Honestly, trying to track down every single entry in the Legend of Zelda franchise is a bit of a nightmare if you’re a completionist. You’ve got the heavy hitters everyone knows—the ones that shift millions of consoles—and then you’ve got these weird, obscure offshoots that Nintendo seemingly wants us to forget. But if you look at a full Zelda video games list, you aren't just looking at a catalog of software. You're looking at the literal blueprint for how modern adventure games actually work.
It started in 1986. Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to recreate the feeling of exploring caves in his backyard in Sonobe, Japan. He didn't want a linear path. He wanted a "miniature garden" that you could keep in your drawer. That's why that first gold cartridge on the NES felt so massive even though it was only 128 kilobytes. It's wild to think about now.
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Where the Zelda video games list actually begins
If you’re a purist, the list starts with The Legend of Zelda (1986). It was the first home console game to feature an internal battery for saving data. Before that, you either finished a game in one sitting or you wrote down a thirty-character password that you’d inevitably smudge with a juice box. This game was a revelation. It gave players a sword and told them to go get lost.
Then things got weird. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987) is basically the "black sheep" of the early years. It went side-scrolling. It added XP and magic meters. It was punishingly hard. Most people hated it at the time, but if you play it today, you can see the DNA of games like Dark Souls hiding in the combat mechanics. Nintendo took a massive risk on their second outing, and while they eventually went back to the top-down perspective with A Link to the Past (1991) on the SNES, that experimental spirit never really left the series.
The transition to 3D and the Ocarina of Time era
In 1998, everything changed. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time didn't just move the series into 3D; it invented the "Z-targeting" lock-on system that basically every third-person action game uses today. You can't talk about a Zelda video games list without acknowledging that Ocarina is often cited as the greatest game of all time. It’s a heavy title to carry.
But then Nintendo followed it up with Majora’s Mask (2000). Talk about a pivot. Instead of a sprawling epic, they gave us a 72-hour repeating time loop in a world that felt like a fever dream. It’s dark. It’s depressing. People are literally crying in the streets because a moon with a terrifying face is about to crush them. It's probably the most "art-house" game Nintendo has ever produced, and it remains a cult favorite for exactly that reason.
The handheld legacy and the forgotten titles
Most people forget that the Zelda video games list is heavily padded by incredible handheld titles. Link’s Awakening (1993) on the original Game Boy proved that you could fit a massive world onto a tiny, green-tinted screen. It didn't even take place in Hyrule. There was no Zelda, no Ganon, and no Triforce. Just a giant egg on top of a mountain.
Then you have the Capcom-developed games. Yeah, Capcom. Nintendo actually outsourced a few titles, resulting in Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons (2001). These were designed to link together using a password system—if you beat one, you could carry your progress into the other to see the "true" ending. It was a technical marvel for the Game Boy Color. Later, Capcom gave us The Minish Cap (2004) on the Game Boy Advance, which features some of the best 2D sprite art in the history of the medium.
Navigating the Wii and Wii U "Drought"
The mid-2000s to 2010s were a polarizing time for the series. Twilight Princess (2006) gave fans the "gritty" Zelda they thought they wanted after the cartoonish Wind Waker (2002) caused a literal uproar at E3. Looking back, Wind Waker aged beautifully because of its cel-shaded style, while Twilight Princess looks a bit muddy.
Then came Skyward Sword (2011). This is where the franchise hit a wall. The motion controls were mandatory, and the world felt fractured. You couldn't just walk from one area to another; you had to fly a bird through the sky, which served as a glorified loading screen. It was the game that forced Nintendo to realize they had become too predictable. They were following a "formula" (Forest Dungeon, Fire Dungeon, Water Dungeon) that was starting to feel stale.
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The Breath of the Wild Revolution
When we talk about the Zelda video games list in a modern context, there is a "Before BotW" and an "After BotW." The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) threw out the rulebook. It took the "go anywhere" philosophy of the 1986 original and applied it to a massive, chemistry-based open world.
