Since 1998, the 3D entries in TheLegend Of Zeldaseries have been mainstays in Nintendo’s roster of system-selling video games for every console that the company decides to put out next.
To this point, there have been ten titles that fit the full-fledged 3D Zelda criteria. None of the ten are bad games, and the ones at the top of the list are genuine masterpieces in the medium.
The Complete Legend of Zelda Timeline, Explained
To better understand the legendary universe of The Legend of Zelda, it’s crucial to comprehend Hyrulean lore and the famous timeline.
This list will aim to compare and contrast all of these titles from 1998’s Ocarina Of Time to 2023’s Tears Of The Kingdom until a victor can be crowned as the best 3D Zelda title of all time.
Let’s dive right in and take a look at how our hero in the pointy green hat has fared in his adventures throughout the years.
10Link’s Crossbow Training
An Adequate Pack-In Game
Link’s Crossbow Training
The Nintendo Wii-era was filled with gimmicks and peripherals to attempt to keep the console’s hype level high throughout its existence. One such peripheral was the Wii Zapper, a plastic rifle that the Wiimote and Nunchuck could slot into in order to better simulate the feeling of playing shooters.
Link’s Crossbow Training was a pack-in title included with every Wii Zapper, and it definitely served its purpose of giving buyers a neat tech demo to test out their new accessory.
Still, Link’s Crossbow Training is hardly anything compared to every other game in the 3D Zelda catalog. It’s a partially on-rails, partially stationary glorified shooting gallery experience set in the art style of Twilight Princess.
The game itself is pretty fun, but it can be completed in about an hour and doesn’t even house basic features like an online leaderboard for comparing your high scores with players around the world.
It was nice of Link to spearhead this title to help sell the Wii Zapper, but every other 3D entry he’s appeared in has been much more important and meaningful.
9Hyrule Warriors
Musou Mania
Hyrule Warriors
The first of a couple of Musou spin-offs from the people behind the ever-popular Dynasty Warriors series,Hyrule Warriorswas a bit of a surprise at its reveal, but wound up justifying itself in the world of large-scale, weapon-slashing action.
To simply write the game off as a simple spin-off, however, is a slight disservice. Hyrule Warriors took extra care to include a decent story, though it’s not actually considered canon by Nintendo in the main Zelda timeline of events.
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It was also the first 3D Zelda title to include any kind of multiplayer component, making it even more unique in that regard as well.
The coolest thing about Hyrule Warriors and its sequel is that the games allowed players to control many other beloved Zelda characters for the first time ever. In addition to Link, you can take control of Ganondorf, Zelda, Midna, Impa, and many more surprising inclusions.
Hyrule Warriors is a blast overall, but still not quite what typically comes to mind when considering 3D Zelda perfection.
8Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity
Slightly Better Musou Mania
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
2020’sHyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamityis the most recent of the Zelda Musou duo, and it managed to improve on the original Hyrule Warriors by a small margin.
Released after the Switch’s first smash-hit in 2017’s Breath Of The Wild, Age Of Calamity was able to kick things up a notch by making use of BOTW’s amazing world, art, and cast of characters.
Aside from this tie-in to Breath Of The Wild, however, Age Of Calamity didn’t necessarily reinvent the Musou wheel compared to what was already present in standard Hyrule Warriors, though it did introduce the Sheikah Slate and glider to the mix as well.
Once again, this title included a massive roster of playable characters to test out, which makes Age Of Calamity a fun love letter to Zelda fans if nothing else.
Despite genuinely being one of the best modern Musou experiences available, the Hyrule Warriors franchise will always have a bit of an uphill battle when compared to the epic action/adventure journeys of every other game on this list.
7Skyward Sword
A Flawed Origin Story
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
The second 3D Zelda to arrive on the Nintendo Wii,Skyward Swordwas the only one to make use of Wii Motion Plus. Because of this, Skyward Sword leaned hard into precision sword-swinging action in order for Link to make it through the story.
Sadly, these motion controls are a big reason why this entry just hasn’t aged as gracefully in the modern era. At best, the controls are finicky and, at worst, a slightly annoying gimmick.
Still, Skyward Sword has a lot ofawesomemoments, too. Story-wise, the lore here is interesting since it serves as an origin tale for the entire franchise. Some of thecoolest boss fights in the seriesare present here too, specifically Koloktos in the Ancient Cistern, and Demise, who makes a case as Link’s most intimidating adversary ever.
However, then there are egregious repeat bosses like The Imprisioned, multiple areas to backtrack through, an overworld that wears out its welcome, a half-baked stamina system, and the truly miserable dowsing mechanic.
Skyward Sword really went for something different with some degree of success, but there are other Zelda titles to come that offer a better package overall.
6Tears Of The Kingdom
A Bit Too Much Of A Good Thing
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Trying to create a sequel to 2017’s absolute smash hit, Breath Of The Wild, was always going to be a tall order, even for Nintendo. Depending on who you ask, you’ll see that the jury is still a little divided on whether Nintendo stuck the landing with this one.
Breath Of The Wild was already the largest, most in-depth version of a Zelda game the world had ever seen, andTears Of The Kingdomkicked everything up several notches.
The already present weapon degradation, cooking, Sheikah Slate abilities, and massive number of shrines and areas to explore from Breath Of The Wild, now paired with the mandatory crafting and building of Zonai vehicles in Tears Of The Kingdom and evenmoreof everything else is debatably too much.
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The dungeons here are a mixed bag, too. The Water Temple is genuinely one of the worst in the series, while The Lightning Temple is one of the best. There’s an inconsistency here that holds TOTK back a bit.
