Zelda II- THE ADVENTURE IF LINK REVIEW
Julian cannon back again for a Retro video game review ..this time it is back to the NES era. Zelda II THE ADVENTURE OF LINK.
According to the Zelda timeline released in late 2011.. this game followes the first branch (there are 3 branches) after ocarina of time and it is the final game in the first branch and the sequel to the original legend of Zelda for the NES.. the first timeline is what could happen if link does not defeat ganon in the final battle of ocarina of time.
The first thing you’ll realize when you start an actual game is that your main character, Link, can’t move up or down as he can in the prequel — instead he’s been blessed with the action-game duet of Crouching and Jumping. If you’d played the original Zelda first, you might be wondering, What’s going on here? Then you’d read the instruction booklet… and still wonder, what’s going on here? That’s right kiddies. Zelda II has shifted gameplay focus from the previous overhead view style to a more common side-scrolling style. There’s still the old overhead view, but there is little to no action involved during this view — instead, it acts as your map-traversing view, which I’ll elaborate on later. But for all of your battle needs, you’ll be spending time in the side-scrolling world. While some may be disappointed in the sudden shift of gameplay, I found it to be an added challenge, and got a kick out of it. In the original Zelda, Link could “throw his sword” the entire length of the screen when his life was at full. This time around, however, the sword blast (a) has shrunk to a puny size and (b) travels a much shorter distance, dissipating within two or three of Link’s body lengths horizontally. In addition to the shortened range, you must now learn to be adept with Link’s shield. The shift from overhead to sidescrolling action has left Link’s legs vulnerable to crouching attacks, and you must crouch to prevent Link from having his knees cut up. Of course, crouching leaves his head open, so you can imagine what would happen when you get into an intense sword fight. But that’s part of the fun in Zelda II — the immense tension that builds up when battling dreaded IronKnuckles with shields, capable of fighting at your skill level, hitting high and low in random patterns. While stabbing in the air, trying to hit your mark and get past its shield, you also must keep the warrior from penetrating your defenses, and you end up playing a hectic game of Stand-Crouch-n-Stab. The intensity level of Zelda II’s battles is the source of this game’s addictive fun factor.
However, missing from Zelda II is the vast usable inventory that Link carried in the prequel. In its stead are automatically used items, magic spells and fighting techniques for Link to search and find during his travels. Items such as the Candle and the Power Glove make their returns, but are used in different fashions. The Candle automatically lights up a dimmed area, for example, and obtaining the Power Glove turns Link’s attacks into block-crushing blows. The interesting spells and techniques, however, make the sacrifice of the large usable inventory perhaps justifiable. In addition to stabbing and poking left and right, Link eventually gains the ability to jump and stab both downwards and upwards ( a move that was eventually carried over to the super smash bros. Series)
The graphics are decent, less colorful than the original Zelda but more detailed and larger in general. Link and his enemies now stand taller, at more realistic proportions, as opposed to the old squishy deformed status of old. Enemies sport certain color schemes, indicating their strength, much like the original Zelda. The palaces also have different color schemes, and tend to appear a bit on the monocrhomatic side. However, you’ll see different columns, bricks (for the walls), headpieces portruding from walls, and statues of ironknuckles scattered about. Enemies stand out from backgrounds well enough for you to battle effectively (at least, enemies that aren’t meant to be camoflauged). The overhead map shows very simplistic yet clear definitions of mountains, plains, forests, desert, and roads.
As a result of the high difficulty, the game can take up to 14 hours to beat. Consider: you have seven palaces to conquer. Four life containers to find. Four Magic containers to find. 8 levels to build, in each stat. Tasks to complete, techniques and spells to learn. Unless you’re really good, you’ll find yourself spending somewhere around half an hour to an hour on each palace, an hour or so on Death Mountain, a couple of hours level building, etc. Either that, or this game reviewer is pretty bad with his ninja-gaming skills. It’s a tough game, and if you love a challenge, dust off that NES and get to work on this cartridge
Also new to this game is the debut of dark/shadow link. He is not that hard as he was in ocarina of time,but the battle is worth it considering that he is the final boss of this game
n the end, the completely different system of Zelda II’s gameplay didn’t bother me. I found it a refreshing change and a challenging experience. I did not know that this game existed until the Zelda collection came out in 2003 for the Nintendo gamecube. The ability to jump and defend with more precision is welcome, and all the while the game manages to retain the heavy adventure aspect that we’ve come to expect from any Zelda game released. Zelda II: The Adventures of Link, is a sometimes frustrating but overall very fun experience.
Gameplay :7
Graphics: 7.5
Difficulty : 9
Sound : 8
Replay value :8
Final score : 8.5/10