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In 3d zeldas where you can roll infinitely (By memory Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Windwaker and Twilight Princess) I usually just roll over and over again instead of simply walking. It feels just a little bit faster.

I know this may change from game to game (I didn't want to create 4 questions that are the same except what game we are talking about) but is it faster to roll instead of simply walking/running to your next location? And if so, by how much?

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Yes it is always faster to roll. By how much depends on the game, so let's break it down a bit. All of this information was found on the ZeldaSpeedRuns website, which has in-depth mechanical information compiled by the community of Zelda speedrunners. All of the values provided are in units per frame.

Ocarina of Time

In Ocarina of Time, your standard movement speed while walking is 9 units as adult, and 8.25 units as child. Rolling and backwalking have a movement speed of 13.5 units as adult, and 12.375 units as child. As far as I can tell, these values are the same in Ocarina of Time 3D. Source

Majora's Mask

In Majora's Mask, walking as Link has a constant speed of 5.5 units. Rolling as Link has an average speed of 6.583 units. However, in that game, the fastest regular movement by far is spike rolling as Goron, which has a constant speed of 18 units. As far as I can tell, these values are the same in Majora's Mask 3D. Source

The Wind Waker

In The Wind Waker, Link walks at a speed of 17 units and rolls at a top speed of 26 units. As far as I can tell, these values are the same in The Wind Waker HD. Source

Twilight Princess

In Twilight Princess, Link walks at a speed of 23 units, and rolls at a top speed of 32.9 units. However, Wolf dashing is generally considered to be faster than rolling in most cases, which has a top speed of either 33 or 45 units, depending on the area. As far as I can tell, these values are the same in Twilight Princess HD. Source

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    To summarize: Rolling is 50% faster in OoT (young & adult), 19.7% faster in MM, 52.9% faster in WW, and 43% faster in TP.
    – Nolonar
    May 24, 2019 at 0:37
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    Are you certain that in Ocarina of Time, backwalking and rolling has the same speed? I think every speedrunner I've heard mention the subject says that if you're traveling a distance more than 4 rolls or so, it's worth the effort to take aim, turn around and then backwalk.
    – Arthur
    May 24, 2019 at 7:54
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    @Arthur that has to do with consistency, perfect rolling is the same as backwalking however missing the button by a few frames every roll will drop the average speed. Also for super long distances slides are preferred.
    – ratchet freak
    May 24, 2019 at 8:38
  • @ratchetfreak Huh. I thought rolling was strictly slower. Anyway, if you are going for perfect input, then sidehopping still beats both rolling and backwalking.
    – Arthur
    May 24, 2019 at 8:49
  • It should also be noted that average and top speeds aren't the same sort of value. Average would be the more fair comparison to walking. I do not know what the top speed of Majora's Mask rolling is, nor do I know the average speed of Wind Waker rolling (other than, anecdotally, definitely more than 17)
    – Unionhawk ♦
    Jun 5, 2019 at 18:31

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