The Legend of Zeldaseries is as famous for its divergent timelines as it is for its adventures. So many of its variables lead to different outcomes. For one example,Ocarina of Timetechnically has two different sequels, while alsp being a prequel toA Link to the Past. For another, the original NES game is a distant sequel toA Link Between WorldsandTri Force Heroes. And all the diverging timelines fromOoTsomehow led toBreath of the Wild.
Nonetheless, not everything inLoZis so convoluted. Some entries have standard sequels featuring adventures that take place directly after their predecessors. No time shenanigans, alternate timelines, or questions over whether Hyrule is intact or ruined are involved. But some sequels are better than others, so ranked by quality, these arethe bestZeldasequels.
AlongsideSuper Mario Bros 2andCastlevania 2: Simon’s Questcomes another NES sequel that’s almost nothing like its predecessor.Zelda 2: The Adventure of Linkfollows the Link from the originalLoZ1, as he must restore six Crystals to six Palaces to unite the Triforce to wake Zelda up. If he fails, his enemies will use his blood to bring Ganon back to life. The game stands out as it’s more of a Metroidvania than the world-roaming ofLoZ1or its SNES followupA Link to the Past.
Instead of top-down exploration, it offers side-scrolling action gameplay, where encounters earn EXP to level up Attack, Life, and Magic. Link can talk to NPCs in the villages for perks or Easter eggs (“I am Error!"). The closest it gets toLoZ1is its overworld sections, where Link moves from location to location from a much higher bird’s eye view. The gameplay didn’t catch on, but it left its mark on the series with its additions, from chatting with locals, to the debut of Dark Link as a mirror-image boss fight.
For years,Link’s Awakeningwas the most direct sequel toALttP. Then Nintendo joined forces with Capcom to provide an inter-quel between the two, turningALttPLink’s adventures into a trilogy…or a tetrology.The Legend of Zelda: Oracles of AgeandOracle of Seasonsare two different adventures, but they basically tell the same story. Link is transported to a new world by the Triforce and must use time travel/season-changing to stop the villain Onox/Veran.
If the player had both games, they’d get a password to reveal the true final battle, where Link fights off Twinrova and Ganon. The gameplay is an improvement over the originalLA, offering more to do via its sidequests, time/season-shifting powers, and game-exclusive items. But they were also some of thehardest games to track downuntil they were added to the 3DS E-Shop in 2013, and Nintendo Switch Online in 2023. Now players can get to experience Capcom’s take on aLoZgame without paying an arm or a leg.
As advanced as theOraclesgames are,The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakeningbecame more beloved. It began as an attempt to portA Link to the Pastto the Game Boy. But when that proved to be a technological leap too far, it became a new adventure forALttP’s Link, as his boat is destroyed, and he ends up on Koholint Island. To get home, he mustwake the island’s guardian, the Wind Fish, by collecting musical instruments. However, he doesn’t know what it will do to Koholint’s citizens, like Marin, the girl who saved him from the shore in the first place.
It’s somewhat compromised by its handheld origins, as it’s a two-button game that requires a lot of pausing and swapping items. Yet it still managed to packLoZ’s charm in a little cartridge with its inventive puzzles (particularly in its Game Boy Color port) and story. The Switch remake fixes many of the old game’s flaws, like the frequent item-swapping, and has its own art style. It brings the old game to life in full color and 3D, which Nintendo liked enough to bring back for the upcomingLegend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Wakerinitially left fans deflated with its more cartoony look, which was a world away from its grittier forebears. However, while the game has its issues, it made naysayers eat crow by having strong gameplay, and graphics that have aged well over the past 20+ years. It may even have aged better than the eventual gritty, brown, very 2000s-lookingTwilight Princess. Its story would continue on the Nintendo DS, inThe Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass.
The game sees Link join forces with Captain Linebeck to save Tetra from the Ghost Ship. It did a neat job using the DS’ touch screen for sailing, and both screens for exploration. The Temple of the Ocean King also gave players a new test by combiningWW’s stealth sections with dungeon crawler-style gameplay. Any new item Link gets could open new pathways, and it offers a few safe spots for players to take breathers. Sequel or not, it’s one of the bestLoZgames around.
Many sequels basically just repeat what their prior game did, then run with it until its proverbial tires go bald. Even Nintendo has done this (e.g.New Super Mario Bros), but they’ve also tried to switch things up with some of their sequels. Sometimes they do so dramatically, likeThe Adventures of Link, and other times just slightly, likeThe Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask.
Link does everything he could do inOcarina of Time, only now he has to use his Ocarina and a collection of masks to save Termina from being destroyed by a moon within three days. It has become a classic as thearchetypical darkLoZgame. Some may preferTwilight Princess' freaky cutscenes, orWind Waker’s sad backstory, butMM’s gradually tense atmosphere, freaky horror elements, and neat mask-switching and time-manipulation mechanics made it a classic game in its own right, rather than justOoTwith more bells and whistles on it.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wildis perhaps as polarizing asWind Wakerwas, if not more so. Its free-roaming, open-world take on Hyrule, with stamina meters, dish cooking, breakable weapons, etc., was a new experience. Yet fans who grew up on the more dungeon-focused, puzzle-centric games of the past had a lot to complain about if they didn’t like the game. Especially asThe Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdomis basically moreBotW.
It’s essentially the same Hyrule map, with many of the same characters. But on top of the new settlements, islands, depths, and more, Link has new constructive powers that can be used to makea variety of Zonai devices, or escape difficult encounters before suffering a Game Over among other functions. Fans of the new formula got more to play with without it feeling like a retread ofBotW. The only question remaining is how the next game will follow on from it.
