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The First Souls Game? - Zelda 2


On 11/08/2020 at 05:58 PM by Matt Snee

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zelda2

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1987, a sequel to the classic game The Legend of Zelda. Zelda 2 is a very different game, most notably because it's sidescrolling instead of an overtop view, and also includes platforming elements. While considered the Black Sheep of the family, there were innovations in Zelda 2 that have carried over even to modern installments. 

I loved the original Legend of Zelda. The size of the gameworld and the fact that you could go almost everywhere you wanted at any time boggled my mind when I was a kid. While lore wasn't new to video games, Zelda did it in a different way, and it tied into gameplay elements in a new way. Riddles and secrets were conveyed with mysterious hints in the game, and with the help of your own ingenuity, friends, and Nintendo Power, they were solved. 

I beat the original Legend of Zelda. But I never beat Zelda 2, a much more obtuse and difficult game. I love Zelda 2 more, maybe because of its mysteries, maybe because of difficulty - to this day it fills my imagination with wonder. But like I said, it's a tough game. And a lot of the changes Nintendo made to the Zelda formula for this game were reversed with it came to develop the third game, for the SNES, A Link to the Past. 

Zelda 2 was also the first appearance of the magic meter and Dark Link. 

Why do I think Zelda 2 is a Souls game? A lot of reasons, I guess, but mostly I want to talk about the combat. The combat in Zelda 2 is a lot more defensive than the original game, depending on your usage of the shield, and you had to strike at your enemies when they were vulnerable, which wasn't often. The knights you face in the dungeons were especially unpredictable, and having to block and attack with your shield and sword high and low, and jumping to strike the knights in their heads was some complex stuff. When it works, it's incredibly satisfying. But when you fail, it's incredibly frustrating. Dark Souls excels at this. 

I still think about Zelda 2 sometimes, and I still tell myself "Someday I'm gonna beat that game..."

Well... probably not. 

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Comments

Cary Woodham

11/08/2020 at 08:44 PM

I had fun watching my friend play Zelda 2 when we were kids.  But when I finally played it for myself, I did not like it at all.  I'm glad they went back to the original formula for future installments.  To me, Zelda 2 is the hardest Zelda game.  Breath of the Wild is the second hardest.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

11/10/2020 at 09:24 AM

yeah Breath of the Wild is pretty hard. I kind of like that about it. 

KnightDriver

11/08/2020 at 09:26 PM

I'm sure I tried Zelda 2 in the 90s when I was collecting. I was probably frustrated with the difficulty and didn't play it very long. I admire a difficult game, but don't like playing them. 

Matt Snee Staff Writer

11/10/2020 at 09:25 AM

yeah, I kind of feel the same way most of the time. But one of my favorite games is the modern Ninja Gaiden, and that's tough as hell. 

KnightDriver

11/10/2020 at 04:20 PM

I still have NG Black around here somewhere. I've never beaten it or even gotten very far in it, and that's supposed to be the easier of them. 

Machocruz

11/08/2020 at 11:19 PM

Objectively, not at all. Metaphysically, Souls would be a Zelda game. Honors go to who birthed the lineage, not the offspring. Souls is also Castlevania. It's also Wizardry. Most importantly, no one seems to have iterrated on AoL combat in the two dimensional.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

11/10/2020 at 09:26 AM

yeah, I'm sure there are tiny indie games that have used Zelda 2 for inspiration, but I'm surprised there hasn't been a more notable spiritual successor. But I know there are some diehard fans of this game out there, so it's inevitable. 

SanAndreas

11/08/2020 at 11:34 PM

This game is brutally hard, especially Death Mountain where you are trying to get the Hammer. But I liked how big and mysterious the world was. Its overworld was a lot like the NES version of Exodus: Ultima III, the side scrolling areas were also good. Just the same I was glad when they turned to, and refined, the top-down gameplay of the original for A Link to the Past.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

11/10/2020 at 09:26 AM

yeah, it's the mystery of this game that always captured my imagination. A lot of games don't have that anymore. 

goaztecs

11/10/2020 at 11:21 AM

From reading you blog all I have to say is what was up with Nintendo making different games for their sequels of Franchise characters? Mario 2 was odd and it sounds like Zelda 2 was the same.

Joaquim Mira Media Manager

11/11/2020 at 05:56 PM

Every game on the NES is a Souls game.

Matt Snee Staff Writer

11/19/2020 at 10:53 PM

ha ha. just about!

avidacridjam

11/11/2020 at 07:36 PM

Back in the late 80s-early 90s, the lack of information on games could really make or break a game for me when it felt like I was just banging my head against a wall. While I would eventually finish the first Zelda game, I never got far through Zelda II. Design-wise, it tells you nothing and while you're free to explore, you're more likely to die by being in the wrong place. Had the internet existed back then or if the information was more widely accessible, would I have stuck with it? Probably. These days I own it on two consoles with game guides easily available. I should try it again sometime. 

Matt Snee Staff Writer

11/19/2020 at 10:54 PM

yeah, I've really come to take the game info on the internet for granted. If I ever get stuck, I just do a quick google search. Back before the internet though... that crap would drive you crazy. 

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