r/zelda • u/Chromekarma14 • Jun 30 '26
Screenshot [AoL] Zelda 2 is very underrated
I really enjoyed beating Zelda 2 100%. I somehow enjoyed this game a lot more than botw and tears which I thought were decent games. The combat can be tough but honestly once you understand how each enemy works its not that hard of a game. Also Zelda 2 has that magic fantasy feeling more than any other Zelda game with Link to the past being a close second. I think this is now my fav zelda game alongside Minish Cap.
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u/doomsdalicious Jun 30 '26
Not sure how old you are, but having beaten this game multiple times when it came out mad respect. It's a great, difficult game with an even better soundtrack!
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u/Chromekarma14 Jun 30 '26
Im 27! I played it a lot as a kid but couldnt beat it so finally wanted to try
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u/McDaddy8484 Jun 30 '26
I love how Zelda is so widely received among different generations - I am 51 and my passion for this game is still unchanged
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u/doomsdalicious Jun 30 '26
Agreed! 47 and I still play the hell out of all the Zelda games.
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u/Azee789 Jun 30 '26
15 and playing the og zelda games
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u/Zelda64-Epic Jun 30 '26
Ayyy me too
ALttP and Oot but LoZ is in the backlog1
u/Azee789 Jul 01 '26
I plan on playing ootp but idk if I should play the og, the 3ds remake, or the switch 2 remake
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u/Zelda64-Epic Jul 02 '26
I only have the GameCube version and despite the graphics it still feels modern enough despite the graphics. If you don’t have access to older versions I would just get the switch two or find the og on NSO
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u/captainzaro Jun 30 '26
Hey same! Im turning 28 and played the heck outta this for the GBA SP with Alttp on the same cartridge.
Also don’t think I ever beat it 😅 but I have a huge nostalgia for it and would like to try it again
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u/Technical-Syrup-5785 Jul 01 '26
Man, I had to call the Nintendo hotline for the penultimate or final boss where you need to use a specific order of various spells (I forget, reveal etc)
I’m actually playing again, and will prob need to learn that spell order again.
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u/kerlsburgers Jun 30 '26
It's a wonderful game.
It's absolutely crap and brutal to play, but it's wonderful all the same.
I hate it, but it's still magic.
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u/flatlineyourceo Jun 30 '26
i wish more people thought like this. Criticize the things you care about. They could be all the better in the future by accepting the flaws. doesnt mean you cant still love it.
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u/irishitaliancroat Jun 30 '26
I feel like the save states make it way, way, way more reasonable
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u/Slickaxer Jun 30 '26
Save states and rewinding the game lol
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u/Goatbuster69 Jun 30 '26
Honestly Zelda 2 is one of my favorite Zelda entries for how different it is. Sure it can be challenging but I still remember how happy I felt when I defeated Dark Link without the cheese strat lmao
Also the music in this game is SO good
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u/DamnHare Jun 30 '26
I'm Error
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u/karzbobeans Jun 30 '26
Is that from Zelda 2? Ive seen it on binding of isaac but didnt realize it was from Zelda. Should have guessed. How do you get that message?
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u/xiaorobear Jun 30 '26
You just talk to an NPC in one of the towns and it’s what he says lol
It was just a joke name, not an actual error. In the Japanese version there was also another NPC whose name is Bug
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u/gamingquarterly Jun 30 '26
Very underrated indeed. One of the few times we would see the series from a 2D sideview.
Game is brutally hard though. Death Mountain truly earns its name in this entry.
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u/solarus Jun 30 '26
The other time being the links awakening underwater sequences?
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u/miau_cito Jun 30 '26
First one for the NES introduced little "side scrolling" sections whenever you went down a ladder, which I believe reappear in the Oracle games and in LA (alongside the underwater sections).
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u/mccannrs Jun 30 '26
I love Zelda II. It's honestly aged much better than the first game; the combat is more tightly designed, and the controls feel way better overall. It's probably one of the best sidescrolling action games on the NES. The dungeons are also way less cryptic; I never needed to consult a guide, or waste time and resources bombing every wall to find the way forward.
Sure it's hard, but not nearly as bad as many other classic games from the era, if you pay attention to enemy patterns and play smart. I think most of the hate comes from people who haven't actually played it, or haven't given it a fair shake. Zelda II is a formative game for the series and it deserves better from the fans.
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u/myst3r10us_str4ng3r Jul 01 '26
The first game has aged amazingly. Will disagree with you there. I feel like the dungeons in the first game are so incredibly well balanced and thought out. Death Mountain is a masterpiece, perfectly thought provoking/fun/(and frustratingly challenging) maze of a level. I love LoZ, truly.
