Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was incredibly highly anticipated when it was set to be released, and many stores had pre-order lists to manage the demand when the time came (1988 in Europe). However, the game was quite different from the first The Legend of Zelda, and more closely resembled a J-RPG with XP and a level system, a true overworld, and side-scrolling action segments.
Many loved the game, which was probably Link's most challenging game ever, but certainly not everyone, and even today it remains something of a divisive title, and among the critical voices we find... Shigeru Miyamoto. Earlier today, an old interview from 2003 with him in the Swedish gaming magazine Super Play was brought to light by Retro Gamer (via GamesRadar), in which he shares his views on Link's controversial adventure.
We assume that very, very few of you have read it or remember it, and the language is so sharp that it's worth bringing up. Here's what Zelda's creator says about why Zelda II differs so much from its predecessor:
"It was my idea, but the actual game was developed by another team, different people to those that made the first game. Compared to Legend of Zelda, Zelda II went exactly what we expected... All games I make usually gets better in the development process, since good ideas keep coming, but Zelda II was sort of a failure..."
That's also why The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past feels like a natural continuation of The Legend of Zelda, and Miyamoto believes that part three is actually the real part two:
"We actually see A link to the Past as the real sequel to Legend of Zelda. Zelda II was more of a side story about what happened to Link after the events in Legend of Zelda."
So... do you agree with Miyamoto that Zelda II was a "failure," or is it one of your favourites among Link's many adventures?
