Zelda games released on wii

While all Zelda games have their merits and drawbacks, looking at how each one was received by critics at launch can help fans decide what to play next. Hyrule Warriors was initially released for the Wii U in and followed a story that exists outside of The Legend of Zelda timeline. In the game, Ganondorf splits his soul into multiple parts and plots to return to continue his rampage. It's up to Link, Zelda and other characters from throughout franchise's long history to stop him.

As its title indicates, the game uses a Dynasty Warriors approach featuring hordes of enemies and hack-and-slash combat. While the game suffers from the genre's repetitive gameplay, its fan service makes the experience worthwhile.

Thanks to the initial success of the first Hyrule Warriors , a sequel released in titled Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. Maintaining its predecessor's style, this game sets itself apart by having a narrative that actually fits into the series' canon.

Its setting helped draw more fans in, giving them a chance to learn about the world Link lived in before his century-long slumber. While it does suffer from some performance and gameplay issues, Age of Calamity was received slightly better than the previous Hyrule Warriors game. Acting as a prequel to the entire franchise, Skyward Sword follows Link and Zelda as they form the Triforce and create the kingdom of Hyrule. Some of this was addressed in the recent HD remaster for Nintendo Switch, which helps sand off some of the rough edges.

The controls were originally designed for the Wii remote, and the remaster makes mostly successful revisions to those. And to its credit, it is canonically the very first Zelda game, making it a must-play for lore lovers. The Oracle duology is technically two separate games and originally three games! But they're clearly part of a matched set, having followed the Pokemon formula and released simultaneously, with players intended to use cross-game functionality.

You can play either game individually and get a full Zelda game, but providing a linked password to either one treats the other like a sequel and provides the "true" ending.

But effectively doubling the playtime and cost with two similarly-playing games was an awkward fit compared to simply trading pocket monsters, even if the gameplay was a solid throwback to the Game Boy classic Link's Awakening.

While many Legend of Zelda games take place in their own unique time and place with only loose connections to others--taking advantage of the squishy nature of "legends"--Nintendo has started to more frequently make direct sequels.

That familiar framework served as the backdrop for Nintendo producer Eiji Aonuma to break out of the Zelda mold. Rather than the staid loop of finding equipment in dungeons and taking them on in order, this one let you play the dungeons in any order after purchasing the necessary equipment from a shady shopkeeper.

This was overtly an attempt to shake things up after fans and critics alike criticized Skyward Sword for being formulaic, and it arguably helped pave the way for the much more radical change that was to come in Breath of the Wild. The sole original Game Boy Advance Zelda game wasn't particularly revolutionary, but it was a very polished version of what a Zelda can be.

The hook for this entry was a magical cap that could shrink Link down to the size of the Minish--a tiny sprite-like race who live in the cracks and crevices of Hyrule. That mechanic makes the setting the star, as you see environments in regular size often before transferring to Minish-size to see everything around you grow gigantic by comparison.

The cap also happens to be your mouthy companion this time, and the wise-cracking cap sported more personality than previous earnest companions like Navi. Nintendo's first attempt at a portable Zelda game is still widely regarded as one of its best. A wise old owl tells him that the monsters have been acting more aggressive since he arrived, because they know he's there to wake the Windfish, who has been imprisoned by a legion of evil Nightmares.

The resulting adventure is unlike any other Zelda game, with notable cameos from Mario enemies, wacky characters like a talking crocodile, and a standalone story that tugs on the heartstrings. More recently, a Switch version revised everything from the ground up with an entirely new visual style and new quality-of-life features. After venturing into a very animated art style for Wind Waker, Nintendo went back to a more realistic take on Hyrule in Twilight Princess. This darker entry in the Zelda series features a shadow world teeming with inky blackness.

The eponymous Twilight Princess is Midna, the princess of the shadowy realm, and if that weren't dark enough, it features segments in which Link turns into a skulking wolf.

While it was a somewhat awkward transition between the GameCube and Wii eras for Nintendo, it still has some of the best 3D dungeon design and a world marked with inventive power-ups and areas to explore.

It later received an HD re-release on Wii U. The original Legend of Zelda lacks the polish of its successors, but we have to give credit to the one that started it all. The foundation laid here, from unique equipment spread out across eight dungeons to loads of obscure and well-hidden secrets to uncover, would go on to define Zelda from that point on. And while it's undeniably minimalist, that only makes it stand out that much more. It was meant to evoke the feeling of going on a grand adventure through the wilderness, and the lack of hand-holding that would come to define later Zelda games makes the world feel that much more expansive and mysterious.

A divisive GameCube game at launch has grown into one of the most revered in hindsight. Wind Waker attempted a new cel-shaded art and more cartoonish characters and environments. More radical than the visual style may have been the world, which was far from the Hyrule we all remember. Instead it took place in a flooded kingdom with sparse islands separating them, and you spent much of your time traversing between them on a small talking boat.

The colorful presentation belied ingenious dungeon design and some neat power-ups, including a glider-like leaf that was the precursor to one of Breath of the Wild's most significant traversal tools. Gamepedia support Report a bad ad Help Wiki Contact us. Explore Wikis Community Central. Register Don't have an account? Deutsch Fandom Deutsch Zeldapendium. View source. History Talk This article is a short summary of Wii.

NintendoWiki features a more in-depth article. Wii Type Home console. Nintendo GameCube. The Wii Family Edition. The Wii Mini.