Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

"Listen up haters"

Back in 1987, Nintendo released a beloved game called The Legend of Zelda. A year later, Nintendo released Zelda 2. Instead of the top-down view, Zelda 2 was an action, RPG, adventure side-scrolling game. This is the black sheep of the series, left out and hated by most of the fans. Little did they know that this game would help some other Zelda games.

Now this review is not for the people who enjoy and like this game, like myself. This review is for the haters of this game. By haters, I mean fans of the Zelda franchise who rejected and hated this game just because it was different than the other games.

First of all, just like its popular NES brother, Zelda 2 was also innovative and creative. The world map was top-down, just like Zelda 1, but when you ran into an enemy, town, etc., It switched to a side scrolling scene. This feature has been rarely duplicated to this day.

Now, remember when I said this game helped other Zelda games. Well here are some examples. First of all, MAGIC. What do you think inspired Link to the past, Ocarina of time, and Wind waker to have magic. Why this game did! Link has eight spells he can learn. They can defend himself, help him solve puzzles, attack other things, etc. This may not be like the magic in Zelda games today, but this magic system inspired the others.

Another thing seen in Zelda games now that was first introduced in Zelda 2 is TOWNS. In this game, you went to towns to heal, learn magic, and get help. The towns are also named after the sages of Ocarina of Time. Of course, like in all games with any RPG element, you don't really know what they're saying. There is also other elements that were never seen again, like EXP and 1-ups.

One major gripe by the haters is "It's a stupid side-scroller. The best part about Zelda was taken out, the EXPLORATION." Well, believe it or not, there is plenty of exploration in this game. Without a map, it is very hard trying to find everything, just like in Zelda 1. And you can eat your heart out with exploration in the dungeons. Each dungeon is a big labyrinth, with dead ends and locked places where you must search for the key. You must also find special equipment in the dungeons to progress through. I forgot to mention about the Death Mountain maze. It is sort of like a mini-palace. You must choose which cave to go in. Each cave provides plenty of action. You go through the mountain in search for the hammer, which also makes many appearances in future games.

Each dungeon is like the dungeons of its brother, long and filled with challenges. You must go searching for the special weapon and then go to defeat the boss, just like in Zelda 1. Each palace provides a unique feel. The first two palaces are easy and filled with weak enemies to let the player know what a palace will be like. When you get to the island palace, things start to heat up. The palace is bigger with much more tougher enemies. The labyrinth palace is divided into two parts. The ocean palace gets more complex and tougher. The hidden palace provides loop falls instead of elevators to get to floors. And remember the gripe of exploring? Well you can really eat up the exploration in the Great Palace.
It is GIGANTIC, filled with more dead ends than any other Zelda game. It is also quite challenging to get through.

Another gripe about this game was the difficulty. Many people claimed this game was too hard. They want hard, go try Zelda 1's second quest, the Mario games, Mega Man and Castlevania. Now those games are WAY HARD. I have to admit, there were some unfair things in this game, but it was pretty much the same thngs as in other games. The most famous problem is probably when you have to kill yourself to save the game. When you kill yourself, you lose all your aquired experience points. Very annoying indeed.

Some complained about the graphics and play control. Well you don't expect PS2 graphics on a game made in 1988, do you? The graphics were nicely done, especially in the palaces. As for sprites, the people, enemies, and overworld are nicely animated. Link is still blurry for some reason. The play control is nice and tight. This game also has the famous Hyrule Castle music from Super Smash Bros. Melee.

As for replayability, that determines on how much you like the game. There aren't as many things to find like in other Zelda games. It takes a few hours to beat this game, but a few people have beat this game in under two hours. I suggest you by this game, but if you're a hater, you should rent this and see if you like it. True haters would probably not give this game a chance.

OVERALL:10/10

Even if you don't like this game because of the way it looks, give it a chance. You might like it.

Written on 06/08/06

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/08/06