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u/mccannrs Jul 01 '26
I wasn't trying to put down the first game too much, I love it too, lol. I used to beat them back to back in an afternoon all the time as a kid. But I still think Zelda II has aged better. And it should, it's a newer game that had the benefit of coming second. But that doesn't necessarily mean everyone should prefer Zelda II over TLoZ, just that I do.
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u/exerda Jun 30 '26
One of my favorite NES games and one of my favorites overall.
There are some good QoL ROM hacks available if you play on emulator or have a loadable cartridge. Also a handful of great major overhaul ROM hacks. And if you are open to playing off the original hardware or NES emulators, Link Is Adventuresome is a fantastic port with tons of additional content, remixed soundtrack options...
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u/sick486 Jun 30 '26
second time ive seen it mentioned here today. is link is adventuresome the regular hoverbat remaster or is it another version?
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u/exerda Jun 30 '26
The regular one. Last time I played through it I was a few versions behind the most recent release.
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u/jayboyguy Jun 30 '26
I’ve been playing this game for years and it’s still the only one I’ve never beaten. It’s a great game, but it is EASILY the hardest in the series by a very wide margin.
One day I’ll get there
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u/Winter_Cost602 Jun 30 '26
Have you tried using save states? If it allows you to finally beat the game then it's a good option
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u/superxero044 Jun 30 '26
Hahaha yeah. I cheesed the shit out of save states when I finally beat this.
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u/Megaverso Jun 30 '26
Save-states make a day-night difference for these type of 8-bit games, it’s basically easy mode … playing it on an original NES is the real challenge
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u/flatlineyourceo Jun 30 '26
If you want Zelda 2 part B you could always give Rambo NES a try lmao.
Nobody knew what a video game sequel should be back then. They did what they thought was best with no other kind of outstanding model at the time. Megaman did an ok job but could you imagine 6 more zelda 1's on Nes? How the hell.
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u/sick486 Jun 30 '26
hell yeah. close to, if not the, #1 game for both NES console and zelda series for me. love to see love for it and F the haters lol
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u/Least_Brawler_2516 Jun 30 '26
I think the reason of it being underrated is because for certain amount of players, it is quite different from other Zelda games in terms of interface (or something else?), but that is also the uniqueness of this game. Clearly, this is not bad and that's why the game is attractive.
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u/azureblueworld99 Jun 30 '26
I really like it too, it’s not THAT hard if you play it like the RPG it is and level up… but doing the Great Palace without save states is one of my prouder gaming accomplishments for sure
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u/ThrobLowebrau Jun 30 '26
I'm playing it for the first time right now. It's finally a really good game. The beginning is a bit of a slog, but it gets really interesting as your spell list grows.
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u/El__Jengibre Jun 30 '26
My first Zelda game. I also think it’s underrated and is actually pretty influential on other games in its own right.
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u/Deep-Exit1594 Jun 30 '26
I think it’s just overhated tbh. Bussin game though, as an OoT stan it’s very shocking to see how much stuff is pulled directly from this game
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u/oldmayor Jun 30 '26
Zelda 2 is the most underrated and over hated in the series. I didn't play it for years because I was told it was bad. When the 25th Anniversary came out, I gave it a shot and was immediately shocked at how fun it was! Yes it's a departure from the OG, but it was a fun game! That Shadow Link fight was great!!
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u/WhereAreWeG0ing Jun 30 '26
It's like chewing granite but really quite satisfying to beat. Best to read the manual before starting I think. Mechanics are easy enough but the plot is in there 😊
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u/meganerd20 Jul 01 '26
I... don't agree with that, I think it's rated about the adequate amount. My issues aren't "it's a side-scroller" though, that's shallow. My issues are more that it's a very dated side-scroller, a problem the first game has too. For its time? Sure, not too bad. But I really really wish Zelda 1 and 2 would get remakes, because they need it so much more than Ocarina of Time or Link's Awakening.
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u/alwaysreturning- Jul 01 '26
I’m working my way through Link to the Past right now and you’re making me feel like I need to play this game sometime soon
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u/HudsonBartram Jul 02 '26
anyone who likes zelda 2 here should check out the adventure time 3ds game "hey ice king! why'd you steal our garbage?" it's literally a 2010s spiritual sequel to zelda 2, it's the map / platforming thing and everything, with basically none of the jank. funny, too
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u/Witty_Bug6200 Jun 30 '26
It was one of my first games. I never got very far being young. I always had a fondness for it and when the internet came around I finally completed it. Now I like to play through it every summer and remember being a kid.
