Zelda Series Developmental Timeline

This is an assorted breakdown of known phases for The Legend of Zelda games. Note, this page only covers the history of the series from the paperwork or otherwise prototype forms of the final iteration. This does not include tech demos. For those, see Zelda Game Technical Demonstrations.

The Legend of Zelda
1) Rough drafts by Miyamoto/Tezuka when the game was called Adventure.

2) A period of about 5 to 7 months in 1984 when the game was being codeveloped with Super Mario Bros. as a launch title for the NES. At some point Ganon named "Hakkai" and the enemies are introduced.

3) First known preview of the game in a commercial and screenshot in manual shows Link had the choice between a Boomerang or Wooden Sword.

4) The Legend of Zelda prototype cart.

5) Game is finished, Second Quest is added.

6) It seems a two-player version of the was tossed around at some point. The only evidence for this is artwork in various promotional items that features Zelda with a Boomerang fighting Stalfos alongside Link with the Magical Sword. This could be art made specifically for the items, but the choice of item for Zelda and the frequency of the art makes it unlikely.

Adventure of Link
In a break from convention, Zelda II: AoL was created in a single phase, finishing with only what was on the start-up draft as stated by Miyamoto.

Link's Awakening
1. Several ideas were thrown around, in pre-development, including a co-op mode.

2. The final game.

DX. A color remake released after Ocarina of Time. Fixes bugs, and adds a Color Dungeon not compatible with a monochrome Gameboy, which changes depending on the dungeon you enter it between (can't be entered during a dungeon because the game determines it by your health/items possessed), and a Gameboy Printer feature.

Ocarina of Time
Ocarina of Time was produced in 5 phase. The phase in which a particular part of development took place can best be tracked by the relevance of the Dog Lady.

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Breath of the Wild
1. The reveal trailer for the game from E3 2014. Came with screenshots that shows Link's entire torso, revealing the whole design of his shirt.

2. This is the make of the game shown off at the Spike Video Game Awards 2014. Known differences include: Link's tunic has the final design with the Master Sword outline rather than the one first shown at E3 2014; Link uses a sailcloth to traverse environments; the game uses gyroscopic controls for aiming the bow; when enemies are hit, a metallic sound dings to notify you.

3. E3 2016 Demo