The Development & Legacy of Zelda II Revisited
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- Опубликовано: 11 окт 2024
- Season 2 Revisited
This week we're revisiting Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. I briefly discuss the history of Zelda II and its ongoing legacy.
Legendary Adventures is a Legend of Zelda playthrough podcast. I’m exploring the evolution of the Zelda game series by playing through each game in release order, excluding spin-off releases.
This episode contains the music "Vintage Elecro pop loop" by frankum -- freesound.org/... -- License: Attribution 4.0
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Sources:
1. • NUTS FOR NINTENDO spec...
2. web.archive.or...
3. Zelda II End Credits
4. archive.org/de...
5. archive.org/de...
6. www.zeldadunge...
7. shmuplations.c...
8. kotaku.com/shi...
9. www.inverse.co...
10. • Zelda II: The Adventur...
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Back in the day Nintendo refused to put the real names of the involved staff in their game credits. They didnt want other companies to hire their workers.
@@DrJohn-be1pk This is true, they were credited under pseudonyms. Tezuka was credited under the name TenTen at the time, but that name isn't in the credits for Zelda II
That would explain why so many games had what was seemingly wrestler nicknames in the credits lol
I thought this game stood out from the rest of the series in a good way. Never a dull moment. Facing off with iron knuckles pumped me full of adrenaline. Downthrust jumps were a game changer!
Ok so honestly, Zelda II is one of my top 3 zelda games. I can remember seeing it in action for the first time. My older cousin had rented it and we both spent the night at our grandparents house. I was caught up in the adventure and exploration. Uncovering new abilities and learning new wisdoms lol such a wonderful time to be alive. I've never fully understood the hate for this game... I mean (say it with me) different does not equal bad.) Anyway I guess what I want to say is Thank You. Thank You for the time and effort you put into making these videos. I love your channel and i just want to encourage you to keep up the great work.
I remember playing it with my mom, we both liked it. I didn't know it was "hated" till several years later when we got online.
@@ExtendedJet8 that's great that you and your mother used to play NES/ games together, what a great memory to have. My parents never really got the "Nintendo thing". While they never discouraged us from playing, they just never did much more than line up "blocks" in Tetris or hunting ducks in
🤔 "something hunt"... I don't remember the name. But I do have a tone of memories NESing it up with the cousins.
@@keithseratt5926 ähm maybe..Duck Hunt? 😅
It's not really a Zelda game though. It's the black sheep because it was meant to be its own series. Agree with Miyamoto, they made the game too hard, and thus the vast majority of players bounced once they hit Death Mountain.
"I was caught up in the exploration" Are we talking about the same game?
@@_sparrowhawk I never hit any area on Zelda 2 where I stalled. Zelda 1 though I ran into a castle where I had a room I couldn't get past for almost a year. Had those things that would pounce on you and steal your shield and there were so many of them. I'd always die. But Zelda 2 I never had a problem with.
I also played Zelda 2 before I played Zelda 1, so I was able to appreciate it for what it is rather than hating it for unreasonable expectations. It platforms well, it's difficult but fair(from a gameplay perspective), and the leveling up and exploration elements can be fun. The only complaint is the cryptic nature of some secrets that were largely due to translation errors, but I was able to figure everything out. Never got stuck for more than a day or so on Zelda 2.
I think it’s kind of sweet that in some ways, OoT could be seen as a second attempt at Adventure of Link. The “black sheep” would heavily influence the most landmark game in the series.
Also I see how the leveling system influences the one in Echoes of Wisdom, right down to “dungeons give you enough to level up”.
Loved your vid on the original NES Zelda. I clicked this one super fast lol
The Japanese battle song returned in Minish Cap as a mini boss song. I don't know why it changed in America.
I'd guess due to the differing sound hardware. But that's just a general WAG.
I'm so glad you are redoing these, I *tried* to watch the originals, but they were just.. rough in terms of audio. So, these revisited episodes are awesome to see.
dark link's first appearance
Also the first appearance of the Goddess Statue.
SOOO much nostalgia here! I love it!
No Zelda title lives permanently in the front of my head like Zelda II. I don't even know why.
Edited because I thought I found a reason. But I didn't.
Lol
Just got done with you LoZ revisit, absolutely amazingly done. I do wish you had touched on the hidden bombable walls a bit more but you did suggest watching a walkthrough for people who wanted to find them all. And that was probably the right choice.
