This was actually the first game that my mother beat, way back in I want to say 1991? Even I hadn't beaten it yet, and along with her beating the original SMB, it's a small point of pride for me. My mom sadly passed away in 2019, but this video reminded me of her way back then when she had sharp eyes and quick hands.
i just beat SMB with one life left as little Mario song a lil song and RRAN past the hammer bro and hammer Bowser on my second go i was still in Loop from that. Rest in Paradise to your Mom's cause thats a A God breaking Game yo. Word up 💖
Damn man, same thing over here. NOBODY have ever beaten my mom at Tetris, Magical Drop, Dr Mario, Bubble Puzzle, etc... Not even me. She passed away in 2016. She was an Expert at Link's Awakening. That's the only "RPG" we had in french she could understand... :)
That's an awesome memory thanks for sharing. My pops could beat the first Mario game with one man and no warping. Pretty amazing still as far as I'm concerned!
Sorry for your loss. My grandmother passed away in 2019 as well. The last memory I have of her alive was playing A Link to the Past with her cause we played it together all the time when I was growing up.
BONUS TIP for those still struggling with the game:. If you level all the way up (my spot is usually the block room in Palace 5 with the endless Moas) then crystal level-ups turn into 1-ups!
I used to grind on the palaces where you can get red potion or red ironknuckle. Leave and come back to reset the statue. Heal up with life spell, use the red potions to fill magic, slay endless ironknockles for xp.
Y preferred grind spot is entry screen to Palace Four. Requires lvl 6 attack… Jump and up thrust the Moa for 50 points, and dispatch the red ironknuckle in two jump attacks. Run out. Repeat.
I don't think I've seen someone who makes NES walkthroughs as interesting as you do. Most walkthroughs are boring, you actually put some effort into it. Super impressed, sub from me.
@@UCanBeatVideoGames: *FUN FACT:* Mago, the name of the "Old Hags" in the Palace on The Sea, is the Spanish word for Magician. *FUN FACT 2:* Palace on The Sea abbreviated spells pots!
I beat this game tonight! I never thought I’d be able to do it, and it’s haunted me since I was a kid. Your strategy made all the difference. Thanks for bringing a little joy to this old man. FYI, played it on a retropie.
this was a terrible game and really hate it then and still hate it now. nintendo sells outdated hardware and scam price fixing nintendo has been trash for 25 years.
@@sharkulashairstylist5505 obviously it's trash but in my mind because I was a 12 year old kid playing it and life was new to me and I hadn't ruined it yet it will remain in my memory as one of the greatest games ever.
This is my absolute favorite Zelda game. Grew up with it, beat it at age 7, and even today I use the randomizer to enjoy it again and again. Thanks for taking the time to honor it.
It’s Saturday night and I just beat this game for the first time in my life! Got this game 36 years ago. I feel like I’m in 6th grade again! The feeling crazy! Thank you for the walk through; without your tutorial I’d still be stuck trying to level attack and magic! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
One of the few games I never beat as a kid. Now I'm 40 and have COVID, so I'll use this downtime to finally conquer this game with this video's help! Thanks!
Hold up, I never knew there was aquick save in this game. Ever. I spent so long trying to die to save not knowing this. I could have saved the game right there. This is very extensive for a tips vid. Your voice is engaging. It makes me wanna listen to what you have to say
fun fact: if you can get an enemy to hit you as you move into those action sequences on the way to Darunia, you can bypass the action sequences with monster action sequences and avoid the water pits all-together
@@jamesaroeuett1567 Yup, the joys of playing too damn much and learning unintentional mini cheats. Same with Super Mario Bros 2, Double Dragon, etc back then.
7 minutes in and I’m already mind blown by your leveling strategy Edit: glad to know I was always using the right power leveling spot Last edit: using reflect against the thunder bird, did not know that
@@UCanBeatVideoGames Fun Thunderbird fact - there was a Game Genie code that would make it so that casting Shield would cause the lightning spell to constantly cast while Shield is active. This sounds OP and fun, but if you have it active for Thunderbird it soft locks the game - Thunderbird dies before the game registers that it spawned and you can’t continue. Young me was crushed when I learned this, lol.
Notes: Lizalfos are much harder to beat with the Ironknuckle strategy, since downward slashing hits don't always work. You can damage them a little more reliably with short ducking hops while slashing. Imagine trying to hit them between their low and high shield poses. The "intended" way to defeat Fokkas is probably to upthrust them as they jump overhead, but the timing is tricky and it's easy to jump into them this way. If you hit a statue and an Ironknuckle/Fokka comes out of it, so long as you don't kill it, if you leave the area and come back the statue will regenerate, and you can hit it again for another chance at a red magic potion. The statues at the start of most palaces that might produce a red potion or Ironknuckle can be regenerated even if you kill the Ironknuckle simply by leaving the palace and returning.
I loved it when I was a kid. It was the first time I'd been introduced to the concept of experience points and I loved the fact that I could make my character better if I just put more work into it.
Dude that was awesome! Watched the entire thing from start to finish. Interesting thing is, your leveling strategy is exactly what I used as a kid as well as your strategy for shadow link! I remember being so frustrated fighting shadow link that I said "I'm gonna just crouch in the corner and attack because I tried everything and nothing works..." and that did it. LOL never forget that moment. Because of that leveling strategy I never found this game hard. Miss the days when I could play video games all day LOL
The island palace can be used to grind out your XP very easily. Just go in attack statue for magic or iron knuckle, take the elevator down, fight the 3 enemies for 100xp, 70xp, and 5xp. Take the elevator back up and walk out to the left. Re-enter palace and repeat as many times as needed. Use life spell as needed. Don't worry your magic will be refilled by statue almost every time. Each time it takes about 30-45 seconds and gives you 175-275xp.
His grind he suggested was a lot easier to me. I was wantin to beat this game all my life and finally with the help of this I did I actually had so much xp after island palace I tried to get level 9 attack!
Thanks to this guide I've mastered my fear of the wild in Zelda 2... I am now going to the Island Palace (zero coins inserted in previous palaces yet) 5 atk - 6 magic - 6 HP - better than my previous games by far.
A note on the orange Dairas in those two descending scenes at the end of Death Mountain: if you back away enough, they stop attacking. Then, when you run at them, quickly crouch, attack, and retreat. Assuming you don't mess up, it will always fall in the window between their attacks.
Something I used to do because I thought it made the hammer cave easier was I would go up the side path at the end of Death Mountain before doing that final cave, and go to Mido and get the down thrust and come back down the bridge and side path and get the hammer and the magic container.
There is something about this channel. I find it very nostalgic and fun to watch. Thanks for helping me remember all the good times, especially the names of everything lol. I do still play this game to this day tho. It was that impactful to me
I figured easiest way to get to get level 8 stats is in palace 5 (sea palace). Go in to room where rocks are falling from ceiling and let them pile up to top of screen. Then make a ladder from rocks to top on the same height eye monster (Moa) is spawning. They keep spawning infinitely and basically run into your sword and give 50 exp each. It ain't much but it's honest labor. :D
I do like the UCBVG strat of saving all the palace boss battles until the end, filling up those costly final levels easily. Never occurred to me back in the day.
@@mklptrk I've done that previously with the exception of saving. I'd exit the palace as I would normally and go to the next destination. I found that doing this, I'd max out before finishing all the palaces. Once you have nothing else to level, you receive an extra life at 9,000.
Shadow Link regular fight is so cool. After the whole maze, the whole game, lies one final challenge. The setting, the music, the intense shield and sword fight if you go at it as intended. I love it!
Greetings from the BIG SKY. I always enjoyed the music in this video back when it came out first. I see that you have a 2 part strategy toward beating the game.
When I played this as a kid, I always went through the 2nd palace before Death Mountain, making it WAY "less impossible" due to the extra experience points. I can't imagine going through it after just 1 palace. lol
YES! I made it through death mountain with your help! your tips also helped me develop a slow & steady technique…. If you run away far enough for them to lower their weapons, and then run right back to them head on without stopping, it’ll time your attacks to hit them, run and be able to repeat. Just dont back down, run right up and swing, then run right back away until they aren’t holding the axe any more, then run back and swipe again. You’ll still have to jump to beat the red ones though.
Great video with a lot of good tips! This is pretty much my favorite NES game and, even though I have played it a countless number of times, I still find it challenging, especially the final palace. I thought I'd offer a few additional tips that I use that make the game more manageable and, dare I say, slightly easier? They're small things, but every bit helps! 1. When getting into a battle on the overworld (when the black shadows run into you) I find in almost all cases that if you exit to the right, there are less enemies and even easier ones. This is especially true when getting into the easier overworld battles in the swamp. When you go to the right, you'll have to battle 2-3 rock throwing lobsters (Rock Lobster!). If you go to the left, you'll run into a moving Rock Lobster... 2. When attacking the Iron Knuckle statues at the entrance of a palace, attack from the right side. If an Iron Knuckle pops out instead of a red potion, he will fall off the pedestal to the left and won't be able to pursue you as you enter the palace to the right. 3. This one is specific to the battle with Goomer. I always use jump magic as well, makes it A LOT easier to get out of the way of his attacks. And my final additional tip, and this is a HUGE one... 4. Wait until you've beaten the 6 palaces to collect the overworld 1-ups. Once you've collected the 1-ups, they are gone. This means that once you've collected a 1-up, and lose your lives, you can't get them back. Why go to all the trouble of waiting to be able to stock up on 1-ups? The last palace is BRUTAL and you're going to want to get through it in one go. It's true that if you lose all your lives, you can start back at the entrance, but do you really want to have to go through that maze again? With all the extra lives you've now stocked up on, you have a bit more leeway and will have a better chance of making it to the end without having to restart the palace. And that's my two (or should I say four) cents! Thanks for a nice video and I am off to tackle TMNT now using the video you made for that game :)
I am very grateful for this tutorial for not just explaining the silly cryptic stuff, but for providing insanely helpful strategies to tackle how messed up this game is sometimes. Used this to finally beat this game after 20 years of getting pummeled by it. So, thank you!
