Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Review

     Zelda II is probably the most unique of the Zelda games.  Not only does it feature a different storyline from the normal defeat Ganon and get the Triforce storyline, but it also introduces a style of gameplay that is not in any of the other Zelda games.  

    Zelda II is the only game in the Zelda series that is a side scroller.  This makes the game much more challenging that any other game in the series because instead of being able to walk around enemies, the player has no choice but to fight them.  This game is also the only game in the entire Zelda series in which Link has a number of lives.  In all other Zelda games when Link dies he either starts the dungeon he was in from the beginning or starts at a predetermined area in the overworld.  In Zelda II, Link gets three lives and if he dies, he comes back in the room he died in.  A few extra lives were also hidden throughout the land of Hyrule to help Link out.  Zelda II is the first game in the Zelda series that gives Link magical ability and several useful spells are available for him to use.  In Zelda II, Link has eight spells at his disposal, while in Zelda: A Link to the Past and Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Link receives only three spells to use.  Another unique feature in this game is that by defeating enemies Link receives experience points which can be used to increase his levels in three categories: Attack, Magic, and Life.  This allows Link to become more powerful as the game goes on and presents extra challenge because many levels will be nearly impossible unless Link has reached at least a certain level in each of his three abilities.

     Zelda II contains numerous new enemies for Link to fight, while bringing back some classic enemies from the original Legend of Zelda.  Among the new enemies are Lowders, which are beetles that crawl along the floor, Aches, which are bats that turn humanoid and breathe fire at Link when they near the ground, and the Moa which can only be seen after link finds the Cross.  The dungeon bosses are arguably the most challenging bosses in any Zelda game.  Not does Link need to figure out a specific strategy to defeat them, but many times he must cast magical spells to defeat the bosses.  One of these bosses is Thunderbird, who can't even be hurt until Link casts the spell of Thunder which drains a lot of magic, forcing Link to manage his magic meter better.

     Many people criticize Zelda II because it is different from the other games in the Zelda series, but that is in fact what makes it such a great game.  Many of Link's abilities would have been impossible in a top-down style of game and the battles would not have been nearly as challenging if it has followed the style of gameplay in the original Legend of Zelda.  Zelda II was truly an improvement over the original Zelda and helped to pave the way for future classics such as Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past.