What is the best handheld zelda game

GameSpot may get a share of the revenue if you buy anything featured on our site. The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo's most beloved series, and for good reason. The adventures starring a young hero battling against evil have grown up alongside the gaming industry itself, constantly reinventing itself and having an influence on the direction of video games as a whole in the process.

For that reason the Zelda series is easily among the most revered in Nintendo's library, though some are more memorable than others.

We rounded up all of the major Legend of Zelda releases, putting aside spin-offs like Hyrule Warriors. Then the GameSpot staff came together and agreed on a consensus ranking. Here, from least to most legendary , are the best Zelda games. If you're also a fan of Nintendo's iconic plumber, check out our list of the best Mario games. For Switch game suggestions, we have roundups of the best Nintendo Switch games and best Switch games for kids.

Sign up for Nintendo Switch Online. Before there even was a Zelda mold, Nintendo thoroughly broke it. Zelda 2 gets some credit for completely rethinking what a Zelda game could be, swapping its top-down perspective for a more action-oriented side-scrolling combat system, and placing much more emphasis on RPG elements like exploring and talking to townsfolk. It bore a passing resemblance to its contemporaries like Castlevania 2: Simon's Quest. But for all of its daring experimentation, it was also often frustrating and obtuse.

There's a reason Nintendo chose to make subsequent Zelda games more based on the original than this oddball sequel. Nowadays it's mostly known for its final battle, which had Link fighting against his own shadow.

The Nintendo DS got two of its own Zelda games, but to make use of the dual-screen system you controlled Link entirely using the touch screen.

The result was a little awkward and halting, but it worked well enough once you got the hang of it. While Spirit Tracks sported some clever dungeon design, the touchscreen functionality wasn't as novel the second time around, and the limitations of navigating the world via train just didn't feel as adventurous as riding the wind on a boat.

Phantom Hourglass is the predecessor to Spirit Tracks, and it did just about everything better. It got a lot of mileage out of the Wind Waker art style, and sailing around the world was exhilarating. At the end of the day, though, touchscreen Zelda was an experiment. They pulled it off well enough but even subsequent Zelda games on the 3DS didn't follow in those footsteps, and for good reason. Skyward Sword certainly isn't a bad Zelda game, but it is the point at which the path charted by several previous 3D Zeldas started to show its age.

The pattern of exploring a dungeon to find a new powerup felt a little more rote this time around, and worse yet, the pace was criticized as achingly slow.

The graphics are the prettiest the Zelda franchise has had since The Wind Waker, and the soundtrack is a work of art.

This was a basic handheld console meant to play a single game. The game is a love letter to the classic A Link to the Past, loosely following the same story with significant changes. These changes include the introduction of Lorule , a dark counterpart to Hyrule. Link also has the all-new ability to become two-dimensional and move on walls as if he was graffiti. Nelson Chitty is a Venezuelan expat living in Argentina.

His ideal weekend is spent between leisurely playing games of Civilization VI and looking for the next seinen anime to marathon. While games such as Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess receive the most discussion, the handheld titles in the series deserve just as much praise as their console brethren.

The lowest in rank of all the handheld Zelda games, we have Tri Force Heroes. Zelda games are usually ones known for their single-player content, though, there are a few exceptions, such as Four Swords and Tri Force Heroes , that utilize multiplayer gameplay.

The game is a sequel to the excellent Wind Waker , and thus, much of the game is still spent exploring the Great Sea and the many islands it houses. To control the hero, you actually drag along the touchscreen to direct him, which is - surprisingly - a very intuitive way to control Link.

The game also featured one central dungeon that Link went back to multiple times throughout his journey. While this idea does have some potential, going through the same dungeon over and over makes the game lose some of its appeal quickly.

While overall not a perfect game, it is still a fun Zelda game that is worth a purchase. The Oracle games, two of the few Zelda titles not developed by Nintendo, are a great pair of titles. Nintendo released the original Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64 in and the game was made available on the Gamecube and Wii consoles subsequently thereafter.

The original is widely considered to be one of the best Zelda games as well as one of the greatest games of all time. It was the first game in the series to make the jump into three-dimensional graphics and stands alongside Super Mario 64 in terms of sheer innovation.

The game breathed new life into the storytelling of the franchise and has served as a blueprint for exploration and problem-solving in a 3D game environment, inspiring countless other games in the years since.

The remake also features mirrored versions of the world and dungeons and a boss challenge mode. Ocarina of Time 3D is launched to virtually universal acclaim from critics and remains one of the best-selling games on Nintendo 3DS. It serves as a fantastic entry point into the series for gamers of any age. The narrative follows Link into the world of Termina two months after the events of Ocarina of Time.

Another new mechanic is the use of masks that endow Link with unique abilities and help him to traverse Termina and overcome the obstacles in his way.