Thank you, I had some strong, yet very vague due to the time since I last played Zelda 2, feelings when he said that, thinking I remembered killing those things all the time without the downthrust...
I wish there were guides like this back in the day. Being 9 years old and playing this back in late 80's early 90's, was really tricky. Took me FOREVER to beat. You would get tips from other kids on the bus ride home from school, or in magazines. We use to bring magazines on the bus to trade info with each other. It probably took me 4-5 years playing on and off, to actually complete it. Crazy how things have changed
I'm surprised how much of the muscle memory of Zelda 2 has stuck with me. When I replayed this game, I cleared out Death Mountain and many other areas near flawlessly. I generally found the game fairly easy to replay. I did play it hundreds of hours as a kid - definitely stuck with me for some reason.
This game was released on January 14, 1987 in Japan for the Famicom Disk System. Since no other game' was released on January 19 I consider it my birth game.
Awesome review and walkthrough! I passed this game when it came out originally. Im in my 40's today. Brings back memories. I never knew using reflect magic on thunderbird boss.
I grew up mostly on Master System, Genesis and SNES, but this helped me finally beat Zelda 2. It's one of my favorite franchises. I really enjoyed the video as well, keep up the great work. Thanks!
This video was fantastic. I just beat zelda 2 last night and trying to go through the great palace without a guide and using trial and error to get through it and find the Thunderbird was maddening. Now that I see how to deal with certain threats like the blue fokkus, it doesnt seem that bad anymore and much more manageable. The next time I play through this underappreciated gem, I am 100% using this so I can fully enjoy the game unlike before. This was fantastic and I instantly subbed after seeing this to the very end.
There is a soft spot in my heart for The Adventure of Link. It was the first game I purchased with my own money. I had to borrow from my savings and pay it back. Took me a few weeks.
Thank you for that leveling tip. It really saved a lot of time, and I only had to spend like a half hour at that leveling spot to get to the right levels to go after the bosses. These videos are awesome. Though I was playing the Zelda 2 redux hack, so the orange guys were only giving me 100 points each. The red ones were 150.
I beat this game one time on my game cube zelda collection had the game saved from 5 years prior went to the final boss after 2 hours of frustration beat thunder bird and shadow link never again.
This game is actually more fun than I expected and read all across the internet. Managed to beat this in under 5 hours with your strats. Keep up the good work!
Overall a really good walkthrough of the game. One thing I want to note is that instead of leaving the palaces incomplete and then having to go back to them to get those final levels, I like grinding out levels in Palace 5 (Ocean Palace) instead. There’s a room where blocks fall from the ceiling and moas attack from left to right. If you let the blocks fill the area and then stand on the 3rd block up, you are at the perfect height to kill the moas over and over for 50 points each time. It helps to cast fire as well to kill them faster. This lets you grind fast to max levels. Or usually what I do is I grind to 8-7-7 levels and then beating the bosses of Palace 5 and 6 will completely level you up.
@@UCanBeatVideoGames It might be faster to get those last levels, but I always found it tedious to have to go back to those palaces later. There’s something rewarding about finishing a palace the first time and not having to come back. I agree your method is probably faster though.
@@UCanBeatVideoGames And if anything, I would mention the grind spot in your video since I think it’s better to grind there than the woods area near the ending of the game, even if you do revisit the palaces to get the last levels.
the way you delivered that line at 32:46 caught me off guard, choked on a piece of broccoli even. bravo, sir. i tip my hat, my sword, my bow and my axe to you.
No one hated this game when it came out. The only other zelda that existed was the first. There was no standard. This is an amazing entry in the series and my personal favorite.
No one hated it? Are you sure? I was in love with the first Zelda and then played this and immediately said "What is this shit?". It's unfairly hard, has ridiculous secrets no one on earth could figure out of logic or intelligence, has arbitrarily hidden key items. I know it was a staple back then, but it's objectively considered bad game design when developers do everything they can to actually discourage you from finding secrets, knowing they're so ridiculous you have to use guides or walk-throughs. It defeats its own purpose... And adventure game where the adventurer would never find anything on their own... Counterintuitive. Bad design. Change my mind.
I also adored it when it came out after being obsessed with the original. I still hold ZII very high on the list and it is one of my favorite NES games to this day.
@@soullessSiIence I bought this stupid game and it started collecting dust in just a few days. Loaned it to my friends and they all gave it back with the same opinion, not very good. I ended up trading it for a different game and was happy I got the trade.
Just streamed AND BEAT this one on Twitch, and only had to continue once thanks to this guide. Between this and maps I was using from VGMaps, that's the best run I've ever had. Thank you for your efforts.
Very interesting video! I finished this game like a billion times, but some strategies you used during this gameplay never crossed my mind. I love Zelda 2 and now I'm very happy because I learned something new about this game. Thanks.
As a kid I was never able to beat this game without GameGenie, and last night at the tender age of 42, I finally beat it without cheating. Your explanations were perfect and your advice on how to manipulate the experience point system was brilliant (I'm actually ashamed I didn't think of that). Thank you!
One of my favorite games when I was a kid. It was so hard. When I finally made it to the final stages my dad tripped over my console while I was playing and deleted all my progress!
One of the first games I ever managed to beat by myself as a kid. I really think 90% of the dislike of this game comes from the difficulty spike when you enter death mtn. If you can get through that then you're set.
Excellent video. I’ve had this game since release, and I still learned new things about this game. I never dared to cancel a level up and I didn’t know you could save up exp points. Gonna try to play it the way you did in this video. If anyone wants to try beating Shadow Link without the crouching trick, he has a weird hit box. Jumping slashes aimed at the heart and throat area seems to work most of the time.
Yes, your jump slashes have to land past his shield. If you jump slash too "shallow", then he'll just block it. You almost have to jump on top of him when doing it.
Great videos fellow retro nostalgic video maker I watched one video Searched generally for another game video Of course no great results Then I searched this with exactly your channel name Found instantly Thx for producing quality that legit matches a search Your results should be the top results
Brilliant work! I am glad more long videos examining games in-depth are popping up on TH-cam, especially for older games that have a bad habit of being unclear and unforgiving. I hope your channel keeps growing, you explain things so clearly and concisely.
I never played the game myself back in the 90th, but I heard a lot of people talking about it. Thank you for all 3 NES Zelda videos. Especially your elaborate explanations make your videos interesting, other videos are simple walkthroughs that become boring in a short time.
I really liked this video. I think the pacing of speech was great and liked the amount of detail. All of the points you were making though-out the video felt sharp and clean. For a 1 hour video it was surprisingly easy to digest. Thank you
Thank you for emphasising the importance of the shield & fairy magic. In many reviews and comments regarding Zelda 2, commonly I find people complain about the cost of the life spell. But these people seldom use the other magics, which negate much of the need for the life spell. It's still a crucial spell, but not the best for every situation.
Funny thing, when I played this as a 7 year-old I couldn’t find the mirror, so I just went through most of the game without the Life magic. That is, until the fruitless search for the 6th Palace utterly stumped me for the next six years of my life.😅
I use a different strategy for leveling up. When I go to the palacd surrounded by water, (the green one) I find the room with the falling blocks. I let the blocks stack all the way up. Then I cut a path about 4 blocks up. It will be the block level where the flying enemy enters the screen. If my attack isn't strong enough to kill it with one hit. I use fire magic to hit it once when it first appears, then my sword to finish it off. I place link on the far end of the stack standing one block down so he can stand up and his sword attacks at the level the enemy flies in at. The timing is important but not hard to figure out. When the enemy spawns you time a fire ball to hit it one, then the sword to kill it. Each kill is 50 points but they come repeatedly adding up quickly. Every few kills also leaves either a magic refill bottle or a bag with 200 points. It doesn't take long to earn points quickly. You can easily get all your stats to level 8 in a short time.
