Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Encyclopedia
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, released as in Japan and often mistakenly called The Adventures of Link, is an action role-playing video game
with platforming
elements. The second installment in The Legend of Zelda
series, it was developed and published by Nintendo
for the Nintendo Entertainment System
. The game was originally released in Japan on the Family Computer Disk System less than a year after the release of the original The Legend of Zelda. Nintendo released Zelda II in Japan on January 14, 1987, seven months before the United States saw the release of the first Zelda title. Nintendo released Zelda II in North America in 1988, almost two years after its initial release in Japan, converting the game from its initial Disk System format to the NES cartridge.
The Adventure of Link is a direct sequel to the original The Legend of Zelda, again involving the protagonist, Link, on a quest to save Princess Zelda
, who has fallen under a sleeping spell. The Adventure of Link' s emphasis on side-scrolling
and RPG-style elements, however, was a significant departure from its predecessor. The game was highly successful at the time and introduced elements that would become commonplace in future Zelda games. It was followed in 1991 by The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
for the Super NES
. The game is also looked upon as one of the most difficult games in the Zelda series.
areas within a larger world map rather than the bird's eye view of the previous title. It is more an action-RPG much like Faxanadu
(also on the NES). The game incorporates a strategic combat system, a proximity continue system based on lives
, an experience point
s (EXP) system, magic spell
s, as well as more interaction with non-player character
s (NPCs). Apart from the CD-i
exclusive Zelda: Wand of Gamelon and Link: Faces of Evil, no other game in the series includes this feature.
s to upgrade his attack, magic, and life
by defeating enemies. This feature is exclusive to Zelda II in the game series. He can raise each of these attributes to a maximum of eight levels. Raising a life level will decrease the damage Link receives when hit, raising a magic level will decrease the magic point
s (MP) cost of spells, and raising an attack level will strengthen his offensive power. Each statistic requires a different amount of experience to level up, with the life level requiring the least number of points to level and attack requiring the most. When enough points are acquired to raise a statistic, the player may choose to level up that statistic or to cancel and continue gaining experience points towards the next level in another statistic. Once Link has raised a statistic to the maximum level of eight, further advances in that statistic will earn Link an extra life, without advancing the statistic itself. Link can acquire up to four Heart Containers and up to four Magic Containers that permanently increase his life points
and magic points. Other games in The Legend of Zelda series only allow Link to increase his strength through new weapons, items, and Heart Containers. Certain enemies drain Link's experience when they attack, but he will never lose a level once raised. The game however only saves the level at which the player's experience is at and how much experience he needs for the next level, not how many experience points he currently has. So if the player has 750 experience points and the next level is 800, if the player saves and resets the console or loses all his lives, he will begin with 0 experience points and 800 for the next level.
The Adventure of Link plays out in a two-mode dynamic. The overworld
, the area where the majority of the action occurs in other The Legend of Zelda games, is still from a top-down perspective, but it now serves as a hub to the other areas. Whenever Link enters a new area such as a town, the game switches to a side-scrolling
view. This mode is where most of the action takes place, and, with the exception of traveling across lava, it is the only mode in which Link can take damage and be killed.
Link also enters this mode when attacked by wandering monsters. Whenever the player traverses the various environments of Hyrule
, enemy silhouettes appear and pursue him. Of the three random creatures that appear, there are three types which correspond to the relative difficulty of the monsters in battle mode: a small, weak blob denoting easy enemies, a large, strong biped denoting harder enemies, and a Fairy, which will put Link on a single screen with a free Fairy to refill his health. This separate method of traveling and entering combat is one of many aspects adapted from the role-playing genre.
. In place of actively-used items, The Adventure of Link features spells
for Link to use during action scenes. Each spell is learned from a different wise man in towns. Link often has to complete side-quest
s, such as retrieving lost items, before they will teach him their spells. Some spells are necessary for advancing beyond certain points in the game; both the Jump and Fairy spells allow Link to reach the top of ledges that are otherwise too high. Also, the Life spell becomes the main means of recovering health during action scenes, since healing Fairies are only found in rare fixed spots, and only appear randomly as overworld encounters.
in the cartridge's memory. Once the game has been completed, selecting the corresponding file in the main menu allows starting a new game
preserving the acquired experience levels, techniques and magic spells (but no special items, Heart and Magic containers or extra lives, which must be obtained again).
