Whether you’ve been a Zelda fan since the beginning, or only jumped on with Breath of the Wild, chances are you’re pretty excited for Tears of the Kingdom this May. It’s going to be a huge game and we’ve only caught a glimpse of how it’s planning to improve on Breath of the Wild’s incredible gameplay. Still, while you’re waiting, there’s no reason the Zelda train has to stop rolling.
There are over 20 Zelda games for you to dig into, so we’re going to run through how to play all of them before Tears of the Kingdom drops.
The Legend of Zelda games on Nintendo Switch
Starting with the most modern console, a couple of Zelda games have released natively on Nintendo Switch, while a few of the older games have been ported up to it. Here’s the full lineup:
- Breath of the wild
- Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
- Link’s Awakening Remake
- Skyward Sword HD
The Legend of Zelda games on Nintendo Switch Online
- The Legend of Zelda – NES
- The Adventure of Link – NES
- A Link to the Past – SNES
- Link’s Awakening – Game Boy
- Oracle of Seasons – Game Boy (upcoming)
- Oracle of Ages – Game Boy (upcoming)
The Legend of Zelda games on Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass
There’s yet another layer to this cake, as if you pay a bit extra on your Switch Online subscription you unlock even more retro consoles to play Zelda games on. Here’s what they’ve got:
- Ocarina of Time – N64
- Majora’s Mask – N64
- Minish Cap – GBA
The Legend of Zelda games on WiiU and Nintendo 3DS
There are a bunch more games you can buy digitally right now on the WiiU or the 3DS. However, you must act fast, as the eshop for these platforms closes forever on Monday, March 27, 2023, giving you a little over a month to bag the titles you want – you’ll still be able to play them after that date, you just won’t be able to buy them anymore.
Here’s what you’ve got access to:
- Twilight Princess – WiiU
- Spirit Tracks – WiiU
- Phantom Hourglass – WiiU
- The Wind Waker – WiiU
- Triforce Heroes – 3DS
- A Link Between Worlds – 3DS
The Legend of Zelda games currently unavailable for purchase
There are sadly a few Zelda games that you can’t officially buy from a first-hand Nintendo store.
The most notable title is Four Swords due to the multiplayer requirement that makes it a bit more complicated to port over. Aside from that, it’s just the Philips CDi games, which were terrible, so you’re not missing much.
Written by Georgina Young and Ryan Woodrow on behalf of GLHF.
