Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

 is the second main installment of and the direct sequel to. It was originally released on the Famicom Disk System in Japan and eventually on the Nintendo Entertainment System in North America and Europe. While retaining many of the features of its predecessor, altered certain elements of gameplay, most notably affecting movement and combat. Traveling across a world map would lead to enemy encounters which took place on a side-scrolling field of play rather than the top down perspective for which the series became known.

Story
A few years after the defeat of Ganon and the rescue of Princess Zelda, Link, now at the age of sixteen, is disturbed by the appearance of a mark on the back of his hand. Upon seeing this mark, Impa, the nurse of Princess Zelda, tells him the story of how, ages ago, the King of Hyrule had hidden a third part of the Triforce, the Triforce of Courage, in the Great Palace to safeguard it from evil.

Upon the death of the king, his son had searched for the missing Triforce, but its location had been imparted only to the king's daughter, Princess Zelda. Angered upon learning this, the Prince tried to use the power of a Magician to force the truth from his sister. After she refused, the wizard cast a spell upon her to put her into a deep sleep, which caused the wizard to die soon after. Only by uniting the Triforce of Courage with its counterparts, Link would be able to awake the sleeping Princess Zelda. Upon hearing this tale, Link receives from Impa six crystals that serve as keys to open the seal on the Great Palace.

As Link learns all of this, the minions of Ganon begin to attack once again. Believing that they could revive their master by pouring the blood of Link over his ashes, they begin to spread across the land, seeking for him. Eventually, Link is able to gain the Triforce of Courage. Uniting the three Triforces, Link returns to the Northern Palace to wake the slumbering Zelda.

Gameplay
was the sequel to the highly acclaimed, and the second Zelda game released. Like its predecessor, features dungeons that must be located in the overworld. Inside them, Link can find a boss and an item that will prove useful. However, the game features many and very significant gameplay changes from the previous installment.

Combat is restricted to the Sword and Shield. The main projectile weapon is the Sword Beam, which can only be used when Link has full health. The game also lacks recovery Hearts, meaning that Link can only recover his health by leveling up, using the Life Magic, finding Fairies or Heart Containers, or by talking to some women in towns.

Screen Interface
The game features a more prominent use of a side-scrolling perspective, which is used when Link is exploring a town, cavern, secret open field, bridge, or dungeon. The top-view perspective is only used when moving through the overworld. In addition, when an enemy group (represented in the overworld map as black-colored creatures) manages to make contact with Link, the perspective changes to a side-scrolling one, where Link must either defeat the enemies or flee.

Magic Usage
When Link is on a side-scrolling perspective, he is able to use Magic. Each Magic can be used either for attack, defense, or solving puzzles. Each ability consumes a certain amount of Magic Points on Link's Magic Meter, and while their effects are of unlimited time, they automatically cancel after Link reaches a new room. Certain enemies drop Magic Jars that contain Magic Power which replenishes the Magic stock. There are eight Magic Spells in total:


 * Shield: Enemies inflict half of the damage.
 * Jump: Makes Link jump twice as high.
 * Life: Makes Link recover three life points.
 * Fairy: Turns Link into a Fairy, used to reach high places and pass through locked doors.
 * Fire: Makes Link able to shoot fireballs from his Sword (two at a time).
 * Reflect: Allows Link's Shield to counter stronger projectiles.
 * Spell: Turns enemies into Bots.
 * Thunder: Eliminates every enemy in the screen.

Experience
As Link defeats enemies, he gains Experience points. When a certain number of points is reached, Link can increase the level of his health, attack, or Magic up to level 8. The maximum Experience amount that can be reached is 8,000. After leveling all three attributes to their maximum, every time Link accumulates 9,000 points, he receives an extra life. Link can also increase his Experience points by collecting Treasure Bags.

Lives
Link starts with three lives, and when he is defeated, he loses one, afterwards resuming his quest from the same place where he was defeated. Link can increase his life stock by collecting Link Dolls, generally hidden in secret areas or dungeons. When Link loses all his lives, the game is over and the next time he resumes his quest, he will restart from the Northern Palace. However, Link retains everything he has collected.

