Every Legend of Zelda Game, Ranked

by Fox Van Allen, for Metacritic – March 7, 2017

Updated May 2023 to add Tears of the Kingdom.

The Legend of Zelda, now over 35 years old, is one of Nintendo’s strongest, most popular and longest-running franchises. The latest Zelda title, Breath of the Wild for the new Nintendo Switch console, has drawn rave reviews from critics, with many giving it a perfect score.

Is Breath of the Wild just a great Zelda game … or the greatest Zelda game of all time? To answer that question, we have ranked every Zelda game by Metascore. (Note that some of the older titles are not available on Metacritic, and in those instances we have used scores from our sister site, GameRankings.)

Additional content by Jason Dietz

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#4 (tie): The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past + Four Swords

Game Boy Advance, 2002

More than just a remake of the 1991 SNES hit, this 2002 cartridge introduced the Four Swords legend to the series as a bonus, creating The Legend of Zelda’s first-ever multiplayer experience via the GBA Game Link Cable.

Eurogamer’s Tom Bramwell called the title “an indispensable game, combining arguably the finest RPG/adventure the 16-bit era ever produced (even compared to the likes of Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy VI) with an expertly realised multiplayer rendition of Zelda.”

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