Over the past few decades, The Legend of Zelda has become one of Nintendo’s most iconic franchises. Hyrule’s epic hero Link is one of the definitive examples of the common silent protagonist archetype and his popularity has earned him playable appearances in the Super Smash Bros. series, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and even Soulcalibur II.
Link’s journeys have spanned across multiple consoles, with him often rescuing Zelda from the evil clutches of Ganondorf. From 2D side-scrollers to open-world adventures, keep reading for an overview of all of The Legend of Zelda games in order of release date.
What to know about The Legend of Zelda
In 2023, The Legend of Zelda celebrated its 37th anniversary as a video game series. It is perhaps the third-most notable franchise to debut during the 1980s, following Super Mario and Tetris. As a result, Zelda is among Nintendo’s oldest series along with Donkey Kong, Metroid, Punch-Out!! and more.
An even bigger testament to this series’ impact is the fact that it is still receiving new games, with Zelda titles regularly being among the most highly-anticipated games prior to their launch. In fact, the longest amount of time Nintendo has ever gone without releasing a main series Zelda game was only a little more than five years.
All Zelda games in order
Here’s a list of all Zelda games, including remakes and spin-offs, along with each game’s release date and the platform it initially launched on:
- The Legend of Zelda (February 1986) – Nintendo Entertainment System
- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (January 1987) – Nintendo Entertainment System
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (November 1991) – Super Nintendo Entertainment System
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (June 1993) – Game Boy
- BS The Legend of Zelda (August 1995) – Satellaview
- The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods (March 1997) – Satellaview
- BS The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets (March 1997) – Satellaview
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (November 1998) – Nintendo 64
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX (December 1998) – Game Boy Color
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (April 2000) – Nintendo 64
- The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (February 2001) – Game Boy Color
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords (December 2002) – Game Boy Advance
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (December 2002) – GameCube
- The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventure (March 2004) – GameCube
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (November 2004) – Game Boy Advance
- Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland (September 2006) – Nintendo DS
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (November 2006) – GameCube and Wii
- Tingle’s Balloon Fight DS (April 2007) – Nintendo DS
- The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (June 2007) – Nintendo DS
- Link’s Crossbow Training (November 2007) – Wii
- Ripened Tingle’s Balloon Trip of Love (August 2009) – Nintendo DS
- The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (December 2009) – Nintendo DS
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (June 2011) – Nintendo 3DS
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (November 2011) – Wii
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (September 2013) – Wii U
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (November 2013) – Nintendo 3DS
- Hyrule Warriors (August 2014) – Wii U
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D (February 2015) – Nintendo 3DS
- The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (October 2015) – Nintendo 3DS
- Hyrule Warriors Legends (January 2016) – Nintendo 3DS
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (March 2016) – Wii U
- My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (March 2016) – Nintendo 3DS
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (March 2017) – Wii U and Nintendo Switch
- Cadence of Hyrule (June 2019) – Nintendo Switch
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening remake (September 2019) – Nintendo Switch
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (November 2020) – Nintendo Switch
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (July 2021) – Nintendo Switch
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (May 2023) – Nintendo Switch
In total, Nintendo has released nearly 40 titles that make up the list of all Zelda games as of 2023. The inhabitants of Hyrule have made appearances on a whopping 13 consoles and will likely continue to be Nintendo mainstays in the years to come.
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