The Legend of Zelda series spans nearly two dozen mainline games and an additional half a dozen or so spin-offs. It's a franchise that has helped define the adventure game genre over and over again in its over 35-year-long run.

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Not every entry in the series is as astonishing as others. For as many genre-defining games, forgettable entries can be found lurking in the corners. This list aims to explore the high points of the series, highlighting the best games in The Legend of Zelda series since its inception in 1986.

Updated by Jeff Brooks on October 12, 2023: This list has been reenvisioned from the ground up to include not only the newest release in the series, Tears of the Kingdom, but also to reconsider each entry in the series to better reflect and evaluate their individual strengths and merits.

10 Skyward Sword (2011)

Skyward Sword Cover

This list will begin at, well, the beginning! Skyward Sword is the most important Zelda game from a lore standpoint, and it marks the earliest point in the grand (and confusing) Legend of Zelda timeline. Skyward Sword serves as a prequel that explains the origin of the Master Sword, Ganondorf, Link, Zelda, and many other key plot points from throughout the series.

The setting, characters, and side quests are much higher quality than most other games in the series, though it's not without its faults. The game is remarkably linear, even when compared to previous linear titles in the series, and its motion controls are often frustrating to execute seemingly simple commands. Additionally, Skyward Sword home to perhaps the most annoying companion in the series (Fi).

zelda links awakening image

The fourth Zelda game to release, Link's Awakening (1993), didn't leave as much impact on the series as A Link to the Past and Ocarina of Time, which were released around the same time. It does, however, manage to strike the perfect balance of whimsical adventure and satisfying exploration and puzzle solving. Link's Awakening sees Link wake up on a strange island far from Hyrule, where he needs to wake the mysterious Wind Fish to escape the island.

The art style of the 2019 remake updates the Link's Awakening experience to give it a huge dose of charm, making this Game Boy game much more accessible to modern-day fans. Link's Awakening offers a novel yet distinctly classic Legend of Zelda adventure, one that should be experienced by all.

The legend of Zelda a link to the past screenshot of Link pulling the mastersword

Before A Link to the Past, the series hadn't quite settled on the direction it might take. The first two games contained little focus on the story, the exploration was a lot more directionless, and the puzzles weren't as interesting.

A Link to the Past was a major improvement upon the previous games in almost every way. The gameplay became the template for every top-down Zelda that came after, the items were much more important for puzzle solving, and there was a much larger focus on the narrative. Many games have surpassed this classic at this point, but there's no denying its significance in the Zelda series.

7 Majora's Mask (2000)

The legend of Zelda Majora's mask 3d artwork of Link happy amsk salesman and transformation masks giron zora and deku shrub

Majora's Mask is something of a fever dream brought to video games. Releasing a couple of years after Ocarina of Time and serving as a sequel adventure, Majora's Mask reuses many of the assets created for Ocarina of Time and repurposes them in the bizarre world of Termina, a kind of alternate dimension of Hyrule. The Ocarina of Time is stolen, and Link pursues the thief into this unsettling world, both familiar and completely different, wherein a menacing moon hangs low in the sky.

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This game introduced a pretty impressive time loop mechanic in which the moon crashed into Termina, destroying everything in three in-game days. Through the power of the Ocarina of Time, Link continually goes back in time to relive the same three days, working tirelessly to save the land. As the game winds on, the time constraint becomes more nuisance than novel, but the game makes use of the time loop mechanic in memorable, creative, and sometimes spooky ways.

The legend of Zelda a link between worlds artwork of Link staring a deer cult lake parrakek dimension Hyrule lorule

A Link Between Worlds returns as a spiritual successor to A Link to the Past, taking everything interesting about the 1991 classic and improving upon it. While it's noticeably shorter than many other Zelda games, this allows it to get into the action much more quickly than many other Zelda games with comparatively dragged out intros.

Additionally, the music and art design are excellent, and the new wall-entering mechanic makes for some of the most fun puzzles in the entire series. A Link Between Worlds stands as the pinnacle of 2D Zelda games, offering a fantastic adventure — without having to invest 30+ hours into it.

