Honestly, trying to track down a list of all Zelda games in order is a bit of a nightmare if you're looking for one single, clean narrative. You’ve got the release dates—which are straightforward enough—and then you’ve got the "Official Timeline," which is basically a spiderweb of alternate realities and "what-if" scenarios that Nintendo designers probably drew on a napkin during a long lunch.
We’ve seen Link as a pixelated dude on the NES, a cartoon sailor on the GameCube, and a post-apocalyptic survivalist on the Switch. With the series turning 40 this year in 2026, the sheer volume of history is staggering.
The classic era: Where the legend actually started
It all kicked off in 1986. Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to recreate the feeling of exploring caves in his backyard in Kyoto, and The Legend of Zelda was born. It was basically the first "open world" game, even if it was just 8-bit blocks.
- The Legend of Zelda (1986/1987): The original. You're dropped in a field with a sword and told "it's dangerous to go alone."
- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987/1988): The weird cousin. It’s a side-scroller with XP points and magic. Most people find it punishingly hard, but it’s got a cult following.
- A Link to the Past (1991): This is where Zelda became Zelda. The Dark World, the Master Sword, the music—it’s arguably the most perfect 2D game ever made.
- Link’s Awakening (1993): A fever dream on the Game Boy. No Zelda, no Ganon, just a giant egg on a mountain.
The 3D revolution and the timeline split
Then 1998 happened. Ocarina of Time didn't just change Zelda; it changed how every 3D action game would be played for the next thirty years. It also broke the timeline into three distinct pieces: the "Fallen Hero" timeline, the "Child" timeline, and the "Adult" timeline.
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- Ocarina of Time (1998): The big one. The GOAT.
- Majora’s Mask (2000): A dark, stressful masterpiece about a falling moon and existential dread. It reused the Ocarina engine but felt like a totally different beast.
- Oracle of Ages & Oracle of Seasons (2001): Two separate games released at once for the Game Boy Color. You could link them together with a password to see the real ending.
- The Wind Waker (2002): People hated the "cel-shaded" look at first. Now? It’s considered one of the most beautiful games in the series.
- Four Swords Adventures (2004): A weird multiplayer experiment that required everyone to have a Game Boy Advance connected to a GameCube.
The dark days and the "Wii-era" polish
By the mid-2000s, fans wanted "realistic" Link. Nintendo gave them Twilight Princess, which was basically Ocarina of Time on steroids, featuring a wolf transformation and some of the best dungeon designs in the entire series.
- The Minish Cap (2004): Actually developed by Capcom! It’s a bright, colorful GBA adventure where Link shrinks down to the size of a bug.
- Twilight Princess (2006): Dark, gritty, and massive. It launched on both GameCube and the Wii, introducing the world to motion-control sword swings.
- Phantom Hourglass (2007) & Spirit Tracks (2009): The DS era. One was on a boat, the other was on a train. Both used the touch screen for almost everything, which was... divisive, to say the least.
- Skyward Sword (2011): The "origin story." It explained where the Master Sword came from but was bogged down by mandatory motion controls that didn't always work.
Breaking the mold: The "Open Air" era
If you ask someone for a list of all Zelda games in order today, they’re usually thinking about the modern Switch era. Nintendo realized the old formula was getting stale. They blew the doors off the dungeons and let players climb literally anything.
- A Link Between Worlds (3DS, 2013): A direct sequel to A Link to the Past. It let you tackle dungeons in any order, which was the first sign that Nintendo was ready to shake things up.
- Tri Force Heroes (2015): Another multiplayer focus. Fun with friends, but definitely a "minor" title.
- Breath of the Wild (2017): This changed everything. Total freedom. If you see a mountain, you can climb it. If you want to fight the final boss in your underwear ten minutes into the game, you can try.
- Tears of the Kingdom (2023): It took the Breath of the Wild map and added an entire underground world and a floating sky island system. Plus, you could build cars and planes out of sticks and rocks.
- Echoes of Wisdom (2024): Finally, a mainline game where you actually play as Princess Zelda. Instead of a sword, she uses a staff to "copy and paste" objects and enemies.
Wait, what about the remakes?
The list gets even longer when you look at how many times Nintendo has polished up the old gems. Ocarina of Time 3D, The Wind Waker HD, and the 2019 Link’s Awakening remake (with that adorable toy-like art style) are often the best ways to play these games today.
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Most recently, in 2025, we even saw "Switch 2" enhanced versions of the modern hits.
The "Forbidden" Games
Let's be real: we have to talk about the CD-i games. Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, and Zelda's Adventure. They weren't made by Nintendo. They are objectively terrible. They feature some of the most hauntingly bad voice acting and animation in the history of the medium. Most fans choose to pretend they don't exist, but if you're a completionist looking for every single title, they're technically part of the history.
Why the order actually matters
Playing them in release order shows you how game design evolved. You see the move from 2D to 3D, and the shift from "linear puzzles" to "system-based physics." If you try to play them in "timeline order," you'll start with Skyward Sword and end with Breath of the Wild, which is a wild ride that makes zero sense chronologically because of the timeline split after Ocarina.
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What to do next:
If you’re new to the series, don't start at the very beginning in 1986. Honestly, grab The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or A Link to the Past. They represent the two "gold standards" of the series. If you want to understand the lore, Ocarina of Time is the required reading. Once you've finished one of those, you'll have a much better handle on why people have been obsessed with this green-clad elf for forty years.