Daily Debate: Which Zelda Game Has the Best Menu Screens?

Posted on January 26 2021 by Andrew Millard

If you had to put the Zelda series into a genre, I think most people would call them adventure games. Some others would say action RPG. Yet another group might argue Zelda is a genre of its own, and deserves an eponymous category like “Metroidvania”. However you like to sort them, all of these game styles ask the player to spend time in game menus. I’d argue that complex RPGs are played in their menus as much as their action screens.

Across the series, however, Zelda games are pretty light on RPG elements. Yet they still require the player to dig into at least a handful of menus in preparation for the next fight, dungeon, or puzzle. From the classic down-scroll of The Legend of Zelda‘s subscreen, to the memorable chime of toggling Ocarina of Time‘s cube-shaped menu, Nintendo has tinkered with the series’ metagame over the decades. And if you’re going to task the player with managing one, it had better be a satisfying experience.

So, which Zelda game has the best menu and interface? Certain titles essentially share the same scheme, particularly when they appeared on the same hardware. The old top-down games with limited buttons did what they could to make item swapping quick. The N64 game menus put more emphasis on progression and collectibles. And Breath of The Wild required a good number of nesting screens to manage its huge inventory.

For me, it’s a pretty easy choice. Zelda menus (and how they are used) hit their pinnacle with A Link Between Worlds on 3DS. The fidgety stylus tapping of the DS games was tossed out of main gameplay. A Link Between Worlds kept the tapping only for ease-of-use on the bottom screen. On the lower half of the 3DS, the player can always spare a glance at the map and their current equipment. And pages of the menu can be easily swapped using a stylus or spare digit without pausing the action. In fact, the default map screen is even dynamic! During complex dungeons like the Swamp Palace, the menu will display bonus key information like which rooms are currently flooded.

For a whole generation of gaming, Nintendo was determined to make second screens a pillar of their design. Ultimately, the concept has used up its day in the sun. But for a minute, between the 3DS and the Wii U, it was easy to see why they were driving to make dual screens the standard.

So how about you? Which set of Zelda menus is the most practical, best designed, or satisfying to use? Sound off in the comments below!