Episode 27 - The Legend of Zelda: Retrospective and Complete Series Chronology (Preparing for Tears of the Kingdom)

The (New) Joy of Gaming Podcast - Episode Twenty-Seven
The Legend of Zelda: Retrospective and Complete Series Chronology (Preparing for Tears of the Kingdom)

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On this episode of The Joy of Gaming Podcast, we are getting ready for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in the most complete way we could think of: by looking back and tracing the entire chronology of The Legend of Zelda series. We track the series’ origins on the NES all the way through Breath of the Wild on Switch, discussing each game in release order and also exploring its place in the overall series chronology. So if you have always wondered how the various mainline Zelda titles are connected, this episode has the answers.

After all, in 2013, two years after the release of Skyward Sword, Nintendo released the Hyrule Historia, from Dark Horse Books - an epic tome that finally revealed the official order of events for every game in the Zelda franchise. So for our journey, we start with this book, first walking through the three branching paths of the timeline at a high-level before zooming-in to see where each mainline game fits into the overarching narrative. 

And once we understand the chronology at a high-level, we travel back to 1986 and the original The Legend of Zelda to begin our complete series retrospective, game-by-game and memory-by-memory. So join us, as we celebrate one of the most storied franchises in all of gaming, and prepare for the next epic chapter in Link and Zelda’s adventures. 

Run of Show:

00:00 - Introductions / Our History with the Series 

10:39 - Background - The Legend of Zelda Chronology Explained (Hyrule Historia)

• Legend of the Gods and the Hero of Time
  • The Hero is Successful
    • Adult Era / Ganondorf Sealed
    • Child Era / The Sacred Realm Protected
  • The Hero is Defeated 

21:58 - The Legend of Zelda - Series Retrospective 

Mainline Series in Release Order: 

• The Legend of Zelda (JP - Famicom Disk System - The Hyrule Fantasy: Zelda no Densetsu - 1986; NA & PAL - NES - 1987; Battery save version in Japan - Famicom - 1994)
  • NES Classic Series (Gameboy Advance; JP, NA, PAL - 2004)
    
• Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (JP - Famicom Disk System - 1987; NA & PAL - NES - 1988)
  • NES Classic Series (Gameboy Advance; JP & NA - 2004; PAL - 2005)
    
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (SNES; JP - 1991; NA & EU - 1992)
  • Gameboy Advance w/ Four Swords (NA - 2002; JP & EU - 2003); Four Swords Re-released on DSiWare (Four Swords Anniversary Ed. - 2011)
    
• The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Gameboy; JP, NA, EU - 1993)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX (Gameboy Color; JP & NA - 1998; EU - 1999)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Remake for Switch - 2019)
    
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64 - 1998; iQue Player (CHN) - 2003)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Master Quest (GameCube; JP - 2002; NA, EU & AU - 2003) - Two-Game Bonus Disc!
  • The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS - 2011)
    
• The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask (N64 - 2000)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask 3D (3DS - 2015)
    
• The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons & Oracle of Ages (Gameboy Color - 2001)
  
• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (GameCube; JP - 2002; NA, EU & AU - 2003)
  • The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD (Wii U - 2013)
    
• The Legend of Zelda Collector’s Edition - Promotional Disc (GameCube - 2003)
  • Includes 4 Classic Games! (The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II, Ocarina of Time, and Majora’s Mask)
    
• The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures (GameCube; JP & NA - 2004; EU & AU - 2005)
  
• The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (Gameboy Advance; JP & EU - 2004; NA & AU - 2005)
  
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (Wii - Nov. 2006; GameCube - Dec. 2006; Nvidia Shield TV (CHN) - 2017)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Wii U - 2016)
    
• The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS - 2007)
  
• The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks (DS - 2009)
  
• The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (Wii - 2011)
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD (Switch - 2021)
    
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (3DS - 2013)
  
• The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (3DS - 2015)
  
• The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (Wii U & Switch - 2017)
  
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (Switch - May 12, 2023)
  
  

02:22:30 - The Legend of Zelda - Spin Off Titles

02:26:50 - Final Questions and Thoughts

• When did Nintendo Really Start Thinking about the Official Timeline?
• Recommended Games to Play First
• What a Journey