How Many Zelda Games Are There?

Zelda is one of the biggest franchises in gaming. It’s been around since the early days of the NES. Over time, there’s been a lot of releases in this series. If we factor in spin-offs and everything else, how many Zelda games are there is kind of a big question.

There are the mainline games everyone knows. However, Zelda has instalments made by Capcom, and Phillips, along with spin-offs that never left Japan. If you’re wondering how many Zelda games are there, we’ll run through all of the entries in the series. The main games, spin-offs, remakes, and everything else that’s been made in the Zelda series.

How Many Zelda Games Are There?

The mains series Zelda games are often thought of as the 3D instalments that have such a big gap between them on main Nintendo consoles. Although, the mains series is much wider. There are the earlier 2D games and even some others that sometimes get overlooked.

How many Zelda games are there in the mains series though? There are currently 20 if we count the upcoming Tears of the Kingdom. These are all of the main series Zelda games.

How Many Zelda Games are There?

• 1986 – The Legend of Zelda (First released on Nintendo Entertainment System)
• 1987 – Zelda 2: Link’s Adventure (Nintendo Entertainment System)
• 1991 – The Legend of Zelda Link to the Past (Super Nintendo Entertainment System)
• 1991 – Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening (Game Boy)
• 1998 – The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time (Nintendo 64)
• 2000 – The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask (Nintendo 64)
• 2001 – The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Ages (Game Boy Color)
• 2001 – The Legend of Zelda Oracle of Seasons (Game Boy Color)
• 2002 – Four Swords (Game Boy Advance)
• 2002 – The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker (Gamecube)
• 2004 – The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Adventures (GameCube)
• 2004 – The Legend of Zelda The Minish Cap (Game Boy Advance)
• 2006 – The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (GameCube)
• 2007 – The Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass (Nintendo DS)
• 2009 – The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks (Nintendo DS)
• 2011 – The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword (Nintendo Wii)
• 2013 – A Link Between Worlds (Nintendo 3DS)
• 2015 – The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (Nintendo 3DS)
• 2017 – Breath of the Wild (Nintendo Wii U)
• 2023 – Tears of the Kingdom (Switch)

These are all of the main Zelda titles, they have more of an ongoing story than some might think though. The first two games are a pair, with 2 being a direct sequel to the events of 1. Ocarina of Time also had a direct sequel with Majora’s Mask, taking place directly afterwards. Then things get complicated

Both Twilight Princess and Wind Waker are basically direct sequels to Ocarina too. Each has the events of that prior game being a major part of the plot of the game, but with each taking place in a different timeline left behind from Link’s temporal shenanigans with the Ocarina of Time.

Skyward Sword is the most detached from the rest of the series, serving as a far prequel. The most recent two games also moved much further down the timeline, but with a direct sequel, we’re once again getting a cohesive story. As you can see, there’s more to Zelda’s story than just unconnected stories with similar themes.

Are Handheld Games Spin-Offs?

When it comes to the handheld versions of Zelda that have been released since the Game Boy, it’s debatable if they’re part of the main series or not. We’ve included in the main section for how many Zelda games are there, just for a fuller picture. There are some things to think about with this though.

A lot of these were developed by companies other than Nintendo, which to some makes them spinoffs. Capcom especially developed a lot of these across handheld devices. However, since Nintendo did have pretty direct involvement, we can probably count these as part of the main series.

How Many Zelda Games are There? – Spin-Offs

If you’re wondering how many Zelda games are there, some people stop at the main series. However, there are quite a few Zelda spin-offs which have been released. These can be some odd games. Some of them are contractual obligations that basically only live as memes, and others were developed by the mainline Zelda team as a direct part of the series if one with different gameplay. These are all of the Zelda spin-off titles.

• 1989 – Zelda Game & Watch
• 1989 – The Legend of Zelda (Nelsonic Game Watch)
• 1992 – Zelda No Densetsu: Kamigami No Triforce (Barcode battler 2)
• 1993 – Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon (Phillips CD-i)
• 1993 – Link: The Faces of Evil (Phillips CD-i)
• 1994 – Zelda’s Adventure (Philips CD-I)
• 1995 – BS Zelda No Densetsu (Satallaview)
• 1997 – BS Zelda No Densetsu Inishie No Sekiban (Satallaview)
• 2006 -Freshly Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland (Nintendo DS)
• 2007 – Tingle’s Balloon Fight (Nintendo DS)
• 2007 – Link’s Crossbow Training (Nintendo Wii)
• 2009 – Dekisugi Tingle Pack (DSIWare)
• 2009 – Irozuki Tincle No Koi No Balloon Trip (Nintendo DS)
• 2014 – Hyrule Warriors (Nintendo Wii U, 3DS, and switch)
• 2016 – Picross Twilight Princess (Nintendo 3ds)
• 2019 – Cadence of Hyrule (Switch)
• 2020 Age of Calamity (Switch)

In total, that’s another 17 spin-off Zelda games!

Remakes, Remasters, and Re-Releases

That’s the answer to how many Zelda games are there just counting the actual series and spin-offs. Fans of the series have likely noticed recently though that Zelda gets a lot of remakes. Few games in the mains series haven’t had a re-do. While not every remake or remaster is all that substantial, Zelda has changed a lot with these new titles in the past.

Some remakes are complete reimaginings of the game, changing a lot of the content and making it pretty different to what came first. Although, others just smooth out some problems and make the game more accessible to modern audiences. While the scope of the changes varies, these are all of the `Zelda remakes and remasters worth considering as separate titles, we’ll be leaving out straight ports though like the GameCube Collector’s Disk and Switch online versions.

• 1998 – The Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening DX (Game Boy Color)
• 2002 – The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time Master Quest (Nintendo 64)
• 2011 – The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D (Nintendo 3DS)
• 2011 – The Legend of Zelda Four Swords Anniversary Edition (DSiWare)
• 2013 – The Legend of Zelda Wind Waker HD (Wii U)
• 2015 – The Legend of Zelda Majora’s Mask (Nintendo 3DS)
• 2016 – The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess HD (Wii U)
• 2019 – The Legend of Zelda Link’s Awakening (Switch)
• 2021 – The Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword HD (Switch)

The Grand Total – How Many Zelda Games are There?

That’s everything, all of the mainline Zelda games, spin-offs, and remakes that added substantial new content beyond a port. So how many Zelda games are there?

There are 46 Zelda games! 20 main series instalments, 17 spin-offs, and 9 substantial remakes.

That’s a huge total, especially considering we routinely get lengthy gaps between releases in the main series. With Zelda’s biggest new addition coming out very soon, it’s maybe a good time to revisit some of these old classics.