Zelda Dungeon Reviews: The Adventures Of Link

Zelda II: The Adventures Of Link was never a game I particular liked. As a matter of fact, it's a game I hadn't actually fully beaten until now, I usually bounced off at Death Mountain. So I was totally expecting to completely and utterly trash this game, but to my surprise, that's not what happened. Believe it or not, I actually really enjoyed Zelda II quite a bit, even more than the first game! 

Don't get me wrong, this is a brutal and punishing game that strays far from what you'd expect from Zelda. Its death system is ridiculous, the magic meter is too tight, some of the puzzles are too cryptic, and some of the enemies are quite annoying. However, when compared to the many action RPGs of its time, I think it holds up as one of the best. It controls well, it looks more detailed, the soundtrack is an improvement, and even the dungeon design feels more refined. The dungeons in Zelda II are more streamlined and linear, each room feels important in some way, you can't just skip over massive chunks of the dungeon with bombs, there are no carry-over keys, there are more original room designs and defining features between the dungeons, and there are no repeated bosses. Even more, the lead-ups to each dungeon feel more fleshed-out. By the end of the first game, I was darting from dungeon to dungeon because there was nothing else to do in the overworld, but Zelda II feels far better paced and really breezed by despite being a longer game than its predecessor. Barring the lack of a map, some annoying backtracking, and the punishing gameplay itself, dare I say that Zelda II's dungeon design is actually pretty damn solid.

Here's my reviews of the dungeons in Zelda 2: 

Dungeon 1: Parapa Palace

Like with the first game, Parapa Palace is a solid introduction to the way dungeons work in this game, with a particularly well-designed opening. You enter the dungeon and head to the right, as you do, only to hit a locked-door. You turn around and go to the left where you find a key to use on the door, and boom, now you have a complete understanding of how to navigate dungeons in Zelda II. The second half of the dungeon is a bit iffer, though. There's one part where you need to get a candle at the end of a long hallway, but it's locked behind a door and if you happen to go there before getting the key, you gotta walk all the way back. This is a common issue with Zelda II as there aren't any shortcuts and backtracking after getting an item is pretty frequent, but it feels particularly bad here. I'm also not a huge fan of that room with all the Bubbles, it's pretty tedious to navigate especially considering it's on the way to that aforementioned candle. Ultimately though, Parapa Palace is still a decent tutorial despite its flaws. It's too short to get annoying, but also too short to do anything particularly special.

Dungeon 2: Midoro Palace

Midoro Palace is a pretty standard improvement over Parapa Palace in two major ways. First off, the layout is better. There are no dead ends that would require extensive backtracking, and as long as you check every hallway as you pass them, you won't get lost. But even more, Link has a much larger kit now. At this point, you should have several spells beyond just the Shield Spell, the downward slash, and a higher level that should let you take out the beefier enemies like Darknuts a lot faster. Beyond those improvements, there isn't too much super memorable about Midoro Palace outside of that pretty neat rooms with the falling blocks, but it's overall a solid and well-crafted dungeon that feels like a breath of fresh air coming off the most tedious part of the game.

Dungeon 3: Island Palace

Or as I like to call it: The Block Dungeon. Island Palace is all about those breakable blocks. You have to carve out paths for yourself, dodge falling blocks, and dig into pits of blocks to retrieve items like keys. It's a fun mechanic that helps give this dungeon its own identity, and the fact that the progression is mostly quite linear like in Midoro means that the backtracking is also fairly minimal here. The one complaint I have with the Island Palace is just that it's very Darknut-heavy, and even more, it likes to cram you into tight spaces with Darknuts. This is even the dungeon that introduces you to the infamous Blue Darknuts, which are deservedly the most hated in the game. However, the fantastic layout and room design mostly makes up for the somewhat frustrating enemy encounters.

Dungeon 4: Maze Palace

Maze Palace has one of the more interested layouts in this game, and in a good way too. Early on, you come across a gap, and once you realize that dungeons never have pits that aren't filled with lava, you discover that jumping into the gap will send you to a floor with an important item on a lower level. It's one of the first times Zelda ever dabbles with spatial reasoning, and that's pretty cool. The enemy lineup is also mostly fair, though the Maze Palace does have one crippling flaw. This is a dungeon that loves to waste your magic, between an abundance of Wizzrobes that can only be defeated using reflect and a good amount of rooms that require the Jump spell, and this is very problematic when you need the Reflect Spell for the boss. I ended up finishing the dungeon with only just barely enough magic left, imagine having to purposefully die to regain magic because enemies just weren't giving you any in the lead-up to the boss?

Dungeon 5: Ocean Palace

This dungeon can suck it. While Dungeons 2-4 were mostly pretty alright in terms of navigation, Dungeon 5 is where Zelda 2's worst backtracking excesses show as it's filled to the brim with completely useless dead ends and contains a nonlinear layout that will have you running back and forth, while also dealing with a ton of some of the most annoying enemies in the game like the Bubbles and Magos, and in tight spaces to boot. What really seals the deal though is the fact that behind one of those "dead ends" is a secret passage that leads to the dungeon item. There is nothing signalling to the player that this passage exists, nor that fake walls are even a thing in this game. And when you do finally make it to the end, you're faced with a goddamn Darknut gauntlet. 

