The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo’s best-selling, and in turn, most beloved & heavily guarded franchises. It has graced nearly every console since it premiered in 1986 in Japan. The one exception is the Virtual Boy but that hardly counts.
Having all that being said, usually most consoles are only lucky enough to have one, maybe two titles per system. The 3DS, on the other hand, had far more, granted that two of these games are remasters and one of them was a port from the Wii U – a very strange port at that. 3DS Zelda games make it easy to take the classics on the go, but some are more worth the cost of entry than others.
Updated October 16, 2021 by Erik Petrovich: The Legend of Zelda series is not particularly known for being readily available on every Nintendo system. The 3DS, though, offers players access to more than any other console thanks to the 3DS Virtual Console store. Older games like A Link To The Past, Oracle of Ages/Seasons, and even the black sheep of the Zelda franchise The Adventure of Link are all available as direct ports with the 3DS. While these games might not hold up graphically, they’re well worth checking out for their innovating gameplay (for the time) and for their nostalgia value for fans who remember playing them so many years ago.
8 Hyrule Warriors Legends
- Metacritic Score: 70
- 3DS Store Price: $39.99
The New 3DS line of handhelds didn’t have many exclusives but this Wii U port of Hyrule Warriors was one of them. It actually did work on normal 3DS units, but poorly. Whatever handheld one played it on, the important thing to note here is the new content. The expansion was primarily led by The Wind Waker.
The Wind Waker expansion added story bits from the game along with including Tetra, Toon Link, and King Daphnes as playable characters. Not only that but Linkle also got her own storyline. It was a good port of an already bizarre game. It’s not the best 3DS Zelda game, but it’s worth a try for die-hard Zelda fans looking for a multiplayer experience in Hyrule.
7 The Legend Of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes
- Metacritic Score: 73
- 3DS Store Price: $39.99
The Legend of Zelda series has been dabbling with multiplayer for nigh on decades now. It all began with Four Swords, which created multiple Links. That’s how most of the multiplayer Zelda games work, including Tri Force Heroes.
While interesting, none of these multiplayer outings have actually nailed multiplayer. In order to get the most out of Tri Force Heroes, one needs three friends. It can be played alone but it is cumbersome. It’s far from the best Zelda 3DS game, but at least it had Download Play options so that only one person needed the game.
6 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
- Metacritic Score: 73
- 3DS Store Price: $4.99
The second Legend of Zelda game didn’t even use the title of the first entry, unlike other games in the series. Called Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link, players are tasked with waking up the sleeping Zelda after she was cursed. It’s a brutally hard game that plays nothing like other Legend of Zelda games thanks to its side-scrolling movement and experience-based leveling.
It is one of the lowest-rated Legend of Zelda games, partially due to its difficulty, but mostly for its complete deviation from the hallowed gameplay of the first. The team quickly went back to the top-down view with A Link To The Past a few years later, but it’s still worth checking out as one of the few Zelda games for 3DS that doesn’t use the classic Zelda formula at all.
5 The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D
- Metacritic Score: 89
- 3DS Store Price: $19.99
Majora’s Mask is a divisive entry among Zelda fans. Along with being a shorter Zelda game than Ocarina of TIme, Majora’s Mask prioritized side content along with setting the game on a 72 hour in-game timer that was always counting down.
Majora’s Mask 3D sought to make the experience more accessible, arguably making it the definitive version for modern gamers. One thankfully added feature was the ability to save and fast-travel more often. While time constraints weren’t lifted (the timer is actually faster in Majora’s Mask 3D,) all the quality of life additions make this hard to notice.
4 The Legend Of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
- Metacritic Score: 91
- 3DS Store Price: $19.99
By and large, A Link Between Worlds is the best Zelda 3DS game that is its own original IP, not a port. In many ways, it too can feel like a remake as ALBW reuses a lot of A Link to the Past’s world albeit slightly altered. This game is the Majora’s Mask of A Link to the Past in other words.
Reused content aside, the ability to go 2D and explore new areas between cracks was an immersive ability which looks good in 3D to boot. A Link Between Worlds also bucked the trend for the series by adding in a shop that allowed players to rent equipment to tackle the dungeons in almost any order. The story’s twist also made a good wink to the series’ tried and true tropes.
3 The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages/Oracle of Seasons
- Metacritic Score: 92
- 3DS Store Price: $5.99 each
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons were released back-to-back for the Gameboy Color with a port released for 3DS in 2013, 12 years after the game’s original release. Both games were a “sequel” to Link’s Awakening, featuring much of the same designs and gameplay as their predecessor.
Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons are two Zelda games for 3DS that still hold up today. The only differences between the two are the colors in the game and their gameplay focus: Ages focuses on puzzles and endurance, while Seasons is all about fighting.
2 The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time 3D
- Metacritic Score: 94
- 3DS Store Price: $19.99
It was thanks to Ocarina of Time’s success on the 3DS that Majora’s Mask was even considered. The N64 original remains the best reviewed Zelda of all time on top of being in the top ten best games of all time on Metacritic. This 3DS remake is slightly below that, but scores aside, this is actually the better version. Like the Majora’s Mask edition, this game fixed some issues like expanding the inventory slot options via a simple tap of the bottom screen.
This made the Water Temple, as just one example, much easier to navigate. It also looks great on the handheld. Is Ocarina of Time really the best Zelda game of all time? Yes and no. It did a lot for the franchise, but A Link to the Past is up there as well. As for the best 3DS Zelda game, these last three are definitely worth playing while the first two have a few caveats.
1 The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past
- Metacritic Score: 95
- 3DS Store Price: $7.99
The Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past currently holds the highest Metacritic score of any Legend of Zelda game available on the 3DS, and it’s certainly up there in terms of the series as a whole. After the relative failure of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, the Zelda series was revived by this fantastic third entry.
It is a long game rife with intrigue and combat and puzzle mechanics directly inspired by the first game. It’s still held by some to be the best Zelda game ever made, despite it being nearly 40 years old now, and it’s one of the few 3DS Zelda games worth playing – even if the pixel-art graphics look a little dated by today’s standards.