. He seeks out Impa, who responds by taking Link to the North Castle, where a door has been magically sealed for generations. Impa places the back of Link's left hand on the door, and it opens, revealing a sleeping maiden. Impa tells Link that the maiden is Zelda
, the princess of Hyrule from long ago, and the origin of the "Legend of Zelda." Zelda's brother had tried to force her into telling their recently deceased father's secrets concerning the last of three sacred golden triangle treasures of his kingdom, known collectively as the Triforce. Princess Zelda refused to reveal its location, and the prince's wizard friend, in anger, tried to strike her down with a spell. Zelda fell under a powerful sleeping spell, but it also resulted in the wizard's own death. The prince, unable to reverse the spell, had his sister placed in the castle tower, in the hope that she would one day be awakened. He decreed that princesses born to the royal family from that point on would be named Zelda, in remembrance of this tragedy.
Impa says that the mark on Link's hand means that he is the hero chosen to awaken Zelda. She gives Link a chest containing six crystals and ancient writings that only a great future king of Hyrule can read. Link can read it and it indicates that each crystal needs to be placed in a different palace in Hyrule. This will open the way to the Great Palace, which contains the Triforce of Courage. This, combined with the other two parts, has the power to awaken the enchanted Zelda. Taking the crystals, Link sets out to restore them to their palaces. Meanwhile, the followers of Ganon
are seeking to kill Link; sprinkling his blood on Ganon’s ashes would bring Ganon back to life.
Ultimately, Link restores the crystals to the six palaces, and with the crystals in place, the entrance to the Great Palace is opened. After venturing deep inside, Link is made to battle a shadowy doppelgänger
of himself known as Link's Shadow. Link then claims the Triforce of Courage and returns to Zelda. The three triangles unite into the collective Triforce, and Link's wish awakens Zelda. And the game ends as they (presumably) kiss under a falling curtain.
, the creator of the original The Legend of Zelda, intended to make Zelda II: The Adventure of Link fundamentally different from its predecessor. A different team was assembled to develop the game. However, Miyamoto was the producer, and Takashi Tezuka
returned to write the story and script. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was directed by Tadashi Sugiyama
, for whom it was the first project at Nintendo. The game's music was composed by Akito Nakatsuka, who was credited under the pseudonym "Tsukasan".
The Adventure of Link was originally released on the Family Computer Disk System (FDS) before its worldwide release. Like its predecessor, the FDS version appears to be an earlier version of the game, with a few obvious differences. In the English release, the dungeons each have different colors, whereas in the FDS version they are all gray. Also, the two dungeon bosses Carrok and Volvagia (the latter being initially named Barba in the NES release) have different graphical appearances. The game over
screen in the English version features the silhouette of Ganon
from the chest up, with the text saying "Game Over/Return of Ganon", whereas the FDS game over screen is a plain black screen with the text saying "Return of Ganon/The End". There are some slight additions to the dungeons, as well as a handful of differences on the dungeons themselves. Due to an additional soundchip that the Disk System has, when Nintendo ported Zelda II over to the NES they had to eliminate some musical elements, especially from the title screen. On the main map, the icons denoting attacking monsters look different, but the most significant change is the spending of experience point
s, as Link's three attributes cost the same, unlike the worldwide release. Further, the game is designed to promote balanced leveling, as the saved game on the disk will only let the levels for the attributes go as high as whatever is set the lowest (e.g. if Life is at 5 and Strength is at 4, but Magic is at 1, then the saved game will reflect all as level 1), while still saving the data regarding crystals that have been placed and items that have been collected. These differences make leveling up in the game very different.
The Adventure of Link was re-released in 2003 on the The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition disc for the Nintendo GameCube
, and again in 2004 as part of the “Classic NES Series
” for Game Boy Advance
, with changes. The intro text has been changed to read "third Triforce" rather than "No.3 Triforce" and the copyright date has been altered to read "1987- 2004". The death animation removed flashing colors in an effort to prevent seizure
s, replacing it with a solid red color. There were also various graphical and audio tweaks. It was released as the 100th title on the Wii
's Virtual Console
in Japan on January 23, 2007, in Europe and Australia on February 9, 2007 and was released in North America on June 4, 2007. The text changes weren't made in this version, but it does feature the solid red color in the death animations from the GameCube and Game Boy Advance versions.
