The Legend of Zelda game is so popular that even a nongamer knows about it. Many of your friends will talk about the Zelda game for PC on social networking sites, gaming forums, etc.
The entire Zelda game series consists of 22 different titles, including 19 canon titles and three remakes. The series’ first game was launched in 1986 before some of us were born.
While the game was a massive hit, the developers never considered launching it for PC Platforms. Even the latest title of Zelda is exclusively available only for Nintendo’s gaming console. So, is there any way to play Zelda on PC?
What is The Legend of Zelda?
Zelda is an action-adventure game with a few RPG elements. You control a character named Link, who aims to save the world from various enemies.
While the gameplay is simple, some twists and turns can keep you glued for hours. The game requires you to explore the world and solve the puzzles. Also, the major selling point is the action sequences that appear out of nowhere.
Is The Legend of Zelda Available for PC?
The Legend of Zelda game series has never been available for PC platforms. The Legend of Zelda series was initially developed for Nintendo hardware.
However, some workarounds let you play the popular game series on your PC with an emulator. It’s also important to note that 19 titles have been released over the years, and each has its system requirements.
So, even if you find an emulator for Zelda, the game’s performance will largely depend on your PC’s hardware configuration. You will require a mid to high-end computer to run the most recent entries.
Zelda for PC – How To Run?
While there’s no official way to download & install Zelda for PC, there are ways to run it. It’s possible to emulate Nintendo Switch on PC and run the Legends of Zelda titles on your PC.
It’s also relatively easy to emulate Nintendo Switch on PC because many options are available. You can use emulators developed by third-party developers to emulate Nintendo Switch on PC and then run Zelda on PC.
6 Best Zelda Emulators for PC
To play Zelda on a PC, you will need two things: an emulator and a ROM file. The emulator is software that will run any Zelda series game on your PC.
The next one is The Legend of Zelda ROM, which you want to run. It’s illegal to download a ROM if you haven’t purchased the game. Downloading a ROM of A game from a third-party site is similar to pirating a movie.
Below are a few of the best Legend of Zelda emulators for PC. Let’s check out.
1. Yuzu
Yuzu is an open-source Nintendo Switch Emulator for PC that comes from the creators of Citra. The Nintendo Switch Emulator is written in C++.
If you use Yuzu, you can select between OpenGL and Vulkan Graphics API to enhance the emulator’s performance.
Yuzu emulator can easily handle almost every game available for Switch, and you can use it on Windows, Linux, and Android.
However, dumping games is complicated; for that, you need to check out the Yuzu emulator’s FAQs page.
2. Dolphin Emulator
Dolphin Emulator is not as popular as Yuzu, but it’s still one of the best emulators for emulating the Nintendo Video game consoles. Currently, it can emulate the two recent Nintendo consoles, Wii and GameCube.
By emulating these two Nintendo video game consoles on your PC, you can enjoy the games in full HD with several enhancements. While Dolphin Emulator can’t run all Zelda titles, it can run the most popular ones.
The drawback of Dolphin Emulator is that the emulator’s performance is not very stable; occasional lags, crashes, and bugs may force you to restart the game.
3. RetroArch
RetroArch is possibly the most powerful The Legends of Zelda emulator for PC. It’s one of the best free Zelda emulators you can ever use and has many features.
RetroArch is the ultimate solution for those who don’t want to install multiple emulators to run specific Zelda titles.
The RetroArch emulator works on all desktop OS, including Windows, MacOS, and Linux. Regarding game compatibility, it can easily run all console games on your PC, provided the emulator is properly configured.
4. Nestopia
Nestopia is another great and fully functional Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for PCs that can easily handle classic games.
While the interface of Nestopia may look old-school, it can easily handle The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.
The only thing that may disappoint users is that the development of Nestopia was halted in 2008. After that, another developer worked on it and renamed the NES emulator Nestopia UE.
5. Ryujinx
Ryujinx is a lightweight, experimental, and open-source Nintendo Switch emulator. Its ultimate goal is to provide excellent accuracy and performance.
The user interface is very clean, and it receives updates at regular intervals. You won’t believe it, but Ryujinx has been tested on over 4,050 tiles, of which almost 6400+ titles are considered playable.
Each can efficiently run most of the famous Zelda titles on your PC. So, if you are looking for ways to play Zelda on PC, Ryujinx could be your best pick.
6. CeMu emulator
CeMu emulator is the newest emulator on the free and open-source list. It’s a Wii U emulator released in late 2015 for Microsoft’s Windows operating system.
While the CeMu emulator is initially meant for Windows, some of its experimental builds run files even on Linux and MacOS. Since it was a new Wii U emulator, you can expect better performance than any other emulator on the list.
The emulator is pretty powerful in terms of graphical performance and can be configured to use your dedicated GPU. Regarding its compatibility with Zelda, the CeMu emulator can easily handle a few popular titles from the Zelda game series.
What are the other ways to play Legend of Zelda on PC?
Apart from the emulation, the other ways of playing Legend of Zelda on PC is from the NES streaming websites. There are numerous websites available on the web that host retro games.
The good thing about those websites is that they let you play games directly on your web browser. You are not asked to install any extension, PC program, or anything.
Just find the sites that host old retro games and check if they have titles from the Zelda Series. You can search on Google for terms like ‘Classic Nintendo Games online’ or ‘Play Legend of Zelda online,’ etc., and check the websites hosting Legend of Zelda.
Once you find those websites, you can play the games directly on your web browser. However, the site’s legality can be questionable, and you will have to deal with many ads and pop-ups.
So, these are the few best ways to download and install Zelda on a PC. If you haven’t played the popular Legends of Zelda, now is the best time to try the game. Zelda for PC won’t disappoint you, for sure. If you are stuck somewhere in the article and don’t know which Legends of Zelda emulator to install on your PC, let us know in the comments.