My 100 Video Game Challenge (2024) #10: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Played on: Nintendo Switch Online [NES]

Having bested the entirety of the original Legend of Zelda once again, it didn't feel right to go back to the series' origins without revisiting my own very first Legend of Zelda game I ever played and owned as a kid; Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

Yes, this was my first Legend of Zelda game, and indeed my only Legend of Zelda game until I was almost a teenager. Yes, this one; This red-headed, crossed-eyed step-bastard was my introduction to one of my favourite video game franchises of all time, and it's by far the Legend of Zelda game that I've spent the most time with throughout my childhood.

Yes, seriously. I got it as a gift from my parents after performing well at soccer practice. There's no way they could have known how weird this game is compared to the others, though it did amusingly start my parents' strange pattern of only buying me the Legend of Zelda series' side games when I was a kid, and never its mainline ones.

In case you're curious as to what makes Zelda II: The Adventure of Link so bizarre and different... Well, that's a lot of things. For starters, this is the only Legend of Zelda game to date with RPG elements, complete with experience points, and leveling up player character, Link's stats in order to make him stronger, healthier and better able to use magic. On top of that, most of Zelda II actually plays out like a side-scrolling platformer, with Link able to moon jump, Mario-style, and only being able to move left and right as well, at least, outside of the world map. On the world map, Link can move in any of the four cardinal directions, with no combat in that mode, instead being attacked by enemies on a separate battle screen if he comes into contact with them (enemies are represented by two icons depicting weak and strong enemy selections, respectively), but is otherwise only properly engaged in the normal side-scrolling gameplay within towns, field landmarks or dungeons.

There are more strange quirks that turn the enduring Legend of Zelda formula on its head here, ones that haven't been revisited, at least not officially, in any future Legend of Zelda game, even over thirty years later. The biggest example of this is, whereas most Legend of Zelda games have the player entering dungeons to find macguffins that open paths ahead, Zelda II is the one game in the series that gives you the macguffins from the start, in this case, six enchanted crystals, and tasks you with PUTTING THEM BACK at the end of each dungeon instead. Moreover, this is the only game in the franchise that directly revolves around the actual 'Legend of Zelda'; You know, the increasingly non-sensical mythical event referenced in the franchise's title!

This is because the overall objective of Zelda II is to awaken the original Princess Zelda, whom every female heir is named after (this is actually an interesting in-canon explanation as to why every princess in the series' history is somehow named, "Zelda.", even if Zelda II itself is set at the very end of the series' non-canon 'theoretical timeline'), after she was placed under a sleeping spell many generations previous by an evil wizard. The six crystals given to Link at the start of the game must be placed in Zelda II's dungeons to awaken the Triforce of Courage (making its franchise debut in this game), within the extra dangerous 'Great Palace', Zelda II's final dungeon. The Triforce of Courage is the only thing in existence with the power to awaken the sleeping Zelda, naturally. That's right; There's no Ganon in this game, since he's still dead after the conclusion of the original Legend of Zelda game's events. To explain all the monster attacks that Link suffers in Zelda II then, Ganon's many followers can resurrect Ganon if they sprinkle the blood of Link upon his ashes, hence why the player needs to defend themselves against constant attacks while trying to awaken Zelda.

Yes, if you get a Game Over in Zelda II, it hurts twice as much as most other games. Not only do you fail at your goal in Zelda II, but you retroactively fail at your goal from the original Legend of Zelda game, because Ganon is alive again. Zelda II's Game Over screen even tells you this, just to kick you while you're down. Ouch. NES games really didn't care about players' self esteem, did they?

This probably sounds very eccentric to anyone with even a passing familiarity with the Legend of Zelda franchise, and, unsurprisingly, this has led to Zelda II being declared the 'black sheep' of the series in the modern era. Some people defend it, many dislike it, though Zelda II still contributed several enduring mechanics that future Legend of Zelda games continue to feature; It's the first Legend of Zelda game with towns, the first to feature a magic meter, the first to feature the Triforce of Courage, as I said, the first to feature several recurring enemies such as Iron Knuckles, Lizalfos and even Dark Link, and it's the first game to depict Link as a slightly older, more seasoned young adult hero, rather than a little boy, even if successive games would cycle back and forth on depicting Link in either fashion. Most importantly, Zelda II is also the first game in the series (and, strangely, the only game in the series to date) to officially refer to its title by the commonly-used shorthand, 'Zelda', rather than, 'The Legend of Zelda', with most gamers and non-gamers alike being more inclined to identify the series as simply, "Zelda." Zelda II is the game that got that started.

