Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

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Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

The good black sheep of the Zelda franchise.
Genre(s): Action role-playing
Platform
Platform(s): Family Computer Disk System
Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo GameCube
Game Boy Advance
Release Date: Famicom Disk System
JP: January 14, 1987
Nintendo Entertainment System
PAL: September 26, 1988
NA: December 1, 1988
Nintendo GameCube
PAL: November 14, 2003
NA: November 17, 2003
JP: April 1, 2004
Game Boy Advance
JP: August 10, 2004
NA: October 25, 2004
PAL: January 7, 2005
Developer(s): Nintendo EAD
Publisher(s): Nintendo
Series: The Legend of Zelda
Predecessor: The Legend of Zelda
Successor: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past


Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System, Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo GameCube, and Game Boy Advance. It is the second installment in The Legend of Zelda series.

Good Qualities

  1. Great graphics that are more polished and incorporates new elements that reflect the variety of the ecosystems; there is also a clear distinction between the enemy-free paths and the rest of the ground territory (grass, trees, sand, etc.).
  2. The game introduces magic, which would become a staple of the franchise. You can acquire magic by finding or defeating enemies that either drop blue or red potions (blue potions can restore one block of magic while a red potion can restore 8 blocks). However, to acquire each spell, Link has to complete side quests, such as retrieving lost items, which is then taught to him by a wise man, each one in a different town. These spells are mainly used to defeat certain enemy types, get over certain obstacles, and most importantly defeat bosses.
    • There are eight different spells:
      • Shield - Cuts the amount of damage that Link receives from an attack in half. The effect of the spell wears off as soon as Link leaves a room and the scene changes.
      • Jump - Certain sections of caves or palaces, or even towns are impossible to reach under normal circumstances. The spell of Jump enables Link to jump even higher than normal, and potentially overcome an obstacle that is blocking his progress.
      • Life - Restores three blocks of Link's health meter.
      • Fairy - Some passages in Hyrule are positioned so high or so dangerously that not even the spell of Jump can help Link traverse them. In these extreme cases, the spell of Fairy transforms Link into a diminutive fairy that can fly throughout anywhere on the screen. However, the player will be defenseless in this mode, unable to attack any enemies.
      • Fire - Link can cast the spell of Fire, which allows him to conjure a ball of fire with every sword slash, regardless of his current health. Some enemies can only be defeated with this spell.
      • Reflect - After casting this spell, Link can literally reflect magic back at its caster by blocking the attack with his shield. Certain wizards can only be defeated by their own spells. The spell can also be used to block stronger attacks such as fireballs, beams, axes, and maces that would otherwise get through your shield to damage you.
      • Spell - It has a tendency to transform tougher enemies into the slime-like Bots. However, it has another rather unusual use which can help you obtain a very important item in a certain town.
      • Thunder - Can be used to strike down most of the enemies which are visible on the screen. However, this magic is extremely expensive and should only be used in case of an emergency.
  3. You can visit towns and interact with NPCs. The towns are where you can learn spells and attacks, as well as, replenish your health and magic bar. Most NPCs will have nothing to give you, but some will give you side quests and two specific NPCs are very helpful, a woman in red and an old lady that come out of small houses. One can replenish Link's health, the other his magic.
  4. The game is longer than the original clocking at 11 hours long.
  5. The game takes on the reins of traditional RPGs. When exploring the overworld, you can run into random enemies and when in combat, it switches to a 2D environment similar to Metroid and the NES Mario games. These serve as a great opportunity to get XP.
  6. Also like traditional RPGs, is an experience and upgrade system. By gaining experience through defeating enemies or finding Point Bags you're able to upgrade three principle stats: Attack, Magic, and Life. This system stands in place of equipment upgrades that increase Link's attack and defense found in The Legend of Zelda like the Blue Ring or Magical Sword.
    • It should be noted that if you lose all of your lives and the game ends, all earned upgrades are kept, but your current experience will reset to zero.
  7. You get to learn two new sword skills: Downward and Upward thrust.
    • The downward thrust is used to defeat certain enemies and can be helpful to get past tougher enemies.
    • The upward thrust can be used to hit breakable blocks that are above or hit out of reach enemies.
  8. The world of Hyrule is even bigger than before with a lot more secrets to find most of which can be found by exploring certain parts of the overworld or by destroying certain rocks with the hammer that leads to secret caves.
  9. Tons of new enemies all that each require a different method to defeat them. Most can be killed through normal combat, but some require certain methods like spells.
  10. There are seven palaces all that are bigger and more challenging than the last with enemies that you can't find in the overworld and even traps.
  11. Tough and unique bosses each requiring a different strategy to defeat them. Most must be defeated with a spell or with one of the sword skills.
  12. This game introduces Dark Link as the final boss, the representation of the evil inside Link. He has the same moves as Link and copies everything he does, making him the hardest boss in the game. He would become a reoccurring boss of the Zelda franchise.