If you’re into sandbox experiences and games that challenge you to tackle and break them in any way you can, this is the Zelda for you. Unfortunately for some, it does simply veer too far from the formula present in many of the other entries to earn the title of a certified Zelda classic.
5The Wind Waker
A Cel-Shaded Smash
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
2003’sThe Wind Wakerwas the first 3D Zelda to release natively on the GameCube, and it made a sharp style change compared to Ocarina Of Time and Majora’s Mask before it. The Wind Waker features cel-shaded graphics that gave the game a simply gorgeous art style that still holds up to this day.
Traversing the water-logged overworld in your stately sailboat, The King Of The Red Lions, feels great to control and plays into this entry in the series taking a more swash-buckling, slightly pirate-themed foray into the world of Zelda. If you like experiencing thebest sailing in video games, you’re going to have a good time.
Not everything here is great, however. The forced stealth of the Forsaken Fortress is pretty rough, and the story takes some time to really turn into something truly epic.
Even so, The Wind Waker is one of the most creative entries on this list and does much more good than bad.It features awesome dungeonslike Dragon Roost Cavern and one of the more memorable final Ganondorf battle sequences involving amazingly-designed puppet versions of Link’s eternal antagonist.
4Majora’s Mask
The Real Moon Landing
The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
Another sequel to a beloved entry in the series,Majora’s Maskfaced the mammoth task of following up 1998’s Ocarina Of Time.
Overall, this title accomplished its mission.
Majora’s Mask is decidedly weirder than its predecessor, which leads to a lot of unique charm that fans have come to love it for.
The threat of an angry moon crashing into the ground is ever present, masks will transform you into various creatures from the Zelda universe, and Majora itself serves as possibly the most creative and disturbing final boss in the series.
There’s not really too much to knock in Majora’s Mask. It’s a breath of fresh air into the formula despite being one of the only true sequels to exist in the world of 3D Zelda.
The scale and scope of Majora’s Mask are just as massive as Ocarina Of Time, but it does simply lack a slight sense of OOT’s epic feeling story and characters, and the dungeons aren’t quite as memorable.
The Stone Tower Temple, however, is the clear standout and is one of the best Zelda dungeons ever.
3Twilight Princess
Wolf It Down
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
2006’sTwilight Princessfeels like a game that tried to ramp up the Zelda franchise’s edginess and cool-factor to the extreme. It is fairly easily the moodiest, darkest, most brooding version of the series to date, and it’s awesome.
Yes, the opening sequence of the game is one of the absolute worst in video game history. However, if you’re able to make it through the first few opening hours of boring tutorials and cutscenes, Twilight Princess turns into arguably the coolest game in the franchise.
You experience a large portion of Twilight Princess in the form of a wolf as Link explores any area of Hyrule infected by the Twilight, guided all the while by one of the best Zelda characters in existence, Midna.
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The story of Twilight Princess is equally bonkers and feels weirdly science-fiction at times. This eerie vibe also leads to many creature designs and cutscenes that solidify Twilight Princess as Zelda’s scariest game to boot.
Dungeons in this game are excellent, have fun themes, and make perfect use of the most recent item Link has acquired. The standout is Snowpeak Ruins, which features some of the best ice physics and puzzles in all of gaming.
It all culminates with the most epic Ganondorf showdown to date, and possibly themost challenging boss fight in 3D Zelda history.
2Breath Of The Wild
Climbing Simulator 2017
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
The Switch’s original launch lineup in 2017 looked pretty weak outside ofBreath Of The Wild. Luckily, this Zelda title wound up being all they really needed.
Nintendo’s first attempt at sincere open-world Zelda was a resounding success and took the gaming community by storm on its way to game of the year awards aplenty.
Breath Of The Wild lets players climb everything, tackle the map any way they please, choose their order for Divine Beast completion (BotW’s version of dungeons), and simply broke the franchise open in ways no one saw coming that still influence other game developers to this day.
Sure, the Divine Beasts aren’t as fun or creative as traditional Zelda dungeons, and the 120 shrines were only bite-sized experiences, but the level of freedom and creativity in Breath Of The Wild is still second to none.
The map is a genuine joy to explore and uncover. There’s a calmness and beauty in its presentation that makes this one feel unlike any other title before it, and still more special overall than its sequel.
1Ocarina Of Time
Truly Timeless
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
Someday, Nintendo may release a Zelda game that dethronesOcarina Of Timeas possibly the greatest video game of all-time and the best entry in the Zelda series.
Today is not that day.
The first 3D Zelda ever, Nintendo pulled out every single stop imaginable to ensure Link found his footing on the N64. This led to Ocarina Of Time becoming thegreatest game on the consoleto ever release.
OOT features the best story, characters, music, and dungeon design overall compared to any other series entry. Sure, there aresomelows (The Water Temple isn’t regarded as themost iconic Zelda dungeonfor positive reasons), but the highs of this title make up for any missteps and then some.
Transforming from Kid Link into Adult Link and seeing how the world of Hyrule has changed in the meantime is a core gaming memory for millions around the world. The songs you learn on the ocarina will stick with many of us for the rest of our lives. There’s true video game magic in this one.
Don’t get it twisted, Ocarina Of Time doesn’t sit at #1 simply because of nostalgia. No other Zelda title has as masterfully captured the melancholy and epic tale that OOT puts forth.
From waking up in Kokiri Forest to finally taking down Ganon, Ocarina Of Time is too chock-full of video game design perfection to end up anywhere else but #1 on this list.
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