Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is an action role-playing video game with platforming elements developed and published by Nintendo. It is the second installment in the Legend of Zelda series and was released in Japan for the Famicom Disk System on January 14, 1987—less than one year after the Japanese release and seven months before the North American release of the original The Legend of Zelda. Zelda II was released in North America and the PAL region for the Nintendo Entertainment System in late 1988, almost two years after its initial release in Japan.
The Adventure of Link is a direct sequel to the original The Legend of Zelda, again involving the protagonist Link, on a quest to save Princess Zelda, who has fallen under a sleeping spell. The game's emphasis on side-scrolling and role-playing elements is a significant departure from its predecessor. For much of the series' three-decade history, the game technically served as the only sequel to the original game, as all other entries in the series are either prequels or occur in an alternative reality, according to the official Zelda timeline. This changed with the release of Breath of the Wild in 2017, which serves as the latest chapter in the overall continuity.
The game was a critical and financial success and introduced elements such as Link's "magic meter" and the Dark Link character that would become commonplace in future Zelda games, although the role-playing elements, such as experience points and limited lives have not been used since in canonical games. The Adventure of Link was followed by A Link to the Past for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1991.
Gameplay
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is an action role-playing game, bearing little resemblance to the first or later entries in the Legend of Zelda series. It features side-scrolling areas within a larger top-down world map, rather than the mostly top-down perspective of the previous game, which only uses side-scrolling in a few dungeon basement areas. The side-scrolling gameplay and experience system are similar to features of the Castlevania series, especially Castlevania II: Simon's Quest. The game incorporates a strategic combat system, a proximity continue system based on lives, an experience points system, magic spells, and more interaction with non-player characters. Apart from the non-canonical CD-i The Legend of Zelda games, Link: The Faces of Evil and Zelda: The Wand of Gamelon, no other game in the series includes a life feature. The side angle is occasionally seen in Link's Awakening and the other Game Boy entries, which rely primarily on the top-down view.
Experience levels
In this installment, Link gains experience points to upgrade his attack, magic, and life by defeating enemies. He can raise each of these attributes to a maximum of eight levels. Raising a life level will decrease the damage Link receives when hit, raising a magic level will decrease the magic points cost of spells, and raising an attack level will strengthen his sword's offensive power. In the Western version of the game, each attribute requires a different amount of experience to level up, with the life level requiring the fewest points to level and attack requiring the most. When enough points are acquired to raise an attribute, the player may choose to level up that attribute or to cancel and continue gaining experience points towards the next level in another attribute. In the original Japanese version, all attributes require the same number of experience points to level up, and the required number is lower, but if the player loses all of his lives, the levels of all attributes will be reset to the lowest of the three (while level upgrades in the Western version are permanent). Once Link has raised an attribute to the maximum level of eight, further advances in that attribute will earn Link an extra life, without advancing the attribute itself. Link begins the game with four Heart Containers and four Magic Containers and can acquire up to four more of each, permanently increasing his life points and magic points respectively. Other games in The Legend of Zelda series only allow Link to increase his strength through new weapons, items, and Heart Containers. Certain enemies drain Link's experience when they attack, but he will never lose a level once raised. When a game ends or is saved, the cartridge records Link's current ability levels and the number of experience points required for the next increase but resets his accumulated points to zero.