Zelda games in order of release, 1986 to 2026, with dates for every main entry and the remakes

Zelda games in order of release: the short answer

Zelda games in order of release start with The Legend of Zelda on the Famicom Disk System on February 21, 1986 in Japan, and run through to The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom on September 26, 2024. In between sit Zelda II (1987), A Link to the Past (1991), Link's Awakening (1993), Ocarina of Time (1998), Majora's Mask (2000), the two Oracle games (2001), A Link to the Past and Four Swords (2002), The Wind Waker (2002), Four Swords Adventures (2004), The Minish Cap (2004), Twilight Princess (2006), Phantom Hourglass (2007), Spirit Tracks (2009), Skyward Sword (2011), A Link Between Worlds (2013), Tri Force Heroes (2015), Breath of the Wild (2017) and Tears of the Kingdom (2023).

The dates in this guide come from the main series table on Wikipedia's list of Legend of Zelda games, checked on October 18, 2026, and are given as Japan first and North America second where they differ. Remakes, ports and spin-offs are covered separately below so that the core list stays clean. A game's year of release is a safe anchor; where regional dates diverge by months, that is noted rather than smoothed over.

1986 to 1993: the 2D foundation

The Legend of Zelda reached Japan on the Famicom Disk System on February 21, 1986. The NES cartridge version followed in North America on August 22, 1987 and in Europe on November 15, 1987. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is the odd one out, a side-scrolling sequel that launched in Japan on January 14, 1987, in Europe on September 26, 1988 and in North America on December 1, 1988.

The series found its template with A Link to the Past, released on the Super NES in Japan on November 21, 1991, in North America on April 13, 1992 and in Europe on September 24, 1992. Link's Awakening followed on the Game Boy on June 6, 1993 in Japan and August 6, 1993 in North America, the first mainline Zelda on a handheld. Those four games define the top-down, dungeon-and-item structure that later 3D entries reinterpret.

One quirk worth knowing: for the earliest games the release order differs by region. Zelda II reached Europe in September 1988 before it reached North America in December 1988, and A Link to the Past arrived in North America nearly five months after Japan. That is why two lists of Zelda games in order can disagree on a swap or two without either being wrong, and why this guide names the region each time.

1998 to 2004: the jump to 3D and a handheld run

Ocarina of Time reached the Nintendo 64 on November 21, 1998 in Japan, November 23 in North America and December 11 in Europe. It was the series' first 3D game, introduced lock-on targeting and debuted Epona, and it began as Zelda 64 for the Japan-only 64DD before moving to cartridge. Majora's Mask followed on April 27, 2000 in Japan and October 25, 2000 in North America.

The Game Boy Color got two linked adventures, Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages, on February 27, 2001 in Japan and May 13, 2001 in North America. A Link to the Past and Four Swords arrived on Game Boy Advance on December 3, 2002 in North America. The Wind Waker reached GameCube on December 13, 2002 in Japan and March 24, 2003 in North America, with Four Swords Adventures following on June 7, 2004 in North America.

2004 to 2011: Minish Cap, Twilight Princess and the motion-control era

The Minish Cap launched on Game Boy Advance on November 4, 2004 in Japan and January 10, 2005 in North America. Twilight Princess is the awkward date to remember because it shipped on two consoles: the Wii version reached North America on November 19, 2006, while the GameCube version arrived in Japan on December 2, 2006, so lists vary on which counts as first.

The Nintendo DS then carried the series. Phantom Hourglass reached North America on October 1, 2007 and Spirit Tracks on December 7, 2009. Skyward Sword closed the Wii era on November 20, 2011 in North America, and Wikipedia notes that The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia was published on December 21, 2011 for the 25th anniversary.

2013 to 2024: Breath of the Wild changes the formula

A Link Between Worlds came to the Nintendo 3DS on November 22, 2013 in North America and Europe, and Tri Force Heroes followed on October 23, 2015. Then Breath of the Wild launched on March 3, 2017 on Wii U and Switch, at the same time in Japan, North America and Europe. Its open-world design set the template for what followed.

Tears of the Kingdom arrived on Switch on May 12, 2023, again on the same day worldwide. Echoes of Wisdom followed on September 26, 2024, and the series had sold over 150 million copies by then, according to figures summarised on Wikipedia. Both modern entries were released simultaneously in every region, which matters if you are tracking launch dates: the old gap between Japan and the West is gone.

A useful way to read this stretch is by hardware. A Link Between Worlds and Tri Force Heroes were Nintendo 3DS games, Breath of the Wild straddled Wii U and Switch, and Tears of the Kingdom and Echoes of Wisdom were Switch games. With the Switch 2 Editions of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom in 2025, and Ocarina of Time on Switch 2 now dated, the newest console is already home to both the series' most recent open-world games and its most famous 3D one.

Remakes, rereleases and spin-offs that sit outside the main list

Several titles are easy to mistake for new entries. Link's Awakening was remade for Nintendo Switch in 2019, Skyward Sword HD followed in 2021, and Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom both received Nintendo Switch 2 Editions in 2025, according to Wikipedia's listings. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, a spin-off, released on November 6, 2025.

The next one is Ocarina of Time. Nintendo's US news page, dated October 14, 2026, lists the Switch 2 remake for November 5 at $59.99 and describes it as completely reborn, with fully voiced cutscenes and symphonic music. It is the second remake after the 3DS version in June 2011. We cover what changes in our Ocarina of Time Switch 2 release date report.

Release order versus story order, and where to start

Release order is the simplest way to see how the design evolved, but Zelda is not a continuous story, and most entries work on their own. Each game recasts Link and Zelda in a new setting, and Nintendo has published an official timeline that groups the games differently from this list. We have not reproduced it here because it is a separate, contested matter from the release dates we have verified.

If you are starting out, our take is to pick by platform and taste, not by date. Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild are the modern, open-world entries; A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening are the best examples of the classic top-down structure; and Ocarina of Time on Switch 2 will be the way most newcomers meet the 3D foundations. Echoes of Wisdom, the newest, is the first main entry with Zelda herself as the lead.

If you want a shorter on-ramp, the sensible order of attack is by era: one top-down classic, one 3D classic and one modern open-world game. That covers the three design philosophies the release list shows, and it avoids the trap of treating a 40-year list as homework. Keep the dates above as a reference, not a syllabus.

The 40th anniversary and what is next

Nintendo is using 2026 to mark 40 years of the series. Its anniversary announcements included the Ocarina of Time remake, a Zelda-themed Nintendo Switch 2 console arriving October 29, new Young Link and Young Zelda amiibo in 2027, a global concert series next year and a live-action film simply titled The Legend of Zelda, produced by Nintendo, Arad Productions and Sony Pictures Entertainment and scheduled for theatres on April 30, 2027.

For this list, the practical point is that the franchise is being re-presented to a new audience. A November 5 remake of the 1998 classic, an April film and a steady stream of Switch 2 editions mean the older entries are about to get more attention, so keep the release dates above handy and check Nintendo's own pages for each new announcement.