ZELDA II: THE ADVENTURE OF LINK

, is an action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System, and the second installment in ''The Legend of Zelda'' video game series. It was originally released in Japan on the Famicom Disk System less than a year after the release of the original ''Legend of Zelda'', and converted (with various upgrades) to the NES cartridge format when released in the United States and other countries in 1988.
''Zelda II'' is a direct sequel to the original ''Legend of Zelda'', and again involves the protagonist Link on a quest to save a new Princess Zelda who has fallen under a sleeping spell. ''Zelda II''’s emphasis on side-scrolling and RPG-style elements, however, was a significant departure from its predecessor (''The Legend of Zelda'') and has given it a reputation as the “black sheep” of the ''Zelda'' series. Despite being the least popular entry in the series (both in popularity, and in sales), the game was highly successful and introduced many elements that would become commonplace in future ''Zelda'' games. It was followed in 1992 by '' for the Super NES.

Contents

Plot

Gameplay

Experience levels

Overworld map and side-scrolling

Combat system

Magic

Development

Music

Translation

Versions

Legacy

Sequels

References

External links

Plot

Shortly after the events of The Legend of Zelda, Link notices a strange mark on the back of his left hand, similar to that of the crest of Hyrule. He seeks out Impa, who responds by taking Link to the tower of Hyrule castle, where a maiden lies in a deep sleep. Impa tells Link that long ago, she was Zelda, the princess of Hyrule, but a wizard cast a sleeping spell on her, which caused him to die soon after. The Prince, being unable to reverse the spell, had her placed in the castle tower, in the hope that she would one day be awakened.

Impa says that the mark on Link’s hand means that he can awaken Zelda. Impa gives Link a chest containing six crystals, telling him that each crystal needs to be placed in a different palace. This will open another palace containing the Triforce of Courage, which is what will awaken Zelda. Taking the crystals, Link sets out to restore them to their palaces. Meanwhile, the followers of Ganon are seeking to kill Link, believing that sprinkling his blood on Ganon’s ashes will bring Ganon back to life.
Ultimately, Link is able to place the six crystals in the palaces. With the crystals in place, the path to the Great Palace is opened. Inside, Link is made to battle a shadowy doppelganger of himself known as Dark Link. Link then claims the Triforce. He returns to Zelda in the Castle, who awakens and embraces Link.

Gameplay

''Zelda II'' bears little resemblance to the first game, or for that matter, any other game ever released in the series. Rather than the top-down view of the previous title, ''Zelda II'' features side-scrolling areas within a larger world map. The game also incorporates a strategic combat system and more RPG elements, including an experience points (EXP) system, magic spells, and more interaction with non-player characters (NPCs). Another notable difference is that Link has (and can pick up additional) extra lives. No other game in the series to date includes this feature.

Experience levels

In this installment, Link gains experience points to upgrade his attack, magic, and life (Defense) by defeating enemies; each of which awards him a certain amount of EXP. He can raise each of these attributes a maximum of eight levels. Raising a life level will decrease the damage Link receives when hit; raising a magic level will decrease the MP cost of spells; and raising an attack level will strengthen his offensive power.
Link can also acquire up to four Heart Containers and up to four Magic Containers that permanently increase his life points and magic points. Most other games in the ''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, though he will never lose a level once raised. Without fighting enemies and leveling up, the already challenging game may prove too difficult to complete.

Overworld map and side-scrolling

The second ''Zelda'' plays out in a two-mode dynamic. The overworld, which was previously where the majority of the action occurred, is still from a top-down perspective, but now serves mainly as a hub to the other areas. Whenever Link enters an area (town, cave, palace, etc.) the game switches to a side-scrolling view.
This mode is where most of the action takes place, and 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 (fields, forests, swamps, etc), black enemy silhouettes appear and pursue him. Of the three random creatures that appear, there are two types, which correspond to the ensuing battle: a smaller, weaker, blob; and a larger, stronger, biped. This separate method of travel and combat is one of many aspects adapted from the role playing genre.

Combat system

''Zelda II'' makes use of relatively simple controls and mechanics for Link's battles. He must alternate between standing and crouching positions in order to attack enemies and defend himself; for example, the Iron Knuckle 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 also has the ability to jump, which can be used for attacking tall or airborne enemies, and for evasion. Eventually, he can also learn techniques for downward and upward stabs in midair.

Magic

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 wise man, each one in a different town. Before they teach Link their spells, he often has to complete side-quests such as retrieving lost items.

Development

Like ''The Legend of Zelda'', ''The Adventure of Link'' was based on Shigeru Miyamoto's concepts.^[1]
However, the game was developed by a separate team from the original, and key members from the ''Zelda'' design team, such as Takashi Tezuka and Koji Kondo, were not involved in ''Zelda II's'' production.
:

Role	Alias	Real Name	''The Legend of Zelda'' Developer
Executive Producer	H.Yamauchi	Hiroshi Yamauchi	Yes
Producer	Miyahon	Shigeru Miyamoto	Yes
Director	Sugiyan	Tadashi Sugiyama	No
Director	Yamahen	Yoichi Yamada	No
Sound Composer	Tsukasan	Akito Nakatsuka	No
Designer	Isshin	Kazunobu Shimizu	No
Programmer	Morikazu	Kazuaki Morita	Yes
Programmer	Marumaru	Tatsuo Nishiyama	No
Programmer	Shigechan	Shigehiro Kasamatsu	No
Programmer	Nishiyan	Yasunari Nishida	Yes
Programmer	Nakazoo	Toshihiko Nakago	Yes