the 5th palace (sea/ocean palace) with the falling blocks and the fast flying big eye is the fastest way to get exp in the game (aside from the crystal statues), but really, the entire game progression has multiple good ways to get experience throughout the entire game progression you can use the orange lizard monsters in the cave to new/hidden kasuto town near the end of the game (6th palace area) to level up fully (8-8-8) almost as quickly as the 5th palace falling blocks room with the fast flying eyeball monsters (likely there's some simple programming mistakes, as the red lizard guys are harder/stronger, but only give 100 exp, whereas the weaker/easier orange lizard guys give 150, obviously, they accidentally swapped the address values in the programming, simple and "typo-like" mistakes, a lot of games often do these types of mistakes, unfortunately) death mountain runs are also a great source for exp too, once you're skilled/good at the game and with killing monsters (and being a bit more leveled up, helps a lot too, even for the veterans/skilled players of the game) (and having the life spell... as lots of new players don't find the lost mirror in town... sighs) the 3rd palace (island palace) statue at its entrance is a decent place as well, though it's not as great as it could be, due to the fact that you can get red jars (no red iron knuckle, or you get red iron knuckle, but he then drops a red jar instead of giving you exp), so, you can get like 8-10 time in a row (if super unlucky like me, laughs) where you get no exp at all from it... (if you could always get the 100 exp with always having a red knuckle and it always giving the exp drop, then it would probably be the fastest method in the game, possibly beating out the 5th palace with its falling block area with the fast flying eyeball monster, but that's not how the game mechanics work, unfortunately) another great method for getting exp is "dungeon running/farming", as still a ton of people have no idea that you can avoid placing the crystal into the crystal statue and exit the palace, as this is due to that the actual activation for placing the crystal is walking over the raised-platform-row of blocks' two center/middle blocks directly below the crystal statue, and thus jumping over these two blocks, enable you to NOT place the crystal, while still being able to go through the exit of the palace, allowing you to "run" the palace over and over again, killing the monsters for decent speed of experience along the way, and also being able to decide when to place the crystal for the best usage of the exp it gives you there's many other good sources of getting exp throughout the game... such as at the very beginning of the game, just get into a weak encounter on the grass, and going back and forth, killing the slimes/bots, as every 8th (or whatever number it is) killed enemy will either drop a exp bag or a red/blue jar, so, while the slimes/bots themselves are only 2 exp each, you do quickly (3 slimes on the right side and two on the left side, but might have them reversed, going off my memory here, lol) get the 50 exp bags to drop quite often, for actually quite good exp (it's actually probably faster then "running" the first/parapa palace), you can actually level up quite high from doing the slimes on the grassland right at the start of the game lol, and it really goes a lot faster than you imagine it does.. you can really quickly/easily get to (5-5-5)+ in almost no time at all, right at the start of the game, against the slimes on the grassland, using the fast killing and chance of 50 exp bag drops also, at the very start of the game, though a bit less safe, you could get into the hard encounter in the forest, to have the stronger moblins, which do give you exp, which might be faster than doing the slimes, especially if they do drop higher exp bags, along with these stronger moblins themselves giving more exp than the slimes, though it is a bit more dangerous, then fighting the weakest monsters in the game, the slimes and, on the eastern continent, once you got fire spell, you can get good exp killing those enemies that can only be killed with fire (the hopping blue guys with the big eye who shoot those magic things at you, and/or those blue iguana/lizard-4-legged-walking things that shoot the fireballs at you) in the random encounters for really good fast exp too, as they die quick to the fireballs of the fireball spell, and so it can be fast killing, racking up 50 exp per kill, along with whatever amount of exp their exp bag drops give -------- the most important things to note: the strongest enemies in the game only give 200 exp, so they're really not worth the effort, as say even 50 exp per monster really isn't much different than 200 exp per monster, and also that you have chance to get an exp bag every 8th (or whatever) monster killed too for even more exp, so really, it's about speed/frequency of kills, over how much exp you get per monster, especially due to the exp bag drops the easiest/quickest monster for its exp, is the orange lizard guys who give 150 exp (and their exp bag drops give 300 exp), as the 200 exp monsters are the hardest in the game, very hard to kill, not worth the effort, and they take more time to kill as well), but the orange lizard guys are near the end of the game (6th palace area, best place is the cave to hidden/new kasuto, and if remember right, near the exit of the cave, aka the right-most within the cave, to the new/hidden kasuto area, going in and out of it to respawn the orange lizard guy, or you can just get into an encounter in the forests of the 6th palace area as well also), so not really useful unless you're still not maxed out by then
I've already completed this game around 10 times since I got it back in Christmas 1989, but those leveling up tricks are pretty handy. I'll try those next time I decide to run though the game again.
This is one of the most wholesome and enjoyable channels on TH-cam. I always mean to just watch a little and end up watching from start to finish. You make really great content, dude. Your work is appreciated.
I always lie to save the life/magic level-up for when I really need to refill them (At least early game. Past Death Mountain/Swamp Palace, I would level-up as normal). Also, I would save collecting the Link Dolls for when I'm about to tackle the Great Palace.
Additional tip regarding the statues at the entrance to the palaces. If you really want the magic jar but get an iron knuckle, you can always leave and come right back and hit the statue again and rinse and repeat until you have full magic. Handy if you arrive at low life since you can use life magic and then exit and come back straight away for another magic refill.
If you want to level quickly in the first palace, an easy trick is killing the skull bubble things. You _can_ kill them - though they take a lot of hits - and they will give you 50 XP each, and they respawn. I usually grind them to attack level 4 before continuing on.
It is easier to exit and re-enter the Parapa Palace to reset the mini bosses and the fairy. It is incredibly time consuming to kill a Bubble for just 50 exp unless you have a high sword level and down thrust, which you wouldn’t have early in the game. Those Bubbles take 16 hits to defeat at max sword level and they take forever at the lower sword levels. I wouldn’t bother with them unless I had a turbo controller at that point.
First person to really explain this game well, rather than just complaining about it's shortcomings compared to the later games in the series, so you've earned my sub!
Thank you once again. Just vanquished this juggernaut of the 8 hit era this morning. I wanna say I found your channel via your fantastic walkthrough of Nightshade. Keep up the good work bud. I'll be using your Link to the Past walkthrough very soon. Also, for anyone looking for great maps, I've been using the fansite Zelda Dungeon. They're a great resource for them.
This video is very similar to those old Video game guide videos, I love this feeling of nostalgia. I beat this game when I was a kid a long time ago, when I really got into it I would play it all day long and simply by screwing around I found so many secret areas!
Man... this is probably my favorite game of all time. I still played it probably once a year and can beat it in like 4-5 hours. But that being said... dude... I had NO IDEA there was a magic bottle on the left side before the thunderbird fight! Blew my mind when you went there!
I wish I had your video many years ago when I beat this game. Your guide would've made it MUCH easier and less grindy. I didn't even know about the shadow Link trick when I beat him as a kid. That mofo was extremely hard! It wasn't until years later when I replayed it, and I was just messing around, and discovered it by accident. Some more years later, the trick appeared in an AVGN episode. Fun fact: The Iron Knuckle statue potion trick also works on those wall statues with the animal heads.
Thanks!! I also stumbled onto the Shadow Link strategy when I was pretty young - I'm not sure how else anyone ever beat him. Cool tip about those animal heads! probably need a jump spell to hit some of the higher ones.
As an 8 year old way back when, it took me and a friend 5 years of intermittent play to beat this. I remember vividly sketching the final castle map to remember which ways to go. Nintendo Power helped a little but a lot was trial and error. Thanks for the video.
I played this game through on my channel. The end nearly broke me. Overall I enjoyed the game, but i don't think i'm in any hurry to play it again. You make it look profoundly easy in comparison!
Thanks man! At least if you die on the final palace they let you start back there, I'm not sure I'd have ever beat this as a kid if it wasn't for that.
@@UCanBeatVideoGames In my play-through, i made it to the last palace, only to realize i hadn't finished the swamp temple. Had to trek all the way back. made for a funny video, but I was less than thrilled!
Very possibly one of my favorite games on the NES. I remember getting both it and the first Legend of Zelda for my tenth birthday. Definitely major nostalgia at almost 43.
I am a massive fan of the channel. That being said I think this episode can be redone. Skipping the temples doesn't show us how to beat the video game. It is not this way for any of the other games. Still going to be an active fan od this channel for as long as you decide to make new content.
I kind of cheat using the NES Advantage controller. If you go to the swamp with those perpetually respawning birds, you can turn on that controller's turbo and pin the button down with something to keep swinging your sword. You'll get 3 exp per kill and can leave it like that for a couple hours to max your exp out.
Great video!. I love this game, and I think many reviewers have villified it in excess. Yes, it is a difficult challenge, but, at least for me, I enjoy a good challenge, and I beat it once a year. Another strategy you may want to use to rack up levels early is to kill the bubbles in the first palace. These take a LOT of hits to kill when you have your sword in level 1, but they give you 50 experience points, which is a LOT when you are starting the game. Kill a couple of these guys, and you can rack up levels very quickly. Thanks for your video. I'll use some of your strategies in my next playthrough.
If you've already passed the game, I highly recommend fighting Shadow Link fairly. It is extremely rewarding and a fitting final battle for the game's overall difficulty.
There's an unofficial "remastered" version out that is really good if you like the original. A bunch of quality of life "fixes", additional areas and secrets, one ups increase your total when you continue etc. Unfortunately I think it's emulator only so... That aside, it's very well done.
35:14 "Soon you'll come to an area you can't avoid." Not necessarily true. You could stand and wait for a group of enemies to appear and try to hit one as you step onto the hidden area. If you time it right and connect on top of it, you'll fight the (hopefully) weaker standard desert enemy, instead of having to go through the area with the instant death water pits. This works in the final road to the valley of death as well. The hidden ones on the way to the final castle. Presenting you with a weaker and shorter battle to traverse to pass the area.
The Links Adventure Zelda 2 cartridge is one I've seldom gone back to just because of how demanding the game is. I'm sure if I could actually create a magic seal to encase it, namely to prevent others from the harsh trail of madness I suffered, I would. Thanks for helping me come to grips with a less loved classic and helping me remove it from a 30 year slip case slumber.
