Summary
For 37 years now,The Legend of Zeldahas been one of Nintendo’s flagship franchises, coming second to really onlySuper Mariohimself. For almost four decades, Link has journeyed across Hyrule, defeating bosses, slaying monsters, and saving princesses, and for almost four decades, fans have eaten it up every time. No matter what console Link finds himself on,The Legend of Zeldafansare there to support him, but not all entries are considered equal, and even all these years later,The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Linkis still the black sheep of the entire franchise.
Released in 1987 in Japan, and just one year later for North America and PAL regions,The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Linkreceived a great deal of critical acclaim at the time, but in the decades since, it’s become a bit of an outsider in the grand scheme of the franchise, looking, sounding, and playing very differently from the game that came before it and all those that have come since. But just because it’s different doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s bad.
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Why Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link Is the Black Sheep of the Zelda Franchise
The biggest reason behindZelda 2’s snubbing in recent years is just how differently the game plays compared to the rest of the series. The first game inThe Legend of Zeldaseries set a precedent that the majority ofZeldaentries would follow. Theoriginal 1986Zeldafeatured a top-down perspective, where players would move Link across an overworld, enter dungeons, and battle monsters. This top-down perspective would then continue to be used throughout the franchise, appearing in just about every Game Boy, GBA, DS, and 3DSZeldatitle. The other main type ofZeldagameplay is the third-person action-adventure series, pioneered byOcarina of Timeand used multiple times since on the GameCube, Wii, and now Nintendo Switch.
The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Linkdoes not fit into either of these categories.Zelda 2is, for the most part,a side-scrolling action game. Though players control Link from a top-down perspective in the overworld, the second they enter a location or encounter an enemy, they’re forced into a side-scrolling perspective, where the player is required to defeat the enemies and reach the other side of the level in typical side-scrolling fashion. While this gameplay is by no means bad, it’s a little too different, and compared to the rest of the series it sticks out like a sore thumb.
Another big departure from the first game isZelda 2’s focus on RPG elements. While the originalZeldahad RPG-like features with different gear options and increasing health bars, it really wasn’t a primary feature of the game.Zelda 2, on the other hand, takes a big swing with its own RPG mechanics.Zelda 2featured proper NPCs for the first time in the series, with multiple appearing in a town setting as opposed to just one old man in various caves dotted around Hyrule. Players could also level up their stats after each boss and unlock new abilities, including the use of magic spells. But while these RPG mechanics are now an incredibly important aspect ofrecent franchise entries likeBreath of the WildandTears of the Kingdom, the execution inZelda 2doesn’t feel all that great, making the game seem very half-baked nowadays.
The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link’s overall presentation is also another big reason for its rejection today. Even at the time,Zelda 2’s visualslook pretty washed-out, at least when compared to its predecessor. While the originalZelda’s green trees and blue rivers popped on the screen,Zelda 2’s look a little bland, and while Nintendo was probably going for realism more than style for the sequel, it doesn’t stand the test of time quite as well as the original game’s presentation.
The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Linkis available on Nintendo Entertainment System and Nintendo Switch.
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