One of the true joys of playing a Zelda game is battling through a bestiary of fantastical monsters using each game♍’s unique combat system. While the basics remain the same — attacking with swords, bows, boomerangs, and bombs — each game in the series puts its own spin on combat.
Some Zelda games prefer to keep the fighting c🍸lean and simple, while others opt for more complex systems. Each combat system has something different to offer and ensures that slaying the monsters of Hy𓃲rule remains a fresh experience from Zelda game to Zelda game.
14 🅰 𒀰 The Legend Of Zelda
The one that started it all, The Legend✅ of Zelda on NES can be forgiven for having the most archaic combat system by virtue of the game being well over 35 years old. It was difficult to design intricate combat systems back in the 8-bit era, but the original Zelda does do an admirable job within its technical limitations.
Link can fi🅷ght using swords, bows, and bombs, and there are even some more advanced combat techniques such as the Sword Beam, but the complexity ends there. More of a basic bl𒐪ueprint for better combat systems to come.
13 Link&rsqඣuo;s Awakening / Oracle Of Seasons / Oracle Of Ages
These three Game Boy/Game Boy Color games take all the combat lessons learned from A Link to the Past and translates them into a portable format. Link can now fight using the spin attack, the basic sword attack is now a swipe instead of a stab, and ther🎉e is a plethora of fun new items to make combat more engaging.
However, battles can feel a bit cramped given the small Gameboy screen and, other than Oracle of Seasons, these games are more designed around exploration and puzzle solving than taking down enemies. Still, in 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Link’s Awakening, you can defeat Goombas (yes, those Goombas) by stomping on tꦐheir heads🍒, so that’s got to count for something.
12 🌌Phantom Hourಞglass / Spirit Tracks
The quality of Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks’ combat systems varies depending on your tolerance of 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:touch-based gameplay. On the surface, these games have some of the deepest combat systems of any handheld Zelda. Link can swipe, thrust, and spin attack with his sword, and collecting the Swordman’s Scrolls unlocks some ne♊at special moves as well.
However, it’s hard not to think that Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks’ combat would be more palatable if you could use buttons. The touch𓃲 controls are functional enough but fall short of their desired purpose whenever the battle intensity heats up.
11 A Link T🧸o The Past
A Link to the Past established new foundꦆations for the series’ combat that are still being built upon to this day. This was the game that introduced the spin attack, sword swiping, and a wealth of fun new items to take down the monsters of Hyrule and the Dark World.
Over 30 years since its lauch, A Link to the Past does show its age a bit through its combat. The sword controls feel a little cramped and the physics don’t have the same snappiness to them as 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:later 2D entries.
10 A Link Be🎃tween Worlds
It’s like A Link to the Past’s combat, but better. A Link Between Worlds’ swordplay is as slick as a Zora’s flipper — thanks in no small part to the game running at a buttery 🧸smooth 60 frames per second. The item rental system adds a layer of customisation to your arsenal, while also raising the stakes for each combat encounter as dying means you lose everything.
The game could have taken a few more risks with its combat system. The lack of any combat in the wall merging sections — outside of the final boss — feels like a missed opportunity, as hꩲaving 2D side-scrolling battles would have been a neat call-back to The Adventure of Link.
9 ♈ Skyw🐟ard Sword
No Zelda game has divided opinions on its combat system quite like 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Skyward Sword. The discourse boils down to one simple question: did the 168澳洲幸运5开奖网:one-to-one motion controls work for you, or did they not?
When everything was functioning as it was meant to, Skyward Sword’s combat was immersive, strateg𝓡ic, and gave each and every swing of the Wii Motion Plus Remote a sense of purpose that can’t be replജicated with regular button controls. Unfortunately, the end results were inconsistent amongst gamers, with many finding the motion controls failed to justify their inclusion as more than a gimmick.
8 Zelda 2: The🍸 Adventure Of Link
Zelda 2: The Adventꦚure of Link is a notoﷺriously difficult game with a long list of counterintuitive design choices getting in the way of the player. However, its combat remains surprisingly tight, layered, and — given the game’s 2D side-scrolling nature — entirely unique in the series.
Link has an impressive range of attack in Zelda 2, stabbing his swor🥂d up, down, left, right, and while eithe🎐r jumping or ducking. There are also a handful of battle spells that make some of the hairier encounters a bit less of a handful.
7 Ocarinﷺa Of Time
168澳洲幸运5开奖网:Ocarina of Time had a lot of problems to solve when taking the Zelda series into the third dimension. The developers smartly chose to lock in combat encounters using a new mechanic called 'Z-targeting.' This meant you never lost sight of your enemy and kept the flow of battle feeling controlled and easily readable.
It’s also admirable how seamlessly all of Link’s iconic items t༒ranslate over to 3D. The bow, bombs, hammer, and hook shot all feel so natural to use and contribute to this game’s timeless charm.
6 🍸 Majora🍒’s Mask
Majora💦’s Mask takes the core elements of Ocarina of Time’s combat mechanics and piles on a great big heaping of masks. Certain masks, such as the Deku, Goron, Zora, and Fierce Deity masks each have their own unique combat mechanics, meaning you are constantly gettin🐻g to experiment with different moves and abilities as you progress through the game.
Link’s chameleon nature♔ in Majora’s Mask lends itself to a combat system that feels refreshingly customisable — certainly amongst the pre-2017 Zelda games.
5 🅠 The Minish Cap
The Minish Cap stands heads and shoulders a🔯bove the other 2D Zeldas when it comes to combat. Capcom went above and beyond in trying to recreate the depth of a 3D Zelda game’s combat onto the Game Boy Advance. And they succeeded.
Link has a wealth of sword techniques at his disposal — many of which are unlocked by discovering the Tiger Scrolls. When it all co🐷mes together, there is a complexity to The Minish Cap’s combat that stands toe-to-toe with some of the best in the series.