The game was released yet again in September 2011 on Virtual Console (this time on the 3DS), bundled with its predecessor as part of a free giveaway of 10 original Nintendo Entertainment System
games to 3DS owners who purchased the console before the price drop. It has yet to be released publicly on the Nintendo eShop
for the 3DS, but will appear later in the year. This version is a direct port of the original NES release and, consequently, features the flashing color death scene and none of the text alterations of previous re-releases. Although the game features the save option, fully resetting the software currently results in the save game being deleted, meaning that the user should not do this unless that is the desired outcome.
's Top 200 Games list. In August 2008, Nintendo Power listed it as the 12th best Nintendo Entertainment System
video game, describing it as a radical and refreshing departure from its predecessor. Play magazine
commented on the gameplay, saying that "it's this combination of unique elements that creates an action-RPG experience unlike any other". Nintendo Power
said that the game was "an entertaining and natural step in the franchise's evolution," and awarded it the Nintendo Power Game of the Year Award for 1988. Zelda II was reviewed in 1993 in Dragon
#198 by Sandy Petersen
in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.
said that the game is a "recommended and playable adventure" but also said "don't expect the same gameplay from the truly classic Zelda titles." 1UP.com
praised the game's length, citing that "you can certainly find plenty here to keep you busy for some time." The game also received some criticism. GameSpot
said that while the game is "decent enough to make it worth the $5 price [on the Wii's Virtual Console]", it features "questionable design decision[s]" and can get confusing if players don't have the help of walkthroughs
. The GBA version of the game had an aggregated score of 73 on Metacritic
.
s (NPCs) were present in The Legend of Zelda, but their role was rather limited. Starting with The Adventure of Link, Zelda games have prominently featured a variety of NPCs who play pivotal roles in Link's quests. The use of metered magic
and spells has also carried over into other Zelda games. The Triforce of Courage makes its first appearance in The Adventure of Link and plays an important role in later Zelda games, as it is strongly associated with Link. Dark Link is a version of Link's Shadow which appears in Ocarina of Time
, a similar Link clone called Shadow Link appears in Four Swords Adventures
, and yet another appears in Spirit Tracks
.
Additionally, The Adventure of Link was one of the first games to combine RPG and platforming
elements to a considerable degree. Over the next few years, a number of Japanese-made games appeared with a similar format; major titles such as Cadash
(1989) closely resemble The Adventure of Link, with side-scrolling platform stages supplemented by RPG-like statistical systems, weapons, armor, magic spells, and so forth.
Most of the sages in Ocarina of Time
bear the same names as towns from The Adventure of Link (Rauru, Ruto, Saria, Nabooru, and Darunia; excluding Impa). Another town, Mido, is also the name of a character in Kokiri Forest. The Adventure of Link is also the only Zelda game of the main English releases not to use "The Legend of Zelda" in its title, the only Zelda game to feature "lives" counting down, and therefore the only game in the series to include 1-up
dolls. The next Zelda game after The Adventure of Link was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
for the Super Famicom
in 1991, which follows new Link and Zelda characters and returns to the top-down style of the original. There are a small number of side scrolling areas in the The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening; these areas were mainly underground tunnels and caves. The series broke away from the top-down style again in 1998 when Ocarina of Time
was released on the Nintendo 64
, with 3D graphics
. A new version of the composition "Temple", arranged by Shogo Sakai, is featured in Super Smash Bros. Melee
, where it is played during the "Hyrule Temple" stage and the "Underground Maze" level. A variation of the track also appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
.
Action role-playing game
Action role-playing games form a loosely defined sub-genre of role-playing video games that incorporate elements of action or action-adventure games, emphasizing real-time action where the player has direct control over characters, instead of turn-based or menu-based combat...
with platforming
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
elements. The second installment in The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda, originally released as in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Nintendo, and designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. Set in the fantasy land of Hyrule, the plot centers on a boy named Link, the playable protagonist, who aims to collect the eight fragments...
series, it was developed and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
for the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
. The game was originally released in Japan on the Family Computer Disk System less than a year after the release of the original The Legend of Zelda. Nintendo released Zelda II in Japan on January 14, 1987, seven months before the United States saw the release of the first Zelda title. Nintendo released Zelda II in North America in 1988, almost two years after its initial release in Japan, converting the game from its initial Disk System format to the NES cartridge.
