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A great NES game, but seemingly bullied by it's older brother."

-- Introduction --
The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link was no doubt a very good game for the NES. Often given bad ratings from people comparing it to the almighty Zelda 1, this game is severely underrated. Although taking on a whole new gameplay system and changing the storyline, the feeling of playing a Zelda game is still there. To begin with, Zelda 2 does not view combat in an ariel, overhead view, but more of a side-scroller like Mega Man. Many people loved the first Zelda so much, that they immediately saw it's sequel was different, and therefore dubbed it a terrible game. In reality though, this is not the case. Zelda 2 was a good game in many aspects. It was a long game, and took as much time, if not longer than the first. Comparing it to the original it may not be as astounding, but comparing it to other NES games, this one was definitely in the top 5.

-- Gameplay -- 10/10
Although not the same as the first, the gameplay was still great. There are two basic sequences in this game, the overworld and battle sequences. When in the overworld, you control Link with an overhead view. Enemies will often appear, and if you touch one on the overworld, you enter a battle sequence. There are two types of "enemies" on the overworld, weak and strong. If you run into a weak one, then there will be weak enemies in the battle sequence, and if you touch a strong one, the enemies will be a bit tougher. While in a battle-sequence, you will play as Link on a side-scrolling screen. There are also different areas you will fight in, such as normal, desert, swamps, and graveyards. The environment you are in when encountering an enemy determines what type of battle sequence you will have, along with the types of enemies you will encounter. You can attack with your sword either high or low, and can learn more sword attacks as the game progresses. As in the first Zelda, certain enemies are invulnerable to your sword alone, and some may require you to use a whole other feature: magic. Introducing magic into the series, Zelda 2 had a small list of spells you could cast. You start out with no spells, and while getting through the game you will have the chance to learn additional useful ones. You start with a magic meter and a life meter, each at four squares (hearts were not used in this game). There are four possible heart containers and magic jars to find throughout the game, bringing your life and magic meters to 8.

Zelda 2 was the only Zelda game to ever incorporate an experience system. When you slay an enemy, you are given experience. There are three "skills" you can increase - Attack, Magic, and Life. Each start at 1, and each can go up to 8. This may seem a bit short, but the experience to get to 8 takes a long time. The higher your attack level is, the stronger you are, and it will take less hits to destroy an enemy. Your magic level determines how much of the bar is drained upon using a given spell, and your life level determines how much damage you take on impact. Magic is not only used in combat, however.

Zelda 2 was undeniably a very, very challenging game. Many things seem unfair - and many are. For example, you could be in a spot where you cannot jump, faced against three enemies on either side of you. In this game, you have a set number of lives. If you die, you lose all of your experience you had gained (but keep your levels), and must start back at the beginning of the game. Key-items will be kept though, thank goodness. Hidden throughout the game are "link dolls" which act as a 1-up. If you level a skill to 8 the experience to its next level will be 9,000. If you get 9,000, you will gain another life instead of increasing that skill.

There are 8 towns located throughout the game. In almost every town there is a woman who will heal you back to full-health, and an old woman who will restore your magic. Many of the side-quests take place in towns where you must complete a task for someone.


-- Graphics -- 09/10
Nothing is too bad about the graphics. I believe there could be a slight room for improvement, but regardless, they are great for the NES. A few stray pixels are all that stand in the path to 10/10. I feel that the graphics help gameplay. For example, it is simple to see where an Iron Knuckle is attacking from, the top or bottom. Because you can clearly see where it is attacking, you are able to guard yourself. Graphics do not in any way hinder your performance in this game.


-- Controls -- 8/10
I did not like the controls in this game much at all. Something just felt wrong about them. They were fine, yes. They worked, sure. But something just seemed different. Combining Zelda with a side-scroller was a risky idea, but ended up being great. The controls feel nothing like a Zelda game, but the gameplay makes up for that. However this doesn't really feel like a side-scrolling game either, which is a bit confusing. The only way I can describe the controls is that they are a bit complicated - you won't learn how to do everything the first 10 minutes of playing. After time the controls will come naturally, but they are not as user-friendly as most NES games. The only real way to experience it is to play the game.


-- Music -- 10/10
Along with other Nintendo games, the tunes in this game will stay in your head for days. There is basic overworld music, battle-sequence music, town, and palace music. I like Zelda 2's music better than the original actually, it is more diverse. There are not many games on the NES that impress me this much with their music.


-- Story -- 10/10
A great storyline makes a great game. The storyline given in the instruction manual is very long and detailed, and the game takes you through it step-by-step. It's very easy to understand what you're working towards, as opposed to many other games. Your basic quest is this: A mysterious magician put a sleeping spell on princess Zelda. You have to get the 6 crystals from each palace around hyrule, then take them all to the Great Palace to save her - which, is exactly what you do in the game.


-- Replay Value -- 7/10
Although I have played this game several times, many people do not find this game to have much replay value. There is no second quest, and nothing to do once you beat the game. The only reason to play this game again is for the challenge, as I did. Once completing this game, you may also want to challenge yourself even MORE by doing minimalist runs, in other words completing the game without getting upgrades or leveling up a certain skill. Out of all the Zelda games, this probably has the least replay value of them all - but it's long playing time makes up for it.


-- Challenge -- Very Hard
This is, no doubt, the toughest game I've ever played on the NES. Defeating enemies and making your way through dungeons without dying is extremely difficult to the beginner. Playing through this game four times, I must say I've gotten significantly better at it. Skill comes from training, and training comes from just killing monsters. The only way to get very good at this game is to play is many times. The first time around this game, it will seem impossible (assuming you're playing it on the NES and not on an emulator). The satisfaction of being able to say "I completed Zelda 2" is worth it, though, at least to me. I'd go as far as to say that this is the hardest game I've ever played on the NES, up there with silver surfer.


-- Buy or Rent --
Buy, obviously. Good luck trying to rent an NES game at your local blockbuster, that would be a laugh. There are thousands of these games on the internet available to buy for just a few bucks, and it's worth it. If you are a Zelda fan with an NES, I recommend trying out the outcast of the series, Zelda 2.


Pros:
-Long game
-Very challenging
-Fun to play
-A nice twist to a great series
-Good music
-Great storyline
-It's Zelda!

Cons:
-Too difficult for some
-controls harder to learn


-- Overall -- 10/10 (not an average)
Zelda 2 was a great game for the NES, and in my opinion a great Zelda game too. Although not taking on the same outline as other Zelda games, it was still a great classic. As I stated before, this game suffers from people comparing it to the first. They loved the original so much that they were mad when its sequel was not the same. However, many games do this too. Donkey Konga, Mario Golf, Pokemon Pinball, etc. Whether you like Zelda or not, you will more than likely enjoy this game.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 11/20/07

Game Release: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (US, December 1988)