Depending on your criteria, there are 17 standalone mainline entries in THE Legend of Zelda series. The franchise spans decades - almost the entire history of video games. Playing any of them feels like more than just playing a sequel; it's like going back to an old favorite tale to find new discoveries: characters, themes and adventures. For a certain type of gamer, a brand new Zelda game can inspire waves of nostalgia, even if Nintendo is doing something new and drastic with the formula. Each title in the series is an epic in its own right.
However, they are not all the same for everyone. Maybe you've played them all and want to see if our rating matches yours, or maybe you're new to the series and need help deciding which title could capture the magic for you first. . Either way, we've got you covered with our list of the top 17 LA Legend of Zelda titles from best to worst.
1) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Ocarina of Time took the series from 2D to 3D and showed players that the fully fleshed out world alive in their imaginations could exist onscreen as well. Of course, it can make it look like we're watching the game through rose-colored glasses, tinged with the memory of what it was like to see such a big leap forward in video game technology. Nevertheless, Ocarina of time still stands today. It was a major blockbuster for Nintendo with all of the high-fantasy features of the series, while still managing to feel intimate with its own quirky sensibility. On top of all this, the Mechanic of Time - changing young Link into an adult Link - was a surprising and innovative mechanic. The series really grew with this masterpiece from 1998.
2) The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
If Ocarina of Time is the pinnacle of Zelda, than Majora's Mask is the dark horse. The series often takes weird and quirky turns, but nothing more than Majora's Mask. It moves away from high fantasy stuff in favor of something darker and more dreamy and it all adds up to a delightfully spooky experience that's really taking a risk. Lots of games have tried to make it a mechanic-type groundhog day, but this one does it with a shovel.
3) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Of course, it's possible that recency bias plays at least a small role in Breath of the Wild Being Here This High, but there's no denying that it was a masterpiece - and a huge reason why so many people (including us) came out and took a bet on the Nintendo Switch. It feels both innovative and classic in a magical way, building on the timeless Zelda tropes while also introducing new mechanics that make the game feel fresh. Most incredible is the duration of this feeling. It's a huge game, but we never got bored.
4) The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
A Link to the Past was the third of many 2D Zelda games, but it's still the best of the bunch. Want perfect dungeons? Here they are. Fantastic visuals that are always beautiful? You got it. Real risk and innovation with Dark World mechanics? Look no further. A link to the past nails it in every way and while we didn't make it top of our list, this is perhaps the most perfect Zelda game there has ever been.
5) The Legend of Zelda
Is it sacrilege to place the original game in fifth place? Some might say so, but we try not to let nostalgia cloud everything here. Nonetheless, THE Legend of Zelda was the first and will always be special for it. Even today, it can still give players the thrill of exploration that has become a staple of the franchise.
6) The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
It might have caused a tizzy upon its release due to its more cartoonish art style, but you know what? This makes it one of the most distinctive and charming entries in the entire series. Cell-shaded art direction has let this GameCube title age like fine wine, and it's one of Link's biggest adventures to date. The high seas are magnificent and inspire a real feeling of immensity and adventure. Part of the reason is that the vast expanses of open water were meant to hide loading screens, but it's still a modern classic that you won't want to miss.
7) La légende de Zelda: Link's Awakening
Although it originally came out in 1993, we highly recommend that you step back in time and get the 2019 remake of this little gem. It's smaller than most Zelda games, but it's perfect in its brevity and full of surprises. If you were baffled by the strangeness on display in Masque de Majora, just come back to this title: it's still surreal games.
8) The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
Do yourself a favor: play this game, but don't on the Nintendo Wii, or at least not with the Wiimote. It was supposed to be a flagship title for the 2006 Nintendo Wii, but let's be honest, the gadget controller hasn't really paid off as well as anyone had hoped it would. Nonetheless, the game is another masterpiece in the Zelda series (especially for GameCube Twilight). It takes risks with a slightly more mature approach to storytelling, and it pays off with one of Link's biggest and deepest adventures.
9) The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
A direct sequel to A Link to the Past that certainly shouldn't have worked - it's hard to see why this is necessary - and while it doesn't need to be, it's a blast. It's more like a reinvention of its predecessor, but with wonderful quality of life improvements. If you're looking for a newer portable entry that you may have missed, you can't go wrong here.
10) The Legend of Zelda: Ghost Hourglass
The world of The Wind Waker was so delicious, we don't mind that the Zelda series returned to it a few times more than it probably needed. Ghost Hourglasses is set in the same world and brings the same artistic style to the Nintendo DS. Unlike many other DS games, this one uses the dual-screen gadget quite well, and it's a fun adventure for fans of the cell-shaded style.
11) The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages / Seasons
Although technically two different titles, with two different game objectives (Age puzzles and Seasons action), they complement each other well and have been released in tandem. These are interesting games on their own, but they also show that Zelda works best when it combines its strengths.
12) The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Link has had many magical items / gadgets that are central to his story. There were ocarinas, masks, harps, etc. There's nothing in his talking hat, the Minish Cap, that really stands out from the pack, but it's still a solid Zelda game, and brought the franchise to the Game Boy Advance with some nice art direction.
13) The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
While this game also attempts to adopt the art style of The Wind Waker, it loses a bit of Zelda magic by replacing actual exploration with the titular Spiritual Tracks. The use of dual screen features was neat, but was little more than retreading the same tricks.
14) The Legend of Zelda: The Four Sword Adventure
Four Sword Adventure It's a great concept idea - and when it works it's a blast to play with friends - but unfortunately was spoiled by the fact that it's not easy to link four Gameboys together. Advances to a GameCube. The awkwardness of starting is really a hindrance with this one, but if you've got the setup down it's a fun game and a big improvement over its GBA counterpart.
15) Zelda II: Link's Adventure
Link's adventure deserves at least some credit for daring to be different. It was a direct sequel to the runaway success of the original LA Legend of Zelda, but it avoided the game from top to bottom and turned Link's adventure into side-scrolling. Many weren't too satisfied and the series reverted to the 2D top-down approach all the way to Nintendo 64. To date, there has never been another Zelda Game side-scrolling. It was sometimes interesting, but it was disappointing to the world. None of this was helped by its high difficulty level.
16) The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Hero
This heavy entry-to-the-series puzzle is a bit of a weird duck. He's much lighter in every way than his peers, and while he can be charming at times, he doesn't quite match the rest of the series.
17) The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Does Skyward Sword deserve to be at the bottom of this list? We're sure it's a favorite for some. It has an interesting history with a unique aerial world and some of the best Zelda dungeons in the series, but the fact that you have to use the Wiimote is a real drag. If you can stand the motion controls (or dare we say, enjoy Motion Controls), this is still an exceptionally thoughtful game, and worth checking out. Nonetheless, we're happy that Nintendo has strayed from some of its more overtly gimmicky ideas. If Nintendo ever decides to port this to the Nintendo Switch, we'll have to re-evaluate its position.
Anyway, it's a Zelda Game. All of this is Zelda games and Zelda is excellent. You can't go wrong with any of them.