The Adventure of Link is a direct sequel to the original The Legend of Zelda, again involving the protagonist, Link, on a quest to save Princess Zelda
Princess Zelda
is the name of a fictional character in The Legend of Zelda series of video games. The name has applied to every female member of Hyrule's royal family, which includes several distinct characters in Hyrule legend. Though she is the eponymous character, the player controls the main protagonist, Link...
, who has fallen under a sleeping spell. The Adventure of Link
Side-scrolling video game
A side-scrolling game or side-scroller is a video game in which the gameplay action is viewed from a side-view camera angle, and the onscreen characters generally move from the left side of the screen to the right. These games make use of scrolling computer display technology...
and RPG-style elements, however, was a significant departure from its predecessor. The game was highly successful at the time and introduced elements that would become commonplace in future Zelda games. It was followed in 1991 by The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, known as in Japan, is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console, and the third installment in The Legend of Zelda series. It was first released in Japan in 1991, and was...
for the Super NES
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
. The game is also looked upon as one of the most difficult games in the Zelda series.
Gameplay
The Adventure of Link bears little resemblance to the first game in the series or later games in the series. The Adventure of Link features side-scrollingSide-scrolling video game
A side-scrolling game or side-scroller is a video game in which the gameplay action is viewed from a side-view camera angle, and the onscreen characters generally move from the left side of the screen to the right. These games make use of scrolling computer display technology...
areas within a larger world map rather than the bird's eye view of the previous title. It is more an action-RPG much like Faxanadu
Faxanadu
is an action role-playing platform-adventure video game for the Nintendo Family Computer and Nintendo Entertainment System . The name was licensed by computer game developer Nihon Falcom and was developed and released in Japan by Hudson Soft in 1987...
(also on the NES). The game incorporates a strategic combat system, a proximity continue system based on lives
1-up
1-up , pronounced "one up", is a term in console video gaming that commonly refers to an item that gives the player an extra life, to complete the game. In certain games, it is possible to receive multiple extra lives at once...
, an experience point
Experience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...
s (EXP) system, magic spell
Magic (gaming)
Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...
s, as well as more interaction with non-player character
Non-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s (NPCs). Apart from the CD-i
CD-i
CD-i, or Compact Disc Interactive, is the name of an interactive multimedia CD player developed and marketed by Royal Philips Electronics N.V. CD-i also refers to the multimedia Compact Disc standard used by the CD-i console, also known as Green Book, which was developed by Philips and Sony...
exclusive Zelda: Wand of Gamelon and Link: Faces of Evil, no other game in the series includes this feature.
Experience levels
In this installment, Link gains experience pointExperience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...
s to upgrade his attack, magic, and life
Health (game mechanic)
Health is a game mechanic used in role-playing, computer and video games to give value to characters, enemies, NPCs, and related objects. This value can either be numerical, semi-numerical as in hit/health points, or arbitrary as in a life bar....
by defeating enemies. This feature is exclusive to Zelda II in the game series. He can raise each of these attributes to a maximum of eight levels. Raising a life level will decrease the damage Link receives when hit, raising a magic level will decrease the magic point
Magic point
Magic points are units of magical power that are used in many role-playing, computer role-playing and similar games as an expendable resource that is needed to pay for magic spells and other abilities, such as special attacks...
s (MP) cost of spells, and raising an attack level will strengthen his offensive power. Each statistic requires a different amount of experience to level up, with the life level requiring the least number of points to level and attack requiring the most. When enough points are acquired to raise a statistic, the player may choose to level up that statistic or to cancel and continue gaining experience points towards the next level in another statistic. Once Link has raised a statistic to the maximum level of eight, further advances in that statistic will earn Link an extra life, without advancing the statistic itself. Link can acquire up to four Heart Containers and up to four Magic Containers that permanently increase his life points
Health (game mechanic)
Health is a game mechanic used in role-playing, computer and video games to give value to characters, enemies, NPCs, and related objects. This value can either be numerical, semi-numerical as in hit/health points, or arbitrary as in a life bar....
and magic points. Other games in The Legend of Zelda series only allow Link to increase his strength through new weapons, items, and Heart Containers. Certain enemies drain Link's experience when they attack, but he will never lose a level once raised. The game however only saves the level at which the player's experience is at and how much experience he needs for the next level, not how many experience points he currently has. So if the player has 750 experience points and the next level is 800, if the player saves and resets the console or loses all his lives, he will begin with 0 experience points and 800 for the next level.