Thank you, this guide helped me beat this game for the first time. It feels awesome to know that I've beaten the two NES Zelda games, which is where I started my adventure.
@@UCanBeatVideoGames Crouching is unnecessary for "the trick". The last time I played through this game, I managed to get my first (and probably last, since it seems to be luck-based whether or not he'll be able to break through the slashes of a standing Link while he'll almost certainly hit Link a few times during the crouching strategy by jumping into Link) "no damage taken against shadow" battle. I'm disappointed that the mostly-useless Spell spell didn't have a role in this battle [I tried it in one of my most recent playthroughs (I had the magic to spare after using Shield and making sure I kept enough to use Life in case of emergency in the playthrough in question, so it wasn't the aforementioned "last playthrough"), but nothing happened]. I still don't know if using Fire does anything, but I intend to find out in my next playthrough, which is currently ongoing. Hopefully I remember to edit this comment or leave a new one after I find out if Fire does anything to Link's shadow, since if it does, that would certainly be "a more fun way" to win the final fight, with or without "the trick". "WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, USE FIRE" is an in-game hint, and I wouldn't put it past Nintendo to have a hint for the final boss when most players think the hint only applies to Tektites and Zora.
@@RemyWillard The spells Fire & Spell don't work on bosses, especially Spell, since that would be too cheap. It turns all regular enemies on the screen into Bots. I'm not sure if Thunder works on bosses either (excluding Thunderbird), but Dark Link's HP is special. Instead of taking damage based on your ATK level, his health bar goes by number of hits instead, so even if you could cast it on him, it would be for only 1 bar.
@@Animebryan2 I figured as much for Spell's "normal" effect, which is why I only ever use it to get the magic key in most playthroughs. I'm still going to try out Fire when I get to the shadow on my current playthrough, but if it doesn't work, at least I know I can still win the final fight. XD If Thunder abides by the same rules as Link's sword, that'll be a waste of 64 magic, so I probably won't try it... but I could just rewind on my Switch if I have the magic and see the spell only remove one bar of health. Thank ye for the input. :) UPDATE: Like Spell, Fire and Thunder are 100% ineffective against the shadow. I managed to reach the shadow with full Life and Magic, so it was a good time to try them. The only spell left to experiment with is Fairy, but since that just turns Link into a fairy (some "POWER", right? XD ), I'm not expecting it to do anything with the shadow either. That means "the trick" of standing to one side is the only known way to battle the shadow. :(
Thanks! Getting my NES mini a couple years ago was one of the things that turned me back on to this game. It was hard as a kid, but as an adult I can appreciate the challenge.
@@Danarchy3 Have you ever played it or are you just jumping on the bandwagon? Zelda 2 is great and has a really unfair reputation. I would put it around the same level as Zelda 1 but if I had to pick, my favorite of the 2 is Zelda 2.
@@DualAnalogReviews I have played it. It might be a good game, (I don’t think it is) but it certainly is NOT a good ZELDA game. Sometimes band wagons exist for a reason
@@Danarchy3 Of course we are both subject to our opinion. My main point is that the game is very underrated which I think we can agree on. The game is certainly not as bad as many claim.
I never could beat this incredible game without your help! I tried playing this game numerous times growing up considering the OG is my favorite game of all time. I would get to death mountain get game over after return of Ganon after backwards falls into pits after another then would just give up. Even though I enjoyed the game play. This video helped me finally defeat this juggernaut and cement this masterpiece as one of my favorite games!! Thank you for helping us all beat this video game
Love your strategy! At least for newcomers to this amazing game. This might be one of my favorite Zeldas, despite it being the black sheep of the Zelda family.
I love this game, I still play through it about once a year. My leveling strategy is to only level up hearts as they are the cheapest. Once I get to level 8 I go back and finish the firdt palace. This gives you 8800 free points and gets you instantly to attack 6 and magic 5.
Terrific guide. I beat this way back in the day with the help of a book, and have been playing again since I got my Game & Watch and using this guide because somehow it is both comprehensive and concise. Definitely a great strategy to save the palace crystals until you are 5/6/7 in levels to save a lot of time grinding levels. Thanks for this and all your videos!
I can tell you a lot about it. -There are 41 fixed location Red Jars (at my own research) including those that can turn into Ironknuckles/Birdknights -There are 30 fixed location P-Bags in the game -Getting 9000 Points gives you an Extra Life! And a free Life/Magic Refill. -Defeat the Boss of a dungeon, but jump over the center and exit the dungeon instead. Wait until you're you 8-8-8 (9000 points) and then seal the palaces for a free 6 lives. -Save the link dolls for the end of the game. -Use Shield against Bosses to half your damage. -Keep Fairy on hand to cast instantly (select the spell as your last selected spell) to save yourself from being knocked into a pit otherwise. -Fairy can allow you to fly through doors without a key. Use this if you wish. Make sure you can get magic to fly back! -Fairy doesn't allow "kickback" which means you can't be knocked into a pit/etc. Guess what, you cannot cheat the Great Palace, as it's set for instant death if you touch it. Developer insight! -There is too much for me to post in one comment. -Ironknuckles can be killed easily if you do a jump/duck/stab move, in order, to bypass their shields and go through their helmets. -Game cannot be saved scummed, if you want a 000 clear, you must clear the game without saving or game overs in one sitting. -Still more I can tell you. But not now.
@@emailchrismoll As a kid back in the late 80s/early 90s I tried to bypass the barrier by using Fairy, as there is no kickback when you're a fairy. Developer insight prevented me from passing, as it's coded to instantly kill you as a fairy.
This was actually the first game that my mother beat, way back in I want to say 1991? Even I hadn't beaten it yet, and along with her beating the original SMB, it's a small point of pride for me. My mom sadly passed away in 2019, but this video reminded me of her way back then when she had sharp eyes and quick hands.
i just beat SMB with one life left as little Mario song a lil song and RRAN past the hammer bro and hammer Bowser on my second go i was still in Loop from that. Rest in Paradise to your Mom's cause thats a A God breaking Game yo. Word up 💖
Your mom was a beast to beat it. And cool that she liked this stuff.
Damn man, same thing over here.
NOBODY have ever beaten my mom at Tetris, Magical Drop, Dr Mario, Bubble Puzzle, etc... Not even me. She passed away in 2016.
She was an Expert at Link's Awakening. That's the only "RPG" we had in french she could understand... :)
That's an awesome memory thanks for sharing. My pops could beat the first Mario game with one man and no warping. Pretty amazing still as far as I'm concerned!
Sorry for your loss. My grandmother passed away in 2019 as well. The last memory I have of her alive was playing A Link to the Past with her cause we played it together all the time when I was growing up.
Downthrust, most satisfying attack skill of all time.
Downthrust feels so good!
@@UCanBeatVideoGames I'm lucky if I have enough energy for a downward and upward thrust on an average day :3
Most satisfying bed move of all time*
I thought llamathrust was preferable
It's Links DuckTales attack
BONUS TIP for those still struggling with the game:. If you level all the way up (my spot is usually the block room in Palace 5 with the endless Moas) then crystal level-ups turn into 1-ups!
Good call!! very true! You can also get a 1-UP if you happen to get enough experience, too.
@@UCanBeatVideoGames my oo
I used to grind on the palaces where you can get red potion or red ironknuckle. Leave and come back to reset the statue. Heal up with life spell, use the red potions to fill magic, slay endless ironknockles for xp.
Y preferred grind spot is entry screen to Palace Four. Requires lvl 6 attack… Jump and up thrust the Moa for 50 points, and dispatch the red ironknuckle in two jump attacks. Run out. Repeat.
I always leveled up to 8-8-8 on the tectites with fire.
I don't think I've seen someone who makes NES walkthroughs as interesting as you do. Most walkthroughs are boring, you actually put some effort into it. Super impressed, sub from me.
More than some effort, a LOT of effort! Much better than the silent walkthroughs because you actually learn things!❤
It's like a classic game review and a guide all in one. I like it.
Thanks, Alan! That's exactly what I was going for!
@@UCanBeatVideoGames: *FUN FACT:* Mago, the name of the "Old Hags" in the Palace on The Sea, is the Spanish word for Magician.
*FUN FACT 2:* Palace on The Sea abbreviated spells pots!
@@Alysa-AidayAlso in portuguese
I beat this game tonight! I never thought I’d be able to do it, and it’s haunted me since I was a kid. Your strategy made all the difference. Thanks for bringing a little joy to this old man. FYI, played it on a retropie.
Congrats !!!
Congratulations!!!
this was a terrible game and really hate it then and still hate it now. nintendo sells outdated hardware and scam price fixing nintendo has been trash for 25 years.
@@sharkulashairstylist5505 obviously it's trash but in my mind because I was a 12 year old kid playing it and life was new to me and I hadn't ruined it yet it will remain in my memory as one of the greatest games ever.
I'm dedicating tomorrow 🤪 finally inner peace is attainable.
This game brings back so many memories. Wish I could go back to that time. No cares in the world other than adventure.
This is my absolute favorite Zelda game. Grew up with it, beat it at age 7, and even today I use the randomizer to enjoy it again and again. Thanks for taking the time to honor it.
Randomizer is great. Check out some hacks like "Shadow of Night" if you want a new challenge.
Not my favorite but underrated game
Preach.