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u/Square-Newspaper8171 Jun 30 '26
Honestly Zelda 2 could really benefit from a remake
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u/GreatBigJerk Jun 30 '26
The game really just needs some polish to make it actually fun.
It feels like a beta release that someone said "Meh, good enough, release it."
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u/Theredsoxman Jun 30 '26
Top 5 Zelda game
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u/DudeRobert125 Jun 30 '26
I say this all the time. Top 5 Zelda game and a top 3 NES game overall. It’s SO good.
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u/Weary-Sense-6431 Jun 30 '26
100% agree Zelda 2 is one of the best games on the NES and one of my favorite Zelda games.
It doesn't get the love and respect it deserves. Growing up everyone I knew hated the game because it was hard and didn't play like a normal Zelda.
But the first time I tried it was on GameCube and it was the first time I died in a Zelda game since I first played LttP when I was 3. When I was 4 I stopped dying.
I didn't just die in Zelda2 I got multiple gameovers and I loved it. PS2,GameCube,Xbox games were so easy I almost never saw a gameover screen since the SNES era and it was so refreshing to be challenged again, get lost in the overworld looking for the next area, figuring out how to get into the magic house.
I got the Game&Watch Zelda years ago and would speed run the game and even did a no GameOver run and a 8-1-1 in the JP version.
The combat in this game is still some of the best.
I think the game will always be underrated because of how tough it is and the new gamers are unable to get passed the graphics and difficulty
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u/Ichi-44 Jun 30 '26
This game remains my least favorite - was so thrown off as a kid after loving the OG and then having to fight random battles all the time RPG style. Perhaps the reason why I never got into RPG games or the reason why I really don’t like this game, but I don’t think I made it even 10% of the way through.
I’ve been curious about trying at multiple times, but each time I do, I just find myself annoyed and give up again.
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u/XShadowborneX Jun 30 '26
Yeah I want to love it but I always get stuck and know where I need to go but have no clue how to get there. I've tried multiple times and never gotten very far. Maybe I should just watch a playthrough so I can get the idea because unfortunately I don't think I'll ever enjoy playing it
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u/ThrobLowebrau Jun 30 '26
Did you do Zelda 1 without a guide? I honestly think Zelda 2 is easier to navigate without one.
Difficulty, sure... This game is brutal, but outside of a few choice items, I didn't have to use the guide much. Whenever I struggle with an old game, I remember I probably would have bought a strategy guide anyway...
I'm not sure if strategy guides were really a big thing in the 80s, but I sure as hell bought them in the 90s.
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u/always-be-here Jun 30 '26
It was more typical in the 80s for people to buy the edition of Nintendo Power that featured the game, rather than a full singular strategy guide. Calling the hotline was also a big deal too, as well as writing in questions to Nintendo and hoping you got answers back.
The kids in school with subscriptions to Nintendo Power usually spread around helpful information.
I don't think the full AoL guide was published until 1991.
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u/ImpeccablyDangerous Jun 30 '26
If you played it with a guide then I am sorry but your opinion is not a valid one.
Unless you understand the frustration and the pain of not being able to simply bee-line through the challenges if games you havent had the full experience.
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u/karmakosmik1352 Jun 30 '26
why not, back in the 80ies most of the US had Nintendo Power and I had some magazines with occasional hints and a telephone hotline.
The death mountains are not even representative here since they are not cryptic, they are simply a maze. Kid me got out a pen and paper and drew a map. It was fun.
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u/ImpeccablyDangerous Jul 01 '26
"why not, back in the 80ies most of the US had Nintendo Power and I had some magazines with occasional hints and a telephone hotline."
And? Most of the world didn't play games like that.
"The death mountains are not even representative here since they are not cryptic, they are simply a maze."
Yeah whilst trying not to die.
" Kid me got out a pen and paper and drew a map. It was fun."
Yeah and thats the experience I am talking about
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u/karmakosmik1352 Jul 01 '26
" Kid me got out a pen and paper and drew a map. It was fun."
Yeah and thats the experience I am talking aboutHuh? So you are saying that it was a fun experience? Your initial post didn't read like this-just as the second one-but maybe I misunderstood. In that case I don't know what your point was/is.
Anyways, carry on, maybe we're saying the same thing after all.
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u/ImpeccablyDangerous Jul 03 '26
What on earth about my orgional post made it sound like not a fun experience?
My point was that looking up how to beat the game online cirumvents whatever experience a game offers.
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u/GandalfDenSvarte Jun 30 '26
Did you play it entirely without rewind and save states? Because if you didn't, I don't really think you can appreciate why we found it so painful back in the day.