Item Usage
Link can also collect different items, however, not all of them can be used directly by pressing a button. The Hammer and the Flute are used in the overworld by pressing certain buttons, to which said items are assigned permanently. They can be used to open new ways to new areas, whereas the Boots and the Raft are used for crossing otherwise unreachable areas without the need of a button press. Other items have permanent effects for the side-scrolling perspective. The Candle illuminates darkened caves, the Handy Glove allows Link to break blocks inside dungeons, the Magical Key can open any locked door, and the Cross allows Link to see invisible enemies.

Second Quest
The game also offers a Second Quest after completing it. However, the game is the same, only that the Experience stats, Sword techniques, and Magics learned are retained from the previous playthrough.

Development
Development of started with Shigeru Miyamoto's idea of creating a side-scrolling action game which used up and down movements for attacks and defense. This idea was developed as a new sword and shield action game that did not follow the system seen in the first The Legend of Zelda. At the end of development, the game was considered a type of spin-off until it was decided on a story where Link would be 16 years old, attaching the Zelda title to it.

The leveling up system was added so players could battle enemies multiple times, while encounters on the overworld added a luck factor to the narrow map. The high difficulty of the game was implemented to extend playing sessions due to the lack of content in games at the time.

Gameplay

 * Leveling up is very different between versions.
 * In the Japanese version, all stats of a given level cost the same amount, meaning the player is more likely to choose to increase different stats to fit their play style. The international version changes the starting cost of Life to be cheapest and Attack to be most expensive, so that the player is more likely to level each of the three in order of cost, making Link's stat progression more linear.
 * Saving in the FDS version causes all stats to reduce to the lowest level of the three; for example, having Life at 3 and Attack and Magic at 4 would mean saving would reduce all three stats to 3. The NES version saves the value of all three separately.
 * The overall cost of leveling up gets much higher in the NES version, with the final upgrade costing 8000 Exp and extra lives costing 9000 Exp afterwards. The Japanese version has the final tier of upgrades all cost 3000 with extra lives costing 4000.
 * Overworld encounters are more likely to have Bit in the Japanese version than in European or North American versions.
 * In the Japanese version of, NaN Blue Octoroks can be found inside TAoL:. In international versions, they were replaced with blue NaN Anerus.
 * The NES version uses faster elevators in palaces and sometimes adds or removes enemies.
 * The location of the TAoL: differs significantly between the Japanese and international versions of . In the Japanese version, the TAoL: features a dark sky and enemies such as Bots and a TAoL:. This area was revamped in international versions to feature a light sky and the enemies have been replaced by an elderly woman who explains the surrounding area. The location present in the original Japanese version was relocated southwest in international versions of the game.


 * Important items in the Japanese version of need to be stabbed in order to collect. This is most visible in the "Child" item, which is tied up with rope in the Japanese version. This makes it appear as if Link is cutting the child free of the rope. In international versions, Link will simply pick up the item and hold it high.
 * The international version of the game increases the damage of certain enemies, as well as making some enemy attacks reduce Link's experience points when taking damage. Conversely, several enemies also give more experience in the international version compared to the Japanese version; for example, NaN Bubbles give 50 in the international release compared to the Japanese version's mere 10.
 * The boss TAoL: was added in the international version to replace a second, harder fight against Jermafenser. Jermafenser's now sole battle is also made to match the harder encounter.
 * Two gameplay glitches were introduced in the NES version that were not present in the FDS version:
 * The Fairy Warp Glitch, which allows Link to warp back to a previous area if he turns into a fairy near the top of the screen. This causes the pit falling animation to play before placing him elsewhere in the game.
 * The fights against Dark Link now has an exploit where he can easily be beaten by crouching in the corners of the room and stabbing. This makes the FDS version much harder to beat.
 * Iron Knuckles use Sword Beams in the FDS version, with the same visual and audio effects as with Link. In the NES version, they instead throw knives that act the same as other projectiles.

