The Legend of Zelda is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and part of the reason why it's so exciting is because of all the incredibly successful and critically-acclaimed games the franchise has produced since its inception in 1986. The Legend of Zelda was a wildly innovative and groundbreaking adventure game on the NES, and its sequels carried on that legacy by delivering one beloved new game after another.
2026 marks the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, and so many fans are going back through the series, replaying their favorites and trying out titles that they may have missed over the years. If you are someone that has never really played a Zelda game before and don't know where to start, you may want to take a look at the titles that have earned the highest scores on review aggregate site Metacritic and start from there. While almost every Zelda game has earned remarkably high scores on the platform, there are a total of 16 releases that managed to crack 90+, an impressive feat, to say the least.
The Complete Chronological Order of the Legend Of Zelda Timeline
More than three decades of Legend of Zelda history can be arranged in chronological order to see the plot progress from one game to the next.
In fact, the highest-rated video game on Metacritic is a Zelda game, with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time leading the charge with an astonishing 99 overall rating. It's followed closely by the universally-acclaimed Breath of the Wild, Nintendo's open world experiment that took the Zelda franchise in a bold new direction. Cel-shaded masterpiece The Wind Waker is at 96, as is Breath of the Wild's direct sequel, Tears of the Kingdom.
List of the Best Zelda Games
- Ocarina of Time - 99
- Breath of the Wild - 97
- The Wind Waker - 96
- Tears of the Kingdom - 96
- Majora's Mask - 95
- Twilight Princess - 95
- Collector's Edition - 95
- Tears of the Kingdom: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - 95
- A Link to the Past/Four Swords - 95
- Ocarina of Time 3D - 94
- Breath of the Wild: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - 94
- Skyward Sword - 93
- A Link Between Worlds - 91
- Ocarina of Time Master Quest - 91
- Phantom Hourglass - 90
- The Wind Waker HD - 90
Most of these Zelda games are playable on Switch and Switch 2, with these exceptions:
- Twilight Princess
- Ocarina of Time 3D
- A Link Between Worlds
- Ocarina of Time Master Quest
- Phantom Hourglass
- The Wind Waker HD
Every major 3D Zelda has managed to earn a 90 or above, with the lowest-rated being Skyward Sword at 93. The once-Wii exclusive was criticized for some repetitive elements and forced motion controls, but others actually praised the motion controls, particularly the swordfighting, and there are those that think it has some of the best dungeons in the entire franchise.
It's also worth pointing out that while some older Zelda games predate Metacritic, they are still represented in the 90+ club thanks to releases like The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition. For the uninitiated, The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition was released in 2003 for the GameCube and included various bonus features as well as the original NES Zelda, its sequel The Adventure of Link, Ocarina of Time, and Majora's Mask.
Ocarina of Time's GameCube version is also represented by Ocarina of Time Master Quest, which includes the N64 original as well as the remixed "Master Quest" version. Then there's A Link to the Past/Four Swords, which is the GBA version of SNES classic A Link to the Past that came with the multiplayer-only Four Swords game.
Zelda's numbers are boosted a bit by these highly-praised re-releases, with both the Nintendo Switch 2 Editions of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom on the list. These versions of the game include Switch 2-specific enhancements and special features, but even if you removed them and the other re-releases/collections, Zelda would still comfortably be the most critically-acclaimed franchise of all time. Considering this, one has to imagine that future Zelda games from Nintendo also stand a shot at joining the 90+ club, and it will be exciting to see what they have in store.
- Released
- November 21, 1998
- ESRB
- E10+ for Everyone 10+: Animated Blood, Fantasy Violence, Suggestive Themes
- Developer(s)
- Nintendo
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Engine
- Zelda 64 Engine
