Damn, Zelda II is HARD.

Javery

Javery

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I haven't played through this in a couple of years so a few days ago I decided to give it a shot. I just got done with the 6th palace and it is so much harder than I remember it being when I finished it in 8th grade! Talk about cheap deaths and lots of damage... I guess back then getting a new game didn't happen very often so I really had to stretch it out.

This game is always perceived as the bastard game in the Zelda series but I am enjoying it quite a bit right now. It definitely doesn't have an elegant design though - I finished the last 3 palaces before getting the special items and I had to go back for them. Also, getting hit in mid-jump and falling into lava SUCKS.
 
[quote name='javeryh']I haven't played through this in a couple of years so a few days ago I decided to give it a shot. I just got done with the 6th palace and it is so much harder than I remember it being when I finished it in 8th grade! Talk about cheap deaths and lots of damage... I guess back then getting a new game didn't happen very often so I really had to stretch it out.

This game is always perceived as the bastard game in the Zelda series but I am enjoying it quite a bit right now. It definitely doesn't have an elegant design though - I finished the last 3 palaces before getting the special items and I had to go back for them. Also, getting hit in mid-jump and falling into lava SUCKS.[/QUOTE]

Hell yeah, the game is hard! So many NES games were RIDICULOUSLY hard! I think once people really got into game design, they realized that difficulty != fun.

God, I think of the hours I wasted on punishingly difficult games. Even modern ones, like Ninja Gaiden for Xbox. I beat it, but was it worth the time I had to spend on it to master it? I think not. ;)
 
That's funny because I found the game to be much easier as I got older. I never even beat the game as a kid when it came out because it was too hard. Of course I was only 8 when it came out. I've gone back and beaten it two or three times since then.
 
that last palace was tough. heck, it's tough GETTING there. that and death mountain are probably the hardest areas in the game for me, although i do faintly recall a lot of BS crossing bridges and jumping over gaps and bubbles hitting me.
 
Anti-Nintendo person: Oh my god. NINTENDO IS SO KIDDIE!

Me: Yeah, well go play some Zelda 2.

* a few minutes later *

ANP: fuck! This game is too hard! Screw this.
 
Screw that, how about Slalom and Pinball. The first 2 games I got for NES in 1987 were first-party, and just insane-hard. Way harder than Zelda II, I'll tell you that much!

Nintendo didn't start getting kiddie until around Super Mario Bros 3 launch. They realized they were already a cliche, and went with it for every game since. By then, Zelda 2 was already long-published (about 2 years earlier).
 
I'm an absolute expert at this. I'm played through it a million times and I memorize practically everything. I would embarrass the Wizard at this game.

I once played through all the way till the final palace without the candle as a challenge from my brother. I didn't make the trail up to the final palace though, I just kept getting killed by the flying eye guys. I also once went and got the hammer first. Another challenge from my brother. I've also done a few random things like go to the final palace too early (it doesn't open without all the crystals) and skipping magic/items just to see what happens.

For falling into lava/holes, immediately pause and use fairy. Then bring yourself back a screen and viola. You need to have good timing though cause the momentum could put your fairy in lava.
 
I remember I'd always go collect all the Link dolls at the very end when I was about to head for the Great Palace. I needed a big stock of lives just to get there.

Such a great game, though. I can understand all the hate it gets, but I love that they went a completely different direction for the sequel.
 
I own at this game. ;)

Seriously one of my favorites...

Sliver of life left, no magic, last life...... blue bird knight, final palace... small corridor...

Good times.
 
This was actually the first Zelda game I owned. People were so disappointed that the game played differently from the first one that they really didn't give it a chance. It's a really good game and it gets a lot of flack that it doesn't deserve.

It was the first video game I ever beat by myself, I believe. I was a youngster.
 
I just can't believe:

1. how persistent I was as a kid to actually finish it multiple times; and/or
2. how much my skills have deteriorated over the last 20 years.
 
