option.

Worst Zelda Title: Winner: Four Swords, GBA (12 votes)
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (8 votes), Twilight Princess (2 votes), Witheld (2 votes)
Okay, so you weren't revolutionary, TP, but at least you were playable. Four Swords is probably the least played of all Zelda games because its most important gameplay feature makes it harder to play than it should. We just need better friends I think...

And there we go. It's all over. For now. There may well be a bigger and better Tingles/Navis before the year's end, it depends how I feel. Otherwise, I'll be seeing you all next year (or next month for the Definitive Legend of Zelda Review Thread).

[Beh]

I'm all around happy with the results except for

Best/Favourite NPC: Winner: Happy Mask Salesman, MM (10 votes)
Linebeck, PH (9 votes), Skull Kid, MM (4 votes), Witheld (1 vote)
Linebeck took an early (and quite impressive) lead in this one, but that was taken care of by the frightening bugger (and clear nominations winner) that is the Happy Mask Salesman. Just where did he get to...?

Lineback was one friggin vote away. *mopes*

[Fairy penguin]

MM lost by two votes? And OoT got nearly everything... *shakes head* Do stereotypes ever die? 10 years later and its still on top.

[hupla]

THE THINGS I VOTED FOR DIDNT WIN IM GOING TO CUT MY SELF AND WRITE ABOUT THIS ON MY LIVE JURNOAL!!!!!

[Uber_Challenger]

Yeah! TP didn't win in the worst Zelda game category! Even if it did, it is still NO WHERE NEAR the worst Zelda game. And that's the truth. No way it's worse than AOL.

One thing that did surprise me, though, was that the Dark Interlopers scene won best cutscene. For me, that scene was kind of forgettable. If not for the "freaky" atmosphere of it (which surprised me in a good way), I probably would've instantly forgotten about it the moment it was over.

Other than that, I'm pleased overall.

These awards were an awesome idea, EA. Let's all DEFINITELY do it again.

[hisak]

I doubt that the non-playability factor was the only thing FS had going against it. I'm glad TP didn't lose worst Zelda game. A game that introduced the Clawshot, Spinner, a sniper feature, 1:1 aiming, and Wolf Link winning least revolutionary confuses me though.

[Fluesopp]

Yeah! Some of the result were a bit unpredicted by my side, but I guess it's all right anyways..
And the way you were presentating it were plain cool.

[Uber_Challenger]

I'm glad TP didn't lose worst Zelda game. A game that introduced the Clawshot, Spinner, a sniper feature, 1:1 aiming, and Wolf Link winning least revolutionary confuses me though.

Hate to be picky, but TP wasn't the game that introduced the Clawshot (ALTTP had the Hookshot, which is the same thing, and many subsequent games had it as well). However, it did introduce something similar: Double Clawshots. 

And I agree about it winning Least Revolutionary. I still think AOL should've won that one. My reason for thinking this isn't because AOL is a bad game, but because it had many elements that I haven't seen much of in ANY other Zelda game I've played (and I've played all but FS, FSA, MC, and PH...and the CD-i ones, but I don't like to count those). For one thing, it was much more RPG-like than all of the other ones. Also, the "meat and potatoes" sections of the game were pretty much all taken up by side scrolling action, which I've only seen in the Game Boy games (but to a MUCH lesser extent). That's why I think AOL should've won least revolutionary.

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

I doubt that the non-playability factor was the only thing FS had going against it.

But I'd say it's a big, big, BIG part. If we can't play it, we can't argue differently.

I'm glad TP didn't lose worst Zelda game. A game that introduced the Clawshot, Spinner, a sniper feature, 1:1 aiming, and Wolf Link winning least revolutionary confuses me though.

Clawshot = Tweaked Hookshot (as Uber says),
Spinner = Poorly used in the end,
Sniper = Good, but needed to be used more,
Wolf Link = Not that big a deal.

I still think AOL should've won that one.

As much as I hate AoL for its ball-busting difficulty, I'm gonna hop in with a little attempt at defending it. While a lot of its gameplay didn't become staples of future games, without it we may not have got the wonderous Magic Meter and the potential for spells, which has yet to be full capitalised on again by any other title.

The combat system, with the ability to hit opponents at different heights, could only be taken advantage of again in the third dimension, with Link's doppleganger Dark Link also making his first appearance. And it was the first title to feature NPCs, including good ol' Error.

I'd say magic, developed combat, Dark Link and NPCs are very vital parts to the Zelda games' canon. And we have AoL to thank for that. The Spinner, Clawshot and Wolf Link could all be gone in the next title and I wouldn't miss them. Take out something like the NPCs and there's an enormous gap. And TP felt hollow without a little magic.