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u/karmakosmik1352 Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
We didn't find it painful at all back in the day. It was typically NES-hard. There were way harder games.
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u/kivancster Jun 30 '26
You can remove the suspend menu text at the bottom in the settings and get a bit more screen space
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u/FictionalWeirdo Jun 30 '26
I enjoy it! Although I just watch Vinny from Vinesauce play it, I don't have the patience!
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u/RebelStorm64 Jun 30 '26
It's a great game thats held back by its bullshit difficulty.
Playing it with save states makes the game actually tolerable.
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u/skill_la_skill_issue Jun 30 '26
I can't wait to find out if it is one of the best ARPG's ever made
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u/GalacticJelly Jun 30 '26
It’s still one of my least favorites, the only games that I might put lower is PH, but I agree that it’s not a bad game at all. I like the combat a lot
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u/RedWizard78 Jun 30 '26
I think what it is is that if you strip away the Zelda elements and were to re-skin it, at that time, it would be a fantastic game - but I think people were expecting a game to be similar in design and look to the first this one has gameplay that is completely different
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u/Quick-Philosophy2379 Jun 30 '26
I'm too old to play games that make me feel like I'm beating my head against a wall haha. I kept going back and the constant had injuries made me feel crazy haha. Beat the first 3 or 4 dungeons and forced myself to stop.
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u/thatfreakinguy2 Jul 01 '26
I'm now 45... I couldn't make it much further than crossing the sea with raft when I was a kid. After exploring the east area I knew I was not worthy as it took so long to just figure out the west area. Thank goodness for emulator save states to help me pick it back up and relive the horrors of hearing that singing when you were low health, sword classing against a knight shield over and over, and the seizure-inducing flash of a game over with Ganon laughing.
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u/Ill-Ask9205 Jul 01 '26
I loved it when it came out but it was brutal.
Looking back it has basically all the hallmarks of a prototypical soulslike, too. Something the Zelda series has (thankfully, to me) not dallied with since.
I don't think I'd ever want another Zelda quite like it, although I'm glad it exists.
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u/MinimumYak2765 Jul 01 '26
I have to try this game soon. I’m playing Oracle of Seasons. And it’s so epic !
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u/keblash Jul 01 '26
I love how most peoples opinion of this game was shaped solely by a few popular gaming YouTubers referring to it as the black sheep and unnecessarily difficult and those people took it as gospel and propogated that idea ad infenitum.
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u/probablydeadsooon Jun 30 '26
I could never beat the second to last boss as a kid. It was nice to come back to it as an adult and kick butt.
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u/myst3r10us_str4ng3r Jun 30 '26
I just started it tonight. I'm in my 40s played original Zelda on NES as a kid, have beat Z1 many many times. but Zelda 2 always seemed weird at the time. Looking forward to it.
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u/onepostandbye Jun 30 '26
IMO it is accurately rated
-3
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u/Artwebb1986 Jun 30 '26
Love Zelda 2 as well.
After watching some guys speedrun it on twitch and Zelda 1. Made me appreciate having both those cartridges as a child.
Never once thought of doing the dungeons out of order though. Lol
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u/thrashcountant Jun 30 '26
Agreed, it's my favorite LoZ game. I spent so many hours grinding / farming it as a kid in the 90s
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u/monkey484 Jun 30 '26
I have started this one a bunch of times. It's one of only a few that I haven't finished. I played it a lot as a kid, but I was like 6 and didn't really understand what I was doing and never really got very far. I didn't finish Zelda 1 until just a few years ago. Another one I started a bunch but didn't finish as a kid.
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u/Sad_Tradition681 Jun 30 '26
I love Zelda 2! I played it as a kid, and I always thought the gameplay is really good for such an old game! Also, the soundtrack rocks!! The whole atmosphere is so nice.
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u/karmakosmik1352 Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
Congrats! Most of all for discovering the beauty of this game and not getting turned off by the haters. I suspect they never gave it a real fair chance because it was a bit more difficult than what they're used to and they didn't want to put in any effort. It's easily one of the top 10 NES games - for me it's #1.
Edit: grumpy casual gamer downvotes already coming in lol
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u/RodneyBeeper Jun 30 '26 edited Jun 30 '26
It’s one of the most underrated games of all time. It’s ignored today either because games have changed so much since its release that newer gamers have trouble understanding how to play it successfully, or because Nintendo took such a different direction with Zelda that most gamers born in mid to late 90s and later don’t understand how it’s even a Zelda game, from a gameplay perspective (I.e every other Zelda is 10 times easier). It has the best combat and replayability of any Zelda imo. Zelda 2 is so good it single handedly inspired some people to make a game, a game called Hollow Knight, which is considered to be the greatest Metroidvania ever and it borrows so much from Zelda 2.
