The Legend of Zeldais one of the most beloved video game franchises in the history of the industry, and luckily, a huge chunk of theZeldagames can be played on the Nintendo Switch. AlongsideSuper Mario,The Legend of Zeldais one of Nintendo’s flagship franchises, with almost every entry in the series earning rave reviews from critics.
Nintendo has made a concerted effort to make many of itsZeldagames playable on the Switch. Sometimes this has come throughSwitch ports of existingZeldagames, other times it’s come through remakes, and other times still fans have been treated to completely brand-new experiences. Nintendo has also leveraged its Switch Online service to give classicZeldagames some time in the spotlight and make Link’s earliest adventures easily accessible to its fans.
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Here areall theLegend of Zeldagamesthat are currently playable on the Nintendo Switch.
Zelda Games on the Switch
After the general sales failure that was the Wii U, Nintendo came out swinging with the Switch by securingThe Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildas a launch title.The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildearned near-universal acclaimat the time of its release, successfully transforming theZeldaformula to an open world format.
A couple of years later, Nintendo released a more traditionalZeldagame in the form of theLink’s Awakeningremake. A remake of the classic Game Boy game, this new version ofLink’s Awakeningfeatured a striking diorama-like art style that helped it stand apart from other games in the series.
Two years after theLink’s Awakeningremake hit the market, Nintendo followed it up with an HD port ofThe Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. TheSkyward SwordHD port addressed many of the criticismsthat fans had about the original game, offering players a new control scheme that didn’t rely on motion controls and implementing a variety of quality of life improvements.
Nintendo has so far kept up its pattern of releasing a newLegend of Zeldagame for the Switch every couple of years, as two years afterSkyward Sword HDhit the market, franchise fans were treated toThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Adirect sequel toBreath of the Wild,Tears of the Kingdomtook its predecessor’s open world concepts and push them to their absolute limit. LikeBreath of the Wild,Tears of the Kingdomhas earned near-universal acclaim and has firmly established itself as one of the highest-rated video games ever made.
With rumors of a Nintendo Switch 2 console on the horizon, it’s entirely possible thatTears of the Kingdomis the last majorZeldarelease on the original Switch. However, there have been consistent rumors that Nintendo is planning on bringing theHD versions ofThe Wind WakerandTwilight Princessto the Switch. It wouldn’t make much sense to leave those ports on the Wii U, but no official plans to port thoseZeldagames have been announced at the time of this writing.
Zelda Games on Switch Online
As one might imagine, the Nintendo Switch Online service features manyLegend of Zeldagames. This includes the originalLegend of Zeldagame on the NES as well as its sequel,Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link. While the originalLegend of Zeldais considered a groundbreaking and landmark game release,Zelda 2wasn’t nearly as well-received. Even so, it could be fun forZeldafans to take a trip down memory lane and go back to where the series started.
There was only ever one main seriesZeldagame released for the Super Nintendo, and it’s well accounted for on the Switch Online service. ManyZeldafanspoint toThe Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Pastas possibly being the best gamein the long-running series, so it’s great that franchise fans can easily play it on their Switch console.
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Those who are signed up for the base version of the Nintendo Switch Online service can also try theGame Boy Color port ofThe Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, known asLink’s Awakening DX. It offers color graphics and other enhancements over its predecessor, making it the ideal way to experience the classic game if one doesn’t have the 2019 remake handy.
MoreZeldagames are coming to Switch Online in future updates. Specifically,Zeldafans can look forward to bothThe Legend of Zelda: Oracle of AgesandThe Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasonsjoining the Switch Online lineup at some point later in 2023.
Zelda Spin-Off Games on the Switch
Besides main seriesZeldagames, there are alsoZeldaspin-offs available to play on the Nintendo Switch. These include the rhythm gameCadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer, as well as bothHyrule Warriors: Definitive EditionandHyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamitymay be of particular interesttoZeldafans, as its plot is directly tied to the events depicted in bothBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdom. For those unfamiliar with the games, they are a mix ofZeldaand the gameplay from theDynasty Warriorsseries. It’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but there is to fun to be had, especially in co-op.
Zelda Games That Still Need to Come to the Switch
The Nintendo Switch has an extensive library ofZeldagames for fans to choose from already, but there are still some titles that are currently unavailable to play on Nintendo’s home console/handheld hybrid. This includes previously mentioned games like the HD ports ofThe Wind WakerandTwilight Princessand a variety of other titles. There is some hope that some of themissingZeldagameswill make their way to the Switch in future, however.
For example,Oracle of AgesandOracle of Seasonsare both promised for Switch Online at some point, while reputable leakers have suggested that the Switch ports ofTwilight PrincessandThe Wind Wakeralready exist. Some of the otherZeldagames are far less likely to ever be released for Nintendo’s latest platform, though.
Games that would fall in that unfortunate category includeFour Swords,Four Swords Adventures,Phantom Hourglass,Spirit Tracks,A Link Between Worlds, andTri Force Heroes.Four Swordswas previously made available through a Game Boy Advance port ofA Link to the Past, whereasFour Swords Adventuresis a game that’s been trapped on the GameCube since its launch.Phantom HourglassandSpirit Tracksare DS games, whereasA Link Between WorldsandTri Force Heroesare 3DS exclusives. Unless Nintendo starts bringing the games from that era to the Switch Online service, it’s highly unlikely they will make an appearance on the Switch.
Then again, stranger things have happened, and Nintendo has been making an effort to bring its GameCube games to the Switch, and as the recently announcedSwitch port ofLuigi’s Mansion: Dark Moonindicates, it’s also looking at giving games in its 3DS library new life. WhileZeldafans wait for news on if these missing titles will ever come to Switch, they should have plenty of other games to play in the meantime.
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