As of today, and until Nintendo comes up with an alternative, the only way to play The Legend of Zelda saga on mobile devices is through emulators of older consoles. With the recent release of Tears of the Kingdom, we're eager to dive into this iconic franchise, so we're going to show you the most recommended ways to experience it on your Android device.
How to Play Zelda on Mobile
The Legend of Zelda is one of the few series that Nintendo hasn't released a mobile game for. That doesn't mean we can't access a huge number of classic titles from the franchise, though — virtually every game, from the original to the Wii versions, can be played on Android thanks to classic console emulators (ROMS of the games not included). Here are the best options as of today:
How to Play Classic Zelda Titles from NES, SNES, and Game Boy on Android?
If we want to start playing The Legend of Zelda through its classic parts—many of which are still popular today—we can do so thanks to emulators like RetroArch . This application will allow us to run ROMS of NES games like the original The Legend of Zelda, from 1986, as well as the legendary The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on the SNES , released in 1991, and even the original version of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, released in 1993 for the Game Boy .
Majora's Mask and Ocarina of Time on mobile thanks to Nintendo 64 emulators
In the Nintendo 64 catalog , we find two real gems of the saga The Legend of Zelda — both The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask can be played on mobile devices thanks to emulators like Mupen64Plus FZ Edition , compatible with these two classic titles that you should not miss if you have even the slightest interest in the saga.
The best Zelda titles on Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS on your mobile device
There are a lot of quality The Legend of Zelda titles on recent Nintendo handhelds. On the Nintendo DS — which can be emulated on portable devices with the NDS Boy! — we have titles like The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass or The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks , while on the Nintendo 3DS — with the most recommended emulator being Citra Emulator — you shouldn't miss at least The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds .
Play Wii and GameCube Zelda titles on Android
Thanks to the Dolphin emulator , we can run ROMS of Zelda titles for Wii and GameCube on mobile devices. This means that we can play famous and important titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess , released in 2006 for both Nintendo consoles, or The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, released in 2011 only for Wii.
The great thing is that if you don't want to install too many emulators on your device, just one such application is enough because it gives access to the best parts of the saga: the Wii has re-released many classic titles from the NES, SNES and Nintendo 64 , so you can easily emulate from a single application.
Can Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom be played on mobile?
While game emulation has come a long way in recent years, the reality is that it still depends heavily on the power of the device the game is being emulated on. Playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on mobile will require a Nintendo Switch emulator for Android , and despite encouraging efforts like DamonSwitch, this is still far from being truly useful. It may be possible in the future, but for now it is not recommended.