[quote name='javeryh']I just can't believe:

1. how persistent I was as a kid to actually finish it multiple times; and/or
2. how much my skills have deteriorated over the last 20 years.[/quote]

Hahahah, I think it may be a little of column A and a little of column B. But seriously, as gamers back then we were much more patient and willing to deal with seemingly unforgivable difficulty. Now we talk of instant deaths being cheap, but back then instant deaths were pretty much the only way to die in a Mario game (I'm conveniently ignoring the mushroom powerup, so I'm aware the comparison is flawed).
 
Definitely one of the harder games I finished as a kid (perhaps second only to original NES Ninja Gaiden). I remember getting a sinking feeling as I progressed in the game and suddenly the jump forward & slash no longer worked on the Ironknuckles every time.

Blasphemy perhaps, but I've never been much of a fan of the Zelda series...but I loved this one.
 
I haven't played it in years, but I remember it being a bitch and giving up. I never finished the original Zelda either, but both of those games are really a bit too old for me :p. I was born the year Zelda came out and was 1 when Zelda 2 was released...
 
This thread really makes me want to pull out Zelda II and start it up again. I can't remember ever beating it.

[quote name='javeryh']I just can't believe:

1. how persistent I was as a kid to actually finish it multiple times; and/or
2. how much my skills have deteriorated over the last 20 years.[/quote]


I was hit with this same realization when Mega Man 9 came out.
 
Problem is this:

Games nowadays have a lot of flash, but not difficulty
Games back then had no flash, but were fun and hard as hell.

Very few games stay true. Ninja Gaiden anyone? Hard back then, hard as hell now - still great through the years. I miss those days. 85% of games that come out suck, or just stay strong through repetitive online play - which sucks cause if you are a casual gamer, you get your ass handed to you all the time cause you don't play everyday.

I'm done ranting. Zelda II is HARD. I am glad that you are playing it.
 
Yeah, it's one of those games I beat when I was young and gave up on very quickly when trying to replay it as an adult.

I hate hard games these days. I play just to veg out and relax, not to challenge myself and get a sense of accomplishment. I get plenty of that from my research and teaching. But more power to people who like hard games. Just a case of diffrent strokes for different folks.
 
[quote name='Venkman']God, I think of the hours I wasted on punishingly difficult games. Even modern ones, like Ninja Gaiden for Xbox.[/quote]
*raises eybrow* Ninja Gaiden on Xbox was not difficult, let along "punishingly" difficult.

I beat it, but was it worth the time I had to spend on it to master it? I think not. ;)
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Why in the hell did you bother mastering it then? You could have just beat it and moved on, maybe played it again casually now and then when you felt like it.
 
Zelda II is one of the games that really made me enjoy frustratingly hard titles. I'm surprised I got so far when I was a kid, making it up to the second-to-last palace with only moderate difficulty. After I finally beat it several years later I realized I had all of the items and knowledge I needed to beat it back then, but I just going about that business properly.

Man, it was fantastic though. Then again, that was back in the day when saying you just beat the 5th Dungeon resulted in friends and other kids being stunned, as opposed to now when doing something like that only results in a victory "fuck YOU!!!" to the game. ;)
 
Is this the Zelda that is side view? If so that game kicked my ass when I was a kid....but I always had an interest to play it again, but never got an NES again...
 
i remember it getting impossibly hard, and i did quit without beating it. i've been tempted to replay it but i doubt that i will. i wasn't too aware of the "leveling up" system back in the day. i assume that on the part i got stuck on, i should have gone back to the field and leveled up more before continuing on. but i'm not sure.
 
I remember Death Mountain and the final boss being very frustrating. Oh, and the freaking knights with shields!

I did beat Zelda II back in the day. Still own it, too (original box and manual, too).
 
That demon boss toward the end was harder for me than shadow link. I know I don't have the patience to go back and beat this title again. Modern games have torn down my resolve.
 
[quote name='Poor2More']Is this the Zelda that is side view? If so that game kicked my ass when I was a kid....but I always had an interest to play it again, but never got an NES again...[/quote]

You don't need an NES to play through it again... I'm doing this run on my PSP and exclusively on the shitter.
 
Zelda II one of my favorite games of all time. I never found it too hard but then again I played through it a bajillion times. Downward and Upward thrust for the win!
 
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