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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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Zelda II is different. I will admit right off the bat that this game may not be for everyone. When it was released, it recieved a lot of negative feedback because it was not what people were expecting from a "Zelda" game. This game, at it's heart, is an action-sidescroller, and a VERY difficult one at that.
Having said that, you should definitely try it out. The game uses rpg-zelda-like adventuring, but zooms in for a 2D sidescroll view for combat sequences, and the result is a VERY engaging and creative game. The combat is more complex than most action games, lending a high degree of difficulty to the game. (fighting advanced opponents often involves sword-and-shield combat that required more thinking and reacting than simply "button-mashing.")
The graphics are way better than they have any right to be for an 8-bit game and the music is quite good. (much better than Zelda I's music.) There are only 7 temples, but they are challenging and will take you quite a while to defeat. The last temple is a MONSTER and it's big secret has stumped *many* excellent gamers for years.
The game builds nicely throughout and the gameplay never relents. There are very few opportunites for "metaplay" this game. (metagaming = "programmer-allowed cheating." as in: finding a way to defeat an enemy that the computer cannot possibly defend against.) The final battle is fast and ferocious and the identity of your oponnent will surprise you! (hint: he makes a cameo appearance in Zelda 64! Well, Now you HAVE to try the game, don't you?? :D)
As a fellow game-developer myself, I have to commend Nintendo for their ingenious design of the last temple and in fact, the whole game. This game has rightly become a cult-classic in recent years and should be required material for any action-rpg game fan.
Be warned though, if you are expecting a game like Zelda I or III, you will be surprised, though not necesarily dissapointed.
Highly recommended.
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Zelda II has its share of detractors because everything they loved about Zeldas I, III, and the Zelda Game Boy games is absent from this installment. Gone is the bird's eye view combat mode that dominates the other titles. Gone are the intricate dungeon puzzles. In its place is a side-scrolling actioner combined with elements of a classic format RPG (complete with experience points, levels, spells and the rest). I first played this game when I was 12, and my initial reaction at the time was, 'Oh no! What have they done?' Needless to say, 15 minutes later I was hooked. By the time I had completed the game, I liked it better than the first. What it lacks in sheer scope, length, and originality, it far makes up for in terms of challenge. This is easily the most difficult Zelda game of all, which - considering that all future Zelda installments are unbelievably easy - is a good thing.
While I enjoyed this game better, I admit the first and third titles demonstrated more ingenuity, originality, and were better produced considering their respective release dates. Zelda II is -barely- recognizeable as a Zelda game in the way we think of them, and part of me suspects that Mr. Miyamoto (the brains behind all other major Zelda releases) was barely involved in this installment. Once you get past the shock of the different format, however, the game easily draws you in. One other disclaimer: I am partial to RPGs, which may explain my preference for this entry. But part of the reason is also inexplicable - there is something subconsciously fascinating about Zelda II. It's less monotonous than the other Zeldas, and more bizarre, moody, even random - in some respects it is even comparable to Ultima: Exodus (another classic NES title, released the same year, which I highly recommend to anyone who likes Zelda II). In any case, this is a title not to be missed, is worthy of the Zelda name if only for quality's sake, and represents the most challenging entry in a franchise that has lately been lacking in that area.
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Zelda II has its share of detractors because everything they loved about Zeldas I, III, and the Zelda Game Boy games is absent from this installment. Gone is the bird's eye view combat mode that dominates the other titles. Gone are the intricate dungeon puzzles. In its place is a side-scrolling actioner combined with elements of a classic format RPG (complete with experience points, levels, spells and the rest). I first played this game when I was 12, and my initial reaction at the time was, 'Oh no! What have they done?' Needless to say, 15 minutes later I was hooked. By the time I had completed the game, I liked it better than the first. What it lacks in sheer scope, length, and originality, it far makes up for in terms of challenge. This is easily the most difficult Zelda game of all, which - considering that all future Zelda installments are unbelievably easy - is a good thing.
While I enjoyed this game more, I must admit that the first and third titles demonstrated more ingenuity, originality, and were better produced considering their respective release dates. Zelda II is -barely- recognizeable as a Zelda game in the way we think of one, and part of me suspects that Mr. Miyamoto (the brains behind all other major Zelda releases) was barely involved in this installment. Once you get past the shock of the different format, however, the game easily draws you in. One other disclaimer: I am partial to RPGs, which may explain my preference of this entry. But part of the reason is also inexplicable - there is something more subconsciously fascinating about Zelda II. It's a less monotonous than the other Zeldas, and more bizarre, moody, even random - in some respects it is even comparable to Ultima: Exodus (another classic NES title, released the same year, which I highly recommend to anyone who likes Zelda II). In any case, this title is not to be missed, is worthy of the Zelda name if only for quality's sake, and represents the most challenging entry in a franchise that has lately been lacking in that area.
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It took me a long time to give this game a chance. I am a huge Zelda fan but this one seemed a little too different. But was i suprised when i started playing! The overworld map is similar to the original zelda game. But u run into random battles like final fantasy and gain exp points to go up in levels. When u run into battles or enter a cave or dungeon....it turns to side-scrolling. It is a difficult game considering u have 3 lives and when u lose them u continue from the center of the world map. Kind of like mario games. So this game is actually very fun despite the differences from other games in the series. Give it a shot and u may enjoy it.
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