9 Best Selling Zelda Games That You Should Know Update 03/2024

best selling zelda games

The Legend of Zelda is a game series that many people know and love. It has the same level of popularity as Mario and Pokemon. With so many fans, it’s interesting to see how far the show has come. We’re going to look at the top Zelda games based on how many copies they sold.

This list will only look at how well each game sold over the life of its console. People who bought Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess at the same time will be able to see how many people bought each game at the same time. Ocarina of Time 3D and Link’s Awakening on the Switch won’t be on this list, though, so don’t expect to see them on here.

Link’s Awakening (GB) – 3.83 Million Copies

Link’s Awakening (GB)

A Link’s Awakening is one of the few Zelda games that doesn’t have Zelda herself in it. The titular hero ends up on a strange island. With the help of instruments and Wind Fish, he can only get away. An easy-to-understand title led to enough attention to make a modern-day remake. This is based on Nintendo’s reports, which show how much of a classic this game is.

Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons – 3.96 Million Copies

Even though these are two separate games, they have so many similarities and cross-compatibility that they’ve been combined into one for this list of the best games. During Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, Link changes the rules of reality in order to save powerful people from evil people. It’s possible to get a completely different ending in the game you play later if you own both of them. This is a big reason why these two games made the top 10.

Adventure of Link – 4.38 Million Copies

Adventure of Link

Second in line: Adventure of Link has a unique play style that still stands out today. Adventure of Link is a game that only has side-scrolling, platforming action. You go on a quest to stop the return of the worst thing the land has ever seen. In Adventure of Link, the gameplay is very different from the games that came before it. It helped shape the series into what we know today.

Wind Waker (GC) – 4.43 Million Copies

While its art style might not have been what fans had hoped for, Wind Waker was still a huge hit. It is important to save your friends and family by going across the sea. To do this, you set out on an adventure to visit different islands and face dangerous challenges. As the second 3D Zelda game, it improved on the mechanics that made Ocarina of Time so popular. It still has an impact on the series today.

A Link to the Past – 4.61 Million Copies

A Link to the Past

With the help of the SNES, A Link to the Past gave gamers their first taste of a big Zelda story with big worlds and different gameplay. Even today, many people say it is the best 2D Zelda game ever made. Because this game is so good, it’s no surprise that it made the top 10.

Phantom Hourglass – 4.76 Million Copies

For the first Zelda game that worked on the Nintendo DS, Phantom Hourglass used a control scheme that had never been seen before. It was one of the more unique games, too. Using the touch screen, Link would fight enemies and move through dungeons. To do this, players would tap on enemies to attack them and move forward. A lot of people didn’t like this idea, but as a Zelda game that sold more than 100 million units, Phantom Hourglass did well no matter how bad it was.

Ocarina of Time (N64) – 7.6 Million Copies

Ocarina of Time (N64)

Afterwards, we have the first 2D Zelda. Then, we have the first 3D one. For the first time in the series, there was a whole new level of combat and complicated puzzles for players to solve in Ocarina of Time. It had a lot of side quests, optional challenges, and unique items, which made it the third best-selling Zelda game and the fourth best-selling N64 game. Because this title is so well-liked, it’s not surprising that people still care so much about it.

Twilight Princess – 8.85 Million Copies

Twilight Princess came out at the right time. It came out with darker themes and a more mature take on the Zelda series just after Wind Waker came out. A great game in its own right also helped. It gave fans a new experience that still felt like Zelda. Because Twilight Princess has been the best game in this series for so long, it’s easy to see how it did so well at that.

At least, until Breath of the Wild came along.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Switch, 2017) – Sales Numbers: 24,870,000

The Legend Of Zelda Breath Of The Wild

While many people who grew up in the 90s still love Ocarina of Time, there is now a new king in town. This isn’t a bad thing. This game is the new standard-bearer for this series at least when it comes to game sales.

People have never been more into the Legend of Zelda as a whole than they are now.

In the last four years, the Nintendo Switch has sold more than 90 million units. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild has sold more than three times more units than its closest competitor on the list, and the gap is only going to get bigger.

When Breath of the Wild first came out, the Nintendo Switch sold a lot. This helped the game move a lot of units. Early on, Breath of the Wild got a lot of good reviews and a lot of people were excited about it. This helped move Switch games off the shelves when they first came out.

For reviving the series after Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild should be praised. The ‘Ocarina formula’ seemed to be done with Skyward Sword. A lot of people hoped Nintendo would change its attitude toward the series because of games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and GTA: V.

Responded in the same way that Nintendo looked at how open world games were taking over the sales market. BREATH OF THE WILD is an open-world masterpiece. It shows that nothing was impossible for Nintendo EAD, and that they could make anything.

While the game didn’t use the “Themed Dungeon” progression method that had been a big part of the series since its inception, it did have a huge number of smaller (but more difficult) puzzle-based dungeons that you could go through.

Breath of the Wild’s huge and amazing world felt like a puzzle because it was run by a fun physics system.

Breath of the Wild brought back my full attention to this series after I was disappointed with Skyward Sword. I’m not surprised that it has broken every sales record in this long-running series.

When the sequel to the game comes out, of course, I will be very excited! If you haven’t already, get a Switch and a copy of Nintendo’s new Zelda if you haven’t. To get the Switch, you have to pay for it. You can get Breath of the Wild for free.