Every Zelda Game Ranked By Difficulty

Released alongside the GBA remake of “A Link to the Past,” “Four Swords” wasn’t much of a fully fledged adventure on its own, but rather a multiplayer add-on to the game. However it does still feature a story, albeit a paper-thin one, and is considered a mainline game in Zelda canon. As the first “Zelda” to feature multiplayer gameplay it focused on two to four players making their way through randomly generated dungeons as quickly as possible in a rupee gathering bonanza. This meant that a lot of the subtlety and puzzle solving the series is known for didn’t have a place in the quick paced competitive collaboration and made for a pretty breezy experience.

It must be said that “A Link Between Worlds” does provide a few intellectually stimulating puzzles. However the ease with which many of the game’s enemies could be dispatched, and the sheer amount of powerful items available to Link make it one a bit of a walk in the park. The game also gave the player tremendous freedom in how they completed the game, with numerous options for the order of the dungeons to be completed. While this freedom was refreshing it also meant that the difficulty often leveled off. Despite its somewhat breezy gameplay, the game remains a fun throwback to “A Link to the Past.”

Like a number of other Zelda titles for the DS “Spirit Tracks” wasn’t particularly challenging. Serving as a follow-up to “Phantom Hourglass,” and by extension “The Wind Waker” the game swapped out the vast and freely explorable sea for an on rails experience… literally. The decision to make travel more linear and less freeform than its direct predecessors certainly lowered the difficulty curve. Similarly many players found the combat less trying than past games. However, the puzzles were often praised as compelling, as was the decision to make a playable Zelda part of solving those puzzles. Her ability to possess the Phantoms helped set it apart in Zelda gameplay, with a playable Zelda coming long before “Echos of Wisdom.”

The follow up to the original multiplayer Zelda title did add a bit of complexity to the formula of four Links working in unison to slash their way through Hyrule. That being said, it lacked the depth of traditional Zelda games. The campaign, where players make their way through eight stages, each with a boss waiting at the end, feels more in line with Nintendo’s other flagship franchise Mario. Due to the fast paced gameplay, traditional Zelda dungeons that have to be puzzled out are absent. In fact, the most difficult thing about this game may have been finding three other friends that also had link cables for their Game Boy Advances.

Thanks to the hardware on which it was played, the final piece of the Zelda multiplayer trilogy was able to ditch the cables for some wireless play. This meant that the game could be played with friends locally or via matchmaking online with people from all over the world. This didn’t make the gameplay any easier however. In fact a few elements, namely the amount of players lowering from four to three, and a shared health bar made things slightly tougher. It also made the game less competitive than either “Four Swords” game, requiring players to be mindful of each other’s damage to survive.

The incarnation of Link in “TP” is without a doubt one of the strongest ever seen, having a number of impressive abilities and an absolute treasure trove of overpowered items. He even learns a number of powerful abilities from the Hero's Shade, making this Link an absolute beast, pun intended. While these items and power-ups did make traversing the game’s stellar dungeons a blast to make your way through as a player, they do also make things considerably easier. The bosses in particular, while immaculately designed with multiple fun stages, are relatively easy to take down with whatever the particular dungeon’s key item is.

One of the less popular Zelda titles on the list, “Minish Cap” serves as a great entry point for new Zelda players, particularly ones looking for a 2D or top-down game. It featured many of the hallmarks of classic Zelda games, including great dungeons with some fun puzzles. However, the one main complaint to an otherwise critically praised game is the length of those dungeons. The game features only six dungeons, many of which could be completed relatively quickly. While the game’s side quests do help to beef up the playtime a bit, for veteran players this one was over too quickly to rank any higher on the list.

By any metric “Tears of the Kingdom” is the most expansive and open world Zelda title, effectively tripling the already huge world from its predecessor, “Breath of the Wild.” Players could indeed get lost in the massive world for countless hours before ever reaching Ganondorf hiding in the depths beneath Hyrule Castle. On the other hand, they could skip past most of that and power to the ending quickly, making this entry a difficult one to place. While that multi-pronged final showdown isn’t exactly for the faint of heart, those that did complete the game’s story would be rewarded with powerful buffs from the allies Link acquired along the way.

Generally known for taking a step down in terms of difficulty from the N64 games, the Gamecube titles might not be the most challenging, but neither are they a cakewalk. The game’s focus on exploration helped set it apart in an era before open world gameplay was popular. While its level design was praised, much of the game's more tricky sections came in trying to navigate the Great Sea, with only a sassy red boat and some less than accurate Fishmen to guide Link. While it may represent a tipping point into easier games being produced going forward, this one still offers enough challenge to place it close to the middle.

A direct sequel to “Wind Waker,” although switching from console to handheld, “Phantom Hourglass” mirrored “WW” in a number of ways, including the difficulty curve. That isn’t to say there weren’t a few surprises thrown in, as any good Zelda game should have. Being the first in the series to be released for the DS it utilized the unique hardware in ways only a Zelda game could. Puzzles involving the dual screens and even the built-in microphone were a new challenge for players. The second screen did also make navigating the Great Sea a bit easier thanks to the added map.