Graphics and Audio

 * Link's side-view sprite has a visible mouth added in the NES version.
 * Zelda's Chamber was changed between versions. The FDS version has the pillars and curtains stop after the steps leading to her altar, while the international version has them continue the whole way across the ceiling.
 * Due to additional RAM added by the FDS, the Japanese version does not have slowdown on the overworld that is present in other versions.
 * Overworld encounters have vastly different sprites. The Japanese version has a ghost-like sprite for all three types (white for normal, blue for strong, and red for fairy), while the international version uses unique sprites for each (a Bot for normal, TAoL: for strong, and TAoL: for fairy).
 * The churches found in towns have a unique sprite for their steeple cross in international versions, while the Japanese version reuses the gravestone cross.
 * Water and lava are animated on the overworld in the FDS version, due to its ability to modify VRAM on-the-fly as an added feature. The NES, lacking this ability, uses static sprites instead.
 * The Raft has Link always face south in the Japanese version. The international version has Link face the direction of travel and changes the proportions of the raft to compensate, but is inconsistent in construction as a result.
 * The Kasuto secret building has different tiles between versions.
 * Extra NPC sprites were added to the NES version, and NPC animations better match their movement speeds.
 * Internationally, River Guards and Swordsmen are given different sprites to make them look less like generic NPCs. Magicians are also given animated sprites.
 * A graphical glitch was introduced during porting to the NES. This causes animated projectile to flash Link's color palette ever 6 frames. While this makes them briefly visible in dark areas, it also makes them appear to reorient to their starting position regardless of if they have been rotated or mirrored on previous frames.
 * The TAoL:'s sprite resembles an  in the Japanese version of . However, in international versions, its sprite was changed to resemble a black hexapod. As Oni were not culturally relevant to foreign consumers at the time of release, this was possibly done to avoid any connection to.


 * Link holds items above his head with one hand in the Japanese version (the other hand on his hip), while the NES version has him holding up with both hands.
 * The international version adds different brick sprites for palaces to make them more visually distinct.
 * TAoL: has only a single, symmetrical sprite used when fighting him in the Japanese version. In the international version, he has a sprite that appears to be turned slightly toward the side to face Link.
 * The boss of TAoL: has an appearance more reminiscent of artwork of Eastern dragons and is named TAoL:in the Japanese version. The international release makes his head more sinister and adds extra animation frames, and changes his name to TAoL:
 * The TAoL: TAoL: and entryway ground are colored differently between versions.
 * The end credits use different colors between versions. The NES version's curtain also doesn't use the correct bottom sprite, causing it to simply look like it was cut off at the bottom.
 * In the FDS version, some bosses use a bestial roar similar to the one used in . This was completely removed in international versions.
 * The TAoL: screens are completely different between versions. The FDS version is a black screen with the same roar used in boss fights playing over it. In the NES version, Ganon is shown in silhouette laughing.
 * The TAoL: spell is erroneously spelled as "Reflex" in the FDS version. This was corrected in localization.
 * Overworld battles begin with a harsh musical sting in the Japanese version. It was changed to a whooshing sound internationally.
 * The Overworld encounter music is much different between versions: the FDS version is much shorter and more sinister sounding, while the NES version is longer and more "adventurous". This change makes the music in non-combat encounters like fairies and item locations contrast less contextually.

Narrative

 * The English intro crawl text in the Japanese version has some unusual transliteration, as well as incorrect grammar. For example, TAoL: is spelled as "Gannon" like the first game and TAoL: is spelled as "Try-Force". The NES version somewhat condenses the text in addition to correcting its spelling and grammar.
 * The Japanese version has a  reference in Saria Town, with one grave reading "Here lies Loto" (whose name was changed to Erdrick in America). This was removed entirely for the NES version. A similar reference was utilized in Final Fantasy at Elfland, only it was retained in the English localization in that case.
 * The names of two characters, TAoL: and TAoL:, form plays on the technical terms for "" and "" respectively. Though TAoL:'s name,, was localized properly, TAoL:'s name was instead mistakenly transliterated from and the intended meaning was lost.