I can see why some people dislike Zelda II, since it throws out most of the series' familiar mechanics, and radically overhauls its gameplay. There are no rupees to earn and spend (in fact, Zelda II is completely devoid of shops and currency), most of Link's familiar tools like the boomerang, bombs and bow and arrow are all absent, and the progression feels much more linear, emphasizing combat and platforming over environmental puzzles and secrets... At least, in theory. Trust me, Zelda II is just as cryptic and confusing as its NES predecessor, and just as dependent on playing with a walkthrough, if you want to get anywhere fast, due to how vague the whole game is, complete with just spawning you by the sleeping Zelda, and not giving you any further directions in-game once you start.

Zelda II is also infamous for being arguably the most difficult game in the series, even now. Whereas the original Legend of Zelda derived most of its challenge from being extremely open-ended and secretive, Zelda II is filled with brutal, challenging combat, and devious environmental hazards. It's also the only game in the series to feature a lives system, which enemies will be happy to burn through by frequently knocking you into instant-death pits of water or lava. To make matters worse, despite Link being able to use a shield simply by standing or crouching, the shield is all but useless against many later-game attacks like axes, fireballs and magic energy. This would suck significantly less if Link's sword also didn't have the paltry range of a butterknife.

I've been playing Zelda II in some form since I was six years old, and I still have my original gold-finish NES cartridge from that time (yes, it replicated the gold cartridge colouring from its NES predecessor), so I don't struggle with the challenge as much as some do. Even so, I agree that Zelda II can be downright unfair in some places. This game requires a lot of patience, even if it compensates for its more challenging combat by having likely the easiest, most straightforward dungeon design in the series, especially when compared to more modern Legend of Zelda games.

Hell, my subjective opinion on Zelda II even seems to fluctuate wildly between playthroughs. One of my proudest accomplishments as a gamer is managing to beat my original NES cartridge of Zelda II in its entirety without using a walkthrough as a kid, though this took me about seven years to do, and I wouldn't classify that entire experience as 'fun' in the traditional sense, considering the ludicrous amount of trial-and-error my child self had to go through. When I subsequently revisited Zelda II on my Nintendo 3DS during my 20's, where I received it as a free Virtual Console reward for being an early adopter (alongside the original Legend of Zelda for NES), I downright disliked it, finding it more annoying than I used to as a child.

Now though, having replayed Zelda II in my 30's via the Nintendo Switch Online catalogue, I had a much more positive experience with the game. It was still annoying in some places, but I found the heightened challenge to be quite engaging, and now that I knew where most of the dungeons and tools were from memory, I found that I could proceed through Zelda II a lot more smoothly, and with much less wandering and time-wasting.

Like the original Legend of Zelda for NES, I still wouldn't consider Zelda II to be one of my favourite games in the series, despite all my nostalgia for it, particularly since it was my very first Legend of Zelda game from childhood. At this point though, I am much more willing to notice and appreciate its radical desire to upend the series' original formula, even if most future Legend of Zelda games would ultimately go back to the presentation and progression style of the original Legend of Zelda game. I disagree with the notion that Zelda II should be hated simply because it's different. Honestly, I even agree with series creator and executive producer, Shigeru Miyamoto when he says that Zelda II is probably the Legend of Zelda game that most demands a remake, and he's apparently been trying to convince Nintendo to make it happen for years. I'd be all for that, eccentric gameplay and all, since I feel that Zelda II is, maybe not a highlight entry in the franchise, but it is definitely underappreciated nonetheless.

Who knows; Maybe I'll dislike it again during my next playthrough. After my latest playthrough though? I was happy to enjoy Zelda II again, and I legitimately hope that it can make a more large-scale comeback someday. After all, if you haven't engaged in one of this game’s intense sword duels with an Iron Knuckle, have you ever truly appreciated NES game design?

IF I HAD TO SCORE IT: 8/10