[hisak]

But how is TP less revolutionary than LA? All it did was introduce the Roc's Feather (which was used in three games, and has since been dropped), the trading sequence (which is almost dead), and the double-equip feature (which has also been dropped).

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

I would say that being able to play Zelda on the loo go is a pretty big deal. LA managed to take everything great about ALttP and squeeze it all onto a tiny screen.

To argue that the Roc's Feather is a negative is a bit weak. There are plenty of items across the Zelda games which have made even fewer appearances and then disappeared. The Spinner may well be one of those and it will not have made anywhere near as much of an impact.

Trading sequences, while recently abandoned/poorly used, have been some of the best sidequests. Particularly the Oracles sequence which when crossed over resulted in a new Master Sword.

And of course the double-equip feature has gone the way of the Dodo. How many buttons do consoles come with now? But we were given the freedom to use another button for something other than the sword.

Also to add to the list of firsts: Fishing, Cuccoo flying and Ocarina songs.

You have to consider each game for how revolutionary it was in its own time and how it could stand today. Both AoL and LA, IMO, have brought more to the Zelda canon than TP could hope to.

[Python]

Crap... I forgot to vote.

The winner's list looks pretty much like what I thought it would look like. It's hardly surprising to see Ocarina sweep the awards... *still hopes MM will someday dethrone OoT*

[Twilight Wii]

Twilight Princess didn't nearly deserve all the crap it got. It's by far the best game yet, and i'm sorry but for Majora's Mask to be such a favourite. >:-(

[Fluesopp]

That's your oppinion. The forum got quite a different opinion.
Also, did you like MM or were you sorry it were a favorite?

[NinJa]

Things went pretty much the way I suspected honestly. OoT sweeping the votes, aLttP sweeping the votes. But I was a tad bit disappointed that Linebeck didn't get the Favorite NPC. His personality was very humorous and top notch, but I guess we all can't win huh.

 

But Gerudo Valley ftw.

[SmashBrawlZelda]

Hmm, I like the results, as I did expect most of those results.

One thing I just can't believe is that Ganondorf beat Stallord in best 3-D boss.
But then again, OoT Ganondorf/Ganon for its release was priceless.

[chibimoon]

Best/Favourite NPC: Winner: Happy Mask Salesman, MM (10 votes)

Linebeck missed out by 1 vote? 

Least Favourite NPC: Winner: Navi, OoT (9 votes)
Tingle, Various (8 votes), Midna (6 votes), Witheld (2 votes)
Well, the awards were (eventually ) named after her... Altogether now... Hey! Listen! Hello!

And Tingle nearly beat Navi?

Ah but I'm happy OoT won so many categories. Except for best cutscene - the Lanayru cutscene was memorable only because it was slightly freaky but still doesn't beat OoT's end credits! (you can guess what I voted for here)

Thanks for putting this together, EA. Maybe now you can get rid of that horrendous avatar? 

[Be_yourself]

I doubt that the non-playability factor was the only thing FS had going against it. I'm glad TP didn't lose worst Zelda game. A game that introduced the Clawshot, Spinner, a sniper feature, 1:1 aiming, and Wolf Link winning least revolutionary confuses me though.

Clawshot-limited hookshot, which could only really grab onto obvious targets...

Spinner-Again, could only be used on spinner tracks, cool but not exactly revolutionary

1:1 aiming- very good idea, implemented well, but how is it revolutionary? Same with the sniper feature...

Wolf link-story fodder, you hardly used the Wolf in any situation other then in the story. when you did it was just some follow the scent or hold Z and press a, there was only one occasion when you jumped that you had to time it (Zora's Domain)

that said, i still think MM was less revolutionary it had masks, which was about the only thing it had other then those it was OOT 2.0.

[Mangabrary]

I didn't vote. Just joined this site a couple days ago >>;;

I would've voted for MM, though! Down with Ocarina, despite its glory! MM will one day rule the world!

[Ezlo's Apprentice]

I didn't vote. Just joined this site a couple days ago >>;;

I would've voted for MM, though! Down with Ocarina, despite its glory! MM will one day rule the world!

Stick around next month and you can help MM in its latest bid for glory in my Definitive Legend of Zelda Review Thread- the annual search for this forum's favourite Legend of Zelda game.

Side note: If you all play your cards right  (read: if I can keep my own website interests going), The Tingle Awards may go global before the end of the year.