If you see a mountain, you can climb it. If you see a tree, you can chop it down. If you want to go straight to the final boss in your underwear with a wooden stick, the game lets you try. It was a massive success that saved the launch of the Nintendo Switch.
Its direct sequel, Tears of the Kingdom (2023), doubled down on this by adding a complex building system. Suddenly, Zelda wasn't just an adventure game; it was a physics sandbox where people were building functional tanks and orbital strike satellites out of ancient technology. It’s a far cry from pushing blocks in a dungeon on the NES.
A practical reference of the core Zelda video games list
To keep things simple, here is a chronological look at the mainline entries. I'm leaving out the CD-i games because, let’s be real, Nintendo doesn't acknowledge them and neither should we.
- The NES Era: The Legend of Zelda (1986), Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987)
- The 16-Bit Gold Standard: A Link to the Past (1991)
- Early Handhelds: Link’s Awakening (1993), Oracle of Ages/Seasons (2001)
- The N64 Revolution: Ocarina of Time (1998), Majora’s Mask (2000)
- The Toon Link Era: The Wind Waker (2002), The Minish Cap (2004), Phantom Hourglass (2007), Spirit Tracks (2009)
- The Motion Control/Wii Era: Twilight Princess (2006), Skyward Sword (2011)
- The Modern Open World Era: A Link Between Worlds (2013), Breath of the Wild (2017), Tears of the Kingdom (2023), Echoes of Wisdom (2024)
Why "Echoes of Wisdom" is a massive deal
The latest major entry, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom (2024), finally did something fans have been asking for since the Reagan administration: it made Zelda the protagonist.
For decades, the joke was that people called the main character Zelda when his name is actually Link. Now, Zelda is the one doing the saving. But she doesn't fight like Link. She uses the "Tri Rod" to create "echoes" or copies of objects and enemies. It's a clever mix of the old-school top-down perspective and the "solve it your way" creative freedom of the newer games. It proves that the Zelda video games list isn't just growing for the sake of growth; it's still evolving the core mechanics of play.
Misconceptions about the "Timeline"
If you spend more than five minutes on a Zelda forum, you'll hear about the "Official Timeline." In 2011, Nintendo released a book called Hyrule Historia that tried to stitch all these games together. It splits into three branches based on whether Link wins or loses in Ocarina of Time.
Honestly? It's a mess.
Even the developers have admitted that they prioritize gameplay over timeline consistency. They make the game first, then try to figure out where it fits later. Don't let the "lore" stop you from picking up a random title. You don't need to have played the 1986 original to understand Breath of the Wild. Each game is designed to be someone’s first Zelda.
How to actually play these games today
If you’re looking to dive into this Zelda video games list, you don't need to go hunting for vintage hardware on eBay. Most of the heavy hitters are available via Nintendo Switch Online.
- Get the Expansion Pack: This gives you access to the NES, SNES, N64, and Game Boy libraries. You can play Ocarina, A Link to the Past, and The Minish Cap all on one device.
- Start with "A Link to the Past": If you want to understand the soul of the series, this is the most "perfect" realization of the 2D formula. It hasn't aged a day.
- Don't skip "Link's Awakening": The 2019 remake for the Switch is gorgeous and captures the weird, melancholic vibe of the original perfectly.
- Embrace the physics: When you get to Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom, stop trying to find the "right" way to solve a puzzle. If your weird solution works, it's the right solution.
The legacy of Zelda isn't just about a boy in a green tunic (or a girl in a royal gown). It’s about the feeling of standing on the edge of a map and knowing that everything you see is a place you can actually go. Whether it's the 8-bit bushes of the NES or the floating islands of the Switch, that sense of wonder is the one thing that never changes.
To explore this further, start by prioritizing the entries that defined the "formula" shifts: A Link to the Past for 2D, Ocarina of Time for 3D, and Breath of the Wild for the open-air concept. Once you've experienced those three pillars, the rest of the list becomes much easier to navigate and appreciate for their specific quirks and experiments. For those wanting a current-gen experience, Echoes of Wisdom is the best entry point for seeing how the franchise is currently merging its puzzle-heavy past with its creative-freedom future.