The Legend of Zelda 2: Rinku no bôken

I have fond memories of this game. It was my favorite for NES (besides Dragon Warrior IV), yet I never owned it. I still remember it as the best in the series, possbily only second to Ocarina of Time. But I haven't played it in a while and can't find it anywhere. So if you have it, consider yourself lucky.

The NES sequel "Zelda II: The Adventue of Link" is a very strange game indeed. Seemingly different from its predecessor in every way, this game is the "sore thumb" of the franchise. It just doesn't fit in or make much sense... at all.

Set a few years after the first game, Link, our hero, is sent on a new quest- to save a different Zelda (yes, according to this game, there are two Zelda's... this is the first of the many nonsensical plot points this game doesn't explain very well), whom had been placed in an eternal slumber many centuries ago. At the same time, Link must also stop Ganon (the villain from the first game) from being resurrected by his followers. (Which happens in the event of you losing the game.) The general logic of the game is similar to the first- Link must traverse Hyrule, seeking dungeons to complete in order to collect artifacts to get more power, before confronting the big villain. But here is where the similarities end.

The game is told from an entirely different perspective. A bulk of the game is played similar to "Castlevania"- side-scrolling, with a lot of platform hopping. You do get a top-down map of the world (similar to Final Fantasy games), but it's only a small, small part of the game. 95% of it is played from the side perspective. There is also a lot less strategy in this game, due to the side-scrolling nature. You just hack, slash and avoid enemies.

You also collect experience, like an RPG, rather than getting Heart Containers to boost your health, so you will inevitably have to spend countless hours level-grinding, which gets incredibly annoying considering how little experience points you earn in battle.

The game's difficulty is near impossible, as well. Enemies move far too quickly and often come out of nowhere, and are much stronger than you. You will, without question, die dozens of times within the first few hours of gameplay, which is extremely discouraging. It just robs the game of a lot of the enjoyment. There's even enemies that are near invisible at times, which is blatantly unfair.

In addition, there are a lot of weird things in the game, including the infamous "I am Error." character, and lots of oddball moments that don't make much sense.

The graphics and sound, for an 80's NES game, are surprisingly decent, to be honest, so I can't complain about them. It's just the weird side-scrolling gameplay and the insane difficulty, not to mention the convoluted plot, that ruin it.

All of that being said, the game is still strangely playable. Something about its tone and style will keep you playing, so I must give it brownie points for that.

I give "Zelda II" a 5 out of 10. It's a crappy game, but it's somehow a FUN, crappy game.

Granted, I still found it somewhat fun to play. I hear there is a worse Zelda incarnation that came on this strange media player back in the 90's. I saw this system advertised on television and they did show a clip of Zelda and it did look rather bad, but I have never played it so I can not say for sure. This game takes place some time after part one and is a direct sequel to that game. Zelda has been put to sleep by some magician and Ganon's minions are trying to revive their former boss and all they need to do so is Link's death! For some reason Link must once again go through dungeons to get what he needs to help awaken the princess. The story is a bit off here as I had no clue as to who was the main bad guy or who that one character was at the end that made Link's shadow come to life. That is one of the reasons this one is a bit weak. The play is different too, as this time you walk on a map like in an rpg and you encounter enemies who appear on the map and fight them in a side scroll level. The dungeons are also side scroll. Link also can visit towns and this is also a bit more rpg than the first, but the towns are rather bland except you can learn magic here which is also a new feature and somewhat pointless except for that cure and defense spell. You also level up in this particular Zelda game. So all in all it is okay and the most different of all the Zelda games so worth a try if you ever run across it.

Like many Nes sequals, the gameplay is very different (CastleVania II, Super Mario II etc) Although this game is very different from the original Classic, it is more innovative, original, and believe it or not, Fun. This is definatly one of the most underated NES games, get It, now !

Shigeru Miyamoto could have lived off the success of the hit Legend Of Zelda and made a sequel exactly like the first one...but instead, he decided to make a different kind of game, a side scrolling adventure. The result was Zelda 2: The Adventure Of Link. While the overhead view of the original didn't completely vanish, all action scenes were depicted on a side-scrolling view. Link could now jump, duck, and do all the other fun things he couldn't in the first one. The land is quite large, and their is something uniquely magical about this 8-bit wonder that many games nowadays fail to create...a pity, considering all the things we can do now. It goes to show you that technology isn't the only thing to make a game.