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

2 of 20

78*

#18: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

NES, 1988

In this direct sequel to the original game, Link must find a way to wake the sleeping Princess Zelda while Ganon’s fiends prepare for his resurrection. The game marked a sharp departure from the first game’s formula, with side-scrolling dungeons and RPG-esque world map enemy encounters.

Zelda II has not passed the test of time, according to GameSpot's Jeff Gerstmann: “If you're just now playing it for the first time, you'll probably wonder why everyone was so excited in the first place.”

* All scores marked with asterisks in this gallery are provided by GameRankings. (These older titles are not available on Metacritic.)

Where To Buy