This was SO incredibly informative! Thanks so much for all your research and interesting footage/quotes! I cracked up at John Stossel waiting impatiently in line just to have footage for a news story 😆
Zelda 2 was my favorite NES game. I loved it. I still love it. I play through it every few years and can do so with ease. It really isn't as hard as people seem to think it is. I much prefer it over Zelda 1, which I still like, but not near as much.
But then again, I played Zelda 2 before I played Zelda 1. So I played the game without any expecations or even knowing that it was a popular game. My dad just picked it up and I had no idea what the Zelda series was even about. So I was able to play the game and appreciate it for what it was/is. It's a very well programmed game, with elements of exploration and level building and I liked RPG and exploration type games, of which there were very few back then. The game play can be hard, but it's fair. There aren't any bad hit boxes, Link isn't stiff, so he platforms very well(though being knocked back into pits can be an issue like in Castlevania), and every enemy has a pattern that can be learned.
It's truly a very underappreciated game. Those who don't like it are almost exclusively people who played Zelda 1 first and were disappointed because they were wanting a clone of the first game. Similar to Chrono Cross. I loved Chrono Cross. One of my favorite Playstation 1 RPGs, but again, I played Chrono Cross first. Never picked up Trigger on the SNES. Though I did go back and play Chrono Trigger later in life and absolutely loved it and view it very favorably against Chrono Cross, where as Zelda 1 doesn't hold a candle to Zelda 2 in my opinion.
I hated it... but still own it... :)
Very clean interesting new perspective of this classic game. Subscribed and thank you for digging this deep!
I loved Zelda II. Even with my first copy experiencing a glitch with the Fairy spell that broke the entire game. On all save files. Even when deleted. Start a new safe file? Start as a fairy that's falling though pits. In North Castle.
Hell yeah! Zelda II is my favourite NES game.
Same
Imagine that - 35 years of not liking Zelda games.
@@_sparrowhawk He never said he didn't like the other Zelda games. Just that it was his favorite.
You must be one of those who are bitter because you bought it expecting a clone of the first game.
13:57 That fairy tune always makes me think of "Let the Music Play" by Shannon
I taped that 20/20 segment on vhs and watched it probably 30 times.
Zelda II is not my favorite Zelda (that honor belongs to WW/MM/LA, generationally), not that I'm saying it's bad, it's just that it's not "fully Zelda". But it's a game I enjoy playing every time, just because of how different, creative (AND DIFFICULT!) it was. And it set the cornerstone of future games of the series.
Also, Link's combat style on the SSB games is a direct call to Zelda II. I love it. Not as a Zelda game, but as an unique proposal that helped cement the future good reputation of the series.
I love this game. Every so often I fire up this game and beat it in an evening. I wish more people appreciated this classic ARPG
Same here. I can play through it in a couple hours. I play through this game every few years. It's my favorite NES game.
But I played Zelda 2 before Zelda 1, so I was able to appreciate it for what it was. I've found that the people who don't like it are almost exclusively those who played Zelda 1 first and were disappointed it wasn't a clone of the first game. Everybody I know who played Zelda 2 first, loves the game. It's programmed very well, it platforms well, the exploration element is fun, and the level building can be fun if you liked RPGs. It has it fair criticisms for sure, especially the criptic nature of some things, but it was a great game.
@@turinturambar347 For me personally, this is one of those games where in my earliest memories before I even knew how to spell words I was playing it and the first zelda (along with other NES games) but I never beat either.
Later on in life I came back to these games and loved them both. It's not like Simon's Quest levels of cryptic so I really do not think it is that bad...I think that modern gaming has spoiled many gamers but designing games in such a way that one does not really have to pay attention or teach players when to go fast versus when to be patient.
The very tight combat mechanics in zelda 2 are really something special, when you spend time observing enemies and learning to the point you can go toe to toe with Darknut/Goriya/Daira/Bird Knight without getting hit much if at all...the game becomes extremely satisfying to play. It's kind of like what made everyone love Dark Souls.
@@snowyzorua I agree on all points. Though I'd also add that I love Simon's Quest. My favorite NES Castlevania game. But again, it was the first Castlevania game I played. My friend had a subscription to Nintendo Power, so we were able to get around all of the cryptic stuff. We only used it when we got lost and were desperate.
