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Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Nintendo NES) discussion [game]
 
  Matthew T  
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link on the NES
8.36/10 from 43 user ratings

Welcome to the official discussion thread for Zelda II: The Adventure of Link on the NES!

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Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Nintendo NES) Review (8.0)  by  
  kriswright  

If you ask me, The Legend of Zelda is a stone-cold classic, and fully deserves its own playthrough thread. But the second-largest game in the ambassador giveaway also has its own share of fans. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, despite being the black sheep of the series, has gotten pretty popular over the past few years and its gameplay has generally held up pretty well.

The title is notorious for its difficulty, but personally, I feel that the game is rather fair until the very final areas. While you lose your "unspent" EXP with a game over (and are returned to the starting location), you keep your levels, items, spells, and progress otherwise. And even then, you could always grind a bit to face Zelda II's challenges with greater ease.

So join us, won't you? I'd suggest finishing Zelda 1 first if you've started that, or you can do what I'm doing and run through both games more or less simultaneously--they're different enough that you shouldn't get Zelda fatigue. The appeal of Zelda II is in its challenging combat mixed with rewarding exploration, and it's not nearly as obtuse as some people feel the first title is. Instead, the additional challenge is placed on battling the enemies and surviving long enough to finish each dungeon.

A few hints before you go:

-To start, you'll notice all the caves are rather dark (until you get a special item). You don't have to go through any before you get that item except one in the northeast, above the town of Rauru. But be sure to stop by the town before you head through there, though.

-Make sure you spend your EXP on level-ups when you're getting close to a game over. It stinks losing your last life and subsequently your "loose" EXP. Level-ups, on the other hand, are permanent.

-"LIFE" level-ups increase your defense (not really your life). "MAGIC" level-ups decrease the amount of magic you spend per spell ("16" is one "block" of magic). "SWORD" level-ups increase your attack, and are probably the most valuable.

-Beating a dungeon and putting the crystal in the statue makes your EXP shoot up to the next level, regardless of where it currently is. With clever timing and strategy, you can get a ton of free EXP this way. If you want to wait, you can always jump over the statue area and come back when you want a bigger EXP boost (like if you're getting the last couple levels).

-You can choose to "cancel" level-ups if you're holding out for a different stat, so they don't have to be linear. For instance, if you get 50 EXP and want to save it for the FIGHT level-up at 200 EXP, just hit select to cancel out of the level-up window and bank the excess EXP.

-Some "tiles" on the world map lead to secret areas. Walk all over, especially on tiles that stick out or look suspicious.

Good luck, adventurers, and remember...

IF ALL ELSE FAILS, USE FIRE.

Good advice for life.

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09/06/11, 20:25    Edited: 09/06/11, 22:33
 
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  Shadowlink  
@Zero

You need a specific item. An item which by the way I thought was a glitched magic container that didn't give me another magic block. I was pissed. Then I went online and found what it was.


Seriously this game needs a subquest inventory. Or at least name the items when you get them. Bah.
09/12/11, 23:38   
  rebonack  
Yeah, what they said. You need to find a certain item which you can exchange in town for the fourth spell.

If you want a hint, it's in a cave blocked by a roadblock. If you don't want a hint, don't read that.
09/12/11, 23:58   
Edited: 09/12/11, 23:59
  Zero  
What you guys really mean is I need to check Gamefaqs. Works for me.

Wait... it's in a cave blocked by a roadblock? WHERE? I thought I hit all of those already.
09/12/11, 23:59   
Edited: 09/13/11, 00:02
  V_s  
@Zero - When you first come out of the caves from Ruto Town, it'll be the first cave on your right, facing north, if I remember correctly.
09/13/11, 00:27   
  rebonack  
Might you have hit the cave after you went to the town? Because if you talk to the person without having the item you collect in that cave, you won't get the spell.

EDIT: V_s is correct about which cave it is.
09/13/11, 00:28   
Edited: 09/13/11, 00:34
  Shadowlink  
Question. I'm up to the third palace and have just obtained the raft.

Now my way is blocked by a locked door. I can see a key earlier on in the palace but I believe I need the downward thrust ability to obtain it? I'm assuming that this is something you learn and not something that I should have been able to do from the start (and me just being too unco to pull off.)

Given that, I headed across to the eastern area to explore ahead. Got the Fire spell (nice!). But am I in the right area to find the thrust ability? Should I still be looking back around where I came from or was I right to skip ahead?
09/13/11, 00:56   
  V_s  
@Shadowlink - Yeah, you skipped the area where the Down Thrust can be found. In terms of how you find sword skills, they're a lot like spells, but typically more cleverly hidden.

However, there is another way to get through locked doors without needing a key.
09/13/11, 01:12   
  Shadowlink  
Well poop. I thought I'd been exploring pretty thoroughly. Apparently not.

