Every Zelda Game Ranked

Ocarina of Time

The game that invented the 3D action-adventure template overnight, from Z-targeting to the still-daunting Water Temple. Its 99 Metacritic score on N64 remained an industry benchmark for two decades, and 'It's a Secret to Everybody' is burned into gaming culture. Many critics stil

Release Year: 1998Platform: Nintendo 64Critic Score: 9.7/10Copies Sold: 13 million

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Breath of the Wild

Nintendo blew up thirty years of series convention, dropping players onto a cliff in Hyrule with nothing but a paraglider and total freedom. Climbing any surface and its physics-driven 'chemistry engine' redefined what an open world could be, and it launched the Switch into legen

Release Year: 2017Platform: Switch / Wii UCritic Score: 9.7/10Copies Sold: 31 million

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A Link to the Past

The SNES classic that cemented the light-world/dark-world formula and the modern Zelda item-and-dungeon loop. Its top-down design is still the gold standard referenced by A Link Between Worlds and countless indie clones decades later. For many longtime fans, this is peak 2D Zelda

Release Year: 1991Platform: SNESCritic Score: 9.3/10Copies Sold: 4.6 million

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Tears of the Kingdom

Building literally and figuratively on Breath of the Wild, the Ultrahand building system turned Hyrule's sky and depths into a physics sandbox nobody expected. It sold faster than any prior entry in the series and proved the open-world reinvention wasn't a fluke. Zonai devices an

Release Year: 2023Platform: SwitchCritic Score: 9.6/10Copies Sold: 20 million

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Majora's Mask

A three-day time loop, a moon with a screaming face, and the darkest tone the series has ever risked. Built on recycled Ocarina assets under a brutal deadline, it became a cult masterpiece prized for its melancholy and mask-transformation mechanics. It's the Zelda people rediscov

Release Year: 2000Platform: Nintendo 64Critic Score: 9.1/10Copies Sold: 4 million

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The Wind Waker

Cel-shaded and controversial at its 2002 reveal, it aged into one of the most beloved entries thanks to its ocean-sailing sense of adventure and expressive character animation. The Great Sea's scale and the King of Red Lions companionship gave exploration new emotional weight. Th

Release Year: 2002Platform: GameCubeCritic Score: 9.2/10Copies Sold: 6.5 million

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Link's Awakening

The first handheld Zelda squeezed a full Hyrule-style adventure onto a Game Boy cartridge, wrapped in a bizarre dream-island premise involving Mario enemies and a wind fish. Its surreal ending twist still surprises first-time players decades later. It proved the series could thri

Release Year: 1993Platform: Game BoyCritic Score: 9/10Copies Sold: 4 million

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Skyward Sword

Motion controls let players actually swing the sword for the first time, and Fi's guidance divided fans between helpful and hand-holding. Loftwing flight and Silent Realm stealth sections were bold experiments even if pacing drew criticism. The HD re-release with button controls

Release Year: 2011Platform: WiiCritic Score: 8.6/10Copies Sold: 4.5 million

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Twilight Princess

A darker, more mature Hyrule and the ability to transform Link into a wolf gave this GameCube/Wii-era entry a distinct identity. Midna remains one of the series' most beloved companions, sarcastic and heartbreaking by the finale. It was the biggest-selling Zelda for years before

Release Year: 2006Platform: GameCube / WiiCritic Score: 9/10Copies Sold: 11 million

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A Link Between Worlds

A spiritual sequel to A Link to the Past that let Link merge into walls and rent any item instantly, freeing players to tackle dungeons in nearly any order. It proved 2D Zelda still had radical ideas left after two decades. Critics called it one of the finest handheld games ever

Release Year: 2013Platform: 3DSCritic Score: 9.1/10Copies Sold: 4 million

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The Legend of Zelda

The 1986 original that started it all, handing players an unmarked overworld and a battery save file when neither was standard. Its secrets, bombable walls and burnable bushes, created gaming's first true 'figure it out yourself' culture. Every open-world game owes it a debt.

Release Year: 1986Platform: NESCritic Score: 9.2/10Copies Sold: 6.5 million

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The Minish Cap

A slept-on GBA gem where Link shrinks to Picori size to explore a miniature world hidden inside the familiar one. Ezlo's talking-hat banter and the size-shifting puzzles gave it a distinct identity despite modest sales. It's the entry hardcore fans love recommending to newcomers.

Release Year: 2004Platform: Game Boy AdvanceCritic Score: 8.8/10Copies Sold: 1.6 million

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Oracle of Seasons

Paired with Oracle of Ages via password-linking, this Capcom-developed entry leaned into action and dungeon combat, with the Rod of Seasons reshaping the world at will. Connecting both carts unlocked a true final story, an ambitious gimmick for 2001 handhelds. It's the more comba

Release Year: 2001Platform: Game Boy ColorCritic Score: 8.4/10Copies Sold: —

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Oracle of Ages

The puzzle-heavy twin to Oracle of Seasons, built around time-travel via the Harp of Ages to solve intricate temple riddles. Together the Oracle games showed Capcom could honor Zelda's DNA while adding its own flavor. Linking passwords between both games for a special ending was

Release Year: 2001Platform: Game Boy ColorCritic Score: 8.4/10Copies Sold: —

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Phantom Hourglass

The first fully touch-controlled Zelda, drawing sword slashes and dungeon maps directly on the DS stylus. The Temple of the Ocean King's repeat-visit design frustrated some, but ship-sailing and boomerang puzzles were genuinely inventive. It proved Zelda could adapt to an entirel

Release Year: 2007Platform: Nintendo DSCritic Score: 8.5/10Copies Sold: 5 million

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Spirit Tracks

Trains replaced boats for overworld travel, and Zelda herself became a playable spirit possessing a suit of armor to fight alongside Link. It's an underrated DS sequel that experimented further with its predecessor's touch controls. Fans still debate whether train-based traversal

Release Year: 2009Platform: Nintendo DSCritic Score: 8.3/10Copies Sold: 3 million

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Link's Awakening (2019)

Grezzo's diorama-style remake turned a Game Boy cult classic into one of the best-looking games on Switch, with a toybox aesthetic critics adored. The new Chamber Dungeon creator added replayability the original never had. It reintroduced the Wind Fish's island to a generation th

Release Year: 2019Platform: SwitchCritic Score: 8.7/10Copies Sold: 6 million

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Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

The series' biggest experiment: side-scrolling combat, RPG-style leveling, and a difficulty spike that still humbles speedrunners. Divisive since 1987, it's rarely anyone's favorite but is endlessly debated for daring to be so different. Nintendo never fully returned to this form

Release Year: 1987Platform: NESCritic Score: 7.4/10Copies Sold: 4 million

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Four Swords

Bundled with the GBA port of A Link to the Past, this multiplayer-only spinoff let up to four Links cooperate and compete for Rupees via link cable. It planted the seed for the cooperative Zelda subseries continued in Four Swords Adventures. Its ambitious portable multiplayer set

Release Year: 2002Platform: Game Boy AdvanceCritic Score: 7.4/10Copies Sold: —

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Echoes of Wisdom

Finally, Zelda herself takes the lead role, using Echo copies of enemies and objects to solve puzzles in a Link's Awakening-style top-down Hyrule. Its 2024 release flipped the script on three decades of 'rescue the princess' framing. Early reception praised the echo-summoning sys

Release Year: 2024Platform: SwitchCritic Score: 8.6/10Copies Sold: —

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