I’ll admit this game is flawed. Death Mountain is a frustrating difficulty spike, respawning at Zelda’s castle every game over is stupid, progression is occassionally cryptic, and the items aren’t very interesting. However, those are the only problems I have with Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. In every other way, I think it’s an improvement over the first game.

The NPCs were more fleshed out, as they live in towns instead of isolated caves. When the hints worked, they were usually a lot more comprehensible. My favorite change was the combat. The side-scrolling perspective was a bold choice, but it led to more fun and intense battles in my experience. Who could forget their first time fighting an Iron Knuckle? The magic spells and additional sword techniques added a lot too, giving you a nice sense of progression. Lastly, I prefer the music of Zelda II over its predecessor. Not only are there more songs, but they tend to last longer before looping. The Palace theme in particular is quite lengthy given how early this was in the NES lifecycle.

Aside from the side-scrolling perspective and RPG elements, all of these changes became staples of the series and I’m very grateful for them. Given that there’s no other Zelda game like it, I would like to see Nintendo take another stab at it someday.