5 Ocarina Of Time (1998)

ocarina of time cover art

Ocarina of Time marked the series' transition into 3D, and while any number of things could have gone awry, the massive jump into 3D was nothing short of revolutionary in much the same way as Super Mario 64's evolution of the 2D Mario games. Ocarina of Time became an instant classic on the N64, setting the new standard for The Legend of Zelda games from this point forward. Ocarina of Time greatly expanded the lore of the series so much so that almost every future installment calls back to it in some way.

It's inarguably one of the most important installments in the series, but as time has gone on, the gameplay limitations can quickly wear down players on the revisit. With the Remaster released on the 3DS, the game got a much-needed facelift, along with a variety of fixes and seamless improvements, but the game doesn't quite stand up against later entries in the series. Ocarina of Time is still a watershed moment for the series, have no doubt, and it is still perhaps the most 'iconic' of the 3D Zelda experiences, but there are better experiences out there now.

4 The Wind Waker (2003)

The Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker GameCube Logo

The Wind Waker was instantly controversial. After following up the more 'realistic' style present in Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask, many players craved a further step in that direction. Instead, The Wind Waker featured a more cartoonish, chibi art style that became instantly polarizing. While initially receiving a fair amount of backlash, The Wind Waker has since become fondly remembered as an underappreciated high point of the series.

The art style makes character models much more expressive than most other games in the series, and the cell shading style kept Wind Waker's visuals feeling fresh — even 20+ years on, the art style still holds up! Exploring a massive ocean was also a new experience for the series; even though the majority of the map consisted of empty water, sailing across the Great Sea and discovering new islands to explore is still a joy after all these years. Wind Waker has very few proper dungeons, making some parts of the story feel rushed, but it still stands as one of the best Zelda games around.

3 Twilight Princess (2006)

twilight princess cover art

Perhaps in response to the backlash Wind Waker received, Twilight Princess leaned far back in the opposite direction, utilizing a more realistic and darker art style (and story). Setting a very serious tone, Twilight Princess tells a story with great character development, one of the largest renditions of Hyrule to explore, and a fantastic selection of interesting dungeons.

Twilight Princess felt like the true spiritual successor to Ocarina of Time fans had been waiting for since Majora's Mask released six years prior. The game starts off perhaps the slowest of any Zelda game in the series, but once it gets going, the scale of its narrative is one of the grandest the series has to offer.

2 Breath Of The Wild (2017)

Link from Breath of the Wild

Breath of the Wild exploded onto the scene in 2017, setting a new benchmark not only for The Legend of Zelda series, but for open world design as well. The quiet and thoughtful exploration, along with the spectacular environmental storytelling, made it incredibly easy to fall in love with this new version of Hyrule.

The main storyline was fairly subdued, mostly drip-fed through memories during the course of gameplay, though these narrative shortcomings were far outweighed by the sheer joy of exploration and discovery. The 'go anywhere, do anything' approach instantly set a new course for The Legend of Zelda series. Much like Ocarina of Time setting a new benchmark for the series with its transition into 3D back in 1998, Breath of the Wild marked the latest major turning point in the series. Its greatest shortcoming would have to be the few pseudo-dungeons present in the game. Fortunately, Nintendo took that feedback to heart.

1 Tears Of The Kingdom (2023)

The Legend Of Zelda Tears Of The Kingdom Link Kneels At Edge Of Ruin In Sky Birds Flying And Mountains Underneath

The much-anticipated follow-up to 2017's Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom accomplished what no one thought was possible; it expanded and improved upon nearly every aspect introduced in Breath of the Wild. Set in the same Hyrule of BotW, rather than feeling like a tired retreat, TotK introduced a wild amount of new areas to explore, changed once familiar locations to encourage renewed exploration, integrated more recognizably classic dungeon design, and introduced the most creative and mind-bending abilities seen in video games to date.

Between the fusion mechanics and the vehicle construction, exploring the vast Depths and scattered Sky Islands, and the return of classic Zelda dungeons, it's easy enough to see this game as a major step forward over the last game, but on top of all that, the narrative took a renewed focus. A departure from the (intentionally) lonely experience in Breath of the Wild, TotK brought the narrative front and center, punching up the narrative across the board and culminating in the most riveting climax of any Zelda game to date. Tears of the Kingdom set a new benchmark for open world sequels — and for video game design in general.

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