NES Classic: The Ultimate Guide to The Legend Of Zelda 2

By BlackNES Guy and TBD

Think you have mastered The Legend Of Zelda 2??? Think again! 

This unofficial guide has everything you need to know to become the hero that saves Hyrule again.... Find every heart piece, secret caves and detailed strategies on how to beat each boss in every dungeon.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: BlackNES Guy Books
• Release date: Nov 16, 2017
• ISBN: 9781989120484

Book preview

History

Attempting to make a sequel that functioned differently from The Legend of Zelda, Shigeru Miyamoto assembled a new team to create Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Tadashi Sugiyama directed the game as his first project with Nintendo. Instead of Koji Kondo, who composed the music for most of the other Zelda games, Akito Nakatsuka created all of the music for Zelda II (with the exception on the overworld theme written by Kondo).

Although it did not sell as many copies as its predecessor, it sold 4.38 million copies worldwide and ranks as the fifth most popular NES game of all time. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was first released in Japan on the Famicom Disk System on January 14, 1987. By November 26, 1988, it had been formatted for the NES in Europe. It was not until December 1, 1988 that American audiences could get their own copies on the NES cartridge.

Ratings and reviews of the game have varied over time. Nintendo Power ranked Zelda II as 110th in their Top 200 Games list and 12th in their best NES games list. However, in 2009, Nintendo Power placed the game last in their list of best The Legend of Zelda games. Game Observer called it the black sheep of the Zelda franchise due to the graphics and gameplay experimentation. Since it’s original release, Nintendo has reformatted it for the GameCube, the Game Boy Advance, Wii Virtual Console, Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console, and Wii U Virtual Console.

Basic Gameplay

Like the original, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is a dungeon crawler. Link must journey into six different dungeons to defeat  bosses and collect helpful items. Unlike the original, the game features side-scrolling within a larger top-down world map, a more complex combat system, the use of magic, an experience points system (EXP), and increased interactions with non player characters (NPCs). Also, the game is more linear, with players only able to complete dungeons in a specific order.

The screen interface predominantly relies on side-scrolling, with the top-down perspective only used when traveling through the overworld. Any time action takes place, the screen changes to side-scrolling. This happens whenever Link is attacked by monsters or enters a town, cave, bridge, secret area, or dungeon. Link cannot take damage or be killed unless he is in a side-scrolling screen, with water and lava on the overworld map being the only exceptions.

In Zelda II, Link carries only a Sword and Shield. He has the ability to stand, crouch, or jump to attack or block enemies. As the game progresses, he can also learn techniques for Upward and Downward Thrusts while jumping. Like the first game, his sword shoots beams only when his Life Meter is filled. This more complex system of combat allows enemies to block, move, and attack with a variety of weapons and