A franchise spanning over three decades, The Legend of Zelda is one of the most important video games series in the medium. Multiple different entries have changed the way that games are made and even played. Gaming without The Legend of Zelda simply would not be the same. It’s a series that continuously pushes the medium forward, chronicling gaming’s persistent progress.
Not all home console Zelda games are created equally, though, and some have had much longer-lasting impact than others. No one will ever forget Ocarina of Time, but most Zelda fans haven’t played Four Swords Adventures. In a post-handheld world, it makes sense, though. Home consoles aren’t necessarily the end-all, be-all of quality—something Nintendo understands for better or worse.
10 Four Swords Adventures
The second of three non-compilation Zelda titles released for the Nintendo GameCube, Four Swords Adventures followed up Capcom’s Four Swords which was included with the Game Boy Advance port of A Link to the Past. This time allowing single-player, FSA is what Four Swords should have been in the first place. But it still isn’t all that stellar.
The idea of a more arcadey, stage-based Zelda certainly is interesting, but Four Swords Adventures is still a convoluted game to play multiplayer and what’s there of single-player is a noticeable step down from just about every single other entry in the franchise. It’s a novelty game and was certainly decent when people were expected to have GBAs and GameCubes, but it’s challenging to revisit these days.
9 Skyward Sword
Skyward Sword is not a bad game and it should be noted that there’s a considerable gap in quality between Four Swords Adventures and Skyward Sword. That said, SS does stumble more than the average 3D Zelda. While it has great dungeons and an even better story, the pacing, combat, and world design leave a lot to be desired.
Skyward Sword is painfully slow, to the point where it does indeed make the game worse. Motion-based swordplay is often fun, but it’s just as often exhausting and tedious. Flying around is a neat novelty, but Skyward Sword’s overall is basically a worse version of the Great Sea. It’s worth playing once if nothing else.
8 Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link
Revisionist history has given the impression that Zelda II was something of a disappointment when it was released. While time, for whatever reason, has been unkind to it, The Adventure of Link was a commercial and critical success, one that offered a different take on a franchise that hadn’t yet established its identity.
It’s a brutally difficult game and will drive even the most seasoned of gamers to madness, but it has some of the tightest combat on the NES and still scratches that Zelda itch. Nintendo should consider either remaking Zelda II or making a mechanical sequel to it. It’s a shame its battle system was never expanded upon further.
7 The Legend Of Zelda
The game that started it all: The Legend of Zelda, a Hyrule fantasy. Despite being an early NES game, the original Legend of Zelda holds a very universal appeal to this day. From the very first screen, players are encouraged to go wherever they want with no sense of direction. There’s an intended path for the game, but its nonlinearity allows just about anyone to progress at their own pace.
There are a few tricky moments here and there, but in an age where guides are a second away, that’s not as big a deal. Still, purists might find it very challenging to figure out where to go or what to do next on a fresh playthrough, and the final dungeons fall on the challenging side.
6 Twilight Princess
Twilight Princess essentially being Ocarina of Time 2 ends up being a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s a painfully derivative game that overshadows an identity that’s very much there under the overwhelming cloud of legacy. On the other hand, Twilight Princess is an incredibly polished, high-quality action-adventure game with some of the best dungeons & combat on the series.
It’s also frustratingly easy, but the HD release’s Hero Mode at least puts it in line with the N64 duology’s difficulty curve. While flawed, Twilight Princess towers over all other 3D entries when it comes to its script and cinematography. The series hasn’t been as visually inspired or well written since (Skyward Sword is an outlier).
5 The Wind Waker
Like Twilight Princess, The Wind Waker is a very easy game and while its HD release’s Hero Mode makes TWW much more fulfilling, the game is noticeably lacking when it comes to dungeons, having the worst set of 3D dungeons behind Breath of the Wild. But The Wind Waker is charming, has fantastic swordplay, great enemy design, the series’ coolest overworld, and an insanely good story.
The Wind Waker could have easily ended the franchise on a high had Nintendo opted to go that route. In spite of its flaws, there isn’t a better looking or endearing Zelda game out there. The Wind Waker is proof that a game can easily overcome its flaws if what matters is top-notch.
4 Breath Of The Wild
Breath of the Wild is a lot like The Wind Waker in that regard. It’s undeniably a very flawed game with the worst 3D dungeons and bosses in the franchise. There’s just no two ways around it, Breath of the Wild stumbled there. But they’re still decent, get the job done, and are really just a puddle in the sea of BotW’s insanely high-quality levels of exploration.
Shrines are simple, but bite-sized puzzles are something the series has been needing to experiment for a while. The durability system means items aren’t as prominent or interesting, but combat has more variety than ever. Dungeons blow, but the overworld is amazingly dense and overflowing with nuances. There’s a reason people are still playing BotW nearly three years later.
3 A Link To The Past
The game that set the foundation for all future Zelda games to come and one of the most important video games of all time, period, it’s impossible to deny just how excellent A Link to the Past is as a video game. So well-paced, so tightly designed, and just brilliantly fun gameplay from start to finish—what’s there not to love?
A Link to the Past could release today, as is, and still be considered a masterpiece. It’s A Link to the Past that introduced the series’ dungeon structure, recurring dual world mechanics, and just about every major weapon or item Link uses across the 3D games. The franchise wouldn’t be the same without A Link to the Past.
2 Majora’s Mask
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask has no right being as good as it is. A game made on a tight schedule reusing assets from its mega-popular predecessor? Yeah, never gonna work. But that’s the thing about limitations—it inspires artists to produce better art. Majora’s Mask is only as good as it is because it was made under a tight schedule with reused assets.
The team was able to improve upon Ocarina of Time’s foundations in a very observable way. Majora’s Mask also ends up a different game, almost removing comparison between the two. Where Ocarina of Time is a classic epic, Majora’s Mask is more subdued and introspective, resulting in the most creative game in the franchise.
1 Ocarina Of Time
But not necessarily the best. At the end of the day, it’s hard to top The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It’s excelled in just about every area by another Zelda, but Ocarina of Time has something the others don’t have: balance. Every facet of Ocarina of Time’s design is at the very least great. Even the Water Temple, while tedious, is excellently designed.
Ocarina of Time is a game anyone interested in games needs to play in full at least once in their life. It set the foundation for modern 3D gaming as we know it. Modern combat, targeting, lock-on, how stories are even presented—it’s all owed to Ocarina of Time.
NEXT: The Legend of Zelda: The 10 Worst Things Ganon Has Done
