Although The Legend of Zelda series may be synonymous with Nintendo, there are at least three Zelda games that never appeared on a Nintendo console. Here's everything to know about the Legend of Zelda games that didn't appear on Nintendo consoles, and why these games appeared on a different platform instead.

For the most part, The Legend of Zelda series has always been exclusive to Nintendo. It's one of Nintendo's hottest IPs, so it might seem strange that a few of the games never actually made it to a Nintendo console in the '90s. While there are still some 16-bit Zelda games that never left Japan, the reasons for these titles never making it to Nintendo's own consoles has nothing to do with localization.

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Link: The Faces of Evil, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, and Zelda's Adventure were all games that appeared on Phillips' CD-i platform. Nintendo's partnership with Phillips CD-i is notorious for spawning some of the worst Mario and Zelda titles of all time. While this attempt to get into the world of CD-ROMs didn't pan out for Nintendo, it also meant these three Zelda games never made it to Nintendo consoles.

Why The Legend Of Zelda CD-i Games Never Made It To Nintendo Consoles

Link laughs at Zelda in Animation Magic's Legend of Zelda game.

The CD-i Zelda games are famously terrible. They're the source of numerous Zelda memes, and they were a pretty big departure from the rest of the series at the time, as they were more side-scrolling adventures with random enemy encounters. No matter how horrible they were, Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon and Zelda's Adventure did at least reverse the formula and put Zelda into the hero's shoes - something the main series still hasn't done.

Both Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon got fan remakes recently, so they're available to play in a more modern way. Both games are pretty short (only an hour or so), so they may be worth checking out for diehard Zelda fans. However, because of licensing - and because the games are much-maligned now - Nintendo has never brought these three CD-i Zelda games over to one of its own consoles.

Despite being known as some of the worst Zelda games of all time, the CD-i titles are still an interesting part of the franchise's history. Fans of The Legend of Zelda series may want to check it out, simply because of its long-held notoriety and historical significance.

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