Overworld map and side-scrolling
Overworld
An overworld is, in a broad sense, an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other video game genres....
, the area where the majority of the action occurs in other The Legend of Zelda games, is still from a top-down perspective, but it now serves as a hub to the other areas. Whenever Link enters a new area such as a town, the game switches to a side-scrolling
Side-scrolling video game
A side-scrolling game or side-scroller is a video game in which the gameplay action is viewed from a side-view camera angle, and the onscreen characters generally move from the left side of the screen to the right. These games make use of scrolling computer display technology...
view. This mode is where most of the action takes place, and, with the exception of traveling across lava, it is the only mode in which Link can take damage and be killed.
Link also enters this mode when attacked by wandering monsters. Whenever the player traverses the various environments of Hyrule
Hyrule
The fictional universe depicted in The Legend of Zelda series of video games consists of a variety of lands, the most commonly appearing of these being , and was created by Japanese video game developer Shigeru Miyamoto.-Hyrule:...
, enemy silhouettes appear and pursue him. Of the three random creatures that appear, there are three types which correspond to the relative difficulty of the monsters in battle mode: a small, weak blob denoting easy enemies, a large, strong biped denoting harder enemies, and a Fairy, which will put Link on a single screen with a free Fairy to refill his health. This separate method of traveling and entering combat is one of many aspects adapted from the role-playing genre.
Combat system
The Adventure of Link makes use of simplified controls and mechanics for Link's battles. Armed with a sword and shield, Link must alternate between standing and crouching positions in order to attack enemies and defend himself; for example, the Iron Knuckle enemy changes the height of its attack and its shield depending on Link's current stance, forcing Link to change stances until he has a chance to attack safely. Link has the ability to jump, which can be used for attacking tall or airborne enemies, and can be used for evasion. Eventually, he can learn techniques for downward and upward stabs in midair.Magic and special items
Though Link must still collect several items in order to progress in the game (as in the previous and subsequent installments of the series), these special items grant abilities which either remain in permanent use for the rest of the game or are only activable in the overworldOverworld
An overworld is, in a broad sense, an area within a video game that interconnects all its levels or locations. They are mostly common in role-playing games, though this does not exclude other video game genres....
. In place of actively-used items, The Adventure of Link features spells
Magic (gaming)
Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...
for Link to use during action scenes. Each spell is learned from a different wise man in towns. Link often has to complete side-quest
Quest (gaming)
A quest in role-playing video games — including massively multiplayer online role-playing games and their predecessors, MUDs — is a task that a player-controlled character or group of characters may complete in order to gain a reward...
s, such as retrieving lost items, before they will teach him their spells. Some spells are necessary for advancing beyond certain points in the game; both the Jump and Fairy spells allow Link to reach the top of ledges that are otherwise too high. Also, the Life spell becomes the main means of recovering health during action scenes, since healing Fairies are only found in rare fixed spots, and only appear randomly as overworld encounters.
Replay
Like its predecessor, The Adventure of Link allows storing up to three gamesSaved game
A saved game is a piece of digitally stored information about the progress of a player in a video game. This saved game can be reloaded later, so the player can continue where he or she had stopped...
in the cartridge's memory. Once the game has been completed, selecting the corresponding file in the main menu allows starting a new game
New Game Plus
A New Game Plus is an unlockable video game mode that allows the player to start a new game after they finish the game at least once, where certain aspects of the finished game, such as experience or items, affect the newly started game...
preserving the acquired experience levels, techniques and magic spells (but no special items, Heart and Magic containers or extra lives, which must be obtained again).
Plot
Several years after the events of The Legend of Zelda, the now sixteen year old Link notices a strange mark on the back of his left hand, exactly like the crest of HyruleHyrule
The fictional universe depicted in The Legend of Zelda series of video games consists of a variety of lands, the most commonly appearing of these being , and was created by Japanese video game developer Shigeru Miyamoto.-Hyrule:...
. He seeks out Impa, who responds by taking Link to the North Castle, where a door has been magically sealed for generations. Impa places the back of Link's left hand on the door, and it opens, revealing a sleeping maiden. Impa tells Link that the maiden is Zelda
Princess Zelda
is the name of a fictional character in The Legend of Zelda series of video games. The name has applied to every female member of Hyrule's royal family, which includes several distinct characters in Hyrule legend. Though she is the eponymous character, the player controls the main protagonist, Link...
