Summary
The Legend of Zeldais one of the most beloved franchises in all of gaming history. As one of Nintendo’s flagship titles for over thirty years, the franchise has seen a lot of releases, the vast majority of them well-received. The series has never been afraid to take risks and while its timeline might be confusing, gamers of multiple generations are invested in Link and Zelda’s story as well as the fate of Hyrule.
Nintendo has made sure the franchise remains fresh by ensuring that no twoZeldagames are the same. That includes the way they look. MostZeldagames have unique art stylesand differ in graphical quality. ALegend of Zeldagame rarely looks downright bad, but some look better than others. These examples are some of the best-lookingLegend of Zeldagames, ranked not by their art styles but by how good their graphics are by modern standards.
Updated July 12, 2025, by Robbie Mitchell:Fans never have to wait too long for a new title, and, sure enough,The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdomwas released not long after this article was first published. Upon release, the game received mostly positive reviews with many critics praising its bright, almost toy-like art style. With this in mind, we’ve decided to update this article to include this newest release and rank it alongside its peers.
The originalMajora’s Maskwas released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. Graphically, it was very similar toThe Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Timefrom 1998, and some character and enemy models were even reused. For the time, it was a good-looking game but not much of a step up from its big brother.
The 3DS remake revamped those Nintendo 64 graphics using the console’s more advanced hardware. The graphics themselves were upgraded, including improved environmental textures, and the frame rate was upped to 30 FPS. More importantly, the game had enhanced stereoscopic 3D graphics. Whether 3D is a gimmick or not is down to personal opinion, but most would agree this version was a good step up and one of the best-lookingLegend of Zeldagames on the console (even if it can’t quite compete with games originally made for the 3DS). These days,Majora’s Mask 3Dis one of the best ways to play one ofthe hardestLegend of Zeldagames.
It’s no secret that the 3DS wasn’t particularly powerful, especially compared to its main competitor, the PS Vita. However, that doesn’t mean games made natively for it had to look bad. Rather than being fancy, withA Link Between Worlds, Nintendo tried to evoke nostalgia for the older games by opting for a simplified, old-school art style enhanced by stereoscopic 3D graphics.
The result was a little controversial, with some critics arguing the art style was overly simple. But graphically speaking, the game looked good. The 3D effects gave the game a cool edge and felt like less of a gimmick thanks to the mechanic that let Link merge with walls and enter a kind of 2D realm. Still, a 3DS game can’t compete graphically with those released on Nintendo’s home consoles, which means one ofthe best Nintendo 3DS games ever gets a low ranking.
The originalThe Legend of Zelda: The Windwakerwas released on GameCube in 2002. It looked better than the Nintendo 64Legend of Zeldagames and its cel-shaded graphics made up for the GameCube’s shortfalls compared to the mighty PlayStation 2.The Wind Waker HDwas a remaster for the ill-fated Wii U that scaled up the original’s 480p graphics to 1080p.
On top of the higher resolution, the HD version has a new lighting engine and improved textures all around.The Wind Waker HDis easily one ofthe best Wii U gamesand one of the better-lookingZeldagames. However, it’s also clear that it’s a simple remaster of a 480p game, meaning it just doesn’t look as good as some newer games.
The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princessmarked a move toward more traditional or “realistic” graphics. The original game wasn’t bad-looking, but at 480p on both the GameCube and Wii, it could look pretty muddy in places, and its graphics lacked detail. The Wii U version sought to fix that.
The resolution was increased to 1080p, meaning six times the pixels. Faraway objects in the game’s open areas looked much clearer and made aiming weapons easier. Smaller details were also touched up with increased details, like Link’s hair and some background textures. Other textures were replaced completely with new, more detailed ones. Fans could finally watch one oftheZeldafranchise’s darkest endings in glorious HD. The only thing holding the game back from a higher ranking here is that most of the character models and geometry kept the same polygon count as the original, making it clear this was a remaster and limiting how good it could look compared to new games.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HDis another remaster of an old Wii title. Compared to the other HD remasters, though, this one was a long time in the making. Nintendo had originally experimented with making an HDSkyward Swordremaster while buildingBreath of the Wildfor the Wii U but ended up releasingThe Wind Waker HDinstead. When they eventually releasedSkyward Sword HD, it didn’t disappoint.
Like the remasters designed for the Wii U,Skyward Sword’s resolution was increased to 1080p and the game runs at 60 FPS (most of the time). While technically still the same resolution,Skyward Sword HDjust looks and runs better than the remaster made for the Wii U.
Remakes of classic games have been a trend for a while andThe Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakeningis a great example of one done right. The game was rebuilt from the ground up for the Nintendo Switch, keeping its original top-down perspective but completely replacing the original graphics.
A lot of people love the original’s sprite-based graphics, but for the remake, Nintendo dropped them in favor of full HD, 3D graphics, and a fully modeled world. The original art style was also swapped out for a diorama-like look. Finally, the game was given fully animated cutscenes and benefited from a much broader color palette than the original. This new look might not be to everyone’s taste, but as a game built from the ground up for the Switch, it’s hard to argue the game doesn’t have some of the franchise’s best graphics.
WhenEchoes of Wisdomwas first revealed, some fans were disappointed that they weren’t getting a “full-fat” Zelda experience that would push the Switch likeTears of the Kingdomhad. But, once gamers got their hands on the game, plenty fell in love with its toy-like art style.
Not everyone had feltLink’s Awakening’snew style had fitted its story, but the same can’t be said forEchoes of Wisdom. It’s a fun, upbeat game and its art style makes the game feel like you’re playing with a literal toy box. While many of us may miss the franchise’s pixel art for its top-down adventures, the series has been shifting towards 3D graphics in these games sinceThe Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglassfor the DS.Echoes of Wisdomlooks and feels modern and is arguably the best the top-down games have looked since switching to 3D rendering.
Breath of the Wildis the kind of game that needs no introduction. It set the world alight when it was first released and almost singlehandedly made the Switch one of the best-selling consoles of all time. The game is deeply impressive for myriad reasons, including the fact it features gorgeous visuals.
A lot of gamers like to point out that the Switch (and the Wii U before it) has nowhere near the horsepower of current (or even last-generation) consoles, butBreath of the Wildproved the little console could render massive but detailed open worlds. It turns out hardware specs aren’t everything. All these years later,Breath of the Wildis still one ofthe best open-world Switch gamesand its graphics still hold up. If it wasn’t for its recent younger brother, it would proudly sit at the top of the list.
Nintendo had already pushed the Switch to its limits withBreath of the Wildso fans weren’t sure what to expect fromTears of the Kingdom. As a direct follow-up toBreath of the Wild, graphical enhancements were to be expected, but no one was sure how substantial they would be.
The answer was not very. For the most part, the games are evenly matched, butTears of the Kingdomhas a slightly better resolution, and close-up details are improved. Its water effects are also markedly better. However,Tears of the Kingdom’s graphics aren’t a home run. Its shadows can look a little pixelated and there are problems with draw distance. When playing on the Switch’s screen, these problems are barely noticeable but are more of a problem if playing docked on a big screen.The bestLegend of Zeldasequel gamehas the best graphics in the franchise, but it’s a close call. It’s likely to stay that way for future releases until Nintendo splashes out on some more powerful hardware.
