My top 10 Zelda games
We’re just days away from a new Zelda game, as Tears of the Kingdom drops this Friday!
I consider myself a big Zelda fan, even though I have a long history of stopping short of the finish line in almost every single game in the franchise. Ultimately, what draws me in is the incomparable exploration, the irresistible sense of progression through items and health, the mix of overworld and dungeon settings, the iconic and stunning music, and the emotional story beats. It’s among the best of the best.
So with the new game just around the corner, what better way to hype up than to recount my favorite games in this series. I already ranked this series five years ago on my old website in 2018, but a few new games have been released since then and my feelings on other games have shifted. So without further ado, let’s get to my top 10 Zelda games as of today!
10. Twilight Princess (2006, GameCube & Wii / 2016, Wii U | #8 in 2018)
Oh man was I excited for this one. It was May 2004, right around college graduation, when Nintendo brought the house down with their E3 reveal trailer for Twilight Princess:
I spent much of the next year on video game message boards reading rumors and discussions as new information dripped in. And drip, drip, drip. Drip.
Two years later and the game was still in development, but I’d moved on to the next generation Nintendo DS handheld and Xbox 360 console, selling my GameCube in the process. When the game finally released in November 2006, I had no system to play it on, as the Wii was incredibly hard to find those first several months. So I waited.
Eventually I did get a Wii and Twilight Princess, but for whatever reason, it never took. I’ve started this game at least five different times and have never even beaten the first temple.
Still, I keep going back to how excited the gaming community was back in May 2004, and how the game’s pre-release hype pulled me in. Did it fall short of expectations? Or was the timing just off for me?
Someday I’ll go back to this one so I can find out. Nintendo, please release it on Switch so I can!
9. Minish Cap (2005, Game Boy Advance | #7 in 2018)
So, just being honest, I don’t remember much about the specifics of this game. But I do remember enjoying it.
I liked the shrinking mechanic and how it reframed where Link could go and how he could solve problems. Maybe I just liked that it reminded me of Giant Land from Super Mario Bros. 3?
That said, it’s telling that I haven’t gone back to revisit this game since it originally released, even though it’s available on the Switch today. If I’m going to play a top-down Zelda game, there are better options out there.
8. Cadence of Hyrule (2019, Switch | not ranked in 2018)
So what if you took a classic Zelda game and made it a dance party? Um, yes please! I mean check this out!
I loved how this game remixed classic Zelda themes, such as the overworld, Gerudo Valley, the Lost Woods, and Death Mountain. I loved how I had to move and swing my sword to the beat to progress. And I really loved that I could play as Zelda for once!
7. The Legend of Zelda (1987, NES | #4 in 2018)
This was one of the first games I ever played, as my dad got it for me after reading about it in the Wall Street Journal. I never beat this game as a kid, but I remember how magical it was talking about it with friends at school as we stumbled upon secrets, acquired new gear, and completed the dungeons.
Mark Brown of Game Maker’s Toolkit described the experience particularly well:
I played it a few years ago and found that some of my childhood muscle memory carried through decades later, such as when I stumbled upon the Power Bracelet on sheer instinct. This game’s magic holds up today.
While it hasn’t aged as well as, well, every other game on this list, it’s an incredible accomplishment and experience that jump started one of the greatest series in video game history.
6. Ocarina of Time (1998, N64 / 2011, 3DS | #6 in 2018)
I go back and forth on this game all the time.
On one hand, I can’t help but be drawn in by this game’s epic feel, the expressive characters, the groundbreaking locales, and the genre-defining mechanics. It was a masterpiece upon its release and is rightfully seen as one of the greatest games ever made.
On the other hand, I’ve never beaten this game or even come close. I always lose interest when I become adult Link and the world takes a grim turn.
I think I simply prefer the games in this series with a more vibrant, less gritty nature. Games such as …
5. The Wind Waker (2002, GameCube / 2013, Wii U | #3 in 2018)
It’s hard to believe how much I like this game considering how it drives me crazy.
While I enjoy sailing across the ocean, everything is too far apart. I hate how you lose your sword and are forced into a tedious stealth dungeon really close to the beginning of the game. The timed tests in the pirate ship are annoying and highlight the finicky controls. The Triforce quest at the end of the game is ridiculous padding. This game has problems!