, the princess of Hyrule from long ago, and the origin of the "Legend of Zelda." Zelda's brother had tried to force her into telling their recently deceased father's secrets concerning the last of three sacred golden triangle treasures of his kingdom, known collectively as the Triforce. Princess Zelda refused to reveal its location, and the prince's wizard friend, in anger, tried to strike her down with a spell. Zelda fell under a powerful sleeping spell, but it also resulted in the wizard's own death. The prince, unable to reverse the spell, had his sister placed in the castle tower, in the hope that she would one day be awakened. He decreed that princesses born to the royal family from that point on would be named Zelda, in remembrance of this tragedy.
Impa says that the mark on Link's hand means that he is the hero chosen to awaken Zelda. She gives Link a chest containing six crystals and ancient writings that only a great future king of Hyrule can read. Link can read it and it indicates that each crystal needs to be placed in a different palace in Hyrule. This will open the way to the Great Palace, which contains the Triforce of Courage. This, combined with the other two parts, has the power to awaken the enchanted Zelda. Taking the crystals, Link sets out to restore them to their palaces. Meanwhile, the followers of Ganon
Ganon
, anglicized Gannon in early Japanese materials, and also known as , is a fictional character who is the main antagonist of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series of video games. He is the final boss of most games in the series. He was first given a back-story in A Link to the Past...
are seeking to kill Link; sprinkling his blood on Ganon’s ashes would bring Ganon back to life.
Ultimately, Link restores the crystals to the six palaces, and with the crystals in place, the entrance to the Great Palace is opened. After venturing deep inside, Link is made to battle a shadowy doppelgänger
Doppelgänger
In fiction and folklore, a doppelgänger is a paranormal double of a living person, typically representing evil or misfortune...
of himself known as Link's Shadow. Link then claims the Triforce of Courage and returns to Zelda. The three triangles unite into the collective Triforce, and Link's wish awakens Zelda. And the game ends as they (presumably) kiss under a falling curtain.
Development and releases
Shigeru MiyamotoShigeru Miyamoto
is a Japanese video game designer and producer. Miyamoto was born and raised in Kyoto Prefecture; the natural surroundings of Kyoto inspired much of Miyamoto's later work....
, the creator of the original The Legend of Zelda, intended to make Zelda II: The Adventure of Link fundamentally different from its predecessor. A different team was assembled to develop the game. However, Miyamoto was the producer, and Takashi Tezuka
Takashi Tezuka
, sometimes credited under his nickname Ten Ten, is a video game designer working for Nintendo. A graduate of the Design Department of Osaka University of Arts, he joined the company in April 1984 and was involved with some of the most critically acclaimed Nintendo series, including Mario and The...
returned to write the story and script. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was directed by Tadashi Sugiyama
Tadashi Sugiyama
joined Nintendo in 1983, and served as one of the original young design staff for Nintendo's creative department. Sugiyama contributed graphic design to several games and worked with several talented Nintendo staff like Shigeru Miyamoto, Kenji Miki, Yoichi Yamada, and Satoru Iwata. Sugiyama...
, for whom it was the first project at Nintendo. The game's music was composed by Akito Nakatsuka, who was credited under the pseudonym "Tsukasan".
The Adventure of Link was originally released on the Family Computer Disk System (FDS) before its worldwide release. Like its predecessor, the FDS version appears to be an earlier version of the game, with a few obvious differences. In the English release, the dungeons each have different colors, whereas in the FDS version they are all gray. Also, the two dungeon bosses Carrok and Volvagia (the latter being initially named Barba in the NES release) have different graphical appearances. The game over
Game over
Game Over is a message in video games which signals that the game has ended, often due to a negative outcome - although the phrase sometimes follows the end credits after successful completion of a game...
screen in the English version features the silhouette of Ganon
Ganon
, anglicized Gannon in early Japanese materials, and also known as , is a fictional character who is the main antagonist of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series of video games. He is the final boss of most games in the series. He was first given a back-story in A Link to the Past...