I love the first two games and never understood the dislike for II. It's really not any more cryptic that the first and sure it's 80's Nintendo hard, but I found it easier to beat than most of the Mario games. I also love the RPG elements.
I remember getting this game right after Christmas. My parents couldn't find it and so gave me a "certificate" to redeem for the game. We went around town the day after Christmas looking for it. We were in line at a store's electronics department to ask if they had it and the person in front of us was returning their game because they heard it was the big thing to get, but didn't realize you needed a system to play it. 😂 He got his refund and we bought it.
@@DanielDod What the hell were they thinking? 😂 Wonder if they tried to put it in the VHS or maybe the toaster. That poor kid that was teased with a Zelda game for christmas makes me a little sad though.
@@DrJohn-be1pk I am guessing they thought it was a handheld game like a Game and Watch or one of the Tiger Electronics ones.
I would love a re-imagining of this game. Either make it feel like playing Link in Smash Bros. (Without the excess that comes with Smash, like massive leaps), or completely revamp it.
12:00 damn. Literally went "skill issue"
It’s a fantastic game. Very difficult to
This day. Very adventurous.
It would be really cool if Nintendo made an open air sequel to this game in the breath of the wild engine with this map, they've been reusing the LttP a few times, and the map in this game is utterly massive with a ton of settlements, making it perfect for a new huge open air game to explore.
Adventure of Link was the dev teams trying to make Ocarina of Time, a decade and two generations of hardware earlier.
The vision of what a more action-oriented Zelda game would be like was there and almost fully realized, but the hardware limitations of the time held back the concept. But the world, the lore and the combat are all there, coupled with a desire to make a more "immersive" experience.
Zelda 1 is a masterpiece, but even back then, felt like little pieces moving around on crude wargaming terrain. There's a reason Echoes of Wisdom and the remake of Link's Awakening both have a clay, chibi, "toy-like" feel. Adventure of Link felt like Link was a fully-realized action hero rather than a stout, chubby little chess piece moving around on an animated map.
The game was ahead of its time, in concept, unfortunately not in its realization. If Nintendo wanted to hold it up to the caliber of Zelda 1, the game needed more work and needed more development. It's too difficult and too esoteric. And if they wanted to lean into the RPG elements and mechanics, they should have gone further, if anything.
Zelda II, Adventure of Link is great because it's an example of what can be done with the Zelda franchise. It's literally on the opposite end of the spectrum from Zelda 1 and every game since has been somewhere in the middle of those two.
good vid, I cant wait for your LTTP video. That's my favorite Zelda
At the time i didn't think anything of it. Thanks to the SMB2/Doki Doki Panic thing, I just figured Nintendo sequels were super different
Because of.. one other game?
@@_sparrowhawk well that and Castlevania 2 lol
@15:59, I don't know. I feel recent games don't really have much story to them either.
The Zelda games are notorious for not having any really relevant story to them that ties anything to anything else. I am unsure if it is a problem or an asset. I feel like Nintendo would have done best to quash the idea of a timeline and just gone with the idea that Final Fantasy went with where every story is self contained and not related to any other story.
It is supposed to be a "legend" and legends change and evolve with time and aren't directly related to true historical events.
I beat this game when I was 10 back in the early 90's. I knew it was hard but I just figured it was made for adults. Little did I know.
"Game is notoriously hard"
9 year old me in 1988: beats game without dying once
Personally, I'd have to say that now (at just about 42y/o), in comparison to a very large majority of the NES library that I've played through over the years.... Despite its flaws, I think Zelda II : The Adventure of Link may be the most balanced game on the console - within the context of what it presented and executed. And apart from that statement, for me personally, it is my favorite of the series - past to present day.
Miyamoto-san has nothing to be ashamed of, when it comes to this title.
As a kid i loved zelda 2 thought it was better than yhe first game and i still think that overall though the first game overall is a lot more approachable. Only disappointment is i was expecting a 2nd quest like the OG.
OH MY GOD YES!!
I adore this game.
Spotted a young Jeremy Parish at 0:38 !
To me the main thing that it messes up the most is taking away exp when you die. At a certain point in the game when leveling takes a lot of exp, after you die its more worth it to try to avoid every enemy and clear a dungeon. This sucks because the combat is the best part of the game
This and the first game deserve remakes.
Zelda 1 was remade into BOTW
Zelda 2 Nintendo would like to forget, honestly. The real Zelda 2 was actually on SNES.
