Video Games : Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

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from: Nintendo

: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
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Price: $189.00
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Binding: Video Game
Brand: Nintendo
EAN: 0045496630331
ESRB Age Rating: Everyone
Label: Nintendo
Manufacturer: Nintendo
Platform: Nintendo NES
Publisher: Nintendo
Sales Rank: 2823
Studio: Nintendo

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Product Description:
Gold cart only. Some of the gold is starting to wear off on the edges.



Customer Reviews
Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Still a classic
Although many hated this game as it mainly was a side scrolling adventure, this game was one of my favorites when i was younger and the difficulty was harder then the original as I had trouble with the last 4 temples, mainly the great palace. It kept with the original though as once you finally beat it another second story began with you haveing all your magic spells at the start of the game. Since the game was remade on the GBA i went out and bought myself a copy so i could place my nes one away as the game could not be saved since of its age. Overall one of my favorite Zelda's other then A link to the past


Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - I must have died 80 times. Darn skeleton fish.
I've played harder games than this one, but its certainly no cakewalk in any way, shape, or form. It will definitely test your ability to inflict and dodge attacks. Your life preserving strategies will get quite a workout too. You've got to be on the ball if you want to get through this game. Even with maxed out stats, you can't just plow through the game and take hits. Heck, even with max strength I wouldn't mess with those knife-throwing eagles. I just ran away from them, and still somehow lived.

There's no way you can beat this game without a walkthrough. No freaking way. Way too many dangerous mazes and unobvious methods to get items. And you need ALL of the items to get through the game. You can't just pick and choose. You need to have the thunder spell to beat the boss, and you need to have all the magic containers to get the spell, see.

There are really only two places where you'd get stuck in this game. Unfortunately one of the places is right at the beginning and the other is right at the end. At the beginning, Death Mountain really is DEATH mountain. I can't think of any way to get through it except by building up experience points like crazy and leveling up several times. Those red alligator cavemen are monstrous.

And at the end, well, just walking along the path from the giant spider to the Great Palace is a heck of a challenge. Dinosaur men throw barrages of rocks at you with the accuracy of snipers, and one-eyed ghosts fly around randomly, knocking you into lava and zapping away whatever lives you have. Thank goodness if you actually make it to the Great Palace, you can continue from there.

What really makes this game so different from the other Zelda games is the jumps. In Zelda 1 and 3, there aren't really any jumps, and if you miss a jump in Zelda 4, its not really all that big of a deal. Start where you left off and try again. But if you miss a jump in Zelda 2, it costs you dearly. Miss three of those and you're back at the beginning, and believe me, there are plenty of enemies around to help you miss those three.

The odd thing though, is that while the combat system and the required jump-dodging are what makes this game hard as heck, they also are what make the game good. After some practice, you'll be impressed at what you're able to do. Especially once you figure out how to get past those boomerang guys. The controls are practically flawless, and my only complaint about them is Link's sword is too short for the upward thrust to be particularly effective. Half the time I'd use that attack I'd take damage instead of give it.

Quite primitive, and definitely not as good as Zelda 3 or 4, but it has some neat items and spells, and its definitely a man's game. Play it if you dare.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - A diiferent Zelda game, but still worthy of the name Zelda
Many will say this game is not worthy of the name Zelda, but I say they are just afraid of change. Many people playing Zelda II might expect a clone of the original Zelda, but at what point in the rest of the Zelda series has that ever happened? Every new Zelda game has added some new element to the gameplay, and changed the story. This is the only one to be a direct sequel, and it changed the gameplay drastically.
For those not familiar with Zelda II, the basic idea is that Princess Zelda has been placed into a deep sleep by an unknown person. The only thing that can wake her is the Triforce of Wisdom. (If you remember Zelda I, Ganon had the Triforce of Power, and Link collected the Triforce of Courage.) The triforce of Wisdom is securely locked away in the Golden Palace. But Link can't just walk in the front door of the palace. He must first break the magical seal around the palace. He does this by placing six crystals in statues scattered throughout Hyrule. Each statue is in a palace, guarded by some VERY difficult bosses. That's really all there is to the story.
The gameplay is the part that seems to cause the most grumbling among the nay-sayers. I won't lie, it is VERY difficult, because it focuses on sword-fighting, and you don't get to fall back on some other weapon if you suck with the sword. But if you can master the basics of sword fighting, the rest of the game is just about finding your way, and discovering an enemy's weakness. There are many helpful characters in the game, who give you ample hints to get you pointed in the right driection. You still have to solve the puzzles, and find a lot of things yourself, but how fun would it be if they spelled the answers out for you?
There is a level-up system using experience points which is unique for the Zelda series, and if you try to go straight to the first palace from the get-go, you will die quickly, and often. But, like many of the Final Fantasy style RPG's, you can always earn XP in random battles, and beef yourself up at will. So you CAN make the game easier, with minimal effort if you go to the right places.
Some have said that if you finally manage to beat it, you're dissappointed by the ending. I say, it's 8-bit! What did you expect? A DVD-quality animatic? Anyone who's ever felt their pulse pounding when they approach a boss in any game, and felt the rush of joy when they stomp that boss into the ground will be able to feel the same feeling when they beat Zelda II. The game is difficult enough that just beating it is a badge of honor.
Replay value? Some games in the RPG genre lose a lot of their appeal when you know all the puzzles, and know where all the extras are. But not Zelda II. Combat is challenging enough that the game can still be fun the second time, or even the 20th time through. Sure, it took me almost a month to beat it the first time, and now I can do it in about 6 hours, but I still enjoy it every time.
I urge anyone who's passed this title over because of negative reviews to take another look at it. Pick yourself up a copy, and play it. I don't mean just a half-hearted attempt either. Give it a chance to either shine or fail on its own merits. Stop comparing it to the rest of the series, and give this amazing game a chance! If you really didn't like it, you're only out a few bucks right? and you can propably resell the game.


