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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GameCube, 2003

Set in a vast sea dotted with small islands long after the events of Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker charges a cel-shaded Link with rescuing his sister, solving the mystery of the flooded world and again defeating the menacing Ganon.

“Nothing can prepare you from the greatness that is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker,” Play Magazine wrote in its March 2003 issue.

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