Game Debate #46: Zelda II: The Adventure(s) of Link

[Estil | 1,261]

5 hours ago, AstralSoul said:

Ah the only Zelda I've never beaten. Not because it's too hard, even though it is pretty hard, every time I go back to it I just lose interest shortly after and I never end up making any progress. I want to go back and actually beat it one day but who knows when. I think it's an okay game overall but it's just not one I particularly enjoy.

Try the trick where upon beating each dungeon's boss, do NOT plug in the crystal.  Save those for when you're six upgrades or less from maxing out your stats.  Also, don't touch any of the 1ups until you're ready to take on the final Great Palace.  See if that don't help make a difference.

Once you learn downward thrust you can easily bounce off those skull/"bubbles" like a pogo stick and get an easy 50 ep each from those.

[Webhead123 | 675]

What I find eternally fascinating about this particular game is that, back in its day, it seemed to be quite well-loved by the larger audience. Before ALttP, there was really no established "formula" for Zelda as a series. So, even though it was quite drastically different from the first game, nobody really had reason to hold that against it objectively. And while I do remember it being sometimes discouragingly difficult, even at the time I thought it was a good game. There were plenty of NES games that my brother and I thought were bad enough to make fun of back then, in our own goofy style, but Zelda II was never really one of them.

I lump this one with Castlevania II and Super Mario Bros. 2 as the NES sequels that only history ended up revealing to be "black sheep" of their respective franchises.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Webhead123

[Hammerfestus | 3,820]

I’ve played the first couple dungeons a bunch of times over the years.  That’s it though

[Sumez | 2,931]

As a kid, Zelda II was my first meeting with the Zelda series, alongside the cartoon show. Not sure which came first for me, but the two kinda went hand in hand. I was intrigued by the series and the world of Hyrule, but actually playing the game was just a huge turnoff for me. It was impossibly difficult, and I thought it just wasn't something for me. It was a fascinating game, and I did borrow it from a friend over some time trying to get into it, but I never made it far. It felt to me as difficult as people have a tendency to make it out to be (I really think it's easier than the first game though, which is no walk in the park either).

I didn't even see the first Zelda game in person until years later, though I was familiar with it through magazines and stuff of course.

In fact, I kinda passed over Zelda 3 at first, even while watching a friend play through the first few dungeons, because I had this dumb idea that I hated the series until I eventually came across a complete map of Link's Awakening in a German magazine I was unable to even read, and that just made me incredibly engrossed in the game, I couldn't believe a video game could possibly create such an incredible world. That's what finally got me into the Zelda series retroactively, and I guess Zelda II was almost responsible for me missing out on that.

Returning to it years later though, I was able to conquer it and find out just what an awesome game it is.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

I'll give it an 8.

It was one that had a lot of pent-up interest from me, having seen related media for it over the year (NP Player's Guide, the Topps Scratch Off cards, and the couple of Captain N episodes with Zelda 2 tie-ins)

The original LoZ was the 2nd game I bought for the NES back-in-the-day, but I never even played Zelda 2 until I bought an ex-rental-cartridge in high school.

 

It is certainly unforgiving and difficult -- but it is a really interesting concept, and one of the few decent quality sidescrollers with sword fighting mechanics of any kind.

[AstralSoul | 502]

1 hour ago, Estil said:

Try the trick where upon beating each dungeon's boss, do NOT plug in the crystal.  Save those for when you're six upgrades or less from maxing out your stats.  Also, don't touch any of the 1ups until you're ready to take on the final Great Palace.  See if that don't help make a difference.

Once you learn downward thrust you can easily bounce off those skull/"bubbles" like a pogo stick and get an easy 50 ep each from those.

Ill keep that in mind. The biggest hurdle though is just the overall combat. It's very clunky and some of those enemies particularly the armored knights with the shields are a real pain.

[Estil | 1,261]

1 hour ago, AstralSoul said:

Ill keep that in mind. The biggest hurdle though is just the overall combat. It's very clunky and some of those enemies particularly the armored knights with the shields are a real pain.

It's like that one song says, if at first you don't succeed, grind yourself up and try again!  

Oh, and you'll want dungeon maps, you really do.

Edited April 22, 2021 by Estil

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

Definitely not my thing as a kid so that carried through later in life even though i like the game a bit more now. 5/10.

[Link | 2,708]

It’s the best.

Some tips 

Spoiler

 

In the overworld at Death Mountain, always go down. If you can’t, go left. 

Fight Iron Knuckles, Stalfos, and Lizalfos by ducking and jumping at the same time and slash at their head. 

Magic containers are in the entry statue of most palaces. Exit and return until you get a red one (or enough blue ones) to use the Life spell. 

 

 

[MrWunderful | 2,926]

8/10. Never beat it as a kid but was one of the games i got with my original nes. Holds alot of nostalgic value for me. I am going to go back to it someday, can someone recommend me a good guide? I did everything the hardest way as a kid and would like something that helps me get through it without getting Frustrated. 

[elprincipe | 142]

Not a fan. If you're looking for a good NES game in this style, Battle of Olympus is superior in literally every way (and one of the best games around too).

[twiztor | 847]

the first LoZ is my favorite game of all time. i spent an ungodly amount of hours playing that game.

