The best Zelda games, ranked from best to worst

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild took a ton of risks. Gone were the traditional dungeons, replaced with 120 small-scale puzzle shrines and a handful of slightly larger-scale Divine Beasts. With that came the switch to weapons that degraded with use, changing a big part of the core identity of Zelda in the process. Breath of the Wild ushered Zelda into the modern era, turning Hyrule into a truly open world, a sprawling, lavish piece of land that held a treasure trove of secrets. These twists in the formula ultimately paid off. Breath of the Wild maintained the series’s almost indescribable sense of wonder while pushing the franchise in a startling, wondrous new direction emphasizing the freedom of exploration. It’s not only the best Zelda game (and Switch game), it’s arguably the greatest game ever made. Nintendo is also working on a direct sequel to Breath of the Wild that we can’t wait for.

Link’s Awakening, the first handheld entry in the franchise, morphed from a port of A Link to the Past into the weirdest entry in the iconic series. Featuring cameos from Kirby, a SimCity character, and 2D sidescrolling sections where Link hops on Goombas, Link’s Awakening had an experimental vibe to it that simply oozed charm. Swapping Hyrule for Koholint Island, Link’s Awakening cemented itself as a unique and valiant foray into portable adventuring. Since its 1993 launch on Game Boy, Link’s Awakening has received two remakes. In 1998, Koholint Island was doused with color in Link’s Awakening DX. But it’s the Switch remake that convinced us to catapult Link’s Awakening from the fifth spot on our list to number two. Updated with a bright visual style that makes all the denizens of Koholint Island resemble adorable toy dolls, Link’s Awakening on Switch is stunningly cute. Nintendo updated far more than just the graphics. A cleaner inventory system allows Link to have more than two active items at once. There are far more Heart Pieces and Secret Seashells to find. The more robust scavenger hunt is complimented well by a map pin system borrowed from Breath of the Wild. Link’s Awakening was always incredible, but the Switch remake solidifies it as the best top-down Zelda game ever made.

Using a Pokémon-esque release model, Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons launched simultaneously on Game Boy Color. They appear as one entry on this list because together they formed one, overarching story. Impressively, however, they were two completely different games. Seasons gave Link the ability to change the seasons (of course) with the power of a magical rod, and the Harp of Ages sent Link to a world called Labrynna. The two experiences complemented each other quite well, with Ages focusing the brunt of its time on puzzles and Seasons featuring more action. To see the final ending, you had to work through each of the game’s dungeons. The Oracle games are tremendous and often overlooked in the grand scheme of Zelda history.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is an oddity, and not just because its title didn’t start with “The Legend of Zelda.” After the success of the original, Nintendo decided to alter the formula for the direct sequel significantly. It subbed the top-down perspective for sidescrolling and had an integral emphasis on RPG tropes. As a result, The Adventure of Link is probably the most trying game in the series as well as the most divisive. It’s passable (even good), but some of the Zelda magic slipped in this transition. Still, Zelda II has its share of die-hard fans. But if you want classic gameplay that invites nostalgia, you might opt to pass on this title.