Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - Franchise Outsider

⚔️ An Honest Word First: The One I Haven’t Beaten

🗡️ This article is part of our The Legend of Zelda Hub — every mainline game reviewed and rated, plus the movies and the LEGO Zelda sets, all in one place.

Let me be straight with you, because trust matters more than a complete-looking checklist: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is the one mainline Zelda I have not yet played all the way through. So this is not a scored review — I am not going to hand you a rating for a game I have not properly lived with. What it is is an honest overview of the series’ strangest, most divisive entry, why it matters, and why it is firmly on my list. When I have given it the time it deserves, I will come back and rate it properly.

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Zelda II is built into the dedicated Game & Watch handheld alongside the NES original and Link's Awakening — the most charming way to own it.

That honesty feels especially right here, because Zelda II is a game built on contradiction. It is a direct sequel to the most influential action-adventure ever made, and it responds by throwing out almost everything that made the original work. That nerve is exactly why it is worth talking about.

The Great Experiment: Why Zelda II Swerved

Picture 1987. The original Legend of Zelda is a phenomenon. The safe move for a sequel is “more of that.” Nintendo did the opposite. Zelda II keeps a top-down overworld for travel, but the heart of the game becomes side-scrolling action — Link in profile, sword and shield, leaping and stabbing through enemy encounters that drop onto the map like random battles.

On top of that it bolts a full set of RPG mechanics: you earn experience points, level up Link’s attack, magic and life, learn spells, and talk to NPCs in towns who hide hints, items and secrets. Lives are limited, a Game Over sends you back, and the difficulty — particularly the notorious final dungeon, the Great Palace — is the stuff of legend. It is, in short, an entirely different genre wearing a Zelda hat.

Why It Earned Its Divisive Reputation

This is where opinion splits hard, and I want to represent both sides fairly rather than pretend I have the definitive take. To its fans, Zelda II is an underrated gem — a deeper, more deliberate combat system than the original, with genuine RPG progression and a satisfying sense of mastery once its tough exterior cracks. The swordplay, with its high and low attacks and shield timing, is more nuanced than anything else on the NES.

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Zelda II is part of Nintendo Switch Online's NES library, complete with save states that take the edge off its famous difficulty.

To its critics, it is the moment Zelda lost the plot — punishingly hard, opaque about where to go next, with experience-grinding and instant-death pits that feel hostile rather than challenging. The fact that the series never went back to this formula is, depending on your view, either a tragedy or a verdict. What is not in dispute is its influence: those side-scrolling combat ideas and RPG hooks rippled outward through gaming for years.

The Modern Mercy: Save States Change Everything

Here is the genuinely good news for anyone — me included — eyeing Zelda II in 2026. The way you play it now is dramatically kinder than a 1987 cartridge. Via Nintendo Switch Online or the dedicated Game & Watch, you get save states: the ability to bookmark your progress anywhere. For a game whose difficulty is largely about repetition and lost progress, that single feature transforms it from a teeth-grinding endurance test into a fascinating, playable piece of history.

That is precisely how I intend to approach it — patiently, with save states, treating it as the bold experiment it was rather than holding it to the standards of the games it inspired.

Where It Fits in Zelda History

For all that it stands apart, Zelda II did leave fingerprints on the series that followed — you just have to know where to look. The towns and NPCs that became a Zelda staple start here. Magic spells as a distinct resource trace back to this game. Even a certain villain debuts: Dark Link, the shadowy mirror-Link who guards the Great Palace, would return again and again across the franchise as one of its most iconic recurring foes. And the very name “Zelda II” gave us the famous, slightly absurd reality that the princess the series is named after spends most of the games asleep — it is her sleeping curse that frames this entire adventure.

It is also a fascinating window into a young Nintendo unafraid to gamble. The company that would later be accused of playing it safe once followed its biggest hit with a sequel that shared almost none of its mechanics. Whatever you make of the result, that creative nerve is part of what made the early Zelda years so special — and it makes Zelda II essential viewing for anyone who wants to understand how the series actually evolved.

Should You Play It in 2026?

So where does that leave a curious dad today? If you are a completist or a series-history buff, yes — play it, with save states, and approach it on its own terms rather than expecting “Zelda but flat.” Go in knowing it is a deliberate, demanding action-RPG and you may find a lot to admire in its combat depth. If you are a newcomer looking for the magic of modern Zelda, this is emphatically not where to start; play A Link to the Past or Link’s Awakening first and circle back to Zelda II as a historical curiosity later.

That, ultimately, is my honest position as someone who has not yet given it a full run: I respect it, I am genuinely intrigued by it, and I would rather tell you plainly that I have homework to do than fake a verdict. When I have beaten the Great Palace — save states and all — I will update this page with a proper rating and a real opinion earned the hard way.

Pros

A genuinely daring sequel — deeper combat and real RPG progression
Historically vital: its ideas rippled across decades of game design
Towns, NPCs, spells and leveling give it a distinct identity nothing else in the series shares
Modern re-releases with save states finally make it approachable

Cons

Famously, sometimes unfairly, difficult — the Great Palace is brutal
Plays nothing like the Zelda most fans know and love
Cryptic progression that can leave you stuck without a guide

The Dadnology Take

Zelda II is the franchise’s great “what if?” — the one time Nintendo torched the formula and chased a completely different game, with results people still argue about forty years later. I respect it enormously, I am fascinated by it, and I am not going to insult you by scoring a game I have not yet finished. It stays on my list, save states at the ready. When I have earned a verdict, you will get one here.

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Why is Zelda II so different from other Zelda games?

Nintendo deliberately experimented. Instead of top-down exploration, Zelda II uses side-scrolling action with RPG systems: experience points, leveling, magic spells and towns. The series never fully returned to this format, which is why it stands alone.

Is Zelda II the hardest Zelda game?

It is widely considered the most difficult mainline Zelda. Tough enemies, limited lives, a strict experience system and the infamous Great Palace give it a brutal reputation. Modern re-releases with save states make it far more approachable.

Where can I play Zelda II today?

It is included with Nintendo Switch Online (the NES app) and built into the dedicated Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda handheld, alongside the original Zelda and Link’s Awakening.

Is Zelda II worth playing for fans?

For series completists and anyone curious about Zelda’s history, absolutely — it is a fascinating road not taken. Newcomers should know it plays nothing like modern Zelda and demands patience. Use save states and treat it as the bold experiment it was.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES) – The Black Sheep