Beat at at age 7?? You're a prodigy
It’s Saturday night and I just beat this game for the first time in my life! Got this game 36 years ago. I feel like I’m in 6th grade again! The feeling crazy! Thank you for the walk through; without your tutorial I’d still be stuck trying to level attack and magic! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
It's going to be fun watching this channel grow into being a 100k+ subscriber success story.
Thanks, Jason - I hope so! If I have 100K subs I should be able to focus on the channel full time, and then I can really make some great content.
Amazing how fast this channel is growing. I subbed at 900 already 4K in like a week
@@jontowns6728 Ikr? This is a really helpful channel.
I found it this week and working my way though each video, great channel nothing as good.
Spot ons the truth dude ill be watching
One of the few games I never beat as a kid. Now I'm 40 and have COVID, so I'll use this downtime to finally conquer this game with this video's help! Thanks!
Good use of the time, I agree. Many people don't like Zelda 2, but I dont know, I always enjoy playing this. My favorites are Zelda 1 & 2 Lttp and OOT
Hold up, I never knew there was aquick save in this game. Ever. I spent so long trying to die to save not knowing this. I could have saved the game right there. This is very extensive for a tips vid. Your voice is engaging. It makes me wanna listen to what you have to say
Thanks Dickens! That quick save is handy!
Yea, I never knew about it either! This channel is so awesome!
fun fact: if you can get an enemy to hit you as you move into those action sequences on the way to Darunia, you can bypass the action sequences with monster action sequences and avoid the water pits all-together
Very true! I also found out you can do the same trick at the end in the area before the Great Palace. Pretty cool!
@@UCanBeatVideoGames I learned this as a kid when the game came out. You can bypass a lot of things by getting attacked on specific tiles.
@@jamesaroeuett1567 Yup, the joys of playing too damn much and learning unintentional mini cheats. Same with Super Mario Bros 2, Double Dragon, etc back then.
Yes, I was very surprised he didn't include that technique in the video. You can also do it right after the river devil.
combine this with listening to the song, and you know when the enemies spawn too.
7 minutes in and I’m already mind blown by your leveling strategy
Edit: glad to know I was always using the right power leveling spot
Last edit: using reflect against the thunder bird, did not know that
Reflect for the Thunderbird was huge for me. That guy always seemed so hard before I knew about it!
@@UCanBeatVideoGames Fun Thunderbird fact - there was a Game Genie code that would make it so that casting Shield would cause the lightning spell to constantly cast while Shield is active.
This sounds OP and fun, but if you have it active for Thunderbird it soft locks the game - Thunderbird dies before the game registers that it spawned and you can’t continue.
Young me was crushed when I learned this, lol.
Notes:
Lizalfos are much harder to beat with the Ironknuckle strategy, since downward slashing hits don't always work. You can damage them a little more reliably with short ducking hops while slashing. Imagine trying to hit them between their low and high shield poses.
The "intended" way to defeat Fokkas is probably to upthrust them as they jump overhead, but the timing is tricky and it's easy to jump into them this way.
If you hit a statue and an Ironknuckle/Fokka comes out of it, so long as you don't kill it, if you leave the area and come back the statue will regenerate, and you can hit it again for another chance at a red magic potion.
The statues at the start of most palaces that might produce a red potion or Ironknuckle can be regenerated even if you kill the Ironknuckle simply by leaving the palace and returning.
This is such a concise addendum. Perfect little read to top off watching the video.
Also, it should be noted that the ones that gave birth to the Fokkas are, in fact, Mother Fokkas.
I'll see myself out...
I loved it when I was a kid. It was the first time I'd been introduced to the concept of experience points and I loved the fact that I could make my character better if I just put more work into it.
Dude that was awesome! Watched the entire thing from start to finish. Interesting thing is, your leveling strategy is exactly what I used as a kid as well as your strategy for shadow link! I remember being so frustrated fighting shadow link that I said "I'm gonna just crouch in the corner and attack because I tried everything and nothing works..." and that did it. LOL never forget that moment.
Because of that leveling strategy I never found this game hard. Miss the days when I could play video games all day LOL
The island palace can be used to grind out your XP very easily. Just go in attack statue for magic or iron knuckle, take the elevator down, fight the 3 enemies for 100xp, 70xp, and 5xp. Take the elevator back up and walk out to the left. Re-enter palace and repeat as many times as needed. Use life spell as needed. Don't worry your magic will be refilled by statue almost every time. Each time it takes about 30-45 seconds and gives you 175-275xp.
Thank's for the tip.
@@youju26 YW
His grind he suggested was a lot easier to me. I was wantin to beat this game all my life and finally with the help of this I did I actually had so much xp after island palace I tried to get level 9 attack!
Thanks to this guide I've mastered my fear of the wild in Zelda 2...
I am now going to the Island Palace (zero coins inserted in previous palaces yet)
5 atk - 6 magic - 6 HP - better than my previous games by far.
It’s a good tip! I’ve also found that you can rack up lots of experience points by going through the death mountain caves back and forth too.
One of my fav games of all time. I'm proud to say that I beat this one on original hardware without any help.
In 1989 I could not clear that final palace. No internet to fall back on in those days, so pretty awesome you did it without any help.
That’s insane I thought castlevania was hard to beat on original hardware but I think this takes the cake
I beat it also with no help, original hardware. I think it was 1990 or 91. Great game, downward thrust was amazing!
Same. For some strange reason I struggled more with Zelda 1 as a kid. Maybe it's because I didn't own it.
A note on the orange Dairas in those two descending scenes at the end of Death Mountain: if you back away enough, they stop attacking. Then, when you run at them, quickly crouch, attack, and retreat. Assuming you don't mess up, it will always fall in the window between their attacks.
Something I used to do because I thought it made the hammer cave easier was I would go up the side path at the end of Death Mountain before doing that final cave, and go to Mido and get the down thrust and come back down the bridge and side path and get the hammer and the magic container.
There is something about this channel. I find it very nostalgic and fun to watch. Thanks for helping me remember all the good times, especially the names of everything lol. I do still play this game to this day tho. It was that impactful to me
I feel the same way... don't even own any Nintendos anymore but watching makes me relive some happy times. 😊
@@crackazack510 i'm sure you have plenty going on in life but you should buy a nintendo 😊
I figured easiest way to get to get level 8 stats is in palace 5 (sea palace). Go in to room where rocks are falling from ceiling and let them pile up to top of screen. Then make a ladder from rocks to top on the same height eye monster (Moa) is spawning. They keep spawning infinitely and basically run into your sword and give 50 exp each. It ain't much but it's honest labor. :D
This is how I’ve always done it. I was surprised it wasn’t mentioned.
I'll have to try that next time. I've played the game for years and never heard of this method.
I do like the UCBVG strat of saving all the palace boss battles until the end, filling up those costly final levels easily. Never occurred to me back in the day.
@@mklptrk I've done that previously with the exception of saving. I'd exit the palace as I would normally and go to the next destination. I found that doing this, I'd max out before finishing all the palaces. Once you have nothing else to level, you receive an extra life at 9,000.
Shadow Link regular fight is so cool. After the whole maze, the whole game, lies one final challenge. The setting, the music, the intense shield and sword fight if you go at it as intended. I love it!
It’s probably been over 30 years since I’ve played Zelda 2 and this makes me want to jump into it again. Great video!
It did make me. I pulled it up on Switch to play along to the video.
Greetings from the BIG SKY. I always enjoyed the music in this video back when it came out first. I see that you have a 2 part strategy toward beating the game.
When I played this as a kid, I always went through the 2nd palace before Death Mountain, making it WAY "less impossible" due to the extra experience points. I can't imagine going through it after just 1 palace. lol
YES! I made it through death mountain with your help!
your tips also helped me develop a slow & steady technique…. If you run away far enough for them to lower their weapons, and then run right back to them head on without stopping, it’ll time your attacks to hit them, run and be able to repeat.
Just dont back down, run right up and swing, then run right back away until they aren’t holding the axe any more, then run back and swipe again.
You’ll still have to jump to beat the red ones though.
Great video with a lot of good tips! This is pretty much my favorite NES game and, even though I have played it a countless number of times, I still find it challenging, especially the final palace. I thought I'd offer a few additional tips that I use that make the game more manageable and, dare I say, slightly easier? They're small things, but every bit helps!
1. When getting into a battle on the overworld (when the black shadows run into you) I find in almost all cases that if you exit to the right, there are less enemies and even easier ones. This is especially true when getting into the easier overworld battles in the swamp. When you go to the right, you'll have to battle 2-3 rock throwing lobsters (Rock Lobster!). If you go to the left, you'll run into a moving Rock Lobster...
2. When attacking the Iron Knuckle statues at the entrance of a palace, attack from the right side. If an Iron Knuckle pops out instead of a red potion, he will fall off the pedestal to the left and won't be able to pursue you as you enter the palace to the right.
3. This one is specific to the battle with Goomer. I always use jump magic as well, makes it A LOT easier to get out of the way of his attacks.
And my final additional tip, and this is a HUGE one...
4. Wait until you've beaten the 6 palaces to collect the overworld 1-ups. Once you've collected the 1-ups, they are gone. This means that once you've collected a 1-up, and lose your lives, you can't get them back. Why go to all the trouble of waiting to be able to stock up on 1-ups? The last palace is BRUTAL and you're going to want to get through it in one go. It's true that if you lose all your lives, you can start back at the entrance, but do you really want to have to go through that maze again? With all the extra lives you've now stocked up on, you have a bit more leeway and will have a better chance of making it to the end without having to restart the palace.
