The Legend of Zelda is an action-adventure franchise owned and published by Nintendo. The Legend of Zelda is one of Nintendo's most prominent franchises, and serves as one of their flagship titles, alongside Mario and Pokémon. A title in the franchise has been featured on every mainline console released by Nintendo.
The first title in the franchise, the eponymous The Legend of Zelda was first released in Japan for the Family Computer Disk System on February 21, 1986. Following its release globally on cartridge format for the Nintendo Entertainment System, the title was met with widespread critical acclaim and success. A sequel, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link released in Japan on January 12, 1987. Multiple entries have been released since, many of which have been met with immense critical and commercial success; many titles in the franchise are regarded among the greatest video games ever made, and the franchise's fifth entry, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, is regarded by many publications as the greatest video game ever made.
The most recent main entry in the franchise, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening is a remake of the franchise's fourth entry of the same name. The most recent overall entry in the franchise is Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is currently the best-selling entry in the franchise as a whole, and is one of the best-selling games of all time. A sequel to Breath of the Wild, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is currently in development, set for a May 12, 2023 release.
The Legend of Zelda contains two smaller series of games: Hyrule Warriors and Tingle. The former is a crossover with Koei Tecmo's Dynasty Warriors franchise. The Legend of Zelda is also a featured franchise in Super Smash Bros., debuting with the inclusion of Link in the first Smash Bros. title. The franchise has also received a television adaptation, The Legend of Zelda, which ran for one 13-episode season.