Rating: 5 out of 5 stars - Quite Possibly The Best Game Ever Made for Any System
I don't know what is wrong with some of my brethren. I do not see how anyone could conceivably award this game less than 5 stars. If you have not played this game before, then ignore the cynics, skeptics, party-poopers and naysayers who ignorantly and stupidly sully this game's rating. Know that this is quite possibly the best video game ever made for any system.

What makes this game so good? The plot is compelling, the characters are well-drawn, the theme music is absolutely and undeniably genius and the game is appropriately challenging--it is difficult, but not too difficult. You will not be able to beat this game quickly, and there will be points in the game where you are frustrated, but the journey will be worth it. One of the greatest experiences of your life will be thrashing Ganon and bringing peace to Hyrule.

Do not pay attention to the nincompoops complaining that this game is 2D. First of all, they're wrong. Much of the game actually IS 3D, particularly when Link travels in Hyrule. Only the battle scenes are in 2D, but this is a good feature, because 2D battles emphasize swordsmanship more. With time you will master the upward thrust, the downward thrust and the jumping swipe. Look for the swordsmen in the villages to teach you these tricks. And, for the final time, ignore the haters of this game. These people have poor judgment and they should be tortured and fed to lions.








Rating: 4 out of 5 stars - The Failure of Link?
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link* is the black sheep of the Zelda franchise. One of the most controversial games of that era, players sent a clear message to Nintendo, saying the sequel didn't live up to its predecessor. People still bought it, but the general consensus was it was not as good as the original "Legend of Zelda". The biggest controversy of this game was it was a 2D scroller, instead of an overhead game like the original was. You navigated in an overhead view. Then the battles and actual dungeons are in the side scrolling format. Another big factor is this game is HARD. VERY HARD. It's also the only Zelda where you collect lives. If you run out of lives and continue, instead of starting back at a particular dungeon's beginning, you begin at the very start of the game. When we're talking about trying to beat the Great Palace, this turns into a nightmare. There is also an unwieldy magic and leveling up system. The magic continued in the Zelda series. The leveling did not. But because it was such a radical departure, and not wholly successful, Zelda II is viewed as a flawed, if interesting, game.

The Zelda name does great damage here, because people come in expecting overview. Zelda II tries to be innovative with an uneasy hybrid of side-scrolling and overworld. Had it been released as just a fantasy game, I think Zelda II would be something of a cult classic. As it stands, people constantly judge this game on the Zelda name alone, instead of giving the game a chance. That's what really hurts Zelda II.

Zelda II is a misunderstood game. The true question, which cannot be answered, is this: "What would the public think if this had been released first, instead of The Legend of Zelda?" Who knows? No one does. People expected the wrong things from this game. People wanted traditional Zelda action, and this game didn't have that. It's a hybrid of overhead and platform gaming. This was one of Nintendo's biggest missteps in its history. They had misread the audience. All this has forever damaged Zelda II. It will always be viewed from the perspective it is not as good as the other Zelda games.

Without Zelda II, the structure of this seminal series would be drastically different. In terms of lessons learned, this is by far the most important game in the series. What if Nintendo hadn't done this game? It is possible they might have tried the hybrid on SNES version. Nintendo learned from its mistake, and never tried this again. In the Zelda context, that is a good thing.

Zelda is a great series, and without this under their belt, Nintendo might have put out a disappointing Zelda game at a much more crucial time in the series' evolution. It's a great game in and of itself, and had it been redesigned in terms of story and not making it Zelda, it would be considered a classic. But for Zelda it doesn't go with the others, and Nintendo learned what the public wants in a Zelda game. In terms of sticking to the formula, this is the best thing that ever happened to Zelda. If they had not released this game on the NES, they might have tried the hybrid experiment on the SNES game, and instead of getting what is arguably the greatest game on the SNES, and in the Zelda series, we would get a game like this. Then, we wouldn't get a game for the SNES comparable to Link to the Past. If Nintendo had not made this game, they would have made this mistake (remember, it's a mistake only in context of the series) at a much worst time.

What about Super Maria Brothers 3? Although Zelda II was viewed as a disappointment, I think it had direct influence on SMB 3. SMB 3 is the game Zelda II could have been. SMB 3 successfully combined a type of overview world, but then you moved and played the stages. Of course, the world in Zelda II was much more expansive. The SMB series was already a side scroller. It is hailed as one of the greatest NES games ever released. And yet, earlier when they tried the same thing with Zelda II, it was viewed as a disappointment because Zelda was not a side scroller to begin with. Nintendo took the hybrid idea into Mario, of which it was much more suited. Mario was not an overview game to begin with. When they did make the hybrid, they stuck with the basically formula of side scrolling, but they had a little overview too.

In this view, Zelda II is out of balance. In the series' context, they should have made more of the action overview, instead of all side-scrolling. Some main parts of the game should be like that though, but then there should be more old-school Zelda overview. As it stands in the series, its out of balance. But without it, we might not have the hybrid of the overview/side scrolling found in SMB 3 and Super Mario World, which both are great games. Independently, Zelda II stands proud.

After all these years, Zelda II still occupies that weird uncle status in the Zelda family tree. I personally think that it's a great game. It stands as a failure in the context of the series. Had it been released without the Zelda moniker, I think history and players would have been much more receptive to this charming (if entirely too difficult) game.

*An interesting note about its title. This is the only Zelda game it incorporate the numerical sequence into its official title. Its also the only title in the series that does not have "The Legend of Zelda" in it. Its just "Zelda II: The Adventure of Link." It sounds better than "The Legend of Zelda: The Adventure of Link." Too long I guess for those days

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