The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

Nintendo GameCube

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is the last Zelda game for GameCube, it was highly anticipated by many members of the gaming community and was regarded as finally fulfilling the dreams of those who wanted a much more realistic and mature game than the ones before. The art is similar to the naturalistic style of Ocarina of Time, rather than the cel-shaded look of The Wind Waker. The main adventure takes place in several provinces with dungeons and temples. New to this game is the ability for Link to transform into a Wolf when entering the Twilight. As a wolf, Link can use his senses to solve puzzles and get past obstacles, he can also dig holes to find hearts and rupees. Twilight Princess has received universal acclaim from reviewers and journalists, who cited it as the greatest Zelda game of all time.

Satellaview • Super Nintendo Entertainment System • Wii

Venture back to Hyrule and an age of magic and heroes. The predecessors of Link and Zelda face monsters on the march when a menacing magician takes over the kingdom. Only you can prevent his evil plot from shattering the land of Hyrule. In your quest, you'll venture into twisting mazes, dungeons, palaces and shadowy forests. Test your mettle with mighty swords and magical weapons. Or heft a boulder and hurl it at your enemies. If the going gets tough, dive into a river - you can swim to escape! Learn powerful spells, locate magical artifacts and solve the mysteries of the evil magician and the hidden realm of Hyrule.

Nintendo 3DS • Wii U • Game Boy Advance

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap is a top-down action adventure game that tells the origins of the evil Vaati from Four Swords. Like most other titles in the series, The Minish Cap features the fully explorable land of Hyrule, although it can be viewed from the eyes of a human or the eyes of a Minish, a race of tiny people and an alternate form that Link can transform into. Unlike the multiplayer focus of the other games in the series, The Minish Cap retains the original form of exploration and dungeons as seen in A Link to the Past, Oracle of Seasons, and Oracle of Ages, as well as returning characters and game mechanics such as Malon and the Spin Attack. New features include fusing Kinstones and shrinking to the size of a Minish.

Wii • Nintendo 64 • 64DD

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is the fifth main installment of The Legend of Zelda series and the first to be released for the Nintendo 64. It was one of the most highly anticipated games of its age, and is listed among the greatest video games ever created by numerous websites and magazines. The gameplay of Ocarina of Time was revolutionary for its time, it has arguably made more of an impact on later games in the series than any of its predecessors even though they had the same cores of exploration, dungeons, puzzles and item usage. Among the gameplay mechanics, one of the most noteworthy is the time-traveling system. The game begins with the player controlling the child Link, but later on an adult Link becomes a playable character as well and each of them has certain unique abilities. Ocarina of Time also introduces the use of music to solve puzzles: as new songs are learned, they can be used to solve puzzles, gain access to new areas and warp to different locations. Dungeon exploration is somewhat more puzzle-oriented than in earlier games but they are not too complex.

Wii U • Nintendo DS

The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks is the second Zelda game for the Nintendo DS. The art direction is still cel-shading, but the game have notable changes from Phantom Hourglass with more puzzles and a new mode of transportation by train. You have to draw your route to the next area on the map and then let the train run its course. While the train is moving, caution will be needed to avoid obstacles, animals and enemies on the tracks. In certain dungeons, both Link and Zelda will be playable as they will need to work together to solve puzzles.

Wii U • Nintendo Switch

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is the first 3D open-world game in the Zelda series. Link can travel anywhere and be equipped with weapons and armor found throughout the world to grant him various bonuses. Unlike many games in the series, Breath of the Wild does not impose a specific order in which quests or dungeons must be completed. While the game still has environmental obstacles such as weather effects, inhospitable lands, or powerful enemies, many of them can be overcome using the right method. A lot of critics ranked Breath of the Wild as one of the best video games of all time.