The Best Zelda Games for the Nintendo Switch

After conquering Diablo with Torchlight, developer Runic Games took on Zelda with Hob, an effectively wordless, action-adventure title that lets you do a whole lot with your big, robot hand.

The Dynasty Warriors games are ho-hum affairs, as they feature repetitive, hack-and-slash action vs. idiotic enemy hordes. Slapping a Zelda face on it makes the experience better, though, in Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition, a Nintendo Switch-enhanced port of the original Wii U game.

The first Hyrule Warriors celebrated the Zelda franchise as a whole, but Age of Calamity focuses on Breath of the Wild’s world and characters. From the cel-shaded art style to the focus on gathering, weapons, and recipes, this game brings you right back to the first time you set foot in this new Hyrule. Granted, battling monster hordes isn’t quite as cerebral as BotW’s open-ended exploration, but the spirit is there.

Breath of the Wild takes more than a few ideas from Ubisoft-style open-world games, so the company returns the favor by mashing up Breath of the Wild with Assassin’s Creed Odyssey to create Immortals Fenyx Rising. Challenging puzzles, flexible RPG combat, and an ancient Greek world make this adventure soar. Switch owners can bring their save over to PC, if they want to trade portability for better graphics.

Nintendo’s online subscription services comes with an expanding library of retro games to enjoy, including all the classic Zelda games you could ask for. Play the NES original, A Link to the Past on SNES, Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask on N64, and even The Minish Cap on Game Boy Advance.

Forget A Link to the Past. The original Game Boy’s gem, Link’s Awakening, is the best 2D Zelda. On Switch, it gets a faithful remake that features improved controls, customizable dungeons, and an absolutely gorgeous, handmade art style. 2D and 3D Zelda games can coexist in peace.

Skyward Sword originally disappointed some fans with its motion controls and linear design, but it’s still a well-crafted Zelda adventure with some excellent dungeon designs. The Switch version gives the game a gorgeous HD facelift at 60 frames per second, speeds up the pacing, and provides alternate control options.

If you’re exhausted by a traditional Zelda game’s epic scope, try Minit, a quirky Zelda-like game that forces you to play in one-minute chunks before dying and restarting.

Oceanhorn was the closest that mobile gamers got to a Zelda experience, specifically Wind Waker’s nautical adventures. Still, Oceanhorn holds up, even on a system with actual Zelda games on it. The sequel ages things up for a very Breath of the Wild-style adventure, albeit a more linear one.

Okami tasks you with restoring ancient-fairy-tale Japan via a godly paintbrush. It was already one of the best Zelda games not called Zelda, so the divine wolf feels right at home on Switch.  

Re-releasing this Gamecube-era, Zelda rip-off on Switch always struck us as kind of odd. But between the nifty Egyptian setting and clever environmental puzzles, we’re glad this wasn’t lost to the sands of time.

If the fox’s sword, shield, and green outfit weren’t a big enough clue, Tunic is an indie adventure heavily inspired by old-school Zelda games. That also includes an old-school level of difficulty, but you can reduce it if all you want are the adorable vibes.

Yono is a kinder, gentler Zelda game where you play as a baby elephant on a big adventure. It’s the most precious thing.