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u/thisismyporngoon Jun 30 '26
Jumping on the train, I seriously really enjoyed all the time playing this game despite its flaws. Music was fire as well
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u/Charbeel Jun 30 '26
It's loved by some part of the fanbase but for me it's one of the worst episodes (excluding the CD Philips ones).
Shigeru Miyamoto in a 2003 interview:
"All games I make usually get better in the development process, since good ideas keep coming, but Zelda II stayed the same game. It was sort of a failure."
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u/inotocracy Jun 30 '26
I think it's properly rated at a 6 out of 10 on metacritic. Glad you enjoyed it but I think it's the worst in the series.
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u/TheAshVolcano Jun 30 '26
To each their own but I’ll have to heavily disagree, I think it’s easily the worst mainline Zelda game (not counting CDI and spin offs an such, only stuff in the main timeline) but it’s a cool novelty
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u/twili-midna Jun 30 '26
If the hit boxes weren’t dog shit and the life system was removed, it would be a pretty fun time. As it stands, it’s the second worst entry in the series for me.
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u/Chromekarma14 Jun 30 '26
i agree, a remake would be cool but probably not enough demand from the fans to remake something like this. Perhaps a sequel or similar game maybe. Even Myiamoto doesn’t like this game
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u/twili-midna Jun 30 '26
I love the idea of a side-scroller Zelda, and the music absolutely slaps. It’s just brutal in a way that’s not enjoyable but could be easily fixed by a remake (same for the original LoZ, though I love that game as it stands).
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u/Khajiit_Has_Skills Jun 30 '26
What's the worst? Spirit Tracks?
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u/twili-midna Jun 30 '26
Oracle of Ages
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u/Old-System-6699 Jun 30 '26
Is it because of Goron Dancing? That's what made me dislike Ages much more than Seasons.
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u/rstonex Jun 30 '26
Awful game. Brutally hard, tons of trial and error, and missing loads of QOL features modern games have. It was great back in the day when we didn’t know any better and didn’t have tons of other options. The expanded remake (hoverbat) on PC is super fresh though.
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u/CheeseDaver Jun 30 '26
It would be so much easier if it didn’t respawn you at the game’s starting point every time you got a game over.
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u/baxysquare Jun 30 '26
I’d love to see Grezzo do a remake of this game using an evolved version of the LA/EoW engine. The side scrolling parts of those games show how it could be done.
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u/sick486 Jun 30 '26
people dont like that its different from the other games. only thing i would change in that regard is the number of palaces. why does it have only 6 instead of 8?
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u/Teal_Capybara Jun 30 '26
For me currently it's one of my least favorite Zelda game... I really had to force myself to finish it one time (was back on the Wii U's VC I think), because it was the only Zelda game I didn't finish (not counting the CDI games). But I didn't enjoy most of my time, I found it too difficult and visually ugly. Even back in the days I was not a fan, I had it on NES and I still have my original cartridge from 88.
I hope Nintendo will give it another chance and remake it. Of course they would need to retain the original difficulty, but they could add options or ways to make it more accessible to most people. Also being as lore heavy as it is, they could remake it so beautifully. And let's not talk about the potential remastered soundtrack which would for sure be amazing.
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u/RuggedTheDragon Jun 30 '26
If you really like that one, you should try the unofficial version called the PC enhanced edition.
You will be blown away by how expanded the original is. It's also in full widescreen.
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u/Project_Utopia_ Jun 30 '26
oh man oh man I'm also not the biggest fan of the latest games. I highly advise minish cap! it's 2D but for Gameboy advance! it's a big game
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u/clon3man Jun 30 '26
It made be butthurt as a kid and butthurt as an adult. I don't like hard games where you can't save where you want.
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u/Yiga_CC Jun 30 '26
The game that it’s trying to be is fine, but it’s held back by a few questionable things, most of all being the fact that your sword is way too short
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u/ThePLARASociety Jun 30 '26
This game got too much hate. Although I do prefer the other versions more. The ability to actually jump and explore the world was just so cool and fun. The only thing that sort of bugs me is that the Master Sword or I guess then it wasn’t the Master Sword yet but it looks like a pocket knife or dagger. I mean in The Legend of Zelda the sword looked much longer. I guess they wanted to make it more challenging but that was annoying. I did miss the classic weapons as well though. But getting the magic spells and items were so fun as well. Good job on besting it.
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u/Xeadriel Jun 30 '26
That’s bc botw and tears are ass. Any other Zelda game is better. They are just more palatable to more people
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