The sequel that turned the camera sideways and asked you to earn what you used to find.
In 1987 the second Zelda did the unthinkable: it left the bird's-eye view behind and pushed Link into a side-on world of jumping, parrying, and casting spells. Experience points, a magic meter, leveled Attack, Magic and Life — none of that came from the first game; this is the only mainline Zelda that hands you XP and asks you to grow. It is steep, and even Miyamoto has called it a failure born of the hardware's limits. But sit with it and the steepness reads differently: every death sends you back to the start, yes, but it leaves your levels intact — the game is honest that nothing you truly learned is ever taken away.
About this game
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is a 1987 action role-playing game for the famicom, developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development, directed by Tadashi Sugiyama, with music by Akito Nakatsuka. It belongs to the The Legend of Zelda series.
Gallery
Tricks & Tales
In the town of Ruto a purple-clad man greets you with 'I am Error' — not a glitch but a literal translation of his Japanese name, which has become one of gaming's most famous lines. The original Famicom Disk System release was harsher than the later NES cartridge: saving dropped all your stats down to your lowest level, while the cartridge kept them as earned. Its side-scrolling-plus-RPG-stats template rippled outward — later titles like Cadash (1989) closely follow the same blueprint Adventure of Link laid down.
Collector's Guide
Region & Compatibility
Famicom and NES are the same hardware family but use physically incompatible cartridge formats — Famicom carts have a 60-pin connector and a narrower shell, while NES carts use a 72-pin connector with a wider housing. You cannot insert a Famicom cartridge into a North American NES slot without an adapter, and vice versa. The Famicom itself has no lockout chip, so any Famicom cartridge from Japan will run on a Famicom console regardless of origin. If you are buying a Japanese Famicom cart to play on a NES, you will need a 60-to-72-pin physical adapter; if you own a Famicom, Japanese-market software is your native format and no workarounds are needed.
Maintenance Tips
The gold-plated edge connectors on Famicom and NES cartridges pick up skin oils and oxidation over decades — a gentle wipe with a cotton swab dampened in 90% or higher isopropyl alcohol, stroking along the length of the pins rather than across them, is the accepted standard. Let the alcohol fully evaporate before reinserting. The old habit of blowing into a cartridge is folklore: the moisture in breath causes slow corrosion of the contacts over time, and any improvement you felt came from the act of re-seating the cart, not from the breath itself. Nintendo eventually updated its own troubleshooting guidance to say explicitly: do not blow into your Game Paks.
Going deeper
Explore the machine this game ran on, and what to check before you buy or care for one:
What to Watch Out For
Before buying, these are the points worth knowing — from someone who handles original Japanese Zelda II: The Adventure of Link copies regularly.
Is the Japanese Famicom Disk System version the one I want?
It has richer sound and animated water, but it shows WAIT load screens, needs a working Disk System, and its save penalty knocks all your stats to your lowest level. For straightforward play the NES cartridge with battery save is friendlier; the FDS disk is the more authentic 1987 artifact.
Is it really as brutally hard as people say?
It is steeper than most Zelda games — three lives, a full restart on game over, and demanding palace bosses. Crucially, your earned levels, items and spells survive death, so progress compounds. Go in expecting an action-RPG, not a relaxed adventure.
Will this play like the first Zelda?
No — that's the whole point. The overworld is still top-down, but towns, caves, dungeons and all combat are side-on, with XP, magic and leveling. If you want a top-down sequel, A Link to the Past is closer in feel.
Before You Buy
Things worth knowing before you buy Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
A short checklist for buying a used Famicom cartridge wisely — useful with any seller, anywhere.
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Choose a seller who tests it before shipping
A copy that has actually been powered on and checked is a known quantity. An untested one is a gamble you only settle after it arrives.
Look for a seller who states it was function-tested and says what they confirmed. A serious seller can tell you exactly what was checked.
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Make sure it fits your console
This is a Japanese Famicom cartridge with a 60-pin connector; a North American NES uses a 72-pin slot, so it will not fit directly.
Play it on a matching Japanese console or a region-free system, and confirm the listing states the region.
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If this title saves your progress, check the battery
Cartridges that save use a small coin-cell battery that fades over decades — a dead one wipes your save without warning.
Ask the seller whether the save function was tested. Replacing the battery is possible, but doing so erases any existing save.
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Check that the contacts are clean
Dirty edge contacts are the most common cause of startup and sound trouble in cartridges of this age.
Choose a seller who cleans the contacts before shipping. A note that it was tested and cleaned means the basics were handled.
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Confirm it is genuine, not a reproduction
Sought-after titles are targets for reproduction boards with replacement labels.
Ask for a photo of the circuit board and look for factory markings. Favour a shop with a licensed second-hand dealer permit (古物商) — by law its stock has a traceable origin, your simplest guard against fakes.
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Read the seller's reviews and return policy
A 100% positive record across thousands of sales is close to a guarantee — packing, communication and problem-solving all work for everyone. A return policy protects you if something is off.
Read the feedback and confirm a clear return window before you buy.
The last step before buying anywhere is knowing what it's worth.
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Rooms this game lives in
Wander deeper — explore the themed rooms where Zelda II: The Adventure of Link sits alongside its kin.
Memories from around the world
This is a young museum, and this page is still waiting for its first voices. The memories people send reach Taisei personally, and the ones that move him find a home here over time — always with the writer's blessing. Yours could be the very first for this game.
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