Collection essentials #113: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES)

The original Zelda was obviously one of the biggest, most significant releases on the NES. So everybody was eagerly anticipating what Nintendo was going to do for a follow-up. For better or worse, they decided to greatly change the formula, so that it’s an entirely different type of experience. While the original was an action adventure game, it would be more accurate to call Zelda II an action RPG, as it uses a level-up system complete with experience points as well as various spells that cost MP to cast. It is still comparable to the original in terms of giving you a world to explore with various dungeons to tackle.

The big, immediate, obvious difference with Zelda II is that it primarily uses side-scrolling gameplay, with some platforming elements, even. When you’re on the world map (between locations), then the game goes back to an overhead view like the original Zelda, but you can’t attack or use items, since your goal is only to reach your next destination. When you touch a town or other location, you will switch back to the side view. There are also monsters on the world map who, when touched, bring Link to a side-scrolling battle screen where he must defeat them or run away. No Zelda game before or since has been designed like this.

Zelda II is a prime example of a game with what one could consider “flawed archaic video game design”. It’s another game where, at times, progression can be very cryptic, and it’s almost impossible to figure out where to go without someone telling you, or looking up a walkthrough of some kind. The game can be quite frustrating at times, as the difficulty is very uneven, notoriously spiking early in the game with the infamous Death Mountain location. The game has limited lives, and if you run out of lives and get a game over (or turn off the game in general), then when you continue, you will lose experience points down to however many you had the last time you leveled up. You will almost certainly be required to grind at some point, monotonously killing enemies over and over again until you level up and are strong enough to take on the next area.

Unlike the first game, there’s a rather diverse mix of opinions out there among fans. Even if it were more polished, some probably wouldn’t like it because it strays so far from what Zelda normally is. And of course, the flaws give a lot more reason to dislike it. But the truth is, there’s a lot to like about Zelda II as well. The graphics and music are excellent, and the 2D combat and dungeons can at times be quite enjoyable, for example. 

As for my experience, I was aware of Zelda II growing up but, again, not having an NES, didn’t play it. Years later when I had it on the Wii Virtual Console, I finally took it for a spin as a young adult. Playing it that way remedied one problem, that being, with suspend points you don’t have to reload your file, and therefore you won’t lose experience points when you’re done playing. I played it using a guide, and with modest expectations going in, I was actually surprised with how much I enjoyed Zelda II. I think how you approach Zelda II matters a great deal. If you go in blind, you’re probably going to just get lost and frustrated before long. But if you know what you’re getting into, enjoy a challenge, and are informed about the more cryptic things in the game, I think Zelda II can be quite enjoyable and worth revisiting today. It’s not one of the absolute greatest NES games, but being a unique part of a series I’m very fond of, I consider it an essential.