But this game nails exploration. It nails progression. It nails a mix of overworld and dungeons. It nails the music. And it nails the story beats. It checks every box of what I look for in a Zelda game. And, low key, there’s nothing more satisfying than having a fully completed ocean map after you feed the same fish dozens of times - even though most of the islands don’t matter.
It’s also so, so charming, and it has my favorite Link and Zelda designs in the series.
4. A Link to the Past (1992, Super NES | #2 in 2018)
For most of my life, this has been the pinnacle of Zelda games. It built off of the foundation of the first game in the series, added an incredible weapon arsenal, ramped up the stakes with an engaging story, and made the gameplay much more accessible. It’s a classic that I play regularly.
What’s been even more fun to watch recently is how the game’s been broken so it can be beaten in reverse order or, even more incredibly, randomized so all of the items show up in new locations.
I’d love to see Nintendo lean into this with remix modes of their own to give this legendary game a fresh feeling. The freshness of some newer Zelda games - including this game’s two direct sequels - is the only reason this game isn’t #1.
3. Breath of the Wild (2017, Wii U & Switch | #5 in 2018)
This game’s first impressions are simply magic. You step into the world. You see something. You go there. You see something else. And now you’re hooked.
When this game released, I played it for dozens of hours, exploring Hyrule and climbing every tower I could find. But I didn’t actually make it that far into the story. Something felt off.
The exploration in the game was the best in the series’ history - and perhaps the best in any video game ever.
But the item progression? Weapon variety was as good as it’d ever been, but weapon durability meant you never felt like you were building a multifaceted arsenal. Shrines and dungeons? I found them to be generally uninspired, and I was irked that the game changed the rule and didn’t let you climb indoors when it was a key mechanic in the overworld. The music? It was fine, but really understated. And emotional story beats? I didn’t even find most of them!
And so for several years, I felt like Breath of the Wild was a bit overrated, failing to live up to the heritage of a series that I loved so much.
Then I revisited it a few days ago, specifically in preparation for this list. And … I couldn’t put the game down. I found new routes, explored new pathways, and just took it all in.
It’s dawning on me now that my criteria for what I love about the series can evolve. I can let go of my preconceptions of what a Zelda game ought to be, and I appreciate what Breath of the Wild gets right so much more.
When it comes to seeing something and going there … it’s the best game ever made.
2. Link’s Awakening (1993, Game Boy / 1998, Game Boy Color / 2019, Switch | not ranked in 2018)
I’m still not over Link’s Awakening. I managed to miss this game on both of its Game Boy releases, but I fell in love with the Switch version.
I love how weird this game is. There are Mario enemies in it! Kirby’s in it! Dr. Wright from SimCity is in it! A female goat catfishes someone with a photo of Princess Peach! What?
But you quickly move from “something’s not right here” to “I love this place and everyone in it”. And as you progress and beat each dungeon, you start to realize that beating the game means destroying this place and everyone in it.
In most Zelda games, you’re relishing the ramp up to the finale. In Link’s Awakening, you’re dreading it. And when you do finally wake the Wind Fish, you’re filled with emptiness, and you just want to go back.
1. A Link Between Worlds (2013, 3DS | #1 in 2018)
I went back and forth between the top two up until literally right now, and that probably makes sense, since they’re both breathtaking evolutions of (and direct sequels to) A Link to the Past.
I love what A Link Between Worlds did to shake up the series despite re-using the same world map and many key locations. By making so many items accessible from the start, you could immediately go anywhere on the map and take the dungeons in almost any order. And the wall-merging mechanic completely transformed how you think about level geometry, movement, and progression.
It has my favorite musical moment in any game ever, when an epic fanfare plays after you get the Master Sword before a brand new remix of the classic overworld theme:
It has one of my favorite Zelda stories, with the tragic downfall of Lorule serving as a mirror of Link and Zelda’s Hyrule. You can’t help but feel for Princess Hilda as she tries to save Lorule from calamity, and you root for an outcome that can save both kingdoms.
And then you get one. And you feel complete.