Graphics and Audio
The overworld map has a similar visual style to that of the first Zelda game, but more polished and incorporating new elements that reflect the variety of the ecosystems; there is also a clear distinction between the enemy-free paths and the rest of the ground territory (grass, trees, sand, etc.). The side-scrolling visuals are more reminiscent of the platform games for the NES, especially Super Mario Bros.. Also, each dungeon has a different texture and architecture, not like in the original game.

Unlike most other games in the series, none of the music in this game was composed by famed composer Koji Kondo with the exception of the overworld theme, which was partly based on his original overworld theme. Perhaps for this reason, almost none of the music in this game was brought back in other games. The Temple music, however, has been remixed several times, and can be heard in, and notably returned to the Zelda series as the "Streetpass Battle Theme" of. An alternate slower version of the temple music also serves as the Victory theme. The only other Zelda game to include music from is. Since both games contain scenes of Zelda awakening, the music was reused from Adventure of Link. The miniboss music in is also a remix of a song from : the Famicom version of the battle theme. The composer of this game is, who also composed the music for Ice Climbers.

As for sound effects, there are also many differences in the Japanese version. A few examples include different music for the title screen and for when Link encounters an enemy. In the Famicom version, the bosses also roar, and the sound effects are harsher sounding than in the NES version.

Setting
Hyrule in consists of two continents and two islands. It features eight towns, which names were later used to name the Sages in. Four Towns are located in Western Hyrule and four are found in Eastern Hyrule.

Like the first game's incarnation of Hyrule, the world of Adventure of Link is not landlocked, meaning that Link will have to travel overseas to move from one side of Hyrule to the other. Death Mountain, which was in the north in the first game, is now in the southwest. While it was a simple mountain region in the first game, it is now a complex rocky labyrinth.

Timeline Placement
Both this game and the first are linked in continuity, since the first game revolves around retrieving two of the major fragments of the Triforce, and Ganon is fought in order to rescue Princess Zelda; the second game revolves around finding the third major fragment in order to revive an incarnation of Zelda that was sleeping for a very long time, and to impede the revival of Ganon.

In the timeline revealed in, takes place in the "Downfall" branch after. It is the latest entry in the timeline that has its roots in, and starts with. After Ganon is defeated again in, and , and , Hyrule then entered The Golden Era, in which the wise Hyrule monarchs used the Triforce to govern the land. After the last king's death and the attempt of the Prince of Hyrule to assemble the complete Triforce, Hyrule was lead into the Era of Decline. The Prince of Darkness Ganon was revived, leading to the events of The Legend of Zelda, but ultimately defeated by Link. The events of take place a few years later, but refer back to the Princess Zelda that was put under a sleeping spell at the beginning of the Era of Decline.

Sales
was commercially successful, selling 4.38 million copies worldwide and being the fifth best-selling Nintendo Entertainment System game of all time; however, it sold less than its predecessor, which sold 6.51 million copies.

Reviews
In terms of critical reception, IGN reviewer Lucas M. Thomas gave the Virtual Console version a score of 8.5/10, encouraging players to give it a try and forget about the common belief that it is a "bad game"; he praised the sound, the gameplay, the length and the presentation, but admitted that the graphics "did not age very well". Kristian Reed from Eurogamer, when reviewing the Game Boy Advance version, justified the game being underrated, saying that the game was "an ill-fated experiment", and that it aged "badly". When reviewing, Game Observer editor Jacob Crites cited as one of the black sheep in the series, along with ,  and  itself.

The original version earned a score of 36/40 from Famitsu, and was placed 110th on Nintendo Power's Top 200 best Nintendo games of all time (however, in the December 2009 Issue, they changed their mind and placed it last in their list of best The Legend of Zelda games).

