[content]IF ALL ELSE FAILS: 10 Things About Zelda II That Really Did Suck

[SUCCESSOR]

Zelda 2 was hard as shit. I have yet to beat it and I beat Mega Man 2 which was also, but not quite so, hard as shit.

[King Aquamentus]

Try beating it candleless

[Tim]

I always bugged the Valley of Death to skip the sub zones; those were the real killer. Overall, the game wasn't too hard after upping all my stats.

[King Aquamentus]

yeah once you get used to it its okay. there's just things that, when you think about it...

[TheDarkOne]

I never could beat Zelda II without the assistance of Game Genie. And even then, it was (as @SUCCESSOR said), hard as shit. And if your shit is as hard as that game, you need to drink more fluids.

One other thing (not what I would consider a flaw, though) was the absence of a second quest. That was one of the things that made the first game so awesome. It was almost like two games in one. Come to think of it, I don't think any of the later Zelda games had a true second quest--it least, not one of the caliber of the original.

[CJC]

For me the prohibitive difficulty of Zelda 2 was the Swamp Temple. Or rather, it was reaching the Swamp Temple. I did level farming for some 102 continues before I could breach the walls of that fortress.

After that (and after resorting to a guide) the rest of the game was fairly easy. Part of the difficulty comes from a blind run: if you don't know where to go and what to look for you lose a lot of energy on random encounters and battle you should really be skipping.
I still have not beaten the game, though, even after years of trying. I made it to Thunderbird in the Great Palace repeatedly but could not defeat the boss. Since there's only one fight after that (Dark Link) I decided I was close enough.


Still, I agree that the difficulty wall is an opinion (even though it is a popular one). There are certainly other contemporary games (like the NES Ninja Turtles game) which make Zelda 2 look like a walk in the park.

EDIT: Well, the first Zelda game after Zelda 1 to have a second quest was Ocarina of Time, and that only came when it was ported to a new system (the Gamecube if I recall correctly). I will admit, though, that OoT Master Quest is of a caliber of gameplay on par or exceeding 2nd quest; the dungeons were clever and forced you to think to navigate rooms (such as transporting torch flames through doors), a notion not frequently explored in the 3d Zelda games.

[Anarchy_Balsac]

Zelda 2 was hard as shit. I have yet to beat it and I beat Mega Man 2 which was also, but not quite so, hard as shit.

MM2 was pretty easy actually. Even difficult mode wasn't so bad. The only hard part is Bubeam trap, and if you're REALLY stuck, you can get around it with an exploit (crash bomb all walls, die, refill crash bombs, face Bubeam trap without crash bomb walls).

But if you think it was hard, the other Mega Man games will have you pulling your hair out. Especially 7 and 10.

[TheDarkOne]

Well, the first Zelda game after Zelda 1 to have a second quest was Ocarina of Time, and that only came when it was ported to a new system (the Gamecube if I recall correctly). I will admit, though, that OoT Master Quest is of a caliber of gameplay on par or exceeding 2nd quest; the dungeons were clever and forced you to think to navigate rooms (such as transporting torch flames through doors), a notion not frequently explored in the 3d Zelda games.

Ah, well, I have not played the Gamecube version so I don't know much about that one. In fact, the only other 3D Zelda games I have tried (beside OOT) are Wind Waker (the HD version for the Wii U) and the 3DS game A Link Between Worlds. I have seen gameplay videos for most of the others (Twilight Princess is one I haven't) and while impressive, none of them seemed quite as good as OOT (at least to me).

To make it clear, it is my OPINION that ALTTP was one of the best Zelda games, and I'd have to say LA is also a good one. Granted, they are way old but what's wrong with classics? And how many different variations on the original Zelda exist for ZC?

[mrz84]

Concerning OoT's Master Quest, its unlockable in the 3DS port once you beat the game. Just an FYI. Also I've played Zelda 2 from scratch to finish too many times as a kid. I loved it (and still to this day love it) whenever I wasn't playing something else new (I liked renting stuff a lot since I had little money of my own as most of the money I got was for my birthday or Christmas and that usually got spent asap on a new game or toy or whatever). Heck, I still play Zelda 2 from scratch every now and then (once every 2-3 years or so) without a guide (I've played it that much, and on top of my dad also played the heck outta it when I was a kid, he'd give me hints, etc when he felt like I needed it) I will say that it isn't my favorite Zelda game, but it is in my top 5.

[SUCCESSOR]

MM2 was pretty easy actually. Even difficult mode wasn't so bad. The only hard part is Bubeam trap, and if you're REALLY stuck, you can get around it with an exploit (crash bomb all walls, die, refill crash bombs, face Bubeam trap without crash bomb walls).

But if you think it was hard, the other Mega Man games will have you pulling your hair out. Especially 7 and 10.

Now I know your difficulty grade is jacked. Mm2 is very hard for those who haven't put in exhaustive time learning its quirks and designs. Mm7 was not as difficult or unfair.