NES #6: Zelda 2 The Adventure of Link

I was excited about playing through this one again. Growing up I always said that this was my favorite game in the Zelda series, and I wasn't only saying this to drive my friends in college crazy. I loved everything about this game. I thought it was cool that Nintendo tried to do something different with this one. Every other Zelda, and most gaming sequels in general, just tried to redo the first one with fancier graphics. In fact this game is the only entry in the main series that is a direct sequel. All the other games follow a very funny chronology. Most of them are actually more remakes than sequels, but be careful who you tell that to. Zelda fans can be sensitive.

This game has always been the dark horse of the regular Zelda games. The main complaint I hear is that the combat is side scrolling. This is a big departure from the first game, and one that I actually liked. It allows for more impressive graphics and a larger variety of monsters. In fact most things seem upgraded from the first game. Fighting in this one actually lets you gain levels, which I think is better than the usually pointless fighting o the other games. I mean, you can only get so many rupees before it becomes a little pointless, so it's nice having another objective when fighting. It's also nice how many towns there are to visit. I never could understand why Gannon was so bent on taking over Hyrule in the first game since it seemed to mostly be populated by hermits living under trees. In the second game the kingdom of Hyrule really does seem like a thriving kingdom with citizens all over the place. Many of the town names were recycled as character names in the Ocarina of Time which always bugged me a little. Why couldn't they come up with any original ideas? Actually there's a lot that bugs me about Ocarina of Time, but that's another post for another day.

Playing back through it I'm surprised that I was able to beat this game as a young kid without the internet to help me out. I was probably twelve or so the first time through, and I guess I had more patience back then. I remember it taking me weeks to make it through those Death Mountain caves. Those marshes were killer as well. It's also full of well hidden secrets. I remember going along with my hammer and clearing out forest just in case I found a treasure there. I was really proud when I found the hidden guy in the chimney, and just remember that there's a secret in every empty house.

That might have been why I loved this game so much. It was so difficult and so full of secrets that any progression seemed like a big accomplishment. Today I can just go on the internet and find the solutions to any troubling spot in a game. It helps me get through difficult parts, but it also leaves me feeling a little empty inside. Zelda 2 takes me back to a time when it was all about the journey and the exploration. Every step in the right direction was special. I'm sure it's different if you're just now playing this game for the first time, but this game will always be a classic in my book.