The Legend of Zelda: How to Play Every Game In Release Order
The Legend of Zelda series contains numerous games spanning multiple consoles, and playing them in order can be confusing.
John Hansen 
Image via Nintendo
The Legend of Zelda is one of the most beloved and treasured video game series available. In the decades since its beginnings, the game has made numerous leaps and strides and delivered countless unforgettable adventures. You know if you are getting a Legend of Zelda game from Nintendo, you are getting a game filled with hours of fun puzzles, combat, and memorable characters. Here is the order of every single Legend of Zelda game and the original console it came out on, sorted by release date.
Related: The Legend of Zelda timeline, explained – Every game’s timeline placement
All Legend of Zelda games in release order
Below is every Zelda game in release order including year and original consoles:
- The Legend of Zelda (1986) – Nintendo Entertainment System
- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (1987) – Nintendo Entertainment System
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (1991) – Super Nintendo Entertainment System
- The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (1993) – Game Boy
- Link: The Faces of Evil (1993) – Phillips CD-i
- Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon (1993) – Phillips CD-i
- Zelda’s Adventure (1994) – Phillips CD-i
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) – Nintendo 64
- The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (2000) – Nintendo 64
- The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons/Oracle of Ages (2001) – Game Boy
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002) – Nintendo GameCube
- The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (2004) – Nintendo GameCube
- The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (2004) – Game Boy Advance
- Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland (2006, Japan and Europe only) – Nintendo DS
- Tingle’s Balloon Fight (2007, Japan only) – Nintendo DS
- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (2006) – Nintendo GameCube/Nintendo Wii
- The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (2007) – Nintendo DS
- Link’s Crossbow Training (2007) – Nintendo Wii
- The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (2009) – Nintendo DS
- The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (2011) – Nintendo Wii
- The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (2013) – Nintendo 3DS
- Hyrule Warriors (2014) – Wii U
- The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (2015) – Nintendo 3DS
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017) – Nintendo Wii U/Nintendo Switch
- Cadence of Hyrule (2019) – Nintendo Switch
- Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity (2020) – Nintendo Switch
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (2023) – Nintendo Switch
Because there is a large number of games in The Legend of Zelda series that have released over numerous decades, some of them are going to be harder to get access to than others. However, thanks to the flexible narratives, it is perfectly fine to hop in wherever you want. That said, if you want to play the full catalog in chronological order, the list above should help you out.
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