And yeah forgot about that other way to get through the door. I only know of that ability due to the Zelda retrospective vid, I wouldn't have thought about it otherwise.

11 years of Zelda convention tossed out the window with that one. You see a locked door, you need a key! Going to have to break that habit obviously.
09/13/11, 01:23   
Edited: 09/13/11, 01:24
  rebonack  
Yeah, definitely go back for the downward thrust. It's a huge help, especially once you get to the eastern continent.
09/13/11, 01:31   
  CB200  
If I recall correctly, getting the hidden sword skills sometimes requires you to go look for alternative ways of entering houses in some towns. To put it another way... the big guy in the red and white suit has the right idea.
09/13/11, 02:13   
  sirmastersephiroth  
@CB200 This guy?


I don't see how making robot buddies and looking for emeralds helps in this case.
09/13/11, 02:24   
  V_s  
@CB200 - You are correct, though your latter hint is for the second.
09/13/11, 02:26   
  rebonack  
@sirmastersephiroth Come on man, he blacked out his text for a reason. Now you've gone and spoiled it.
09/13/11, 04:09   
  Guillaume  
I played this on the plane until my batteries ran out. Now, I only did the first dungeon and grinded and explored a bit but, so far, I like it better than LoZ. The enemies and Game Overs taking away XP is just evil, but I don't actually mind that much. Now with the healing spell I have more of a chance when I venture far away too. The combat and platforming are fun!
09/18/11, 07:17   
  Secret_Tunnel  
Oh yeah, I beat this again today. I've never actually levelled all the way up. I was 7-7-8 by the end of the game.
09/18/11, 07:33   
  kriswright  
@Guillaume

I'm never talking to you again.
09/18/11, 08:56   
  Guillaume  
@kriswright

Haha, why? I don't really want to read the thread because of spoilers, but I thought you enjoyed this game?
09/18/11, 09:03   
  kriswright  
@Guillaume

I'd tell you, but that would require me breaking my vow to talk to you, something I just won't do. I'm a man of my word.

EDIT: Oh no!
09/18/11, 09:07   
Edited: 09/18/11, 09:15
  Secret_Tunnel  
Anand said:
Damn, this game is kicking my ass. The first area/dungeon took me a while. I couldn't even FIND it, because I didn't remember that you had to go through a blind cave and that bastard in town lied to me! And I forgot to get Shield on the way. Zelda II is fairly linear, but finding the path forward is kind of obtuse at times. (I mean, you actually have to pay attention to what people are saying!) Still, I remember why I loved it.

That sweet-ass combat. Every encounter could be your last. It's fucking INTENSE. And they throw Ironknuckles and Skeleton dudes at you in the FIRST dungeon. Those skeleton dudes aren't really tough, though. Unless you try to rush through them, whereupon they stab you in the EYE.

Yeah, I'm capitalizing. Deal with it. Shit just got real. But, seriously, is there anything more satisfying than perfectly dispatching an Ironknuckle or a Boomerang dude at the lower levels?

I really can't believe that Nintendo thought Zelda II had an acceptable amount of difficulty. In terms of progression/combat/whatever. But it's awesome. And, upon reflection, Nintendo did make pretty hard games, back in the day. Also, there are all sorts of RPG-y tricks to mitigate the difficulty... if you can figure them out. A very non-Nintendo game, in many ways. Especially since it also has some interface issues, like unspeedable text, fireballs that can hit you from the very edge of the screen, and a transition to an empty screen when you encounter enemies on the road. (Why?)

The art style is pretty unique for the series. Kind of off-putting and out-of-place at first, but it grows on you. Somehow I feel that Steampunk Zelda could work, AoL-style.

And the music is decent. It's cool how it begins with a bar of the overworld theme before transitioning to the new one. The best track is the palace theme, which really does amplify the creepiness and tension.

Overall, I'm enjoying the piss out of this game. Great stuff. Great, sloppy stuff. It reminds me of what it is to feel. I mean, I barely made it to the next town, and I was one-shotted by a fucking villager who turned into a bat! I had to laugh.


After hurling my 3DS into the wall, I mean.

Fun fact: anand wrote this three weeks before the release of Dark Souls.



MercurySteam needs to make a follow-up to Zelda II with this art style!
04/16/23, 19:18   
  Anand  
@Secret_Tunnel
A blast from the past! That doesn't even sound like me...

Except for the Zelda II love, of course. It's a tragedy that we were denied a SNES take on Zelda II and Kid Icarus. Kid Icarus and Metroid 1 were always marketed as a set, with the Gray boxes and pioneering password system (which could be abused by changing one or two letters at a time). But the Kid got left behind... until Sakurai brought back the character, if not necessarily the spirit of the original game.


Back to Zelda II, though, Koizumi was apparently toying with a polygonal SNES remake of Adventure of Link, before his ideas got kind of folded into Ocarina of Time.

Seems like that happens to him a lot.
04/16/23, 22:49   
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