10 Best Zelda Games of 2026

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild takes the No. 1 spot because it gives the most freedom of any game in the series and still runs on current Nintendo hardware. Link wakes from a 100-year sleep with no memories, and after the opening area you can head for the final boss or wander for weeks. Nintendo's store page lists more than 100 Shrines of Trials and over 180 weapons, along with cooking, weather-specific clothing, horses, rafts and a paraglider. It sells today as a $59.99 Switch game and as a $69.99 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, and the $19.99 Expansion Pass adds The Master Trials and The Champion's Ballad. The install is 14.4 GB on Switch. Downsides are real: weapons wear out, there is no multiplayer, and the DLC costs extra. We compared documented features and published prices; we did not play-test it for this list.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time ranks third because it is the game most fans point to when they talk about the series' history, and it is easy to play legally today. Nintendo lists it in the Nintendo 64 library of Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, which costs $49.99 a year for one account or $79.99 a year for a family membership of up to 8 accounts. Nintendo's page highlights that you can suspend at any point during Ocarina of Time, and Switch 2 adds Rewind and a CRT filter. The same membership also includes Majora's Mask in the Nintendo 64 library and The Wind Waker in the GameCube library on Switch 2, which makes the subscription the best-value route into older 3D Zelda. The catch is that you rent rather than own it: stop paying and access ends. It is also the 1998 original, so camera and controls feel dated next to the Switch games. We did not play-test it for this list.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom ranks second only because it costs more and asks more of the player than Breath of the Wild. On features alone it leads this list. Nintendo describes four new abilities: Ultrahand to pick up and join objects into bridges and vehicles, Fuse to attach items to weapons, shields and arrows, Ascend to rise through ceilings, and Recall to reverse an object's movement. The map is Hyrule again plus islands floating in the skies above it, so returning players get new routes through familiar ground. It lists at $69.99 on Nintendo's US store and installs at 16.5 GB on Switch. The trade-offs: the building system takes time to learn, it is single player, and the story picks up after Breath of the Wild, so new players get more from it if they play that first. We compared documented features and published prices and did not play-test it for this ranking.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past ranks fourth and is the best value on this list. Nintendo includes the 1992 Super NES original in the base Nintendo Switch Online membership, which costs $19.99 a year and has a 7-day free trial. That membership's library holds more than 100 NES and Super NES games, so the same fee also covers other classics. Its top-down view suits handheld play on Switch Lite or Switch 2. If you upgrade to the Expansion Pack, Nintendo also lists the Game Boy Advance release, A Link to the Past & Four Swords. The limits: you lose access if the membership lapses, and the graphics and audio are 16-bit. We compared Nintendo's documented library and published prices rather than play-testing.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask ranks fifth. Nintendo describes Link reliving the same three days and three nights in Termina before the moon falls, and masks such as the Deku Mask that change what he can do. That structure makes it the most distinctive entry here and also the one most likely to frustrate newcomers, which is why it scores lower on ease than Ocarina of Time. Nintendo lists it in the Nintendo 64 library of Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, at $49.99 a year for one account, so anyone already subscribed for Ocarina of Time gets it at no extra cost. Switch 2 adds Rewind and a CRT filter to the Nintendo 64 library. As with the other subscription picks, access ends if you stop paying, and the visuals date from the Nintendo 64 era. We did not play-test it; scores reflect documented features and price.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom ranks seventh and is the first main entry where you play as Princess Zelda. Link has been pulled into a rift, and Zelda teams up with a creature called Tri, whose Tri Rod copies things in the world as echoes: water blocks, old beds, rocks and even monsters that fight on her side. Nintendo's page also lists a time-limited swordfighter form, Bind and Reverse Bond for moving objects, automatons, smoothies and outfits with bonuses. Dungeons sit in a place called the Still World. It costs $59.99, installs at 5.6 GB, and Zelda amiibo add outfits and smoothie ingredients. It ranks below Link's Awakening only by a small margin in our scores. The limits are that combat leans on echoes rather than swordplay, it is single player, and some players will prefer the open world of the 3D games. We did not play-test it.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening ranks sixth and is the easiest place on this list for a newcomer to start. Nintendo's 2019 remake keeps the Game Boy story: Link washes up on Koholint Island and must wake the Wind Fish by clearing a series of dungeons. The store page lists a rearranged soundtrack, more equippable items, a review option for key conversations and a Chamber Dungeons mode where you place rooms from finished dungeons on a grid to build your own. Zelda amiibo open exclusive chambers, and a free Switch 2 update adds improved image quality and HDR. It is a 5.9 GB install and costs $59.99, the same as Echoes of Wisdom, which is a lot for an adventure that follows a 1993 design. If you only want the original, Link's Awakening DX is part of the Nintendo Switch Online Game Boy library. We did not play-test it for this ranking.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker ranks eighth mainly because it has the strictest hardware requirement here: Nintendo's GameCube library is only available on Nintendo Switch 2. If you own one, the game comes with Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack, the same $49.99-a-year membership that includes Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask. Nintendo's GameCube page highlights suspend points for taking a mid-dungeon break in The Wind Waker, a choice between a standard screen and a retro CRT mode, and custom button mapping. Paid members can also buy a $69.99 Nintendo GameCube controller, though it is optional. Nintendo's own pitch for it is to sail the seas. Its drawbacks are the hardware lock, the fact that access is rented, and that original Switch owners are left out. We compared Nintendo's documented features and prices and did not play-test it.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess ranks ninth because it is the hardest game on this list to buy and play today, not because fans rate it poorly. Nintendo has not released it on Switch, so the practical route is a used disc. DKOldies lists the Wii version at $39.99 (on sale for $31.99 when we checked) as a cleaned and tested NTSC disc, with a 365-day warranty, rated Teen for one player. The same store prices the Wii U HD remaster at $189.99 and the GameCube disc at $239.99, so the Wii copy is the sensible pick. You need a Wii, or a Wii U running in Wii mode, plus a TV that accepts its video output. Nintendo describes it as Link's battle to save Hyrule from a corrupting twilight, first released on GameCube and Wii in 2006, with Link also appearing as Wolf Link. Buyers should expect used discs to vary in case and manual condition. We did not play-test it for this ranking.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds ranks tenth because it needs a Nintendo 3DS and is now sold only second-hand, since Nintendo ended 3DS eShop purchases on March 27, 2023. As a game it has a lot going for it. Nintendo describes it as a follow-on to the 1992 Super NES game, set in the same Hyrule, with a new trick: Link can merge into walls and move along them as a painting, which opens a fresh set of puzzles. After a certain point you choose the order of dungeons, and Ravio's Shop lets you rent or buy items such as the Hookshot, bow and hammer early. DKOldies sells tested used cartridges at $49.99, on sale for $38.99 when we checked. If you already own a 3DS it is a strong pick; if not, A Link to the Past on Switch Online covers the same world for $19.99 a year. We did not play-test it.