Fan Reception
Years after its release, has received positive feedback from fans of the franchise. It currently holds an average reader score of 9.4 at IGN, as well as a current average user score of 8.0 in GameSpot.

Ports and Remakes
In 2003, Nintendo released a bundle for the GameCube which included, a disc which featured, amongst other games,. A port for the Game Boy Advance for the "Classic NES Series" was also released.

has also been released for download on the Wii's. The game became available on August 31, 2011 as one of the games eligible for free download over the Virtual Console as part of the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program, a service available to players who bought a 3DS before its price dropped on August 11, 2011. It was officially released in the US on November 22, 2013. The game has also been released for download on the Wii U Virtual Console on September 12, 2013.

The NES Classic Edition included as one of the 30 games available.

was added to the Nintendo Switch Online Service on January 16, 2019. A special save file was also added to the service which started the player with all TAoL: maxed out at level 8. This version was named "Zelda II - The Adventure of Link: Link, warrior without equal."

Legacy
Despite featuring many radical changes from the previous Zelda title, the game also offered canonical elements to be part of the series' standards. It contributed largely to the overall storyline and gameplay of the series. For instance:
 * The ability of Ganon to be revived/return after defeat/death.
 * The introduction of the Triforce of Courage.
 * The first appearance of a dark doppelganger of Link that needs to be fought, which would later be reflected with Dark Link and Shadow Link in later games. On a similar note, the concept of an enemy being formed largely from Link's own darker self as a final battle would ultimately be reused to an extent with the Shadow Nightmare from and its various remakes.
 * A magic system, even though it was never used so excessively after this game.
 * The introduction of several new enemies and one boss (aside from Dark Link) that return in later games, such as the Iron Knuckle.
 * The ability to learn new moves (though still limited to only two). More generally, the existence of distinct sword techniques at all, as opposed to the single forward strike of.
 * The Sages in are named after the towns in this game (in-game chronology, however, indicates the opposite: The towns were named after the Sages).
 * The need to do tasks outside the main mission Quest like having to save a trophy or finding medicine for a sick child.
 * This is the first game where Link shapeshifts (into a Fairy) as well the first game where the process is voluntary and beneficial.
 * Contrary to popular belief, this is not the only Zelda game to feature side-scrolling gameplay. It is used briefly in the first game when taking secret passages. It is also used in the Game Boy games, and , and in  when taking underground paths, as well as certain boss fights.
 * Bosses have their own battle theme. They lacked it entirely in the first game.
 * This is the first game where villages and towns appear.
 * This is the first appearance of an adult Link in the series. Link is officially sixteen in this game.
 * All of the dungeons in this game are known by the word for temple in Japanese, and this naming convention is reused in English as well as Japanese and most other languages in some other entries in the series, like . The English localization of this game changed it to palace due to Nintendo of America's then-current policy concerning religious references in games.
 * Certain recurring types of item, such as the hammer and boots.
 * The suggestion of romantic interest between Link and Zelda, as implied by the ending.
 * Enemy characters disguise themselves as NPCs to ambush TAoL:, which would later be reflected with the NaN Yiga Footsoldiers in, and to a lesser extent ALttP: and the PH: in and , respectively.

Trivia

 * Although the Japanese title for uses the English name of, and the game's backstory explicitly defines  as a plot concept, the English language game is the only one in the main series not to include  in its title.
 * marks one of the few times where Link speaks in a main game, by saying "I found a mirror under the table" while in Saria Town and "Looks like I can get in the fireplace" in Kasuto.
 * The Japanese version of the game uses the infamous "Gannon" spelling in the intro, as well as other typos such as "Tryforce." This intro was largely re-written in the international release.
 * Acording to series creator Shigeru Miyamoto, is the only  game he considers a failure, this due to the limitations of the hardware.
 * Ganon's laugh on the game over screen in the international version is also used in the NES game  as 's laugh.
 * Link's side-view sprite does not have a visible mouth in the Japanese version. The Japanese version's sprite is used in all versions of Nintendo Badge Arcade.