While every mainline Legend of Zelda entry is built on a familiar foundation, there is always one major and a few minor gameplay mechanics included in each game that separates it from the rest. Sometimes a mechanic is so good that it makes its way into the hands of many Links across subsequent titles, and other times it remains a distinctive characteristic of the entry from which it came.
In a way, it’s these mechanics that really make the Zeldaseries stand out from the crowd. Without the best of the best of them, Link’s adventures would probably be a lot less discernible from the many, many other action-adventure/action RPG titles out there.
10 Z-Targeting – Multiple Games
Before the Zelda franchise went 3D, it was fairly easy to keep track of an opponent’s movements and remain in a good position during battle. With the advent of three-dimensional gaming, however, battling could easily have gotten weird, wonky, and downright unpleasant if it weren’t for the brilliantly simple Z-targeting mechanic.
While Ocarina of Time was the title in which this literal game-changing mechanic was introduced, the feel was perfected in The Wind Waker. Few games on planet Earth offer a smoother and more satisfying way to square off against enemies.
9 Spin Attack – Multiple Games
The Spin Attack is one of the longest-tenured mechanics in Zelda history. It’s a simple way to add some power, technique, and fun to any Moblin rendezvous. With it has come a few different variations of power-ups for the classic move, like Ocarina of Time and Majora’s Mask’s Magic Spin Attack and the Skyward Strike Spin Attack in Skyward Sword.
While combat has never really been this franchise’s bread and butter, it’s moves like this one that manage to make it a memorable aspect of the games nonetheless.
8 The Hookshot – Multiple Games
Acquiring an item that can open up the world to even more exploration is one of the great joys of Zelda, and the Hookshot is easily one of the best ways to experience that joy. This classic item isn’t just incredibly useful, it’s also a lot of fun to use.
Much of the Zelda franchise is based around careful thinking and puzzle-solving, and items like this one add a much-needed shot of adrenaline to it. It can pull players into uncharted territory, help them avoid danger, or help them grapple onto useful items and drop them right in front of Link’s feet.
7 Young Link/Adult Link – Ocarina Of Time
The Legend of Zelda has always found clever ways to expand its world and the possibilities within it without literally expanding the world. A Link to the Past, for example, had the Dark World which was essentially a simple reworking of the original game map that in turn doubled the size and scope of the game.
The ability to traverse time in Ocarina of Time offered a similar expansion of the game with the added touch of slightly different character abilities, not to mention an interesting storytelling device. It may have been the pinnacle of this sort of game mechanic, fittingly enough, as many consider this game the pinnacle of the series.
6 Wall Merging – A Link Between Worlds
Part of the fun with every Zelda entry is in seeing just how creative Nintendo can get with their centerpiece gameplay mechanic. Fans may love, hate, or feel totally apathetic about the central concept when they first hear about it, but far more often than not by the game’s end they are impressed at what was done with it. The Wall Merging mechanic in the 3DS’s A Link Between Worlds is a great example of this.
This simple mechanic is deceptively deep. It can be used to enter otherwise inaccessible areas, sneak up on or avoid certain enemies, take on all kinds of new obstacles, and more. The added wrinkles it offers to the gameplay are exactly what makes Zelda remain compelling after all these years. With the 3DS shop now closed, hopefully this one gets a port.
5 The Three Day Cycle – Majora’s Mask
Sure, the whole everything-is-timed aspect of Majora’s Mask was not every fan's cup of tea, and it’s one of the reasons many consider this title among the hardest Zelda entries there are, but it’s hard to deny just how ambitious and interesting the whole Three Day Cycle concept was.
Battling the clock over and over again while slowly building up the arsenal needed to take on Majora was already cool in a Groundhog’s Day sort of way, but the mechanic also completely revamps the game in a way that no other mechanic has ever really done before or since.
4 Sailing – The Wind Waker
Exploring the map and finding ways to progress further and further through it is one of the most essential components of any Zelda game, and few if any have absolutely nailed that aspect of the series like The Wind Waker, and that’s thanks to the central mechanic: sailing in The King of Red Lions.
Taking to the seas in The Wind Waker offers players a sense of wonder and an urge to wander that hasn’t really ever been replicated in another game just yet. Breath of the Wild’s expansive open world is not entirely dissimilar, but it’s so large that many parts of it are just (breathtaking) scenery, while every square on the map in The Wind Waker offers something new, intriguing, and potentially dangerous.
3 The Minish Cap – The Minish Cap
The Zelda handhelds don’t necessarily get as much love as their console siblings, but they’re pretty much all great games, and The Minish Cap is one of the best of them all. The eponymous cap from this title is also a great little mechanic.
Instead of expanding the game world by offering a Dark World or Lorule mirror map, the Minish Cap allows Link to, among other things, shrink down so that he can access different parts of the original map. This mechanic didn’t just offer some interesting puzzle-solving, either. It also gave players a cool Honey, I Shrunk the Kids perspective shift every time they used it.
2 Wolf Transformation – Twilight Princess
Some Zelda gameplay mechanics are impressive because of how clever they are and how much they transform the familiar game formula. Others are impressive because they’re just kind of awesome. The wolf transformation mechanic in Twilight Princess falls more into the latter category.
Sure, it’s an integral part of the storyline, and it’s woven into the gameplay fairly masterfully, but most players would probably admit that the best thing about this mechanic is that it’s just really, really cool for Link to turn into a wolf.
1 Advanced Combat Techniques – Breath Of The Wild
Breath of the Wild shook things up in various ways, eschewing much of the traditional formula for a more modern open-world approach that still managed to retain the essential flavor of Zelda.
One of the simpler yet most effective ways Nintendo tweaked the gameplay was by adding some layers to the combat through the variety of weapons available, the parrying techniques, added mobility, flurry attacks, and more. The enhanced combat offers a whole new dimension of gameplay without straying all that far from what makes its predecessors so special.