10 games similar to The Legend of Zelda, a Adventure game, drawn from IGDB's similarity data. Each pick below notes the genres it shares with The Legend of Zelda.
01Shares AdventureSuper Mario World shares The Legend of Zelda's action-adventure structure and battery save feature that lets you preserve progress. Both games balance combat and exploration across expansive worlds, though Mario trades Zelda's dungeons and top-down view for side-scrolling platforming. Like Zelda, Super Mario World rewards discovery with power-ups that expand your abilities and secrets hidden throughout its interconnected levels.
Games like Super Mario World →
02Shares AdventureBoth games are foundational 8-bit action adventures that prioritize exploration and combat through hostile environments. The Legend of Zelda emphasizes a continuous world with secrets to uncover, while Super Mario Bros. structures discovery through level progression and hidden passages. Each game tasks the player with rescuing a princess from an evil ruler, driving the narrative forward as you navigate dangerous terrain filled with enemies and obstacles.
Games like Super Mario Bros. →
03Shares AdventureBoth games center on action-adventure exploration across open worlds filled with secrets and hostile environments. Like Zelda, Borderlands 3 emphasizes discovery and combat as you traverse distinct regions seeking powerful objectives, though it trades top-down dungeons for first-person planetary exploration. Each game structures progression around acquiring new abilities and gear that unlock access to previously unreachable areas, rewarding curiosity and experimentation.
Games like Borderlands 3 →
04Both games share an open-world structure where exploration drives the adventure, with Chrono Trigger's overworld connecting multiple time periods as freely as Zelda's continuous landscape. Each emphasizes discovery and secrets alongside combat, rewarding players who venture off the beaten path. Both feature a hero assembling allies to confront an apocalyptic threat, and both have earned fan translations extending their reach across languages.
Games like Chrono Trigger →
05Shares AdventureBoth games pioneered exploration in expansive worlds where you discover secrets and hidden power-ups that permanently enhance your character. The Legend of Zelda introduced the continuous world you could freely roam; Super Mario 64 applies that same philosophy to three-dimensional spaces filled with optional challenges and collectibles. Each rewards curiosity and experimentation over linear progression, balancing action with the joy of uncovering what lies beyond the next corner.
Games like Super Mario 64 →
06Shares AdventureZelda II continues the Triforce quest across a dangerous overworld filled with hidden dungeons, maintaining the battery save feature that lets you preserve progress. Both games balance action with exploration and feature a fairy companion. While Zelda II shifts some combat to side-scrolling encounters, it preserves the core loop of locating dungeons, defeating bosses, and collecting items that expand Link's abilities.
07Shares AdventureBoth games balance action and fantasy adventure across interconnected worlds that reward exploration. The Legend of Zelda pioneered the continuous world with secrets to uncover, while Final Fantasy structures its journey through connected dungeons and towns on a world map. Both use battery save to preserve progress, and each has inspired countless fan translations across languages, cementing their status as foundational adventures.
08Shares AdventureBoth games center on action-driven fantasy adventures across open worlds designed for exploration and discovery. The Elder Scrolls VI continues the tradition of freely exploring vast landscapes to uncover secrets and dungeons, much like Zelda's approach to balancing combat with environmental puzzle-solving. Where Zelda pioneered continuous worlds with permanent character progression, Elder Scrolls VI builds on that foundation with its own expansive, player-directed fantasy setting.
09Shares AdventureBoth games send a young hero on an epic quest to gather power from eight distinct locations before confronting a dark force threatening the world. Like Zelda, EarthBound balances action with exploration and discovery, letting players freely roam strange lands to uncover secrets. Both use battery save to preserve progress, and share that sense of adventure through a colorful, fantastical world filled with quirky encounters.
Games like EarthBound →
10Shares AdventureMajora's Mask shares the action-adventure core and fantasy setting of the original, with exploration and puzzle-solving at its heart. Both games feature a fairy companion and battery save functionality. Majora's Mask expands on the Zelda formula with a three-day cycle that structures discovery and NPC interaction, creating a more densely packed world where secrets and optional quests reward curiosity.
Games like The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask →
Frequently asked
10 games similar to The Legend of Zelda: Super Mario World, Super Mario Bros., Borderlands 3, Chrono Trigger, Super Mario 64, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Final Fantasy, The Elder Scrolls VI.
Most of these games share Action, Fantasy, Adventure and Open world with The Legend of Zelda, based on IGDB's similarity data. Each pick has a short note explaining what it has in common with The Legend of Zelda.