Every Zelda You Can Play on a Switch, and Where to Start

The Switch has quietly become the best place to play Zelda, between the new games, the remakes and the old ones on Nintendo Switch Online. The catch is that they're scattered across full releases and two tiers of a subscription, so it's not obvious what you can get and where.

Here's the list, grouped by how much time you'll need.

Where each one lives

How you get it	Games
Full Switch releases	Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Skyward Sword HD, Link's Awakening (2019 remake), Echoes of Wisdom
Switch Online, base plan	The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II (NES), A Link to the Past (SNES), Link's Awakening DX (Game Boy), Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons (Game Boy Color)
Switch Online + Expansion Pack	Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask (N64), The Minish Cap and A Link to the Past & Four Swords (GBA)
Switch 2 only, Expansion Pack	The Wind Waker (GameCube)

There are spin-offs too, like Cadence of Hyrule and the Hyrule Warriors games, but this list sticks to the main adventures.

Short: under 10 hours

Game	Originally	Rough length
The Legend of Zelda	NES, 1986	8 to 10 hours
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link	NES, 1987	8 to 10 hours

The original is a top-down adventure with almost no hand-holding. Zelda II is a side-scrolling action RPG and the odd one out in the series. Both are hard in the way NES games are hard.

Tip

The Switch Online versions have rewind. Nobody's checking. Use it on Zelda II.

Medium: 10 to 20 hours

Game	Originally	Rough length
Link's Awakening	Game Boy, 1993; remade for Switch, 2019	12 to 15 hours
A Link to the Past	SNES, 1991	15 to 20 hours
The Minish Cap	GBA, 2004	15 to 20 hours

Link's Awakening is on the Switch twice: the lovely toy-like 2019 remake, and the Game Boy Color DX version on Switch Online. The Oracle games, Echoes of Wisdom (2024) and Four Swords aren't in my timing notes, so I've left them off the tables rather than guess. Four Swords needs two to four players anyway.

A Link to the Past is widely considered one of the best in the series, and it's the template most of the top-down games still follow.

Long: more than 20 hours

Game	Originally	Rough length
Majora's Mask	N64, 2000	20 to 25 hours
Ocarina of Time	N64, 1998	25 to 30 hours
Skyward Sword HD	Wii, 2011; Switch, 2021	35 to 40 hours
Breath of the Wild	Switch launch, 2017	50-plus for the story, 100-plus to finish everything
Tears of the Kingdom	Switch, 2023	50-plus for the story, 150-plus to finish everything

Ocarina of Time is the one that took the series into 3D. Majora's Mask is its strange, three-day-loop sequel. Skyward Sword HD is the origin story, and on Switch you can play it with motion controls or with the buttons. Breath of the Wild reinvented the series as an open world, and Tears of the Kingdom built on it with its building and fusing.

The Wind Waker belongs here too, if you have a Switch 2.

Heads up

The N64, GBA and GameCube games need the Expansion Pack tier of Switch Online, not the base plan. And Wind Waker's GameCube version is Switch 2 only.

Still not on Switch

As far as I can tell, these still aren't officially playable on Switch or Switch 2:

• Twilight Princess
• Four Swords Adventures
• Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks (DS)
• A Link Between Worlds (3DS)

The order I'd suggest

If you're new to Zelda:

1. Breath of the Wild. The most modern and the most welcoming.
2. Link's Awakening (the 2019 remake). The classic formula, beautifully done.
3. A Link to the Past. The 2D formula at its best.

If you've played a few:

1. Tears of the Kingdom, the latest and biggest.
2. Skyward Sword HD, for the origin story.
3. Ocarina of Time, to see where 3D Zelda started.

For something to play with other people between dungeons, I've got a list of Switch games for two, four and eight. And if the older Nintendo hardware behind these re-releases interests you, the NES to Wii U field guide covers the consoles they first came out on.