The Adventure of Link
The Story - A New Adventure
Not so long after the events of The Legend of Zelda, the hero Link notices a mark on the back of his hand like the crest of the royal line. Impa, Zelda's nursemaid, takes Link to The North Castle furthermore to a door that has been sealed since the dawn of time. The mark of Hyrule begins to flash and Link places his hand upon the door to reveal The Princess Zelda in an eternal slumber. Impa informs Link that Princess Zelda's brother interrogated The Princess into the revelations of the location of the three sacred golden triangle pieces known as The Triforce. Zelda refused to co-operate with the prince which only fuelled his rage further and he ordered the wizard to strike the princess down with a spell. In a turn of events the princess fell under an eternal spell and the wizard gasped his last breath. The prince knew he couldn't reverse the actions so he ordered The Princess Zelda to be placed in the castle tower praying that one day she would awake. He ordered that ever female born into the royal family would be named Zelda in remembrance of his sister.
Zelda's nursemaid Impa tells Link that he is the chosen one to save The Princess Zelda. Impa hands Link a treasure chest that contains 6 crystals and cryptic writings that state the 6 crystals must be placed in different palaces throughout Hyrule. Only once the crystals have been placed on their pedestal will the entrance to the great palace be opened which contains The Triforce of Courage combined with the other two pieces of The Triforce will awaken The Princess Zelda. Preventing Link on his quest are Gannon's followers as once Link has been slayed the blood of the hero will bring Gannon back to life.
About Zelda II - The Adventure of Link
The Adventure of Link is an action game with role playing elements mixed in. It was developed and published by Nintendo for the NES and is the second instalment of the Zelda series. Originally released in Japan for the Famicom Disk System less than a year after the release of the original Legend of Zelda. Zelda II was released in Japan on January 14th 1987 a whole seven months before The United States even got their hands on the first Zelda title. The Adventure of Link was released in North America in 1988 converting the game to the cartridge system that was more common and more recognisable.
Zelda II - The Adventure of Link is a direct sequel to The Legend of Zelda with the Hero Link returning in a short time after the first quest. The Adventure of Link takes on new look with side scrolling platforming which was a drastic change from its predecessor and a shock for fans alike, just imagine the controversy when Link battled Gannon footage was released at Spaceworld 2001 then in 2003 the next Zelda adventure was announced to be The Wind Waker and the graphics had changed to cel-shaded cartoony. Some people enjoyed the changed however hardcore fans of the original were left disappointed despite this the game sold at the time of release and is still respected as a game in Nintendo lists of great games rating 110th best game made for a Nintendo System in Nintendo Power's top 200 games poll.
How The Game Plays
In this new adventure Link can now power up by gaining experience points defeating enemies and collecting bags of points this added RPG elements to the game. When you decide to raise your life level you take less damage from hits off enemies, increasing your magic meter will take less magic points used when increasing Links ability's under the new skill awarded by the Wizards. If you decide to raise your attack meter when you level up Link will enforce a stronger hit towards enemies taking less hits to kill them, you will notice this when you fight more challenging enemies such as the Iron knuckles. Once you have reached the maximum amount of levels you gain an extra life. There are four extra heart containers and four magic containers that will increase the bars used for that particular status. This was the only game that features extra lives that you can collect which come in the form of a Link doll and are scattered throughout Hyrule and the palaces.
The Overworld of Hyrule
The majority of action occurs in the overworld map of Hyrule which you control Link as you see him on the screen quite frequently monsters appear and when one of these touches Link you engage in a side scrolling view with the enemies attacking the hero. This is the only chance you have of dying as you travel it not possible you can however stumble across secrets hidden throughout the map and use items to allow you to walk on water for instance, only with the use of the correct item. There are 2 different types of monster battle depicting on the black blobs that follow you across the screen. The largest formed monster means Link will battle against stronger enemies and the smaller blob will be slightly easier even to escape if need be. There is also a fairy icon that can provide a much needed health boost and restore energy lost in battle.
Controls
Link is armed with a simple sword and shield and unlike most Zelda games he remains with the same arsenary in those regards. The controls in combat vary from a standing attack, jumping and crouching, although more attacks become available later in the game as you gain more skills from the knights in the villages. Link can actually jump by the press of a button in this adventure which on most of the console Zelda's is hardly used making it a first for the series. This is absolutely necessary as you do not want to fall into water or lava as it will result in an instant death.
Magic Jars and Meters
Another first for the Zelda series was the introduction of magic which has been used in Zelda games since. Link must travel between different towns to learn magic skills taught by the wizard of that particular village. There is a magic meter at the top of the screen that monitors how much has been used and drains once a piece of magic is used. It is possible to refill the magic meter by collecting jars, these come in 2 colours a blue one and a red one. The blue magic jars refill a small amount of magic and the red ones fill a large majority of the magic meter. Once a piece of magic is used it will only last for that certain screen as in a Palace for instance you use shield and Links tunic turns red it will only last for the screen you are on once you move to the next his attire will return to green and he will no longer have the shield ability.
In My Own Words
This was the first Zelda game I ever played on the NES in the early 90's so I didn't even know how it had changed but I loved every second of it reminded me of n also equally good game around the same time The Battle of Olympus similar gaming style looks and RPG elements.
It was difficult finding items and initially what to do next, I found myself wandering around which is what I used to like in games as I would be there for hours. I didn't complete this quest until I bought a copy of the Zelda Collection for the Gamecube a few years back and it brought back the memories of how good this game really was and frustrating. There was a great satisfaction finally completing this game as I still found it very difficult and spent many hours throwing my controller across the room and cursing, some things don't change today.
The most annoying boss of the Palaces for myself was Barba the dragon that emerges from the lava as his fireballs kept knocking me into the lava resulting in death so many times I just had to hit him once and I would lose my head. The Thunderbird was a tough boss penultimate to the final duel with the dark Link and even though I had guides and help of the Internet the game is still a tough challenge. Another annoying thing is that when you lose all your lives you start back at the great palace from where you start the game so you have to make it back to the palace you are trying to complete through all the tough monster battles as some squares equate to the normal side scrolling battle and cannot be avoided.
The sounds in this game are an upgrade from the first Zelda and I love to hate the evil Gannon laugh when you fall at the hands of his minions.
The graphics are good for its time I really enjoyed them looked great on The NES especially when compared to other games of the same era.
There's not much to come back to on this game although once you have completed the quest once you can begin the game with all the magic that can be used.
I Award The Adventure of Link: 7/10
Facts & SecretsTo get through a keyhole without a key in the palaces become a fairy but make sure you have enough magic to get back through. Make sure you build up your experience points before encountering a new palace because the enemies are a lot tougher even more so than in battles at the time. |