^[2][3]

Music

The score of ''The Adventure of Link'', unlike that of ''The Legend of Zelda'', was composed by Akito Nakatsuka ("Tsukasan" in the credits) rather than Koji Kondo. Almost none of the music from the previous game was integrated, save for the introductory notes of the overworld theme (''Hyrule Overture''), which were sampled at the start of the new overworld theme.
Due perhaps to the fact that the game's music was composed by Nakatsuka, the music in this game has generally not been incorporated into later games in the ''Zelda'' series. Although, many other aspects of the game also didn't return later, most likely as it was such a significant departure from the direction the series ultimately took. However, a newly orchestrated version of the ''Palace'' track is featured in ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'', played during the Hyrule Temple stage, and also the Underground Maze level.

Translation

In the town of Ruto, there is a character whose initial line of dialogue is “I am Error.” This is correctly translated from the Japanese word for error (エラー). This famous ''Zelda II'' character is referenced to in the 2007 Wii title ''Super Paper Mario'' which references this name by having Fracktail, the first boss, say “I am Error” once he becomes corrupted by Dimentio.
''Zelda II'' features another character named Bagu, his name most likely being a misinterpretation of the Japanese word for bug (バグ), which would support the idea that the names were intentionally placed in as technical jokes.

Versions

''The Adventure of Link'' was re-released in 2003 on the '' disc for the Nintendo GameCube,^[4] and again in 2004 as part of the “Classic NES Series” for Game Boy Advance,^[5] with several changes. The death animation removed flashing colors in an effort to prevent seizures, replacing it with a solid red color (the same goes for the Virtual Console release). Several graphical and audio tweaks were made, and an enemy formerly titled Barba is named Volvagia, keeping with the naming in the Japanese release. It was released as the 100th title on the Wii's Virtual Console in Japan on January 23, 2007^[6].^[7], in Europe and Australia on February 9, 2007 and was released in North America on June 4, 2007.

Legacy

Many elements first introduced in this game have remained in the series. For instance, non-player characters (NPCs) were present in the original ''Zelda'', but their role was rather limited. All ''Zelda'' games since ''Zelda II'' prominently feature a variety of NPCs who play a pivotal role in Link’s quests. The use of metered magic and spells has also carried over into several ''Zelda'' games. Dark Link also appears in ''Ocarina of Time'', and a similar Link clone called Shadow Link appears in ''Four Swords Adventures''.
Although Link's ability to stab upwards and downwards in midair may not have been exactly replicated in other games (possibly because he doesn't usually "jump" very often), similar midair down-thrusts and upward thrusts have appeared in several iterations; perhaps the most obvious incarnations are those in the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series and in the Nintendo GameCube version of ''Soul Calibur II'', as well as Link's finishing blow from ''Twilight Princess''.
Additionally, ''The Adventure of Link'' was one of the first games to combine platform and RPG gaming elements to any considerable degree. Over the next several years, a number of Japanese-made games would appear 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. More recently, the ''Valkyrie Profile'' series of games by Square Enix has also combined side-scrolling platform action with RPG gameplay.
Many of the sages in '' bear the same names as towns from ''The Adventure of Link'' (, , , , and ). Another town, , is also the name of a bossy character in Kokiri Forest.
The line, “I found a mirror under the table,” may be the first example of Link speaking in a ''Legend of Zelda'' game. Whether the line is actually spoken or not is debatable, as Link may very well be thinking this rather than speaking it, although that would be a first as well. Similar lines also appear elsewhere in the game.
''The Adventure of Link'' is the only ''Zelda'' game in the main North American series not to use the phrase “''The Legend of Zelda''” in its title, the only ''Zelda'' game to feature “lives” counting down, and so the only game in the series to include 1-up dolls.

Sequels

The next ''Zelda'' game after ''The Adventure of Link'' was '' for the Super NES in 1992 (North American release), which followed new Link and Zelda characters and returned to the top-down style of the original ''The Legend of Zelda''. No further ''Zelda'' titles in the main series to date have used side-scrolling gameplay, but several later games including '', for the Game Boy systems incorporated limited side-scrolling in certain areas. '' and '', two lesser known ''Zelda'' games for the Phillips CD-i created without involvement from Nintendo in 1993, did have side-scrolling play slightly reminiscent of ''The Adventure of Link''. However, these games were not actually made by Nintendo and thus are not counted as ''Zelda'' canon.
A 16-bit remake was intended for release on the Super Famicom Satellaview. Unlike ''BS The Legend of Zelda'', it would have been the same game with enhanced features instead of a game loosely based on the original. It was ultimately canceled in favor of the new storyline of the ''BS Zelda'' games.

References

1. Miyamoto Interviews April 23 2003
2. Game Credits for The Legend of Zelda
3. Game Credits for Zenda II: The Adventure of Link
4. The Legend of Zelda Collector’s Edition
5. Classic NES Series: The Legend of Zelda
6. Zelda II to be 100th Nintendo Wii VC Title
7. Japan Gets New Wii VC Titles For January

External links

★ ''Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Instruction Booklet PDF-''

★ ''The Adventure of Link'' at Zelda.com

★ ''Zelda II'' at The NES Files

★ ''Zelda II'' at RPGClassics.com

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