Zelda 2 is different. a LOT different. it's still fun, but i was never as obsessive over it as i was the OG. the map feels humongous but also less interested. while it has its share of cryptic clues, it never feels as overwhelmingly open. it is brutally difficult at the end, but at least you're not locked in a room with a dozen blue knights.

i would give it a 6.5, but i rounded down to 6. i will admit that i'm biased.

[Inzoreno | 102]

15 hours ago, Sumez said:

That's only true if you game over, and if it does happen the trek back is never that bad because you keep all your tiems. It would be bad if it happened at the final temple, but they conveniently changed the restart point there.

Well considering just how difficult this game can be, that happens frequently enough to become a real pain. 

[Inzoreno | 102]

Accidental double post. 

Edited April 23, 2021 by Inzoreno

[Inzoreno | 102]

Damn triple post...

Edited April 23, 2021 by Inzoreno

[Tanooki | 4,929]

I'm not kind with this one, blunt and overly fair to a fault.  I wanted to throw a 7 but gave it a 6.  It is a fairly good game, but it also hasn't aged the best, and despite owning it since day one I don't have rose tinted blindness to its faults.  Faults it had then, and faults from age due to bad design decisions people wouldn't repeat now.  It's a game you really have to be committed to to really bother with at this rate in all fairness.  It's hard, hard to a cheap level, controls are fine, but a little janky occasionally.  Asinine cheapo invisible holes to death or annoying diversion traps popular in the 80s and hated since.  I still decades later shake my head they quit having heart drops for the limited life potion.  Hearts would make the games oddness more tolerable for more people.  Even in a day when I never would have felt as such, it was that first game I had to make myself finish, not because I was jazzed to get there, but just to not leave it unfinished.  Never bothered entirely since, meddle on rare occasion, but it is kind of a fun sucker.

[YOURTURN | 1,256]

It's a 5 out of 10 for me.

The only time I was really entertained was when my copy somehow glitched up. I literally have no clue how it happened, but there were three names with random stuff up on it. In the end none of those characters were named "Ben" or "YOURTURN" and it did not last long.

Plus... A Link the the Past is my gold standard when it comes to the franchise. And this game did not offer that experience to me. Thus the score.

[Dr. Morbis | 2,088]

I purchased this game from a Toys 'R Us on December 24th, 1989, just before closing and enjoyed the hell out of the game for many months, solving all of its puzzles and eventually beating the game on my own... as a child.  Too difficult? Yeah, right; only in 2021 where even the slightest impedence to a gamer's forward progress automatically makes a game too frustrating to bother with.

As for its style, at the time, it never once occured to me, "hey, this game ain't exactly the same as the last Zelda... BOOOO!!!!"  Nor did I ever meet anyone else at the time who disliked the game (or Castlevania II, or any other sequel that was different).  Not liking Zelda II, in my personal experience, is 100% a product of the internet era...

[DefaultGen | 5,397]

9/10, one of the best games on NES. It's Zelda. After playing it the first time, I initially liked it more than TLOZ because it's more straightforward with less cryptic BS, no burning every bush to find secrets, living cities, and combining elements of other genres so well. It does a pretty good job at pointing you in the right direction, even with just little things like crumbling dungeons you're done with. Even the cryptic stuff there is like having a character named "Error" or having to find that town in the woods isn't like Simon's Quest nonsense or anything.

Now I like TLOZ and Zelda II about the same, but I'm happy Zelda II is different and fairly unique because we certainly have enough 2D-overworld-do-the-8-dungeons Zeldas already.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

13 hours ago, AstralSoul said:

Ill keep that in mind. The biggest hurdle though is just the overall combat. It's very clunky and some of those enemies particularly the armored knights with the shields are a real pain.

"Clunky" is definitely not the term I would use.

Movement and combat is anything but "clunky".

Play Sword Master if you want to see "clunky" side-scrolling sword fighting mechanics  

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

11 hours ago, MrWunderful said:

8/10. Never beat it as a kid but was one of the games i got with my original nes. Holds alot of nostalgic value for me. I am going to go back to it someday, can someone recommend me a good guide? I did everything the hardest way as a kid and would like something that helps me get through it without getting Frustrated. 

As a kid, I had the NES Player's Guide, which has full maps which takes away some of the magic of the game if you're using that on your first playthrough.

But if you're stuck and frustrated, it is a thorough resource.

 

The most important point from a "guide" would be to:

(1) save the available 1-ups for the last temple.

(2) build up attack power FIRST

(3) try and maximize the utility for the guaranteed-level-ups from the temple crystals

[Kguillemette | 1,543]

8/10. Still haven't sat down to put the time in to beat it, but I'll get there some day.

Anyone ever beat shadow link without using the trick?

[Sumez | 2,931]

If you want a guide for Zelda 2, I'd say get a map for the overworld and stick to only that. Well, a map for the final dungeon is useful too, running around blindly isn't too satisfying there. 

[spacepup | 2,404]

I love, and have always loved, Zelda II.  I've always liked it better than the first one.  I still think LTTP is my preference of the first 3, but I will always enjoy Zelda II.  I actually quite enjoyed the side-scrolling combat and the challenge, and just loved exploring the dungeons.

It is a tough game for sure, but I still think it is very fun and enjoyable.  

[SpoonMan Abrams X | 697]

7/10. Was riding that 6.5 but I gave it a nudge for what is actually some pretty solid combat and introduction of some of the better things to the series.

Also this

Never ceases to crack me up lol