Considered the black sheep of the series, Zelda II takes a different road than the original and has surprising results.
Over time, you get more and more spells, which I really like in the Zelda universe. Thunder, though it takes a heavy toll on the magic meter, is a great spell that takes all the enemies on the screen out, so if I was in a serious bind, I could escape with my life. One of my favorite things about the game that relates to the magic is that it requires strategy. You can't just go about using spells all the time. You have to conserve your magic for the right time and I absolutely loved it that way. If I ran out of magic and I happened to find a magic container or the enemy dropped one, I was elated to say the least. Using defensive spells added more of a strategic element to the gameplay as well.
Dungeons. Well, actually they were "palaces". They were absolutely enormous and I genuinely had fear going through one because I was unsure if I could stay alive. Though most of bosses were similar in the ways that they were killed, they were still cool looking and tough at first. Anyways, these dungeons had elements we all seem to like in our dungeons; long and challenging. Whenever I died, I honestly felt like I let Zelda and Hyrule down when the background of Ganon flashed up and said that he has returned.
The music is definitely one of my favorite aspects of the game. So many classic tunes that I listen to to this day. This game probably ranks just behind Lttp in music as my favorite.
Hyrule itself was so much more than it was in the original. It was a much larger world, was more detailed, introduced towns into the Zelda universe, had many hidden secrets, and so on. Though I still like the original game as a whole more, Zelda II improved upon it in virtually every way.
Another thing that drew me to the game was that it was so odd. It was so much different than the first Zelda, I couldn't help but be attracted to it. The 3 lives, the 1-up dolls, true RPG elements, the different look to it.....it's definitely the oddball of the series but I don't think it should be hated for it. What I find so funny about all the hate for it is how much of it has been implemented into other Zeldas. We all want our Zeldas to be more challenging nowadays and this one, to my memory, was really the last Zelda that had me feeling dread going through a dungeon....yes, Ocarina of Time was difficult the first play through but I think that was due more to the transition to 3D than anything else. Back to the point about this having many elements that inspired future Zeldas. The town names are the names of the sages in OoT, the music from the Palace stage in SSBM that everyone seems to love comes from this game....Dark Link and Volvagia both made their debut in AoL and returned in nearly everyone's favorite Zelda. Hover boots....I guess they could be considered that since you could cross water with them...Maybe that's what made Ocarina of Time extra special for me, having so many nods to Zelda II in it.
Overall, Adventure of Link definitely holds a special place in my heart, mainly because I find it a such a fantastic, challenging game. From memories of playing over my cousin's house, to actually owning my own copy, and playing it to this day, it just marvels me at how many people dislike or flat-out hate it, claiming that it is the one flaw to an otherwise amazing series. This is more of a heart-felt review than a professional type one but this was the only way I could do it for this game. I find it brilliant, fun to this day, and more than worthy of being part of the best video game series ever.