Bad Qualities

  1. The game is noticeably harder than the previous game and in many ways is a downgrade.
    • The enemies don't drop hearts at all. The only way to heal is either in a town or with the Life spell, the latter requiring lots of magic.
    • Unlike the previous game, there is no map for the palaces, which can make traversing them confusing due to some rooms having the same layout.
    • The Second Quest doesn't change anything.
    • There's only one weapon in the game and that's the sword.
    • Whenever you die, you will always respawn at the beginning location of the game and not at the start of a dungeon.
  2. Because of the increased difficulty, dungeons and bosses have become a bigger pain to deal with.
    • The Great Palace. If you actually even made it to this dungeon, then this palace will undoubtedly make you rage because of how complex and confusing it is. There's a particularly devious trick needed to find the bosses of the Great Palace. A section of the place has floor covered in a single layer of breakable blocks. There's a hidden warp pit one block long under one of them. Link can walk right across a pit that size without falling down it, which means the player might walk right over it and never notice.
    • Death Mountain. Amongst other things, it involves a maze on the overworld that's easy to get lost in, along with hordes of enemies. And you have to face the Red Dairas, who can rapidly throw axes which can't be blocked by the shield. This is an area you have to pass through to get to the second dungeon. By this point, you won't have the down thrust attack and probably don't have high attack and defense levels unless you've been deliberately grinding.
    • Three-Eyed Rock Palace, the final Crystal Palace in the game. Not only is it the furthest palace from the North Palace, it's also the most difficult to locate as the one hint ("Call for help at the Three Eye Rocks") is somewhat cryptic (you have to use the Flute while standing in the center of the three stones). Once inside, you'll find there's absolutely no keys to be found, minus the two dropped by a Rebonack rematch and Barba, the dungeon boss, requiring constant use of the Fairy spell or the Magical Key hidden in New Kasuto. Aside from THAT, this palace has the strongest enemies barring the Great Palace, fake floors that drop you to different levels, and is the biggest of the six crystal dungeons.
    • Thunderbird. You have to use a lot of magic for the Thunder Spell to start depleting its HP, meaning that there won't be much magic left for the other spells, so the player will have to survive most of the battle by dodging the fireballs and attacking the boss's weak point.
    • Gooma. He hits very hard, and it takes plenty of hits to be defeated. His hitbox is also somewhat difficult to actually strike safely, unlike the other bosses, as he can begin swinging his flail immediately as you walk up to him.
    • Rebonack. Has a habit of backing out of the screen where Link can't stab him.
  3. While exploring the world, three enemies will constantly spawn out of nowhere and try to run at Link which will start an enemy course.
  4. Like the first game, you are going to have a hard time beating it without a map or guide.
  5. Some enemies like the Geru and Moa are really annoying to fight.
  6. Missed Opportunities:
    • This is the only game in the entire series where Zelda has a brother, the Prince of Hyrule. He never appears nor is he mentioned after this game.
    • This game is a direct sequel to the original game and stars the same Link as before, but the Princess Zelda featured in this game is not the same Princess Zelda rescued by Link at the end of the previous game. Instead, she's from an earlier generation and was in an eternal sleep during the events of the first game. Assuming nothing happened to the other Zelda during the six-year time skip, this would mean that The Adventure of Link ends with two different Princess Zeldas awake at the same time. It could have been potentially interesting to see how the two Zeldas interacted with one another and might have raised questions about which princess is the rightful heir to the Hyrule throne. Unfortunately, this game never acknowledged this fact, there have been no direct sequels to The Adventure of Link, and it is unlikely that any future sequels will explore this avenue.
  7. Absolutely horrible dialogue with horrendous grammar.

Game Tips

  • Grind XP up to at least 1,000 before heading to Death Mountain.
  • Use a walkthrough.
  • Use the Shield spell when fighting bosses.

Trivia

  • The man who says the famous "I am Error" quote wasn't actually a mistranslation. He also says that in the Japanese version. The reason why his name is Error is because he along with another character named Bagu (which is a mistranslation of bug) are references to the common technological problems.
  • Even though Breath of the Wild is seen by many fans as a very hard Zelda game, many agreed that Zelda II is still the hardest Zelda game.
  • This is the only game in the series that's a side scroller, aside from the CDi games which are also side scrollers, all games would return back to the original style.

Reception

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link received very positive reviews upon release and was a bestseller for Nintendo, selling over 4.38 million copies worldwide, however, modern reception has been more mixed. Many gamers have criticized the increased difficulty and changing many mechanics that were introduced in the previous game. To this day, it is considered the hardest Zelda game and the black sheep of the franchise.

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