Zelda II: The Adventure of Link FINISHED! 7/10 I had a total of 11:38 Hours of gameplay I prefer the second game than the first but it's down to personal taste.
I still consider this game a Zelda Roguelike to this day in my head, is this a Roguelike or maybe a Roguelite?

The reason I got to this point is that the game has a points system, these points would be how much level is left, like JRPG XP you accumulate when completing certain requirements and you level up.
Choose what you want to update, such as your Magic bar, or even attack life, but the update is permanent! but if the Game is over your points are reset!

Another factor is that the palace where Zelda is sleeping is the starting point, so if you had Game Over you will return to the same place where Princess Zelda is! There are times when you have advanced a lot in a Dungeon but having a Game Over and having to go back all over again is frustrating. Yes and a lot! If the game is over you go back to the beginning of the game, and by doing the whole journey again you don't lose the game's advanced items, much less the upgrades, but remember that your points will be reset!

Zelda II has a life system, something that doesn't make much sense to me, it just increased the difficulty a lot since in the game you only get 3 lives and even have extra lives but there's a problem there are only 6 throughout the GAME! which would be a Link doll.

The game has that system that is a nightmare for many players, where when hit your character is thrown back meters away, which will occasionally result in a Game Over due to falling into a cliff or lava.

About the enemies' collision box, this is a nightmare... 99% of the attacks that Link has to do on monsters are the head, the biggest problem is that the enemies' heads are small and Link's sword looks like a steak knife that you have in your kitchen, it's small so you're always very close to the monsters.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is a good game, it has good and pleasant music even for the time, but I wish it had better variations, for example many Dungeons have rooms that are literally identical to all the previous ones and only change the color palette, the numbers of monsters are not large but it gives variety with each dungeon and caves.

The verdict is this game for you? Yes! And not! First I have to say just Zelda fans like me or want to know all the games in the series I recommend playing, Zelda II is a very difficult game you might get frustrated I played the whole game without Save State, but if you want to use it use it! And I even recommend looking for Dungeon maps on the Internet to help. I did this because it would help me have less headaches.

It was interesting to play Zelda II again, it's been many years since the first time I beat this game, and in a way it was fun, especially beating the final boss with 1 life point

4/4 heart containers
Magic Containers 4/4
Link Figures 6/6
Spells 8/8

Game finished 100%

Remarkably, the good majority of Zelda holds up in the current day. It's interesting to hear people call this a "guide game" in a negative lens because... that's always how it was marketed and sold to us. The manual that comes with the game not only expands quite a deal on the story and context of this first entry, but includes gorgeous artwork and maps - complete with walkthroughs for the first few dungeons - to get a new player started. This was indeed always meant to be an adventure, one the player would get their nose lost in manuals, handwritten notes and drawings, and of course not the least of which murmurings and tips passed between friends in the schoolyard and the fabled Nintendo hotline.

That said, the original Zelda experience isn't without flaw, for all of its adventure purist expression. I think Miyamoto and the team learned pretty quickly that an indicator for which bushes to burn, which boulders and walls to bomb, and stronger guidance for the sake of general gameplay flow were all in order by the time Link to the Past would roll around. The combat so desperately wants Link to have an arced swing of his sword, evidenced by how much combat relies on inter-tile maneuvering, but it's not quite there yet. Still a massive step in the right direction from the competitions' push-combat approach... much as I do like early Ys. What's here is still very solid, and a great deal of fun. I just replayed this with my best friend in an impromptu single session and it didn't drag at all. For as minimal and bare-bones as Zelda feels now, that adds to the unique charm and status it takes within its series and adventure games as a whole.