from the chest up, with the text saying "Game Over/Return of Ganon", whereas the FDS game over screen is a plain black screen with the text saying "Return of Ganon/The End". There are some slight additions to the dungeons, as well as a handful of differences on the dungeons themselves. Due to an additional soundchip that the Disk System has, when Nintendo ported Zelda II over to the NES they had to eliminate some musical elements, especially from the title screen. On the main map, the icons denoting attacking monsters look different, but the most significant change is the spending of experience point
Experience point
An experience point is a unit of measurement used in many role-playing games and role-playing video games to quantify a player character's progression through the game...
s, as Link's three attributes cost the same, unlike the worldwide release. Further, the game is designed to promote balanced leveling, as the saved game on the disk will only let the levels for the attributes go as high as whatever is set the lowest (e.g. if Life is at 5 and Strength is at 4, but Magic is at 1, then the saved game will reflect all as level 1), while still saving the data regarding crystals that have been placed and items that have been collected. These differences make leveling up in the game very different.
The Adventure of Link was re-released in 2003 on the The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition disc for the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, and again in 2004 as part of the “Classic NES Series
Classic NES Series
The Classic NES Series in North America are a series of Game Boy Advance games that were originally released on the Nintendo Entertainment System emulated on the Game Boy Advance...
” for Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
, with changes. The intro text has been changed to read "third Triforce" rather than "No.3 Triforce" and the copyright date has been altered to read "1987- 2004". The death animation removed flashing colors in an effort to prevent seizure
Seizure
An epileptic seizure, occasionally referred to as a fit, is defined as a transient symptom of "abnormal excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain". The outward effect can be as dramatic as a wild thrashing movement or as mild as a brief loss of awareness...
s, replacing it with a solid red color. There were also various graphical and audio tweaks. It was released as the 100th title on the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
's Virtual Console
Virtual console
A virtual console – also known as a virtual terminal – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some operating systems such as UnixWare, Linux, and BSD, in which the system console of the computer can be used to switch between...
in Japan on January 23, 2007, in Europe and Australia on February 9, 2007 and was released in North America on June 4, 2007. The text changes weren't made in this version, but it does feature the solid red color in the death animations from the GameCube and Game Boy Advance versions.
The game was released yet again in September 2011 on Virtual Console (this time on the 3DS), bundled with its predecessor as part of a free giveaway of 10 original Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
games to 3DS owners who purchased the console before the price drop. It has yet to be released publicly on the Nintendo eShop
Nintendo eShop
The Nintendo eShop is an online service for the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming system. Launched on June 6, 2011 in North America and June 7, 2011 in Europe and Japan, the eShop was enabled by the release of a system update that added the functionality to the 3DS' Home Menu...
for the 3DS, but will appear later in the year. This version is a direct port of the original NES release and, consequently, features the flashing color death scene and none of the text alterations of previous re-releases. Although the game features the save option, fully resetting the software currently results in the save game being deleted, meaning that the user should not do this unless that is the desired outcome.
Reception
Original version
4.38 million copies of Zelda II have been sold worldwide since its release. Zelda II was rated the 110th best game made on a Nintendo System in Nintendo PowerNintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
's Top 200 Games list. In August 2008, Nintendo Power listed it as the 12th best Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
video game, describing it as a radical and refreshing departure from its predecessor. Play magazine
Play (US magazine)
Play was a U.S.-based magazine focused on video games, anime, manga, film, DVD, television, comics, music and media. Published by Fusion Publishing, Inc. since 2001, Play magazine also had a separate Internet presence on its website, Play Online...
commented on the gameplay, saying that "it's this combination of unique elements that creates an action-RPG experience unlike any other". Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power
Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...
said that the game was "an entertaining and natural step in the franchise's evolution," and awarded it the Nintendo Power Game of the Year Award for 1988. Zelda II was reviewed in 1993 in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#198 by Sandy Petersen
Sandy Petersen
Carl Sanford Joslyn Petersen is a game designer.Petersen was born in St. Louis, Missouri and attended University of California, Berkeley, majoring in zoology....
in the "Eye of the Monitor" column. Petersen gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.
Re-releases
IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
said that the game is a "recommended and playable adventure" but also said "don't expect the same gameplay from the truly classic Zelda titles." 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
praised the game's length, citing that "you can certainly find plenty here to keep you busy for some time." The game also received some criticism. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
said that while the game is "decent enough to make it worth the $5 price [on the Wii's Virtual Console]", it features "questionable design decision[s]" and can get confusing if players don't have the help of walkthroughs
Strategy guide
Strategy guides are instruction books that contain hints or complete solutions to specific video games. The line between strategy guides and walkthroughs is somewhat blurred, with the former often containing or being written around the latter. Strategy guides are often published in print, both in...
