you don't know what you have until it's too late, and Nintendo didn't know that the first Legend of Zelda was the one that really worked .
That's not to say that Zelda II: The Adventure of Link has nothing going for it. The developers wanted to focus on the sword fighting aspect of Zelda, and i think they did okay with it. Consider the slew of other NES games that involve a sword and the lack of tension in the combat. For better or worse, and if you're not playing with save states, definitely for worse, Zelda II can offer some nail biting NES sword fights. Once you get the upwards and downwards thrusts for attacks in the air, the game feels pretty fun to play, especially when you're pogo jumping on an enemy's head.
We get this combat, however, at the expense of most other things that made the original Zelda so much fun. Zelda II's palaces, are a homogenous blur of brickbuilt hallways with various enemies peppered along it. I only remember the final palace's layout because i game overed so many times on the way to the Thunderbird, and i barely remember that level's layout as it is.
Those palaces follow Zelda 1's trend of rewarding you with a item to help you on your journey, but they rarely ever help you in the part of the game that you're most connected to: the side-scrolling action platforming. The items go towards the top-down overworld map that you use to go from major location to major location, where they're mostly "keys" to get you to the next major location.
This disconnect between these items you get and the gameplay you're most linked (get it) to is somewhat mitigated by the spells you get from the various villages you find with those items. The spells give you temporary combat and movement and defensive buffs as well as some interesting things like a fairy transformation that cleverly lets you fly through keyholes.
In order to use these spells you need magic, and you can cast more spells by leveling up and giving yourself more magic meter. Zelda having an EXP (in this case, just P) Level-up system is something i'm glad didn't get carried over into the later games, but you might find yourself grinding for rupees in Majora's Mask or Wind Waker, so while the P system didn't come back, the ugly side of it certainly did. To an extent.
I have played this game three or four times. It's hard to beat this game without 100%ing it, so i guess i should say i have also done that three or four times.
despite being the """"black sheep"""", Zelda II is a game with a lot of firsts for the Zelda series. it's the first to have towns (which the sages in Ocarina of Time are named after), it's the first to have sword techniques (which are referenced by Smash Bros. to this day), and it's the first to have Dark Link. I recommend Zelda II for the real Zelder Freaks out there. You play it and you see the team trying to find what works while also improving on what they made before, and struggling to find their footing while also getting the ball rolling for true greatness.
The music, as always, is really good too.
That's not to say that Zelda II: The Adventure of Link has nothing going for it. The developers wanted to focus on the sword fighting aspect of Zelda, and i think they did okay with it. Consider the slew of other NES games that involve a sword and the lack of tension in the combat. For better or worse, and if you're not playing with save states, definitely for worse, Zelda II can offer some nail biting NES sword fights. Once you get the upwards and downwards thrusts for attacks in the air, the game feels pretty fun to play, especially when you're pogo jumping on an enemy's head.
We get this combat, however, at the expense of most other things that made the original Zelda so much fun. Zelda II's palaces, are a homogenous blur of brickbuilt hallways with various enemies peppered along it. I only remember the final palace's layout because i game overed so many times on the way to the Thunderbird, and i barely remember that level's layout as it is.
Those palaces follow Zelda 1's trend of rewarding you with a item to help you on your journey, but they rarely ever help you in the part of the game that you're most connected to: the side-scrolling action platforming. The items go towards the top-down overworld map that you use to go from major location to major location, where they're mostly "keys" to get you to the next major location.
This disconnect between these items you get and the gameplay you're most linked (get it) to is somewhat mitigated by the spells you get from the various villages you find with those items. The spells give you temporary combat and movement and defensive buffs as well as some interesting things like a fairy transformation that cleverly lets you fly through keyholes.
In order to use these spells you need magic, and you can cast more spells by leveling up and giving yourself more magic meter. Zelda having an EXP (in this case, just P) Level-up system is something i'm glad didn't get carried over into the later games, but you might find yourself grinding for rupees in Majora's Mask or Wind Waker, so while the P system didn't come back, the ugly side of it certainly did. To an extent.
I have played this game three or four times. It's hard to beat this game without 100%ing it, so i guess i should say i have also done that three or four times.
despite being the """"black sheep"""", Zelda II is a game with a lot of firsts for the Zelda series. it's the first to have towns (which the sages in Ocarina of Time are named after), it's the first to have sword techniques (which are referenced by Smash Bros. to this day), and it's the first to have Dark Link. I recommend Zelda II for the real Zelder Freaks out there. You play it and you see the team trying to find what works while also improving on what they made before, and struggling to find their footing while also getting the ball rolling for true greatness.
The music, as always, is really good too.