The Legend of Zelda 🌌is a legendary series that features some of Nintendo’s most famous characters. Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf are commonly recognized and have descended through time.

Link, the silent hero, has come to Zelda’s rescue in nearly every game in the series. His courage and valor defeat Ganon and the other antagonists he f𒉰aces. He’s also easy to incarnate in different versions, having appeared in various time f﷽rames throughout the series.

The Zelda continu💮ity is divided into three disti💃nct after the end of The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. In one instance, Link fails to defeat Ganon and A Link to the Past immediately follows. In the other case, Link succeeds and it splits the succession into two universes: a timeline called ‘child’ and the other called ‘adult.’ The ‘adult’ line follows The Wind Waker and its continuity, while the ‘adult’ line starts with Majora’s Mask.

Zelda’s puzzles, seemingly endless dungeons, sword slashing action, and continuously evolving graphics and gameplay make The Legend of Zelda one of the greatest game series of all tim♏e. That’s why we wanted to rank every Leg💟end of Zelda game from worst to best.

Because most of the Zeldꦑa games are unique in their own way, it’s painfully difficult to call any of these titles﷽ poor (we're not counting CDi here). Let us know which Zelda games are your favorite!

18 Tri Force Heroes

Tri Force Heroes is a forgettable Zelda installment. The game is one of few multiplayer Zelda games and ꦑfeatures different colored versions of Link who must work together to solve puzzles.

Placed oddly in the Zelda timeline, Tri Force Heroes takes place in the land of Hytopia, a fashion-obsessed kingdom. The princess of the kingdom, Styla, i𓆏s put under a spell by a witch known as “The Lady.” Link and his friends are summoned by the King to rescue Styla. 

Tri-Force Heroes didn’t live up to tꦑhe hype of the other games. While there are enj🌄oyable puzzles and sequences, the gameplay is repetitive and the single player is dull. Not to mention the game's plot is rather cheesy.

17 Four Swords Adventures

The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures was the only multiplayer Zelda game for consoles. It is the sequel to Four Swords, a Zelda game with mechanics similar to A Link to the Past. In the game, Shadow Link causes mischief by sealing away Zelda and six maidens, who are the guardians of Hyrule. The Shadow Link makes Link draw ♊the Four Sword, which splits him into four copies of himself and releases Vaati, the main antagonist, from a seal. The four Links must defeat and reseal Vaati.

Four Swords Adventures was a unique title for the fact that you played as four Links, whether that be si൲ngleplayer or multiplayer. The player controls the four Links (each with a different colored outfit) in battle formations. Another player can even hook into the GameCube with a Game Boy Advance and join the adventure.

However, because this was a console game, wouldn’t it be nice for this to be 3D? The original cover has a Wind Waker version of Link, so why not follow up with those graphics? Furthermore, it’s almost a complete clone of A Link to the Past, so it’s💧 nothing new aඣnd was forgettable compared to other games.

16 Phantom Hourglass

Phantom Hourglass is a Zelda game that takes place after Wind Waker. It’s one of a few Zelda games on the Nintendo DS. Phantom Hourglass is set in a world as vast as Wind Waker and uses the unique controls of the DS.

After the end of Wind Waker, Link and Tetra sail over the fl👍ooded Hyrule. Abruptly, the antagonist kidnaps Tetra. Link explores the world and makes allies in an attempt to save Tetra and defeat Bellum, a life eating monster.

While Phantom Hourglass was a refreshing change, it had one problem—lack of buttons. A Zelda game without buttons? Yes, e🔯xactl🍃y that. And while the stylus was amusing, the use of buttons would've been nice after using the styles became boring. The Temple of the Ocean King didn’t help the game either, as a Zelda dungeon with a timer is truly a nightmare.

15 Spirit Tracks

Spirit Tracks is the next game in the Wind Waker timeline after Phantom Hourglass, following the adult continuity. It employs a similar gameplay to Phantom Hourglass and is the only Zelda game to feature a train.

Spirit Tracks is set 100 years after Wind Waker and Phantom Hourglass, featuring the current Link incarnate as he strives to be an engineer. Link travels to New Hyrule and meets the Zelda incarnate, only to watch her🉐 have her soul sucked out by the main villain, Chancellor Cole. He must save Zelda, again.

The problem with this game remains the same as Phantom Hourglass—stylus-only controls. While the plot differed from Phantom Hourglass enough to make it more interesting, the gameplay remained largely the same earning it a spot just above to its predecessor♍.

