Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

The Good
I think I applaud the development team for trying something different. The game has even more RPG elements and some of those things made their way into subsequent releases (some of the named locations, fighting a dark version of yourself, etc..) but largely the concepts and ideas in this game were forgotten.

As much as I despised the combat, I did start to get a kind of Souls-like feeling with it. I would figure out the enemy's patterns and after I had died a few dozen times, I became adept at taking them on. Then another enemy was introduced that I couldn't figure out, so rinse and repeat.

The Bad
Well, the graphics are terrible. Even if you're a retro gaming fan, there's a lot not to like about the visuals. Link's sword, for example, is the same color as his skin. So, it looks like Link has a really messed up appendage. All of the towns look exactly the same except for maybe a color palette swap or a slight shift in position. The overworld map is bland and uninteresting.

NPC dialogue is confusing and provides almost no context or information. All of the NPCs look the same.

None of this would be as bad if the gameplay was any good. After all, the Castlevania series attempted a similar shift in format with Simon's Quest and it wasn't terrible. Unfortunately, Zelda 2 doesn't fare so well. The game is unfair, way more unfair than the original. Link's sword swipe is not very long so therefore you have to be super close to the enemy to hit it. Link's movement is as if he's on ice so when you stop you kind of slide just a tiny bit, which makes platforming a bit more challenging than it needs to be.

The bosses, while visually interesting, are random and seem to have no real connection to one another.

The Bottom Line
The Adventure of Link swings for the fences, I will say that much. They tried to do something different, unfortunately it just didn't work. I don't think the game is without merit, the leveling system is interesting, and a lot of the enemies and bosses looked pretty good. Everything else though was pretty bad. The game honestly felt like it wasn't finished and needed just a little more polish and balancing.

The Good
I was trying so hard to find anything good to say about this game...I re-played it many times trying to find something good but I'm sorry there isn't anything I liked about this game. Other than the cool looking gold box the game came in, this game stinks compared to the first Zelda.

The Bad
First off the music and sound effects drove me nuts. It was like someone took the Mike Tyson's Punch Out sounds effects and put them (like that 'boingy' sword sound) all over the game. Second, the character control for Link was like a throwing around a big sack of potatoes. I just didn't feel like you were in control of Link when he would just float around in the air when you jumped sideways. Then third, there was too much reading! "Go to this house and blabhlablablahblahblah", I go there and get more "blahblahblah" from Old Hag #6. I wish I could of just stabbed these blabber mouths like I used to do to the Old Man in the first Zelda game! Ugh. Playing Zelda II again so recently gave me flashbacks of the anger and disappointment I felt when I first got this game when it came out. I remember seeing this game on the Nintendo poster they gave out when you bought a system and was wondering where the game was while standing in line to buy first classic Zelda game. I really doubt the microchips in the game were that hard to make to delay this game a year! I think Nintendo made that rumor up due to the first Zelda game being so good and wanting to milk the sales. They didn't want people to get confused into buying Zelda II so soon and then loose their sales on both games.

The Bottom Line
The first one was so awesome but this one.. It's just feels like someone took that overhead RPG layout of Final Fantasy and added it to the winning side scrolling action of Super Mario Bros. into one big adventure game. With Zelda II you could just say it is plagued just like movie sequels. First one was great but second one. .ehh.. pass if you can...

The Good
This, I think, is the best Zelda game. It is the toughest of all Zelda games because you actually end up beating your shadow. I have 4 more Zelda games, and they took me weeks of once in a while play to finish them, but this one took me like 10 years, no kidding! (well, maybe because I got it when I was 5 ys. old, but EVERYONE in my family played it and no one could win it.) It requires thinking a lot, and understanding clues. NO tips and tricks from anywhere! It is an interesting story, and has the most original enemies and dungeons from all Zelda Games. I think is the perfect trama because you have to wake up Zelda, the original idea of the game; you don't go around for other objects that have nothing to do with Hyrule like the other Zelda Sequels. You definitely have to think a lot because there are things that have no clues actually, and without them you cannot move on, that is why it took me such a long time, cause i got stuck many times.

The Bad
It is the best game, no complaints, but the fact that you thumbs WILL HURT a lot, especially if you already fought with your shadow!

The Bottom Line
If you like adventure, Zelda games, and most of all best sellers with Nintendo;s Golden Seal, you WILL love this game!