Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is the odd one out in Nintendo’s catalog, and it has been since 1987. The direct sequel to The Legend of Zelda keeps the dungeons, the overworld hunt for items, and the Triforce. It throws out almost everything else.
A Side-Scrolling Hyrule
The biggest break is the perspective. Moving around the world map drops Link into a side-scrolling playfield when enemies appear, not the top-down view the series became known for. Combat and movement change with it. Link now jumps, ducks, and stabs with a shield that actually matters. The game also adds experience and leveling, a system the first Zelda never had.
| Element | The Legend of Zelda | Zelda II: The Adventure of Link |
|---|---|---|
| Overworld view | Top-down | Top-down map, side-scrolling encounters |
| Combat | Overhead swordplay | Jump, duck, shield-based stabbing |
| Progression | Heart containers, items | Experience points, leveling |
That table is the whole argument about this game in miniature.
Link at Sixteen
The story picks up years after the first game. Link turns sixteen and finds a strange birthmark on his hand. Impa, Zelda’s nursemaid, explains it is the key to a secret room where Princess Zelda sleeps. A magician once tried to force the Triforce of power out of her, failed, and put her into an eternal sleep. The grieving prince sealed her away and ordered every female child in the royal household named Zelda so the tragedy would not be forgotten. To wake her, Link must find the hidden pieces of the Triforce.
| Stage | Event |
|---|---|
| Link’s sixteenth birthday | Birthmark appears |
| Meeting with Impa | Learns the secret room |
| The magician’s attempt | Zelda put into eternal sleep |
| The prince’s order | All royal daughters named Zelda |
| Link’s quest | Locate the Triforce pieces |
What the Change Costs
The side-scrolling combat is sharp and hard, and the leveling gives the game a spine the original lacked. But the shift costs the series its identity. This is a Zelda game that plays like a platformer wearing Zelda’s clothes. The ambition is real. The fit is not.
It is worth playing once to see Nintendo experiment, and worth remembering as the game the series quietly backed away from. 7.2/10 (Metacritic user score).
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