And that's my two (or should I say four) cents! Thanks for a nice video and I am off to tackle TMNT now using the video you made for that game :)
Who is Goomer??
@@ShadowZero1980 Gooma, typo ;)
I am very grateful for this tutorial for not just explaining the silly cryptic stuff, but for providing insanely helpful strategies to tackle how messed up this game is sometimes. Used this to finally beat this game after 20 years of getting pummeled by it. So, thank you!
At 20:40, you CAN kill the Myu without the downthrust but you need to attack crouching after you land from jumping at the correct distance.
Oh, interesting! Good tip - thank you!
Thank you, I had some strong, yet very vague due to the time since I last played Zelda 2, feelings when he said that, thinking I remembered killing those things all the time without the downthrust...
Another one of many tricks I used back in the day.
Yep, hold down and slash as you're hitting the ground from a jump and it lowers your sword just enough to hit the myu.
@@mae2759 Even better you can use this to bypass the Ironknuckles shields as well. You can just stab them through their head. Works wonders.
I wish there were guides like this back in the day. Being 9 years old and playing this back in late 80's early 90's, was really tricky. Took me FOREVER to beat. You would get tips from other kids on the bus ride home from school, or in magazines. We use to bring magazines on the bus to trade info with each other. It probably took me 4-5 years playing on and off, to actually complete it. Crazy how things have changed
I'm surprised how much of the muscle memory of Zelda 2 has stuck with me. When I replayed this game, I cleared out Death Mountain and many other areas near flawlessly. I generally found the game fairly easy to replay. I did play it hundreds of hours as a kid - definitely stuck with me for some reason.
This game was released on January 14, 1987 in Japan for the Famicom Disk System. Since no other game' was released on January 19 I consider it my birth game.
Awesome review and walkthrough! I passed this game when it came out originally. Im in my 40's today. Brings back memories. I never knew using reflect magic on thunderbird boss.
I grew up mostly on Master System, Genesis and SNES, but this helped me finally beat Zelda 2. It's one of my favorite franchises. I really enjoyed the video as well, keep up the great work. Thanks!
This video was fantastic. I just beat zelda 2 last night and trying to go through the great palace without a guide and using trial and error to get through it and find the Thunderbird was maddening. Now that I see how to deal with certain threats like the blue fokkus, it doesnt seem that bad anymore and much more manageable. The next time I play through this underappreciated gem, I am 100% using this so I can fully enjoy the game unlike before. This was fantastic and I instantly subbed after seeing this to the very end.
Thank you so much!
There is a soft spot in my heart for The Adventure of Link. It was the first game I purchased with my own money. I had to borrow from my savings and pay it back. Took me a few weeks.
Thank you for that leveling tip. It really saved a lot of time, and I only had to spend like a half hour at that leveling spot to get to the right levels to go after the bosses. These videos are awesome. Though I was playing the Zelda 2 redux hack, so the orange guys were only giving me 100 points each. The red ones were 150.
I beat this game one time on my game cube zelda collection had the game saved from 5 years prior went to the final boss after 2 hours of frustration beat thunder bird and shadow link never again.
Those busts on the palace walls have magic bottles in them. So do the knight statues on the shelves under the doors. Not always, but sometimes.
Many will often spawn a red knight instead, but if you leave the screen without killing it, you can try again.
This game is actually more fun than I expected and read all across the internet. Managed to beat this in under 5 hours with your strats. Keep up the good work!
Overall a really good walkthrough of the game. One thing I want to note is that instead of leaving the palaces incomplete and then having to go back to them to get those final levels, I like grinding out levels in Palace 5 (Ocean Palace) instead. There’s a room where blocks fall from the ceiling and moas attack from left to right. If you let the blocks fill the area and then stand on the 3rd block up, you are at the perfect height to kill the moas over and over for 50 points each time. It helps to cast fire as well to kill them faster. This lets you grind fast to max levels. Or usually what I do is I grind to 8-7-7 levels and then beating the bosses of Palace 5 and 6 will completely level you up.
Thanks, tony! That's a great level grind spot, but I'd still finish those palaces later to get the easy levels.
@@UCanBeatVideoGames It might be faster to get those last levels, but I always found it tedious to have to go back to those palaces later. There’s something rewarding about finishing a palace the first time and not having to come back. I agree your method is probably faster though.
@@UCanBeatVideoGames And if anything, I would mention the grind spot in your video since I think it’s better to grind there than the woods area near the ending of the game, even if you do revisit the palaces to get the last levels.
the way you delivered that line at 32:46 caught me off guard, choked on a piece of broccoli even.
bravo, sir. i tip my hat, my sword, my bow and my axe to you.
No one hated this game when it came out. The only other zelda that existed was the first. There was no standard. This is an amazing entry in the series and my personal favorite.
No one hated it? Are you sure? I was in love with the first Zelda and then played this and immediately said "What is this shit?". It's unfairly hard, has ridiculous secrets no one on earth could figure out of logic or intelligence, has arbitrarily hidden key items. I know it was a staple back then, but it's objectively considered bad game design when developers do everything they can to actually discourage you from finding secrets, knowing they're so ridiculous you have to use guides or walk-throughs. It defeats its own purpose... And adventure game where the adventurer would never find anything on their own... Counterintuitive. Bad design. Change my mind.
I also adored it when it came out after being obsessed with the original. I still hold ZII very high on the list and it is one of my favorite NES games to this day.
@@soullessSiIence I bought this stupid game and it started collecting dust in just a few days. Loaned it to my friends and they all gave it back with the same opinion, not very good. I ended up trading it for a different game and was happy I got the trade.
@@soullessSiIence lol but all that could be said about zelda 1 also. Bomb what where?😂
I hated it when it came out. Loved Zelda when I got for xmas. Played 'Link' and hated it. Nothing like the 1st game and absolute trash.
Just streamed AND BEAT this one on Twitch, and only had to continue once thanks to this guide. Between this and maps I was using from VGMaps, that's the best run I've ever had. Thank you for your efforts.
Very interesting video! I finished this game like a billion times, but some strategies you used during this gameplay never crossed my mind. I love Zelda 2 and now I'm very happy because I learned something new about this game. Thanks.
Thanks, Matteo! I'm always hoping to show something new and interesting in each of my videos!
As a kid I was never able to beat this game without GameGenie, and last night at the tender age of 42, I finally beat it without cheating. Your explanations were perfect and your advice on how to manipulate the experience point system was brilliant (I'm actually ashamed I didn't think of that). Thank you!
Loved this game as a kid, and still think it’s underrated
Just beat it for the first time, today...35 years in the making. Thanks for the help!
I'm working on it now, 2 years later and 42 yo! ❤
You can use Reflect against Barba to take less/no hits against him.
This is my absolute favorite game on the NES, I have beating it more times than I can count in different systems.
One of my favorite games when I was a kid. It was so hard. When I finally made it to the final stages my dad tripped over my console while I was playing and deleted all my progress!
Oh no, what a disaster!! I've def lost saved games, but never that deep into a hard game!
One of the first games I ever managed to beat by myself as a kid. I really think 90% of the dislike of this game comes from the difficulty spike when you enter death mtn. If you can get through that then you're set.
Excellent video. I’ve had this game since release, and I still learned new things about this game. I never dared to cancel a level up and I didn’t know you could save up exp points. Gonna try to play it the way you did in this video.
If anyone wants to try beating Shadow Link without the crouching trick, he has a weird hit box. Jumping slashes aimed at the heart and throat area seems to work most of the time.
Good tip for Shadow Link, Evan! I spent a bit of time trying to figure out a "fun" way to beat him, and totally came up short. Thanks for watching!
Yes, your jump slashes have to land past his shield. If you jump slash too "shallow", then he'll just block it. You almost have to jump on top of him when doing it.
Great videos fellow retro nostalgic video maker
I watched one video
Searched generally for another game video
Of course no great results
Then I searched this with exactly your channel name
Found instantly
Thx for producing quality that legit matches a search
Your results should be the top results
Brilliant work! I am glad more long videos examining games in-depth are popping up on TH-cam, especially for older games that have a bad habit of being unclear and unforgiving. I hope your channel keeps growing, you explain things so clearly and concisely.
I never played the game myself back in the 90th, but I heard a lot of people talking about it. Thank you for all 3 NES Zelda videos. Especially your elaborate explanations make your videos interesting, other videos are simple walkthroughs that become boring in a short time.
Beat this game in my childhood, watching this playthrough to reminisce how awesome this game is!
i love how the towns share their names with the sages from ocarina of time
Thank you so much, man. I had a hard time beating this game as a kid now I finally beat the end of this game after all these years thanks to you😂
I really liked this video. I think the pacing of speech was great and liked the amount of detail. All of the points you were making though-out the video felt sharp and clean. For a 1 hour video it was surprisingly easy to digest. Thank you
Thank you for emphasising the importance of the shield & fairy magic. In many reviews and comments regarding Zelda 2, commonly I find people complain about the cost of the life spell. But these people seldom use the other magics, which negate much of the need for the life spell.
It's still a crucial spell, but not the best for every situation.
