3 Legend Of Zelda Games That Are Completely Unplayable Today

Published Sep 18, 2026, 5:00 PM EDT Ben Brosofsky has been writing for Screen Rant since 2022 and editing since 2024. He graduated from Vanderbilt University with a Bachelor's in Cinema & Media Arts. Writing serves as a much-needed distraction from tackling a backlog of Steam games that will never be surmounted. Unplayable is a word that can be tossed around lightly. For those accustomed to modern game conveniences, an early 3D game with clunky controls might pass as unplayable, even though plenty of others could still find it captivating. Occasionally, however, an old game is truly unplayable in its original form, and several games in The Legend of Zelda series surprisingly qualify. For the most part, Nintendo has kept Zelda games alive on modern systems, bringing back classics in eShop re-releases, Nintendo Switch Online library additions, and even full-scale remakes like the upcoming Ocarina of Time overhaul. The same, however, cannot be said for the BS Zelda games. Released as downloadable titles for the Super Famicom through the broadcast Satellaview system, these three titles are an unusually early example of the impermanence of digital game availability. BS The Legend Of Zelda BS The Legend of Zelda (officially released in Japanese as BS Zelda no Densetsu) was the first Satellaview Zelda game, initially broadcast in four weekly episodes running from August 6, 1995, to August 27, 1995. The Satellaview peripheral allowed Japanese Super Famicom owners to download material made available through free satellite broadcasts. For BS The Legend of Zelda, the broadcast transmitted both part of the game code and a vocal track, which players could only access during the limited-time broadcast windows. Despite its unusual format, BS The Legend of Zelda can be considered a proper entry in the Zelda series in many ways. Unlike the infamous Zelda CD-i games, BS The Legend of Zelda, was developed by Nintendo, and it seemingly occupies a similar place in the timeline to A Link to the Past. The Satellaview game essentially remixes the original Legend of Zelda with a fresh layout and new dungeons, all with upgraded 16-bit graphics. The biggest shake-up is that Link isn't actually the protagonist, with players instead inhabiting an avatar that they used for the Satellaview's BS-X interface. Perhaps the most interesting use of the technology is the use of Soundlink, which provided both an orchestral score and timed inclusions of voice-over. While it's possible to play a partly reconstructed version of BS The Legend of Zelda today, the original vocal track isn't accessible, as it was broadcast to RAM rather than actually stored in a permanent manner. BS The Legend of Zelda continued with broadcasts of the remixed BS The Legend of Zelda: MAP2 at the end of the same year, starting on December 30, 1995, and concluding on January 6, 1996. BS The Legend Of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets BS The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets built on the formula established in BS The Legend of Zelda, but it also took a major leap forward. While the first BS game largely reinterpreted the style of the original NES Zelda in a 16-bit format, Ancient Stone Tablets took on the aesthetic and gameplay formula of A Link to the Past and picked up the story six years after A Link to the Past's ending. Ancient Stone Tablets also improved the implementation of the SoundLink system. Unlike BS The Legend of Zelda, where players had to occasionally sit through voice messages without being able to play the game while they were broadcast, Ancient Stone Tablets allowed gameplay during its vocal tracks. BS The Legend of Zelda: Ancient Stone Tablets started its broadcast on March 30, 1997, and wrapped up on April 26, 1997. This was the final SoundLink game released through Satellaview, marking the end of an era for the unusual technology. The Legend Of Zelda: Triforce Of The Gods The final Satellaview Zelda game wasn't an entirely new title, with The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods instead serving as a port of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. As such, fans can still get a similar experience today by playing the original version of A Link to the Past, and there's no SoundLink element to miss out on this time around. Unlike the other BS games, this is technically playable in full via emulation, although it still won't recreate the experience of downloading it over broadcast in the 1990s. Triforce of the Gods is the original Japanese name of A Link to the Past, so it wasn't renamed for the Satellaview version. The Legend of Zelda: Triforce of the Gods also had the longest availability of any Satellaview Zelda game. It was initially broadcast twice a day from March 2, 1997, to March 29, 1997, but that was just the start. The satellite radio company continued to offer broadcasts of the game until 2000, eventually distributing it without Nintendo's involvement after the partnership between the companies ended. Considering Nintendo's careful stewardship of The Legend of Zelda as an IP, the Satellaview games feel like fascinating anomalies from a modern perspective. As games developed directly by Nintendo, their modern inaccessibility is frustrating, but the ephemeral nature of BS The Legend of Zelda and its follow-ups is part of what makes them so interesting. Hopefully, Nintendo will make them available in full again someday, but I wouldn't recommend holding your breath. Movie(s) The Legend of Zelda (Live-Action) TV Show(s) The Legend of Zelda Video Game(s) The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess , The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017), The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Hyrule Warriors, Hyrule Warriors Legends (3DS), Cadence of Hyrule, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity First TV Show The Legend of Zelda First Game The Legend of Zelda Character(s) Link, Princess Zelda, Ganon