. The GBA version of the game had an aggregated score of 73 on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
.
Legacy
Many elements first introduced in this game have remained in the series. For instance, non-player characterNon-player character
A non-player character , sometimes known as a non-person character or non-playable character, in a game is any fictional character not controlled by a player. In electronic games, this usually means a character controlled by the computer through artificial intelligence...
s (NPCs) were present in The Legend of Zelda, but their role was rather limited. Starting with The Adventure of Link, Zelda games have prominently featured a variety of NPCs who play pivotal roles in Link's quests. The use of metered magic
Magic (gaming)
Some role-playing games or game systems can include a set of rules that are used to portray magic in the paranormal sense. These rules simulate the effects that magic would have within the game context, according to how the game designer intended the magic to be portrayed...
and spells has also carried over into other Zelda games. The Triforce of Courage makes its first appearance in The Adventure of Link and plays an important role in later Zelda games, as it is strongly associated with Link. Dark Link is a version of Link's Shadow which appears in Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1998; in North America on November 23, 1998; and in Europe on December 11, 1998...
, a similar Link clone called Shadow Link appears in Four Swords Adventures
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures, released as in Japan, is the eleventh installment of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series. It was released for the Nintendo GameCube in Japan on March 18, 2004; in North America on June 7, 2004; in Europe on January 7, 2005; and in Australia on April...
, and yet another appears in Spirit Tracks
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, released as in Japan, is the fifteenth installment of Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda series. Developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console, it was released worldwide throughout December 2009 after Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced the...
.
Additionally, The Adventure of Link was one of the first games to combine RPG and platforming
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
elements to a considerable degree. Over the next few years, a number of Japanese-made games appeared with a similar format; major titles such as Cadash
Cadash
is a sword and sorcery video game which combines elements of both the RPG genre of games and the platform genre of games. The game was originally an arcade game released by Taito in 1989, later ported to home video game consoles such as the TurboGrafx-16 in 1991, and the Sega Genesis/Sega Mega...
(1989) closely resemble The Adventure of Link, with side-scrolling platform stages supplemented by RPG-like statistical systems, weapons, armor, magic spells, and so forth.
Most of the sages in Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1998; in North America on November 23, 1998; and in Europe on December 11, 1998...
bear the same names as towns from The Adventure of Link (Rauru, Ruto, Saria, Nabooru, and Darunia; excluding Impa). Another town, Mido, is also the name of a character in Kokiri Forest. The Adventure of Link is also the only Zelda game of the main English releases not to use "The Legend of Zelda" in its title, the only Zelda game to feature "lives" counting down, and therefore the only game in the series to include 1-up
1-up
1-up , pronounced "one up", is a term in console video gaming that commonly refers to an item that gives the player an extra life, to complete the game. In certain games, it is possible to receive multiple extra lives at once...
dolls. The next Zelda game after The Adventure of Link was The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, known as in Japan, is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console, and the third installment in The Legend of Zelda series. It was first released in Japan in 1991, and was...
for the Super Famicom
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
in 1991, which follows new Link and Zelda characters and returns to the top-down style of the original. There are a small number of side scrolling areas in the The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening; these areas were mainly underground tunnels and caves. The series broke away from the top-down style again in 1998 when Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1998; in North America on November 23, 1998; and in Europe on December 11, 1998...
was released on the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
, with 3D graphics
3D computer graphics
3D computer graphics are graphics that use a three-dimensional representation of geometric data that is stored in the computer for the purposes of performing calculations and rendering 2D images...
. A new version of the composition "Temple", arranged by Shogo Sakai, is featured in Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Super Smash Bros. Melee, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBM or simply as Melee, is a crossover fighting game released for the Nintendo GameCube shortly after its launch in . It is the successor to the Nintendo 64 game Super Smash Bros., and the predecessor to the Wii game Super Smash...
, where it is played during the "Hyrule Temple" stage and the "Underground Maze" level. A variation of the track also appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Super Smash Bros. Brawl, known in Japan as , often abbreviated as SSBB or simply as Brawl, is the third installment in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games, developed by an ad hoc development team consisting of Sora, Game Arts and staff from other developers, and published by...
.