With the advent of the eShop and the recent 3D remake of Ocarina of Time, 3DS owners with a soft spot for our beloved teen-in-green have plenty of options when it comes to purging Hyrule and it’s outlying realms from the forces of evil.
Right now, no less than four Legend Of Zelda games are available on the handheld- and the 3DS’s backwards compatibility with the DS library adds two more to the mix. Zelda lovers across the world who purchased a 3DS before the price cut currently have six different ways of questing to their cucco-abusing, moblin-disemboweling, princess-saving hearts’ content.
This got me thinking- what Nintendo console can play the most Zelda games? Which console deserves recognition as the “Console of Zelda”?
If you list all of Nintendo’s consoles based on how many Zelda games they can play, the 3DS falls in at a humbling fifth place. In fourth is the DS Lite with the capability of playing seven Zelda games. In third is the stalwart GameBoy Advance, which, when you take its backward compatibility and the NES Classics series of rereleases into account, can play eight Zelda games, all of them 2D. When this November rolls around and Skyward Sword makes its debut the Wii will boast the ability to play nine (No, Link’s Crossbow Training doesn’t count) which puts it in second place. And at the top of the list is the Gamecube, with the ability to play thirteen Zelda games, some in multiple incarnations- making it the de facto Console of Zelda- that is, if you happen to have the Game Boy Player add-on peripheral… and a copy of the limited edition Windwaker pre-order bonus disc on hand.
But the Gamecube isn’t getting any new games, whereas the 3DS is. This puts Nintendo’s latest handheld in the unique position of potentially being able to play more Zelda games than any of it’s living room based brethren.
Follow me here.
The Four Swords freebie for DSiWare will be out this fall, and it’s only a matter of time before the duet of Oracle games hit the Gameboy Color section of the eShop’s Virtual Console.
That would bring the 3DS’s Zelda count up to nine games, surpassing the DS Lite’s seven and the GBA’s eight.
With the eventual public release of NES games on the eShop it’s a safe bet that Nintendo plans on eventually adding SNES games to the their Virtual Console lineup as well, so you can count on A Link To The Past making an appearance on your home screen at some point in the future.
That’s ten- one more than the Wii.
Nintendo has stated they have no current plans to make GBA games publicly available… yet. But with the 10 GBA freebies being gifted to 3DS Ambassadors later in the year we know this isn’t because of any technical issue. So Minish Cap, the Capcom-developed gem we’ve all come to love remains, at least for now, a possibility for the eShop.
And should Operation Moonfall prove successful (or if Nintendo realizes that Ocarina of Time’s ability to print money justifies the same 3D treatment for its sequel) we might find ourselves treated in a year or two to a romp through Termina with a 3D remake of Majora’s Mask. Fingers crossed.
That’s a potential of twelve Zelda games (Count ”˜em, TWELVE)- 75% percent of the franchise- in your pocket. On the train. On the bus. Heck, on the summit of Mount Everest if you want…at least for approximately 3.5 hours anyway (on lowest brightness).
And that’s not counting any original Zelda games that Nintendo may release on the 3DS in the future. The DS saw two- Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. The 3DS will certainly get one, but if Aonuma and R&D 3 go the same route as they did with the DS, the Gamecube could find itself dethroned.
That is, however, a hell of a lot of “ifs”.
Besides, how should one define the criteria for what constitutes the Console of Zelda (a title which, let’s face it, I just totally made up)? Is it as simple as counting the sheer number of Zelda games available to play? Is it how many games you can play out of the box without any peripherals, the ability to play the games chronologically or on the go? Or is the Console of Zelda defined by how many of the well known and more immersive Zelda adventures can be played on it?
You decide. Which console do you think deserves to be labeled The Console of Zelda?
Get Wind Waker on there and then we'll talk 🙂
Seriously, though, how big is Wind Waker on disc? 500MB? 1GB?
I have downloaded software on my iPhone that's over 1GB.
Let's get some GameCube action on the 3DS virtual console!