14 The Adventure of Link

The second game in The Legend of Zelda series, The Adventure of Link was a sequel to the revolutionary first game. The Adventure of Link introduced ♒Dark Link who would show up in future games. It’s unique for its use of limited lives, EXP, and platform side-scrolling.

The Adventure of Link played like an RPG, playing more like Castlevania than a true Zelda game, as Link is on a quest to put different crystals in palaces whic🤪h will awake a sleeping Zelda. This game introd🐭uces the Tri-Force of Courage, the piece associated with Link.

Upon initial release, critics praised The Adventure of Link, 🐟though many fans frequently refer to the game as the blac🍎k sheep of the Zelda family. While you shouldn't expect classic Zelda gameplay if you go back and play this game, you should still play it for a notoriously difficult challenge that will test your ability as Link.

13 Oracle of Seasons

Nintendo released Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages together with different mechanics. The two were similar in playability, but different in tactics and focuses. Oracle of Seasons 💎had an action focus, with more monster battles and boxing kangaroos.

Oracle of Seasons centered on Link rescuing Din—a traveling dancer revealed to be The Oraဣcle of Seasons. The villain Onox kidnaps Din and Link must save her to restore the seasons from disarray.

While Oracle of Seasons is wildly entertaining, it lacks interesting dungeons and puzzles, that its counterpart includes. Although Link possesses a wand to change seasons, slashing your way through enemies gets monotonous, leaving this game a few paces back of Oracle of Ages.

12 The Minish Cap

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap is a part of the Four Swords games. The Minish Cap is anotheꦯr one of the games to feature Vaati. the power hungry Picari. as the main baddie instead of Ganon.

In The Minish Cap, a festival goes on for the Picari people saving Hyrule. During a sword tournament, a mysterious man, Vaati, runs around causing havoc. He destroys the sacred Picori Blade and pursues the Light Force, a variant of the Triforce. Link must reforge the blade and stop hi🧸m.💙

The Minish Cap was chalk full of clever puzzles and shrinking down to the size of a Minish w🌠as satisfying. However, what holds it back a little bit is the fact that the plot was strikingly similar to other Zelda games. With a new villain, it would’ve been nice to get a fresher storyline and more imaginative exploration, giving us a great game, but one that could've been even better.

11 Skyward Sword

Skyward Sword was a game with dazzling graphics and an interactive use of the Wii Motion Plus for combat. The game is also the first game of the overall timeline, introduc🌌ing never before used plot poཧints.

Skyward Sword initially takes place on the clouded lan✨d of Skyloft, where Link is a Knight in training. After passing an exam, he celebratಌes with his childhood pal, Zelda, only to see her whisked away below the clouds. He quickly finds her upon the land, but as the hero of the legend, Link must defeat the Demon King, Demise.

While Skyward Sword went on to receive critical acclaim, some of the tactics made it annoyingly dif꧂ficult. Its r♑eliance on Wii Motion Plus made Zelda players who are used to controllers, and uninterested in gimmicky controls, notably frustrated. The game’s sidekick, Fi, also received plenty of criticism as well. Oh, and no one can forget those drawn out, annoying tutorials.

10 Oracle of Ages

The counterpart of Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages played differently than its other half. Unlike Pokemon games that release simultaneously, which are usually carbon copies of one another, Oracle of Ages is a puzzle focused Zelda games while Seasons focused on action.

Oracle of Ages incorporated challenging puzzles and dungeons that Zelda players know and love. In the game, Link and Impa, Zelda’s nurse, find a blue haired girl singing in the forest. A dark sorceress later possesses the girl, revealed as Naryu t🌱he Oracle of Ages, messing time up in the process.

The time traveling mechanics top Oracle of Seasons’ season changing, allowing for Link to go back and forth between past and present. That added with the challenging, yet entertaining puzzles made Oracle of Ages🐽 one to remember and one of the 🌊best handheld Zelda games of all time.

9 A Link Between Worlds

Nintendo made a gutsy decision to create a direct sequel to SNES classic, A Link to the Past, with A Link Between Worlds. There was uncertainty in the game's anticipation. However, A Link Between Worlds proved not only to be fun,🌱 but employed a “rent an item” tactic that made dungeons a lot 𒅌easier.

An evil sorcerer named Yugജa, who is seeking to resurrect Ganon, kidnaps Zelda. She takes Zelda to Lorule, a land which Link can explore with the ability to become a wall painting🐻. Tack that on with simple dungeons and you’ve got a mix for a good game.

The game’s dungeons are easier ꧅with the hints, which almost takes away the best aspect of the series, solving the challenging puzzles, leaving it a little lower on this list. However, it makes up for it with its story and Link’s cool new ability.