What you've got here is a fan of Nintendo's "80's sequels"!

[coltyhuxx]

But that's just my damn opinion...

Castlevania 2, Super Mario Brothers 2, Zelda Adventures of Link (2) - there were others. The infamous, or famous depending on your take, sequels.

I'm sure many of you recall these rather unconventional sequels to their smash hit predecessors. It is generally conisdered that they were much maligned by players. There was a lot of backlash - even rage -against most of these games. Nintendo's "third" game in each of the respective series went almost directly back to the drawing board.

Each of the above is actually, my favorite game in the early series... perhaps not Castlevania (but it had some really need "revolutionary" ideas in it). SMB2 and Zelda 2 are certainly favorites of mine. My opinion seems to be in the minority here - although there are a few of my friends (whom I didn't grow up with) that also put these, categorically, into their lists of favorites.

Did you like them? Did you hate them? Did you play them?

For instance, I LOVED being able to pick from four characters in SMB2 (princess, almost always being my pick with the float jump). I also was a big fan of the graphics and thought it was interesting that there was no points/score. Zelda 2 has so many innovations. I loved being able to level up (a lot of people did not). I loved the gameplay - I still think fighting an Iron Knuckle is a challenge. It also had great music and some neat boss battles, IMO.

What are your thoughts on Nintendo's ballsy attempts?

http://www.theoldcomputer.com/Libarary's/Pictures/NESGameCovers/C/Castlevania%202.jpghttp://img.shopper.howstuffworks.com/cctool/PrdImg/images/pr/177X150/00/01/69/49/27/23677223.JPGhttp://www.nesfiles.com/NES/Super_Mario_Bros_2/Super_Mario_Bros_2_thumb_boxfront.jpg (http://www.nesfiles.com/NES/Super_Mario_Bros_2/Super_Mario_Bros_2_boxfront.jpg)

[hohez]

I loved all 3 and they easily make it into my favorites list.

Simon's Quest: The first hint of rpg elements in Castlevania. Item collection, multiple castle's and actual towns in between them. i played this constantly, and remember going through with the basic whip, skipping all story related crap and getting the flame whip basically before starting the meat of the game. Still my favorite Castlevania.

Mario 2: SMB3 is my favorite of the NES era marios but 2 is high also. My favorite thing about this one, was it felt different than the rest. I know it's just doki-doki panic with mario characters but it gave the world a completely different feel. The dark world visited through doors. Pulling up fruit for 1ups. Toad ftw!

Zelda 2: This game has a lot of extra meaning for me, because my mom and I played through it multiple times. She used to be huge into games and this was her favorite so although I find the original and Lttp style Zeldas to be better, this one has more of a place in my heart.

[RAMSTORIA]

its funny that you picked those 3, i loved all of them. mario 2 was great, castlevania 2 is my favorite of the 3 and zelda 2, well i cant even count how many hours i put into that game.

[Ilikegamesalot]

Zelda 2 is in my top 5. One of the best games ever,

[KaneRobot]

For me, it was...

Castlevania 2 > Castlevania. The first game had a neat style to it but was a really pedestrian game to me outside of that. Simon's Quest had a lot of depth to it.

Zelda 2 > Zelda. The two games were very different, but the first Zelda is overrated in my opinion. A good game, but Zelda 2 was awesome.

SMB 2 = SMB 3. Again, so different...different enough in this case where I don't even like comparing them. I liked them both. Probably spent more time on SMB2, but that is partially due to the fact that by the time SMB3 came out I was starting to want a Genesis. Still, SMB2 might have a slight edge because I pulled several all-nighters with a friend playing it. I remember discovering the trick to get two POW switches before Nintendo Power had it, and I was over the fucking moon. Ditto for timing it so your Starman power ran out JUST as you were coming out of the Subcon door back into the regular world - if you timed it right, you could play the rest of the level with the classic Mario theme playing until you died or completed the level.

[PenguinMaster]

I'm not a fan of any of the early Zeldas or Castlevanias so I can't really comment on those. Super Mario Bros. 2 is superior to the first one, but inferior to 3. I still like it a lot and have beat it many times. It's definatly underrated. While it wasn't even originally a Mario game (it started as Doki Doki Panic for those who don't know) many of the characters in the game have become staples of the series (Shy Guy for example). It was certainly unique and I wish there were more games like it.

[Chris in Cali]

I'm not a fan of any of the early Zeldas are Castlevanias so I can't really comment on those. .


Blasphemy!

[Chris in Cali]

I would just like to add that I really miss the old look to Castlevania. I hate the new anime/metrosexual cast. I wanna see a bold looking knight, a dark and truly scary Dracula, and crazy demons. Not some guy that brushes his hair mid-battle. I really miss the more gothic feeling of the older games. I think if you combined the great gameplay of the new games with the feeling and music of the old ones it would be amazing.

[CouRageouS]

I love all those games. Each better than the first. But the next Castlevania and Mario blew them away. Zelda 2 might actually be my favorite game ever. Its the first game I learned inside and out and I've probably played through it more times than any other game. I still remember the location of every heart and magic container to this day. Thats what I miss about the simpler times, theres too many games and not enough time to really get that deep into them anymore.