@@_sparrowhawkAgree to disagree. If Nintendo really wanted to forget it they wouldn't keep re-releasing it.
Yeah I'm in the same boat of respecting this game (and everything it's done for the series) but never enjoying it when I sit down to play it. The concept of the gameplay is solid, but difficultly really does hold it back, and the fact that it was a completly new team does explain why the atmosphere makes it seem like the odd-one-out in the whole series.
On the subject of Tezuka's writing credits, this is speculation on my part, it's possible there are talking about him writing the story in Zelda 2's manual rather than the actual in-game dialogue. Something similar happened with Koizumi, where he has gone on record several times saying that he was the one that wrote the story for the manual in A Link to the Past, but his only credit in the game is under "Printed Art Work".
@@TheJoninMonkey It's possible that Tezuka wrote the manual, I was just unable to find any quotes or interviews with him talking about working on Zelda II.
I found Zelda 1 much more difficult than Zelda 2.
Will the game revisit of The Adventure of Link be out next Wednesday?
@@McLovinMods Yes
Yeah, but kids familiar with today's Zelda would say top down isn't like the 3d Zelda they're used to.
Well let's see: we'll give them Links Awakening and Echoes of Wisdom and then show them this 2D thing on NSO and ask them to play it. We'll see if they get past Death Mountain.
@@_sparrowhawk Better yet, make them go back and play both Zelda 1 and Zelda 2 and see which they like better.
I'll bet the result are very close to even. They won't be playing it with nastalgia glasses on.
I never understood why people found this game so difficult. I was 8 when the game came out and beat it without too much difficulty. I think modern audiences expect things to be handed to them too much.
Thats actually hard to believe 😂
Modern audiences don’t play this game in first place. Seriously, most people under 40 wouldn’t care to play this game in the first place, let alone complain about how hard it is.
Yeah I was a little liar when I was 8 too
Yup that’s me at 46 still lie bragging about games I played at 8. What a weirdo why would I lie in a random comment section on a random RUclips video? It was the 80s man that’s all I had to do was live and breathe the original Nintendo. We didn’t know the games were “hard” because we didn’t know any different. The amount of hours I put into that game and Zelda 1 and Metroid and Mega man 2. You think Zelda 2 is hard you should try mega man 1. That’s a game I never beat.
@@paulgales8211Ok, you got a point here. I loved Kirbys Adventure and Duck Tales. Those were the few NES games I was able to beat as a kid 😅 And Mega Man is insane, I know.
Back when link didn’t look like some weird androgynous thing.
If I had been around, this game would have been a MASSIVE disappointment. For one, just look how damn ugly and basic it looks. I can't believe they released this as is. Interesting that some people have good memories of it.
Why not try _Zelda II: The Adventures of Link PC Edition?_ Gameplay is, otherwise, the same, as are all of the quests, however, the PC Edition adds in plenty of new areas, new puzzles, new collectables (Heart Containers and upgraded weapons and tools), and Minigames. There's a twist on one of the Spells though as it no longer works as it did in the OG.
It's as difficult as the OG game at the start, but, at the end game, Link is much stronger than he is in the end game of the OG.
The Link dolls are also permanent.
The New Game+ has you go through all the leveling up again, all of the palaces again, all of the collectables again, but you retain the spells, and has a completely new area with new collectables, and even a new final boss (with a familiar boss theme from a different Zelda game), all after Shadow Link, as the NG+ is a sequel in this version as even the sleeping Zelda is awake from the start.
Currently, I find the PC edition is the definitive way to play the game.
I recommend changing the music to "Isabelle Chiming" for at least the New Game+.
The overworld map was *such* trash. 😕 I always wished that they'd put as much effort into that as they did with the dungeon layouts. And I have no idea why they decided to give Link a bloody KNIFE in lieu of a sword, but... whatever. It wasn't a bad game, but it certainly wasn't as awesome as the original or ALttP.
It was a bad game LOL. This is what happens when the B team plays instead of the A team (when Miyamoto was cooking with SMB 3)
Of course he doesn't like Zelda 2. I imagine most of its sales were based on the greatness of the first game, and as Nintendo went back to the AAA designers for LTTP, they went back to the original games design.
Guys. This game was never meant to be a Zelda game. The branding was applied at the last minute. I would say full credit goes to Ocarina of Time for Z-targetting, not this game, that has no such technology.