Whereas the princess has remained the titular character of the famed Legend of Zelda collection because the begin, she’s hardly ever ever been the protagonist. That spot has been reserved for the hero, Hyperlink. That’s all about to vary.

With Echoes of Knowledge placing Zelda heart stage because the playable protagonist, you may be curious as to the place else you’ll be able to play as Princess Zelda. Whereas that is the primary time she’s been playable in a mainline Zelda title (effectively, barring one unusual exception), she’s been playable in loads of video games. Right here is each single one in every of them.

Tremendous Smash Bros

If you consider a playable Princess Zelda, that is probably the place your thoughts goes. The Princess of Hyrule has been on the roster of Tremendous Smash Bros since Melee was launched for the Recreation Dice. Princess Zelda primarily makes use of magic as her transfer set, capturing fireballs and teleporting across the stage. 

You possibly can even play as her alter ego from Ocarina of Time, Sheik, within the recreation. Whereas initially Sheik was out there solely when reworking after selecting Zelda, the 2 are separate characters now.

Hyrule Warriors

A derivative of the primary collection, Hyrule Warriors is a Dynasty Warriors-type hack and slash the place you’ll play as an enormous number of Zelda characters preventing to save lots of Hyrule from evil. One in every of these characters is, in fact, Princess Zelda herself, who makes use of her rapier and highly effective magic to assist save her kingdom. 

Hyrule Warriors additionally permits you to play as loads of different beloved characters from the collection, equivalent to Impa, Tingle, and even Ganondorf himself. Because the recreation is exterior the timeline, characters from varied Zelda video games are all right here. The musou motion recreation has even been up to date so you’ll be able to play it on the Nintendo Change.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity

Not like the unique, Age of Calamity takes place in an alternate timeline throughout Breath of the Wild. Which means that loads of characters from the BOTW are playable, together with Princess Zelda. She’s alongside an enormous solid that additionally contains the 4 Champions and the Korok Hestu.

Whereas initially utilizing features from the Sheikah Slate to combat off mobs, (spoiler alert) she does finally unlock her sealing energy all through the course of the story and is ready to use her magic to combat. She’s a serious participant in each Hyrule Warriors video games, however this one lets her actually shine.

Zelda: Wand of Gamelon

That is one Nintendo would love nothing greater than to bury, but it surely merely received’t die. Wand of Gamelon is a Philips CD-i unique launched in 1993 that stars Princess Zelda as she rescues the land of Gamelon from the evil forces of Ganon. If you happen to’ve by no means performed this, good. 

This recreation solely exists within the public consciousness now as a gag, because it’s hilariously dangerous. The cutscenes look straight out of MS Paint, the voice appearing is dangerous, and the gameplay is extremely wonky. Nonetheless, it was the very first time players might ever play because the titular Princess Zelda. Anybody enjoying this recreation now’s probably doing it solely to see the cutscenes which have been used as fodder for numerous YouTube movies.

Zelda’s Journey

Surprisingly, a observe as much as Wand of Gamelon was launched the place you as soon as once more performed as Princess Zelda. Nonetheless, this title is way extra obscure and one way or the other even worse. This time, Hyperlink is the one captured and Zelda should save him from Ganon.

The sport oddly options live-action cutscenes and extremely dangerous top-down-style gameplay. Whereas Wand of Gamelon and its counterpart Hyperlink: Faces of Evil are remembered fondly for being humorous, Zelda’s Journey doesn’t get this therapy. Most Zelda followers would favor it’s misplaced to time, irrespective of how a lot we need to play as Princess Zelda.

Cadence of Hyrule: Crypt of the NecroDancer

Cadence of Hyrule is a rhythm recreation from the Crypt of the NecroDancer collection, this time that includes The Legend of Zelda. You possibly can really play as both Hyperlink or Zelda as you save Hyrule as soon as once more from the forces of evil, together with just a few different characters equivalent to Cadence herself.

On this recreation, Zelda is ready to use all of Hyperlink’s typical weapons and devices, like bombs, arrows, and even his hookshot. You possibly can even go a majority of the sport without having to play as Hyperlink in any respect.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Knowledge

For the primary time ever, Princess Zelda is the star of a mainline recreation in Echoes of Knowledge. It’s not a derivative, it’s not a DLC, it’s the actual deal. With Hyperlink gone lacking after mysterious voids pop up in Hyrule, it’s as much as Princess Zelda to rescue him and save her kingdom.

On this recreation, she makes use of the Tri Rod as her essential weapon, which may create duplicates of each merchandise she learns, from tables to monsters. You’ll presumably spend the complete recreation controlling the Princess of Hyrule as Hyperlink takes a backseat and waits for her heroic rescue.

I’m hopeful that Nintendo will proceed within the route they’ve been going, making the Princess of Hyrule a extra outstanding determine within the collection and even turning into the primary protagonist. Nothing in opposition to the hero, however it’s referred to as The Legend of Zelda, not The Legend of Hyperlink.