The Legend of Zelda! The never ending franchise that everyone loves and adores has become the mainstream for most Nintendo fans. You will never see an old gen gamer not have a T-Shirt representing the Zelda franchise. Well, during the height of the first game, there was one that almost every fan shy away from: Legend of Zelda: Adventures of Link. Hello and welcome to this little though blog!
The game was released in late of January, 1987. The developers behind it were afraid that the game would not sell well because of it's new gameplay and treading of new water, they resorted to something more drastic. A common tactic for most companies, they decided to release little to the western public, making the game rare like gold. If you know little about the economy, here's something to know about this strategy: because there is so little of the product, the price increases because of it's high demand. They sell in stores for 30 bucks, but are actually hundreds more. Nintendo has done this with their other products, such as Amiibos or the NES Mini. Soon the Switch will be the same.
Moving back to the topic, this tactic can also make something more famous than it already is. The game got more publicity after a guy traveled all over the country to get one copy of the game. He got famous over the news and the game was widely known to the public. This worked for Nintendo in the long run, but the game was soon titled the worst Zelda game of the franchise. It was difficult, hard to progress and there was no save mechanic. But what made the game so great if it is called the worst of a great series?
Well, to be honest, this sequel is frustrating. I mean, sometimes the game can throw some pretty tough things at you, but most of the time you can only blame yourself. You see, in the game you have to go through 9 or 8 castles/temples (It's been awhile since I played it) to reset the stones to prevent Ganon from appearing. You have no timer or a set of days like in a specific Zelda, you just have to go around the overworld and make sure Ganon doesn't appear. And if that wasn't a motivator, Zelda herself is in a Coma because of Ganon's presence and you have to do all this crazy stuff to save her.
I will be honest about the game. It is a very frustrating journey, but it is still fun. Dark Souls treads this risky path and this one did as well. Although in a wrong way, you can still see the love and passion that was put in it. Like the more morbid Dark Souls, it follows the same thing with the enemies. Each one has a pattern and it's weak spots. Stalfos have to be hit towards the legs, Darknuts need to be hit where his shield isn't, and so on. They all have mechanics to learn and something surprising to see in a game of its time. "I bet I can beat this game without a walkthrough, StarterPack!" Well, you can, but it might take longer than you think. You can try to talk to the people in the towns, but with all the limited ability to give them a personality is cryptic to say the least. "I'm too busy to talk to strangers!" "Sorry, I know nothing!" Very helpful guys. Sometimes you even have to find a specific sprite of a common NPC to talk to and trigger something get a new item or spell. And in one moments, you have to talk to someone in the middle of the woods to cross a bridge five screens away in the overworld.
And near the end in the last temple, they force you to find a secret area to progress. It looks like a wall, but trust me, you can walk through it! "Link is awesome though, so I can breeze through this!" Who thinks that? The game starts you with the regular three hearts and three bars of magic. Like in most Zeldas, you can find pitchers of potions and hearts to refill each of them. What is strange and ahead of its time, is the game's leveling system. You gain EXP with each kill you get. The number above each dead enemy is the amount of experience you gain and the counter goes up by 35. You can upgrade you health, damage or magic. It sounds simple and any aggressive player would go for the damage, but you have to choose wisely, because the game will throw all it can at you.
The game with the Walkthrough, you can see the love, feel the passion the game was trying to show. The game has this charm that you can feel and the game's difficulty feels so genuine for the game's time. It's not as bad as Mega Man's or as easy as Kirby, but it just feels like Dark Souls' inspiration. Everything is designed for the player's respect and to ready him for this boss.
There should be warning for this game since it has lots of flashing lights when you die and when you fall into holes, but overall the game is really fun and most people should re-look the game before they call it the worst of the franchise. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this and 'til next time...
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