Dungeon 6: Hidden Palace

Aaaaand this is where Zelda II completely drops the ball. My favorite thing about Zelda dungeons has always been their puzzle box nature where every room matters, and you need to engage with every part of the dungeon as a collective whole, which is a big reason why the first game's more open and aimless dungeon design feels so unsatisfying to me. Zelda 2 was a great step in the right direction... until the game gives you a Magical Key right before this dungeon that unlocks any door. Now, you don't need to scour for keys, you just need to get the dungeon item and make a beeline for the boss. On top of that, the actual room design of the dungeon is pretty weak too as it primarily reuses rooms from previous dungeons, which is also a shame since Zelda 2 previously did a pretty good job at adding new stuff to the table. That being said, this isn't to say Hidden Palace is entirely awful. It lacks the frustrating dead ends of the previous dungeon, and the first half with the looping rooms is actually a really cool idea and a fun puzzle to solve. I also kinda like the room where you have to activate the fairy spell in midair, but I can admit it'd be a lot better if the limited magic didn't mean you basically had one shot to get it right.

Dungeon 7: Great Palace

Considering how much I dislike Death Mountain from the first game, I was expecting to loath Great Palace. It does suffer from similar issues in how the Magical Key makes an entire half of it completely skippable, and it boasts an abundance of dead ends to boot (albeit not nearly as time-wasting as the ones in the Ocean Palace). However, what makes Great Palace stand out is that unlike Death Mountain which only exposed how few unique room designs there were in the original Zelda, Great Palace is entirely original. It not only has a ton of fun and unique room arrangements, but the enemy roster is completely new too, most of which is fun to fight. There are some clever puzzles involving dropping through the right hole at the right spot, along with some memorable encounters like against that giant blob that suddenly spawns on top of you. It actually feels like a climactic, rewarding final dungeon, and ended my playthrough on a surprisingly solid note.

Overall, my ranking of Zelda 2's dungeons would be:

1. Island Palace
2. Great Palace
3. Midoro Palace
4. Maze Palace
5. Hidden Palace
6. Parapa Palace
7. Ocean Palace

And here's my ranking of Zelda 2's bosses:

 8. Carock

There's nothing I hate more than a boss that forces you to use a limited asset and doesn't replenish it if you run out. You need enough magic to use the Reflect spell to even hit him, and in a dungeon filled with Wizzrobes that also need the Reflect spell to be defeated, it's very possible for you to just not have it. But even if you do have the Reflect spell, this boss is just boring. You crouch in the corner and wait until Carock has been hit with enough reflected shots, there's zero effort required here. And this isn't even an exploit like in the Dark Link fight, no, the intended strategy is to just sit around doing nothing while Carock defeats itself.

7. Dark Link

I won't deny that as a concept, Dark Link is a very cool boss. In execution, though, this guy was just too ahead of his time. The AI in the Dark Link fight is ridiculously aggressive and can counter your moves almost perfectly. While it is possible to defeat him, the fact that most players resort to cheating and slashing from the corner says a lot. I'm willing to put him over Carock because at least you can try to defeat Dark Link the intended way for some extra challenge, but the fact remains that Dark Link is either way too easy or way too hard depending on how you fight him.

6. Thunderbird

Thunderbird basically turns the game into a bullet hell as you have to jump and slash at his head while dodging an absolute onslaught of fireballs. It's not particularly fun, but it is a decent change of pace considering how samey a lot of Zelda 2's fights can feel. However, what really kills this fight for me is the fact that you once again are required to use a spell to defeat him. But while the Reflect spell only needed about two bars of magic, the Thunder spell that you need to even expose Thunderbird requires half of your maxed out magic. This is inexcusable in my eyes.

5. Rebonack

Rebonack is so cool. He's a Blue Darknut who starts the fight on a horse, and you have to knock him off of it using downward slashes before taking him out on the ground. It's an early example of a two-phase Zelda boss, and the first phase is really fun and satisfying. The second phase, however, kinda drops the ball. As I said, Rebonack is a Blue Darknut so defeating him is mostly just like fighting any other Blue Darknut: Annoying. It's even more annoying here considering that Rebonack goes off screen super frequently, meaning you have to back all the way up to draw him out for another hit. The rematches are better since he goes down in less hits, but that just feels like a bandaid on a greater issue

4. Horsehead

A pretty solid first boss. He's very easy but I think it works for so early in the game, and nothing about his fight feels particularly BS. You have to jump and hit his head to take damage, before quickly backing off to avoid his subsequent mace swing. Horsehead's movement isn't super erratic, and trying to land a hit on Horsehead without getting hit through contact damage is a decent challenge.

3. Gooma

Gooma is similar to Horsehead in terms of his moveset, with the big exception being that he has a giant mace instead of an axe. This gives Gooma a large reach making run ups to hit him more dangerous. If you fight him normally, this fight is brutal... but if you think to use the Jump spell to jump over his mace swings, the fight gets a lot easier.

2. Helmethead

With Helmethead, your tactics remain the same but instead of using an axe, Helmethead shoots energy balls at you that you can deflect with your shield. It's still not a super tough boss, but the animation of how his helmets fall off every time you hit him is quite charming, and it plays into the fight as the helmets start to fly around shooting even more energy balls at you.

1. Barba

 Yeah, this is a pretty obvious pick. Barba is easily one of the most iconic and well-liked boss in Zelda 2 for a number of reasons. Playing whack-a-mole with a dragon is a great change of pace after so many mano-a-mano boss fights against a humanoid with a weapon, and his attack pattern is tough but fair, simple but satisfying. There's a reason this guy came back in Ocarina Of Time.