An ambitious and innovative followup that succeeds almost as well as its predecessor.
Zelda II’s story is some pretty heavy stuff. A few years after the events of the first game, Hyrule is still in a state of restoration from Ganon’s attack. Link and Zelda have been doing what they can, but things aren’t exactly looking good. Aside from that, some of Ganon’s followers still pledge adherence to the fallen warrior, and plot to revive their king. To do, they need to pour the blood of Link over Ganon’s ashes. So that’s exactly what their trying to do. To make matters even worse, a few important things happen the day Link turns sixteen. A mark appears on his hand matching that of the royal family’s emblem, and Princess Zelda falls into an unnatural slumber. Link sees Impa about the mark on his hand, who in turn tells him about Zelda and what the mark on his hand means. Soon Link is off on another quest to unite all three pieces of the Triforce and save Hyrule. That goes on for awhile, doesn’t it? But no matter, I rather like it. The story for the sequel in infinitely more complex and serves as a great sequel story. Now for the gameplay. The core essence of Zelda remains, you collect different items and use them to defeat enemies, unlock puzzles, and slay giant bosses to collect some big important item from their clutches. But beyond that, the likenesses are slim. Zelda II is most easily described as Zelda meets Final Fantasy. You travel on a world map until you are attacked or enter a town or dungeon, in which case, the game converts to a side-scroller. Killing enemies gains you experience, so it’s usually a good idea to fight. On the world map, A swings your hammer when you acquire it, in side-scroller view, A jumps. B on the world map plays your flute, and in battle swings your sword. Select brings up your list of spells, which, aside from battle spells, you can use at all times. Enemies vary in strength depending on where you fight; plains, mountains, etc. You can fight enemies stronger than you at any time and have a chance of winning off your skills alone, but it’s best to be careful. Another difference is that there are very few combat weapons in the game. To be more precise, your sword and shield, that’s another glaring difference that works well within the game. In fact, Nintendo pulled it off very well. It’s a grand experiment.
The graphics in the game tower over the original, sure the world map is a little un-detailed, but towns and dungeons achieve something the original never even attempted to aspire to. The graphics continue the idea of Zelda II as a true sequel as well, which seemed to be what Nintendo was all about back then, creating a sequel that was completely different from its predecessor, but retained the same spirit.
The sound is another wonderful component to the game, although Zelda II has a different composer. I know it’s kind of strange that Koji Kondo isn’t aboard, but the new guy, Akito Nakatsuka does just as well. The sound towers over the original just as much as the graphics did.
As for value, this is another fairly long Zelda game, with a second quest built in. That says something certainly, however it’s not a different game, however, just some ramped up difficulty on a game already hard to win.
At the end of the day, Zelda doesn’t deserve to be called anything other than a great (if a little strange) entry into one of the best series gaming has to offer.