[jer7583]

I love Zelda 2, but I've never managed to be able to finish the game. I got real close on the Collectors Edition Disc with all the zeldas for gamecube.. but the last temple is too damn hard.

I've never played Castlevania 2 for more than about 10 min.. so i dunno.

And SMB2 is probably the worst 2D mario(excluding Yoshi's Story or something), but being the worst amongst the best is still a good thing.

[coltyhuxx]

I have to say, I'm really surprised by the responses. Maybe only the fans of these games are even looking at the OP but I'm psyched that so many people remember and loved these old sequels.

Zelda 2 is notoriously bashed or discounted as having a place in the Zelda timeline. Ridiculous. It's a GREAT game (and has a light but cool Gannon connection - someone here has it as an avatar, actually).

One of the things that got me so pumped on Zelda 2 (aside from the fact that it was the FIRST zelda sequel... and at my age, back then, we're talking heart palpatations whilst opening the box) was this cool map I had torn out from Nintendo Power... This was, aside from perhaps some PC rpgs, one of the first "game worlds" that I had entered. Much different and more advanced than the grid from Zelda 1.

(unfort can't cut and paste so here's the link)

Zelda 2 hand drawn NP map http://www.fablesofhyrule.nintendo-universe.com/images/z2map.jpg

[b3b0p]

Super Mario Bros. 2 was trash.

Zelda II was trash.

Simon's Quest? This is nearly the basis for every single Castlevania game out now as far as I have played (the current GBA and DS version, haven't played any Playstation). Castlevania the original was trash compared to Simon's Quest.

Playing Circle of the Moon, which is highly rated by many, feels very much like I remember Simon's Quest, but maybe my memory is just plain bad.

Simon's Quest was one of my all time favorite games ever.

Super Mario Bros. 2 and Zelda II were not and I consider them complete and total trash.

[SMMM]

Super Mario Bros. 2 was trash.

Zelda II was trash.

Simon's Quest? This is nearly the basis for every single Castlevania game out now as far as I have played (the current GBA and DS version, haven't played any Playstation). Castlevania the original was trash compared to Simon's Quest.

Playing Circle of the Moon, which is highly rated by many, feels very much like I remember Simon's Quest, but maybe my memory is just plain bad.

Simon's Quest was one of my all time favorite games ever.

Super Mario Bros. 2 and Zelda II were not and I consider them complete and total trash.

That close to the response you were wantin', colty?

As for me, I wouldn't call the rest of them trash, but the only one that I could ever get into was Simon's Quest. I'm still a fan of the original, though. In fact, the only Castlevania I didn't love was probably Adventure. THAT'S trash, but I still played through it for some odd reason.

[jkam]

Zelda II is a masterpiece. Still one of my favorite games of all time. Yes different than the others but that's part of its charm.

Mario 2 - I love it when it came out now I don't care for it as much.

Simon's Quest - Awesome game. Nuff said.

[DustBoogie]

They should do another round of classic NES GBA games so that they can include Simon's Quest.

Even better, a port of the original on GBA or DS hardware? Upgraded graphics, a new body part, anything!

I just want to play it portable-style.

There used to be a video game rental place that my dad would take us to every Sunday after church. If there was a Castlevania 2 in stock, then I would always rent it. I never did beat it until about 10 years later when I picked it up for like $4 at Babbage's.

[lionheart4life]

I would just like to add that I really miss the old look to Castlevania. I hate the new anime/metrosexual cast. I wanna see a bold looking knight, a dark and truly scary Dracula, and crazy demons. Not some guy that brushes his hair mid-battle. I really miss the more gothic feeling of the older games. I think if you combined the great gameplay of the new games with the feeling and music of the old ones it would be amazing.

Ditto, its becoming too much like a cartoon or anime. Symphony of the Night did a good job mixing the goofy stuff in with great gameplay and settings.

Zelda 2 is pretty good overrall. There are too many cheap ways to die and not enough places to restart which make it frustratingly hard. I got to replay both of these on the GC disk, and I thought 2 was better than the first one the second time around, although I didn't have the patience to finish the last dungeon (I only tried it 2 or 3 times but I know it would take several more and I know how the story ends). There haven't been any really difficult Zelda games since.

I liked Mario 2 back then, and I thought they kept improving (while getting easier) with each new one. The first one is pretty tough to play through just because of the controls but 2 and 3 seem to control much better and are more fun as a result.

[Aleryn]

I own all three and love 'em all. Although I will admit I hated Zelda 2 back in the day, when I first got it. Took years, but now I really like the game.

Castlevania 2 was an interesting change of pace... and Super Mario 2 is a great game, I love it and all my friends did too. It's very different from the rest of the series, but damn it's fun in it's own way.

[coolz481]

Preaching to the choir here, but I enjoyed all three sequels more than the originals, especially Simon's Quest. I still remember that Christmas in 1988 getting both Zelda II and Super Mario Bros 2 - my brother and I played Nintendo for an entire week straight and beat both before New Year's. We were thrilled but I'm not sure how happy my parents were to see us burn through $100 worth of presents so quickly! Although I'm a heckuva lot older now, I'm thinking this Christmas with the Wii might compete - it's hard to top a new Zelda AND a new Metroid.