If it ain't broke, don't fix it. A turned based Zelda would be horrible, as would be leveling up, to a point that is. Zelda II didn't do a bad job at it, but it something that's not needed, especially since you get stronger equipment as the games go on.
I've read that the CDI game that stars Zelda isn't that bad, atleast compared to the other two. The only downsides mentioned were the loading and the cutscenes. I'm actually surprised that Nintendo hasn't made a Zelda game featuring Zelda as the lead, or for playable for some parts of the game, it would be interesting to see actually.