LTTP You know, Adventure of Link is pretty neat

[Jimmy Joe]

I just played this game recently! This is a pretty fun video game.

I will not front: the playthrough was heavily dependent on the excellent guide at Zelda Dungeon, which I used to navigate a lot of the overworld parts (particularly Death Mountain). I recommend it if you're interested in playing for yourself: https://www.zeldadungeon.net/the-adventure-of-link-walkthrough/

Anyway, once you get past the problem of "where do I go???" then you have a really neat, fun action game with some basic but satisfying platforming. Once you know how to fight Darknuts, the palaces are a lot of fun, though the Fokkas in the Great Palace were too tricky for me to figure out and I just ran past them every time. They're little labyrinths, those dungeons, and they feel like exploring spaces in a way that hasn't been captured in the rest of the series—almost Metroid-like, even!

And, honestly, a lot of the flavour and lore of the game is quite fun too. The towns feel lived-in, and the fact that nobody charges you for healing makes it feel like you're the hero who saved the kingdom a few years ago. There's no money in this game! How cool and how different is that? Very cool and very different.

The magic system is a lot of fun, too. There was a period from Wind Waker to Skyward Sword where Link wasn't much of a magic-user, and the Shiekah Slate/Rauru's Arm fulfill a lot of those functions now, but in Adventure of Link our boy is a sorcerer. You got magic for jumping, for reducing damage, shooting fire, turning into a fairy... by the end of the game you're a literal sorcerer king, and that's just fun

The Sages (wise men) in this game are kind of neat, too! These are the original Sages, the first in the series, and I think that's worth reflecting on. They didn't give us any medallions back in the day--they gave us more magic to blast the bad guys with.

Anyway, fun game. Took a long time to play it, but I'm glad I did.

How do you feel about Adventure of Link? If you've played it, did you use a guide too?

 

[em]

I don't remember if I used a guide when first playing over thirty years ago, but I do remember that I hated the air bubbles.

 

[Jimmy Joe]

I don't remember if I used a guide when first playing over thirty years ago, but I do remember that I hated the bubbles.

I hated them too.... and then I learned that I could kill them by hitting them enough (100+ times at level 1), and they were worth 50 experience!!!

Ended up being level 2-3 in every stat once I beat the first palace. I am way more patient than the designers perhaps assumed

 

[oldpuck]

I have played it, I used a guide, but I never quite finished it. I found the combat challenging and fun, but I never got good enough to finish the game. I'm just not fast enough for the Darknuts.

It's enjoyable! I think it actually has more in common with the rest of the series than folks think - it has a strong kinship to the first Zelda with an overworld map that really expects you to compare notes with friends, dungeons that are hard to find, and mazes as the key design element of those dungeons. The combat is hard, but more interesting than the first game, and the random overworld encounters give it a more RPG like feel.

Downsides are that the combat is extra challenging while piling on the obtuseness of the overworld, doubling down on what was already a hard game, to the point where I think it became somewhat inaccessible. The fact that the overworld is more JRPG style reduces some of the fun of exploring - it feels less like you can stumble upon a cool thing and more like an interactive map.

But the thing that is the real sticky point is the random encounters. Not that they happen, but that the game switches perspectives to do it, and they're not big enough to be interesting or small enough to be fast. The OG Japanese version used the Famicom floppy disk drive, and apparently the wait was as long as 15 seconds to load the battle. That makes the game unplayable to me, but it's still very frustrating.

Still, a worthy game! And that no one has really tapped it's lessons is kind of a shame. But if you liked it, can I recommend Gunmetal Arcadia? Underrated retro game that hit at the wrong time and tapped the wrong vein of nostalgia (despite the prior hit from the developer, You Have To Win The Game), but very much an evolution of what Adventure of Link was doing

 

[Evil Lucario]

Before I actually sat down and retried 3D Zelda games, Zelda II was my favorite Zelda game until Breath of the Wild. I just loved its combat so much, it's probably the best combat system on the NES.

Nowadays, I think I would rank it just outside my top 5, that being Tears of the Kingdom, Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, Majora's Mask, and Twilight Princess (from best to worst), but it's still an amazing game.

 

[Regulus Tera]

I think it’s better than Zelda 1, myself

 

[Jimmy Joe]

Before I actually sat down and retried 3D Zelda games, Zelda II was my favorite Zelda game until Breath of the Wild. I just loved its combat so much, it's probably the best combat system on the NES.

Nowadays, I think I would rank it just outside my top 5, that being Tears of the Kingdom, Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, Majora's Mask, and Twilight Princess (from best to worst), but it's still an amazing game.

I could see this being the best system on the NES! I hadn't thought about it, but it's definitely got a layer of interactivity that other action games from the era don't really stack up to

...For reference, do you know how to fight the bird knights, or are they a kind of "forget it, just run/just use Thunder" kind of thing?

I think it’s better than Zelda 1, myself

Dang! I don't know if I'd go that far—I made my own map for Zelda 1 and everything—but I can see where you're coming from

I have played it, I used a guide, but I never quite finished it. I found the combat challenging and fun, but I never got good enough to finish the game. I'm just not fast enough for the Darknuts.

It's enjoyable! I think it actually has more in common with the rest of the series than folks think - it has a strong kinship to the first Zelda with an overworld map that really expects you to compare notes with friends, dungeons that are hard to find, and mazes as the key design element of those dungeons. The combat is hard, but more interesting than the first game, and the random overworld encounters give it a more RPG like feel.

Downsides are that the combat is extra challenging while piling on the obtuseness of the overworld, doubling down on what was already a hard game, to the point where I think it became somewhat inaccessible. The fact that the overworld is more JRPG style reduces some of the fun of exploring - it feels less like you can stumble upon a cool thing and more like an interactive map.

But the thing that is the real sticky point is the random encounters. Not that they happen, but that the game switches perspectives to do it, and they're not big enough to be interesting or small enough to be fast. The OG Japanese version used the Famicom floppy disk drive, and apparently the wait was as long as 15 seconds to load the battle. That makes the game unplayable to me, but it's still very frustrating.

Still, a worthy game! And that no one has really tapped it's lessons is kind of a shame. But if you liked it, can I recommend Gunmetal Arcadia? Underrated retro game that hit at the wrong time and tapped the wrong vein of nostalgia (despite the prior hit from the developer, You Have To Win The Game), but very much an evolution of what Adventure of Link was doing

I will definitely look at this! I love modernized takes on NES games, like Cyber Shadow with Ninja Gaiden, so I'm all about this

 

[isaacmaltes]

It’s a pretty good game, i’d like to see a sequel to it more than a remake. I think there’s potential with the overworld + sidescrolling combo

 

[Evil Lucario]

I could see this being the best system on the NES! I hadn't thought about it, but it's definitely got a layer of interactivity that other action games from the era don't really stack up to

...For reference, do you know how to fight the bird knights, or are they a kind of "forget it, just run/just use Thunder" kind of thing?

Just block their attacks and wait for them to jump over you, then slash at them. If you're feeling daring, you could even up-slash them.

 

[Sturmgeist]

I have played AoL so much that I can beat it without dying. I love it, and I’m not ashamed of it. If they ever remake it, I will lose my freaking mind with excitement.

 

[WestEgg]

Adventure of Link is great. I’ve held for a while that save states alleviate almost all of its issues.

 

[TreIII]

It really is a great game. Depending on the time of year or my mood, it's either this or Link's Awakening that takes my personal top spot.

And for those who want something a bit more modern, I'd recommend either the Zelda 2 redux romhack which gives the original game a lot of nice QoL, or the PC fanmade remake that not only gives it some QoL, but heavily expands on the original in fun ways.