Zelda 2 Still Sticks Out Like a Sore Thumb, Decades Later

Summary

The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link is considered the black sheep of the franchise due to its different gameplay style compared to other entries.
The game features side-scrolling action gameplay and RPG mechanics, which are a departure from the top-down perspective and focus on exploration in other Zelda games.
The visuals of Zelda 2 are criticized for looking washed-out and less visually appealing compared to its predecessor, which affects its overall presentation.

For 37 years now, The Legend of Zelda has been one of Nintendo's flagship franchises, coming second to really only Super Mario himself. For almost four decades, Link has journeyed across Hyrule, defeating bosses, slaying monsters, and saving princesses, and for almost four decades, fans have eaten it up every time. No matter what console Link finds himself on, The Legend of Zelda fans are there to support him, but not all entries are considered equal, and even all these years later, The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link is still the black sheep of the entire franchise.

Released in 1987 in Japan, and just one year later for North America and PAL regions, The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link received a great deal of critical acclaim at the time, but in the decades since, it's become a bit of an outsider in the grand scheme of the franchise, looking, sounding, and playing very differently from the game that came before it and all those that have come since. But just because it's different doesn't necessarily mean that it's bad.

Why Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link Is the Black Sheep of the Zelda Franchise

screenshot of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link

The biggest reason behind Zelda 2's snubbing in recent years is just how differently the game plays compared to the rest of the series. The first game in The Legend of Zelda series set a precedent that the majority of Zelda entries would follow. The original 1986 Zelda featured a top-down perspective, where players would move Link across an overworld, enter dungeons, and battle monsters. This top-down perspective would then continue to be used throughout the franchise, appearing in just about every Game Boy, GBA, DS, and 3DS Zelda title. The other main type of Zelda gameplay is the third-person action-adventure series, pioneered by Ocarina of Time and used multiple times since on the GameCube, Wii, and now Nintendo Switch.

The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link does not fit into either of these categories. Zelda 2 is, for the most part, a side-scrolling action game. Though players control Link from a top-down perspective in the overworld, the second they enter a location or encounter an enemy, they're forced into a side-scrolling perspective, where the player is required to defeat the enemies and reach the other side of the level in typical side-scrolling fashion. While this gameplay is by no means bad, it's a little too different, and compared to the rest of the series it sticks out like a sore thumb.

Another big departure from the first game is Zelda 2's focus on RPG elements. While the original Zelda had RPG-like features with different gear options and increasing health bars, it really wasn't a primary feature of the game. Zelda 2, on the other hand, takes a big swing with its own RPG mechanics. Zelda 2 featured proper NPCs for the first time in the series, with multiple appearing in a town setting as opposed to just one old man in various caves dotted around Hyrule. Players could also level up their stats after each boss and unlock new abilities, including the use of magic spells. But while these RPG mechanics are now an incredibly important aspect of recent franchise entries like Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, the execution in Zelda 2 doesn't feel all that great, making the game seem very half-baked nowadays.

The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link's overall presentation is also another big reason for its rejection today. Even at the time, Zelda 2's visuals look pretty washed-out, at least when compared to its predecessor. While the original Zelda's green trees and blue rivers popped on the screen, Zelda 2's look a little bland, and while Nintendo was probably going for realism more than style for the sequel, it doesn't stand the test of time quite as well as the original game's presentation.