Funny thing, when I played this as a 7 year-old I couldn’t find the mirror, so I just went through most of the game without the Life magic. That is, until the fruitless search for the 6th Palace utterly stumped me for the next six years of my life.😅
I use a different strategy for leveling up. When I go to the palacd surrounded by water, (the green one) I find the room with the falling blocks. I let the blocks stack all the way up. Then I cut a path about 4 blocks up. It will be the block level where the flying enemy enters the screen. If my attack isn't strong enough to kill it with one hit. I use fire magic to hit it once when it first appears, then my sword to finish it off. I place link on the far end of the stack standing one block down so he can stand up and his sword attacks at the level the enemy flies in at.
The timing is important but not hard to figure out. When the enemy spawns you time a fire ball to hit it one, then the sword to kill it. Each kill is 50 points but they come repeatedly adding up quickly. Every few kills also leaves either a magic refill bottle or a bag with 200 points. It doesn't take long to earn points quickly. You can easily get all your stats to level 8 in a short time.
the 5th palace (sea/ocean palace) with the falling blocks and the fast flying big eye is the fastest way to get exp in the game (aside from the crystal statues), but really, the entire game progression has multiple good ways to get experience throughout the entire game progression
you can use the orange lizard monsters in the cave to new/hidden kasuto town near the end of the game (6th palace area) to level up fully (8-8-8) almost as quickly as the 5th palace falling blocks room with the fast flying eyeball monsters
(likely there's some simple programming mistakes, as the red lizard guys are harder/stronger, but only give 100 exp, whereas the weaker/easier orange lizard guys give 150, obviously, they accidentally swapped the address values in the programming, simple and "typo-like" mistakes, a lot of games often do these types of mistakes, unfortunately)
death mountain runs are also a great source for exp too, once you're skilled/good at the game and with killing monsters (and being a bit more leveled up, helps a lot too, even for the veterans/skilled players of the game) (and having the life spell... as lots of new players don't find the lost mirror in town... sighs)
the 3rd palace (island palace) statue at its entrance is a decent place as well, though it's not as great as it could be, due to the fact that you can get red jars (no red iron knuckle, or you get red iron knuckle, but he then drops a red jar instead of giving you exp), so, you can get like 8-10 time in a row (if super unlucky like me, laughs) where you get no exp at all from it... (if you could always get the 100 exp with always having a red knuckle and it always giving the exp drop, then it would probably be the fastest method in the game, possibly beating out the 5th palace with its falling block area with the fast flying eyeball monster, but that's not how the game mechanics work, unfortunately)
another great method for getting exp is "dungeon running/farming", as still a ton of people have no idea that you can avoid placing the crystal into the crystal statue and exit the palace, as this is due to that the actual activation for placing the crystal is walking over the raised-platform-row of blocks' two center/middle blocks directly below the crystal statue, and thus jumping over these two blocks, enable you to NOT place the crystal, while still being able to go through the exit of the palace, allowing you to "run" the palace over and over again, killing the monsters for decent speed of experience along the way, and also being able to decide when to place the crystal for the best usage of the exp it gives you
there's many other good sources of getting exp throughout the game...
such as at the very beginning of the game, just get into a weak encounter on the grass, and going back and forth, killing the slimes/bots, as every 8th (or whatever number it is) killed enemy will either drop a exp bag or a red/blue jar, so, while the slimes/bots themselves are only 2 exp each, you do quickly (3 slimes on the right side and two on the left side, but might have them reversed, going off my memory here, lol) get the 50 exp bags to drop quite often, for actually quite good exp (it's actually probably faster then "running" the first/parapa palace), you can actually level up quite high from doing the slimes on the grassland right at the start of the game lol, and it really goes a lot faster than you imagine it does.. you can really quickly/easily get to (5-5-5)+ in almost no time at all, right at the start of the game, against the slimes on the grassland, using the fast killing and chance of 50 exp bag drops
also, at the very start of the game, though a bit less safe, you could get into the hard encounter in the forest, to have the stronger moblins, which do give you exp, which might be faster than doing the slimes, especially if they do drop higher exp bags, along with these stronger moblins themselves giving more exp than the slimes, though it is a bit more dangerous, then fighting the weakest monsters in the game, the slimes
and, on the eastern continent, once you got fire spell, you can get good exp killing those enemies that can only be killed with fire (the hopping blue guys with the big eye who shoot those magic things at you, and/or those blue iguana/lizard-4-legged-walking things that shoot the fireballs at you) in the random encounters for really good fast exp too, as they die quick to the fireballs of the fireball spell, and so it can be fast killing, racking up 50 exp per kill, along with whatever amount of exp their exp bag drops give
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the most important things to note:
the strongest enemies in the game only give 200 exp, so they're really not worth the effort, as say even 50 exp per monster really isn't much different than 200 exp per monster, and also that you have chance to get an exp bag every 8th (or whatever) monster killed too for even more exp, so really, it's about speed/frequency of kills, over how much exp you get per monster, especially due to the exp bag drops
the easiest/quickest monster for its exp, is the orange lizard guys who give 150 exp (and their exp bag drops give 300 exp), as the 200 exp monsters are the hardest in the game, very hard to kill, not worth the effort, and they take more time to kill as well), but the orange lizard guys are near the end of the game (6th palace area, best place is the cave to hidden/new kasuto, and if remember right, near the exit of the cave, aka the right-most within the cave, to the new/hidden kasuto area, going in and out of it to respawn the orange lizard guy, or you can just get into an encounter in the forests of the 6th palace area as well also), so not really useful unless you're still not maxed out by then
I've already completed this game around 10 times since I got it back in Christmas 1989, but those leveling up tricks are pretty handy. I'll try those next time I decide to run though the game again.
This is one of the most wholesome and enjoyable channels on TH-cam. I always mean to just watch a little and end up watching from start to finish.
You make really great content, dude. Your work is appreciated.
I always lie to save the life/magic level-up for when I really need to refill them (At least early game. Past Death Mountain/Swamp Palace, I would level-up as normal). Also, I would save collecting the Link Dolls for when I'm about to tackle the Great Palace.
Its def nice to have a couple extra lives on the way to the Great Palace. Thanks for watching!
Additional tip regarding the statues at the entrance to the palaces. If you really want the magic jar but get an iron knuckle, you can always leave and come right back and hit the statue again and rinse and repeat until you have full magic. Handy if you arrive at low life since you can use life magic and then exit and come back straight away for another magic refill.
If you want to level quickly in the first palace, an easy trick is killing the skull bubble things. You _can_ kill them - though they take a lot of hits - and they will give you 50 XP each, and they respawn. I usually grind them to attack level 4 before continuing on.
I never had the patience to kill those until getting much stronger. Good tip!
And once you get the down thrust, grinding the bubbles becomes much less tedious.
It is easier to exit and re-enter the Parapa Palace to reset the mini bosses and the fairy. It is incredibly time consuming to kill a Bubble for just 50 exp unless you have a high sword level and down thrust, which you wouldn’t have early in the game. Those Bubbles take 16 hits to defeat at max sword level and they take forever at the lower sword levels. I wouldn’t bother with them unless I had a turbo controller at that point.
First person to really explain this game well, rather than just complaining about it's shortcomings compared to the later games in the series, so you've earned my sub!
Thank you once again. Just vanquished this juggernaut of the 8 hit era this morning. I wanna say I found your channel via your fantastic walkthrough of Nightshade. Keep up the good work bud. I'll be using your Link to the Past walkthrough very soon. Also, for anyone looking for great maps, I've been using the fansite Zelda Dungeon. They're a great resource for them.
This video is very similar to those old Video game guide videos, I love this feeling of nostalgia.
I beat this game when I was a kid a long time ago, when I really got into it I would play it all day long and simply by screwing around I found so many secret areas!
Brilliant strategy to skip a lot of grinding! I've been doing it the hard way since the 80's
Man... this is probably my favorite game of all time. I still played it probably once a year and can beat it in like 4-5 hours. But that being said... dude... I had NO IDEA there was a magic bottle on the left side before the thunderbird fight! Blew my mind when you went there!
I wish I had your video many years ago when I beat this game. Your guide would've made it MUCH easier and less grindy. I didn't even know about the shadow Link trick when I beat him as a kid. That mofo was extremely hard! It wasn't until years later when I replayed it, and I was just messing around, and discovered it by accident. Some more years later, the trick appeared in an AVGN episode.
Fun fact: The Iron Knuckle statue potion trick also works on those wall statues with the animal heads.
Thanks!! I also stumbled onto the Shadow Link strategy when I was pretty young - I'm not sure how else anyone ever beat him. Cool tip about those animal heads! probably need a jump spell to hit some of the higher ones.
As an 8 year old way back when, it took me and a friend 5 years of intermittent play to beat this. I remember vividly sketching the final castle map to remember which ways to go. Nintendo Power helped a little but a lot was trial and error. Thanks for the video.
I played this game through on my channel. The end nearly broke me. Overall I enjoyed the game, but i don't think i'm in any hurry to play it again. You make it look profoundly easy in comparison!
Thanks man! At least if you die on the final palace they let you start back there, I'm not sure I'd have ever beat this as a kid if it wasn't for that.
@@UCanBeatVideoGames In my play-through, i made it to the last palace, only to realize i hadn't finished the swamp temple. Had to trek all the way back. made for a funny video, but I was less than thrilled!