Wind Waker would be awesome. But it would be a retail copy for sure knowing Nintendo.
I would definitely have to say that my DSLite has the most Zelda. Aside owning every game in the series in ever re-released form (cept the Cd-i's.. we won't go there)
I like the R4 + 3 in 1. Play the GBA releases, and the NDS natively, and the NES, SNES, GB/GBC games through emulators. I know it's not legit, bla bla, but having all your games on one cart? It's something I keep hoping the 3ds will be enabled to do eventually. Not to mention the battery life totally makes my 3ds jelous. lol
Legit ways to play though? Ya, the 3ds seems to be on the fast track to winning this! I love Zelda, and so far, I'm a very happy 3ds owner. Beat Zelda 2, now I'm working on Zelda 1.. That game is harder than I remembered… lol
Definitively the Game Cube and therefore also the Wii, because of the collection disks.
And having the Game Boy Advanve Players allows you to play the capcom Zelda's plus Link's Awakening, one of the best games ever despite its huge techinical limitations.
Well, 3DS plays the best version of Ocarina. I agree with David: get Windwaker on here. Add in Majora 's Mask and Minish Cap, and 3DS will be my pick for Console of Zelda.
I still think there's a high degree of bs involved when you download a copy of gbc Zelda for dsi, and then have to either transfer it or rebuy it for 3ds. It's my game, let me have it across all systems! I know some will call me cheap, but if I can purchase angry birds on my iPhone, and share it on my wife's iPhone and my son's iPod, why can't the same apply here? When the wiiU comes, I'm sure that I'll have to either plug in my wii card or the games will remain on the old "basement system".
Great article!!
@Job
Thanks!
Yeah a portable windwaker would be beyond amazing. Boss Rush wouldn't make sense cause there already is one in the game, but a Windwaker Master Quest would be pretty friggin awesome.
What I would like on the 3ds would be the complete version of Windwaker, because two dungeons (great fish island) were canceled in order to allow a holiday release in Japan.
I keep waiting for a date on Four Swords! Nintendo is teasing me and I don't like that.
Well, the GBA plays about the same amount of games: Link's Awakening, Link's Awakening Deluxe, Oracle of Ages, Oracle of Seasons, Link to the Past/Four Swords and Minish Cap. That's between five and seven games depending on if you count Four Swords and Link's Awakening Deluxe as 'seperate'.
The Gamecube can play Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Four Swords Adventures, Ocarina of Time, Legend of Zelda NES, Adventure of Link, Majora's Mask and Master Quest, so seven or eight games.
The Wii can play Wind Waker, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, Four Swords Adventures, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda 2, Link to the Past, Master Quest and Majora's Mask, that's nine games.
So the 3DS might eventually have more Zelda games than other consoles, but it's got some competition. It all depends on Majora's Mask, Minish Cap and Link to the Past being made available, which is debatable.
As for a possible Wind Waker 3D… not sure. Wouldn't care for one with just Boss Rush. Might care a bit more for one with Master Quest, if it edited the non dungeon areas as well. Would buy one first day if the cut dungeons were put back in, or if it ended up with a similar amount to Ocarina or Twilight Princess overall, and places like Great Fish Isle as habitable again.
Meh, it would be cool, I guess.
I'm just too Zelda'd out…unless it comes with ~$20 (that's what, 3€ for you Europeans?) Amazon credit, there's no way I'm getting Skyward at launch, and I'll probably download but never beat 4 swords.
We need Minnish cap on that GBA list, though! My favorite Zelda period–I could replay it any day.
Wii conquers, quality-wise. Twilight Princess is amazing, and the special GameCube disc has Ocarina of time. Then there's Wind Waker. Skyward Sword puts it above the Gamecube.
First good article I have read in a long time in this site, considering the horrible previous apocalyptics posts about the end of Nintendo.
Good job.
If they really want to get the ball rolling on 3DS they should launch Skyward Sword on 3DS and Wii simultaneously. They could probably do a downgraded port for the 3DS