This is another one that is difficult to place simply because of the freedom afforded to players. If you wish you could terrorize the denizens of Ganon, slaying every Hinox and battling each Lynel you meet. Alternatively you could run from every Moblin camp you stumbled across and instead enjoy the serene beauty of Hyrule’s immaculate landscape. The game eschews traditional dungeons for mini-dungeons known as shrines which offer interesting puzzles and challenges. The four divine beasts also require a good amount of ingenuity to solve. How easy or difficult the endgame is all comes down to how a given player has progressed through the adventure, with the abilities from the four champions helping significantly.

While “Twilight Princess” was technically a launch title for the Wii, it was made as a GameCube title and was primarily a port to the newer system. Therefore it didn’t utilize that console’s rather unique control scheme to the fullest extent. “Skyward Sword” on the other hand was developed with the Wii in mind from the jump and its in depth motion controls reflected this. Temples puzzles and boss battles were made with the wiimote and nunchuck as a sword and shield or bow and arrow. Even for the ever innovating Zelda franchise, this was unique, and as many would point out, getting those controls down was no small feat. Those that persevered however were rewarded with one of Zelda’s best stories.

While perhaps a bit archaic by today’s standards, it's nothing short of a miracle that the controls for the first three-dimensional Zelda title handled so well. That meant both experienced Zelda veterans from the 2D era and kids playing for the first time could be fully immersed in the gameplay. Its three child dungeons followed by five adult dungeons, plus Ganon’s Castle, provided a great difficulty curve for gamers with things starting easy, and gradually becoming more daunting. The z-targeting system and the addition of Link’s companion fairy Navi meant that some things were less challenging in 3D. However, the new dimension of the game opened the floodgates of possibilities for complex puzzles not possible in past games.

Originally arriving on the black and white Game Boy in 1993, Link’s Awakening received two remakes. The first added color and an additional dungeon in ‘98, and in 2019 a completely revamped version arrived for the Switch. The second remake did make things a tad easier with the shield no longer taking up an item slot and other improvements but it still provided a good challenge. Xref The original however, was even more challenging, partially because it was the first Zelda to be released for a handheld system. Being the bizarre game that it was, “LA” featured unique enemies and challenges which helped up the difficulty. It even introduced the now standard item trading sequence, giving players an additionally long-running challenge.

With the massive improvement in hardware from the NES to the Super Nintendo, “Link to the Past” was able to flesh out the world of Hyrule in ways not before possible. This included a more vibrant and interesting overworld filled with NPCs brought to life with much improved graphics and smoother gameplay. While things like Link being able to finally move diagonally, rather than in just four directions, made the game slightly less overbearing, it was still plenty difficult. One way it kept the difficulty up was bosses that required much more timing, strategy, and specific items to defeat, including perhaps the toughest iteration of Ganon to date.

Reminiscent of “Link’s Awakening” in many ways, the pair of “Oracle” games added an extra wrinkle of difficulty via their unique gimmicks. Using either the Rod of Seasons or the Harp of Ages, depending on the game, Link must manipulate the overworld to progress. The ability to either switch between the four seasons or travel between the distant past and present made for a number of tricky roadblocks for Link to overcome. The dungeons were equally tough, as while “LA” had rooms fitting on a single screen, these games expanded the scope making for some tough battles where bosses would disappear from view. There was even an extra reward and challenge for players that beat both games with a secret ending and boss battle.

On the surface the second “Zelda” for the N64 wasn’t necessarily more difficult than your average 3D Zelda game. In fact with only four dungeons it might seem easier on the surface. What truly set it apart was the three day system, giving players a strict time limit. If they had not yet beaten a dungeon, or completed a sidequest by the end of the third day they would be forced to lose their progress, either saving and resetting, or choosing to let the moon crash and destroy the world. Even the inverted song of time could only delay things temporarily. However, these challenges were well worth the rewards, as “Majora’s Mask” is one of the most unique and fascinating titles in Zelda’s canon.

Going all the way back to the very beginning, completing the original “Zelda” was fairly arduous. This was thanks in no small part to the number of things hidden from the player with only vague and cryptic clues from strange NPCs to guide Link. Players, particularly in those early days were encouraged to make their own maps and share the game’s secrets with friends. Left to their own devices, players could often become lost in the labyrinthine overworld for hours until they found the right bush to light on fire. Perhaps even harder were the later dungeons, often teeming with untold numbers of resilient foes. Those that were able to uncover the mysteries and slay the monsters however achieved something truly epic.

The black sheep of the Zelda family in a number of ways, “Zelda II” was a punishingly difficult game. Unlike the first Zelda, and every one to follow for that matter, “Adventure of Link” was a true RPG featuring things like XP and learned spells. The game alternated between a large overworld and side scrolling sections where Link would have to make his way through dungeons battling challenging enemies with a comically small sword. Defeating even relatively commonplace enemies required precise timing, and the uninitiated could take huge amounts of damage at every turn. Even for the most experienced and leveled up players, its bosses, like the near unkillable Thunderbird, are challenging in a way nothing in Zelda comes close to.

Which Zelda game made you afraid to go alone? Let us know in the comments below!