{"id":169077,"date":"2023-07-30T18:47:07","date_gmt":"2023-07-30T22:47:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/twinfinite.net\/?p=169077"},"modified":"2023-07-30T21:49:17","modified_gmt":"2023-07-31T01:49:17","slug":"the-best-legend-of-zelda-games-all-20-ranked","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/twinfinite.net\/zelda\/the-best-legend-of-zelda-games-all-20-ranked\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best Legend of Zelda Games: All 20 Ranked"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Nintendo has kept the Zelda franchise going for decades\u2014almost 40 years, in fact. In that span of time, we’ve been graced with dozens of games, though some admittedly feel like bunts rather than homeruns. With Tears of the Kingdom being a massive success, let’s take a look at the Legend of Zelda series and rank the games from worst to best.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: Due to the expansive nature of the Legend of Zelda series, spin-offs have been omitted from the ranking. This includes: BS The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets, Wand of Gamelon, Faces of Evil, Zelda’s Adventure, Link’s Crossbow Training, Hyrule Warriors, and Hyrule Warriors Legends.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Best Legend of Zelda Games, Ranked<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

20. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (NDS)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Image Source: Nintendo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Phantom Hourglass is not a bad game. You’d be hard pressed to find any bad Zelda game, really. But everything Phantom Hourglass does lend itself to wasting players’ time. The biggest blemish on this game’s record is the addition of the Temple of the Ocean King, a recurring dungeon that forces players to retrace their steps through its tired hallways over and over again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It wouldn’t be much of an issue if the Temple were easy. The added time limit to each floor was a cheap way at building player tension as they raced through the temple halls searching for the exit, avoiding enemies and solving puzzles along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Phantom Hourglass does manage to get some things right, though. The ability to customize the ship used to explore the high-seas of Hyrule (a mechanic introduced in Wind Waker) incentivized players to roam the seas looking for new parts. Yet, the introduction of a cool new system is once again met with frustration, because all the loot for your ship is dispersed randomly throughout the sea, making the exploration itself rather tedious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

19. The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (NDS)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Image Source: Nintendo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The franchise prides itself on exploration, discovery, and the ultimate quest of saving Hyrule. Spirit Tracks tries to lures players in with charm by mimicking the aesthetics of Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass, but it fails to truly understand the series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spirit Trakcs forces players to follow the adventure the way the game sees fit, not the player, by literally forcing them to ride the rails of Hyrule to the next leg of their adventure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, not all is bad here at the back of the pack. Spirit Tracks manages to improve where Phantom Hourglass failed in the form of the Tower of Spirits. This recurring dungeon is a welcome departure from Phantom Hourglass’ Temple of the Ocean King and does okay by eliminating the need to retread old ground. Another area of improvement Spirit Tracks introduced over Phantom Hourglass is the streamlining of touch controls, making rolling and dodging enemy attacks much easier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

18. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Image Source: Nintendo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Skyward Sword is the first Zelda game to make full-use of the Wii’s capability with the new motion plus accessory. Players were no longer slaves to the pre-set moveset of Link’s past, rather, fights were made far more engaging. But, this freedom of combat led to some major issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The implementation of this feature led to the design of enemies who served as puzzles themselves. Enemy guards low? Strike high. That beetle have two protective spines on each side? Slice it down the middle. It’s a good design, but with one too many enemies, players were forced to slow down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In fact, Skyward Sword does everything it can to turn you off from playing for the first few hours. Link’s far more agile than he’s ever been, giving him the ability to sprint and change directions on a dime. It actually felt good to move Link around the landscape, but once again, the introduction of a new mechanic came with a set of artificial problems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From its opening, Skyward Sword does everything it can to take away control from the player by forcing them to sit through cut-scenes and carry out monotonous tasks. There’s a whole world out there to explore, and you’re stuck rescuing adorable animals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

17. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords (GBC)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Image Source: Nintendo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Leave it to Nintendo to make a cooperative-focused Zelda game boat-loads of fun. Nintendo lets its design chops shine in Four Swords in the form of player reward in a team adventure. By bestowing the player with the most rupees at the end of the dungeon with medals that can than be exchanged for useful items. The result is a room full of paranoid adventurers laughing maniacally at the chaos on screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four Swords advocates players resorting to Machiavellian tactics. This devilish mechanic allows players to scheme throughout the course of their adventure, waiting for just the right moment to move in for a big steal or a harmless push-your-teammate-over-the-edge-of-a-cliff to reap all the sweet rupees your wallet can carry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Good luck finding enough link cables for every player, though.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

16. The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GC)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Image Source: Nintendo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Iterating on the original Four Swords for Game Boy Advance, Four Swords Adventures takes player consideration into account by finally including something painfully missing from the handheld release – accessibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ability to play through the entire game solo turns a wacky party game into an “Adventure Part Manager 2004” simulator, where players are forced to approach their battles and puzzles by cycling through the various Link’s onscreen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those looking to play the game with friends may need a bit of fortune on their side. If you thought link cables were hard to come by, try finding three friends with GBAs and the GBA to Gamecube link adapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15. The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (3DS)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Image Source: Nintendo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Rounding out the list of cooperative Zelda games is Tri Force Heroes. This recent addition to the franchise observed the sins of cooperative games past, and brings Zelda into modern game design by finally allowing players to quest together through online gameplay. Not only did Tri Force Heroes eliminate the need for the mythical link cables, it also featured a deeper implementation of co-op mechanics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One example of design choice is the beginning of any dungeon. Three adventurers wander into the item room and are presented with the tools needed to make their way through the dungeon successfully. One player sprints for the bombs, one reluctantly grabs the gust jar, and the final player decides to run security for the rest of the team. The players are then forced to work together to make this unlikely union work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See that switch over there? The player with the bomb tosses an explosive as far as he can, but the trajectory leaves the bomb painfully short of its goal. That’s where the gust jar player comes in handy. That player runs to blow the bomb onto its goal, but an enemy stands in the way – or at least did. But fortunately for the rest of the team, the security player did their job. Together, you solved the room’s puzzle and continue deeper into the perilous dungeon. That’s<\/em> teamwork.<\/p>\n\n\n\n