Very possibly one of my favorite games on the NES. I remember getting both it and the first Legend of Zelda for my tenth birthday. Definitely major nostalgia at almost 43.
It took me weeks as a kid to figure out this game. But it was so satisfying
I am a massive fan of the channel. That being said I think this episode can be redone. Skipping the temples doesn't show us how to beat the video game. It is not this way for any of the other games. Still going to be an active fan od this channel for as long as you decide to make new content.
In that final area where you got a red jar, there are actually 2 red jars there. Of course 50/50 chance of being red Fokka/red jar.
I kind of cheat using the NES Advantage controller. If you go to the swamp with those perpetually respawning birds, you can turn on that controller's turbo and pin the button down with something to keep swinging your sword. You'll get 3 exp per kill and can leave it like that for a couple hours to max your exp out.
Another way to avoid placing the crystal is to just jump over the center of the crystal platform.
That would work!
What other way is there?
Great video!. I love this game, and I think many reviewers have villified it in excess. Yes, it is a difficult challenge, but, at least for me, I enjoy a good challenge, and I beat it once a year.
Another strategy you may want to use to rack up levels early is to kill the bubbles in the first palace. These take a LOT of hits to kill when you have your sword in level 1, but they give you 50 experience points, which is a LOT when you are starting the game. Kill a couple of these guys, and you can rack up levels very quickly.
Thanks for your video. I'll use some of your strategies in my next playthrough.
If you've already passed the game, I highly recommend fighting Shadow Link fairly. It is extremely rewarding and a fitting final battle for the game's overall difficulty.
There's an unofficial "remastered" version out that is really good if you like the original. A bunch of quality of life "fixes", additional areas and secrets, one ups increase your total when you continue etc. Unfortunately I think it's emulator only so... That aside, it's very well done.
35:14 "Soon you'll come to an area you can't avoid." Not necessarily true. You could stand and wait for a group of enemies to appear and try to hit one as you step onto the hidden area. If you time it right and connect on top of it, you'll fight the (hopefully) weaker standard desert enemy, instead of having to go through the area with the instant death water pits. This works in the final road to the valley of death as well. The hidden ones on the way to the final castle. Presenting you with a weaker and shorter battle to traverse to pass the area.
👌
Never beat this game as a kid back in the 80s. Thanks to your video, I was finally just able to complete it! Thank you!!!
Always loved Zelda II. I actually liked it more than the first.
The Links Adventure Zelda 2 cartridge is one I've seldom gone back to just because of how demanding the game is. I'm sure if I could actually create a magic seal to encase it, namely to prevent others from the harsh trail of madness I suffered, I would. Thanks for helping me come to grips with a less loved classic and helping me remove it from a 30 year slip case slumber.
yes, "town healer" that's what we'll call her
What are you insinuating? This was a kids' game. The town healer is just like a normal massage parlor.
@@WALDENSOFTWARE That massage parlor gave out the best happy endings.
@@JerBuster77 You mean because it restored your life bar? 😁
Zelda 2 the only game where link gets any
@@robwar1992 Only one of the reasons this is the best Zelda game ever.
Thank you, this guide helped me beat this game for the first time. It feels awesome to know that I've beaten the two NES Zelda games, which is where I started my adventure.
I loved this version! I remmeber the hardest part, at least for me, was fighting your shadow.
I wish I knew a more fun way to beat that guy. Without knowing the trick he just seems impossible.
@@UCanBeatVideoGames That sure would have made my childhood less frustrating!
@@UCanBeatVideoGames
Crouching is unnecessary for "the trick". The last time I played through this game, I managed to get my first (and probably last, since it seems to be luck-based whether or not he'll be able to break through the slashes of a standing Link while he'll almost certainly hit Link a few times during the crouching strategy by jumping into Link) "no damage taken against shadow" battle.
I'm disappointed that the mostly-useless Spell spell didn't have a role in this battle [I tried it in one of my most recent playthroughs (I had the magic to spare after using Shield and making sure I kept enough to use Life in case of emergency in the playthrough in question, so it wasn't the aforementioned "last playthrough"), but nothing happened]. I still don't know if using Fire does anything, but I intend to find out in my next playthrough, which is currently ongoing. Hopefully I remember to edit this comment or leave a new one after I find out if Fire does anything to Link's shadow, since if it does, that would certainly be "a more fun way" to win the final fight, with or without "the trick". "WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS, USE FIRE" is an in-game hint, and I wouldn't put it past Nintendo to have a hint for the final boss when most players think the hint only applies to Tektites and Zora.
@@RemyWillard The spells Fire & Spell don't work on bosses, especially Spell, since that would be too cheap. It turns all regular enemies on the screen into Bots. I'm not sure if Thunder works on bosses either (excluding Thunderbird), but Dark Link's HP is special. Instead of taking damage based on your ATK level, his health bar goes by number of hits instead, so even if you could cast it on him, it would be for only 1 bar.
@@Animebryan2
I figured as much for Spell's "normal" effect, which is why I only ever use it to get the magic key in most playthroughs.
I'm still going to try out Fire when I get to the shadow on my current playthrough, but if it doesn't work, at least I know I can still win the final fight. XD
If Thunder abides by the same rules as Link's sword, that'll be a waste of 64 magic, so I probably won't try it... but I could just rewind on my Switch if I have the magic and see the spell only remove one bar of health.
Thank ye for the input. :)
UPDATE: Like Spell, Fire and Thunder are 100% ineffective against the shadow. I managed to reach the shadow with full Life and Magic, so it was a good time to try them. The only spell left to experiment with is Fairy, but since that just turns Link into a fairy (some "POWER", right? XD ), I'm not expecting it to do anything with the shadow either. That means "the trick" of standing to one side is the only known way to battle the shadow. :(
ive started a play through of every zelda game and this one was giving me a lot of grief, this guide is so through and helpful, thank you!!
Great job! My favorite Zelda game! Lot of fun. Still play it on my NES mini!
Thanks! Getting my NES mini a couple years ago was one of the things that turned me back on to this game. It was hard as a kid, but as an adult I can appreciate the challenge.
Your favorite zelda game...?!?! Please just stop, you’re embarrassing yourself
@@Danarchy3 Have you ever played it or are you just jumping on the bandwagon? Zelda 2 is great and has a really unfair reputation. I would put it around the same level as Zelda 1 but if I had to pick, my favorite of the 2 is Zelda 2.
@@DualAnalogReviews I have played it. It might be a good game, (I don’t think it is) but it certainly is NOT a good ZELDA game. Sometimes band wagons exist for a reason
@@Danarchy3 Of course we are both subject to our opinion. My main point is that the game is very underrated which I think we can agree on. The game is certainly not as bad as many claim.
I never could beat this incredible game without your help! I tried playing this game numerous times growing up considering the OG is my favorite game of all time. I would get to death mountain get game over after return of Ganon after backwards falls into pits after another then would just give up. Even though I enjoyed the game play. This video helped me finally defeat this juggernaut and cement this masterpiece as one of my favorite games!! Thank you for helping us all beat this video game
Love your strategy! At least for newcomers to this amazing game.
This might be one of my favorite Zeldas, despite it being the black sheep of the Zelda family.
At the Valley of Death, you can use encounters to skip the difficult forced encounters instead of using Faerie spell through them
I love this game, I still play through it about once a year. My leveling strategy is to only level up hearts as they are the cheapest. Once I get to level 8 I go back and finish the firdt palace. This gives you 8800 free points and gets you instantly to attack 6 and magic 5.
You only get 1 level up from a palace, not?
Terrific guide. I beat this way back in the day with the help of a book, and have been playing again since I got my Game & Watch and using this guide because somehow it is both comprehensive and concise.
Definitely a great strategy to save the palace crystals until you are 5/6/7 in levels to save a lot of time grinding levels.
Thanks for this and all your videos!
I can tell you a lot about it.
-There are 41 fixed location Red Jars (at my own research) including those that can turn into Ironknuckles/Birdknights
-There are 30 fixed location P-Bags in the game
-Getting 9000 Points gives you an Extra Life! And a free Life/Magic Refill.
-Defeat the Boss of a dungeon, but jump over the center and exit the dungeon instead. Wait until you're you 8-8-8 (9000 points) and then seal the palaces for a free 6 lives.
-Save the link dolls for the end of the game.
-Use Shield against Bosses to half your damage.
-Keep Fairy on hand to cast instantly (select the spell as your last selected spell) to save yourself from being knocked into a pit otherwise.
-Fairy can allow you to fly through doors without a key. Use this if you wish. Make sure you can get magic to fly back!
-Fairy doesn't allow "kickback" which means you can't be knocked into a pit/etc. Guess what, you cannot cheat the Great Palace, as it's set for instant death if you touch it. Developer insight!
-There is too much for me to post in one comment.
-Ironknuckles can be killed easily if you do a jump/duck/stab move, in order, to bypass their shields and go through their helmets.
-Game cannot be saved scummed, if you want a 000 clear, you must clear the game without saving or game overs in one sitting.
-Still more I can tell you. But not now.
These tips are legit! thanks man!
as a kid i remember i tried to cheat and get to the final palace but got blocked by that energy shield
@@emailchrismoll As a kid back in the late 80s/early 90s I tried to bypass the barrier by using Fairy, as there is no kickback when you're a fairy. Developer insight prevented me from passing, as it's coded to instantly kill you as a fairy.