Did You Like AOL?

[zeldatwilight]

Did you honestly like the Adventure of Link? When i first got it, i knew that it would be a hard game, so it sorta made me hate it right away. I played it and couldn't get anywhere, only to like the 3rd palace. Then i finally played it long enough, and beat the game. And knowing that i could beat the hardest Zelda game made me like it. Don't know why it made me like it, but I did. It overall wasn't a bad game. It was fun and hard at the same time. I hate how people say that the Side-Scroll was horrible. It really wasn't all that bad. For one, you only had enemies attack from the left and right, unlike LOZ when you had them from all directions. And the obvious, I liked it cause its a Zelda game. So i do like the game, even though it is tough.

 

[basement24]

I loved it through and through. Great graphics and music, excellent control and upgrade system, and superb difficulty to boot. It was great fun to play through. The red screen announcing Ganon's return along with his laughter just made me want to keep playing. It egged me on and kept me going.

As a somewhat side note, I don't know why people think it was the black sheep even when it was released. Obviously, you weren't around for when it was out if you think this. It was a huge hit amongst fans and was a chart topper at the time as well. It really wasn't the black sheep everyone think it is now back in the day. It was revolutionary. If we'd got another top-down Zelda, I think it would have been stale. People only say it's the black sheep now because there's so many similar Zelda titles that make it stand out.

I think people tend to call it the black sheep if they haven't beaten it! (That's right, I'm calling you all out!)

 

[Shadsie]

Oh, I enjoyed it a lot when I had it on my old NES. I got to replay it on GameCube and remembered what I'd liked about it.

Now, one thing I definitely can say I didn't like about it was how the field-enemies would come at you as blob-like things and when you were caught, there was this loud musical "sting" that hurt the ears. That... and having to start at North Palace every time (save the last level) were annoying bits...

But the side-scrolling? I liked it. It presented new challenges and new ways to play with the enemies. For the graphics of the time... the graphics were excellent. I still think they're pretty good.

I love, love, LOVE AoL's huge and varied world map - it's a very big Hyrule with lots of different environments. I love the multiple towns, too. I dare say that AoL's the only Zelda that really felt like a grand, vast and populous kindgom because of the many terrains and the many towns. Other Zelda titles make me wonder just where all the people and towns are (Castle Town and Kakariko do not constitute a thriving kingdom. I always have to imagine that there's "more Hyrule" out there that Link is not allowed to explore for immedate saving-everyone plot purposes. AoL didn't leave it to my imagination as much). And, of course, the names of OoT's sages come from those towns.

Also, Dark Link was wonderful as a final boss. When I first played the game years ago, I thought that was just awesome that Link would essentially have to fight himself as a final boss - there's really something philosophical in that.

Dairas and mounted Iron Knuckles are cool. Also, Horsehead.

I honestly don't get why so many people dislike this game (other than the fact that it's quite difficult, yet, when one of the Zelda titles proove to be easy, people complain that it's too easy). No winning, I suppose. But, you can count me as part of the AoL fanclub.

 

[Shnappy]

AoL was definitely an awesome twist from LoZ, or, since I didn't grow up on the originals, it was an awesome twist from ALL Zeldas.

I got the game when I was 7 or 8 (this is when I got Collectors Edition with a new Gamecube, those four games were my first Zelda games). I have two brothers, and out of the three of us, none of us ever really liked it. It just too hard. The furthest I ever got was past the first dungeon, and even through that I died 20-30 times already.

I went back to this game a lot, and a gradually got better at it, but still never got passed the infamous Death Mountain Maze. Although, I got better at facing some enemies, and didn't die too much on my venture through the first dungeon.

It wasn't until about a year ago that my brother picked up the game again and started to play it again, and he actually progressed through it. It took him about a week to get through Death Mountain Maze, and getting through the game was definitely a struggle for him, but he slowly, but surely, was going to finish it. His stop, though, was at Thunderbird. He never could beat that boss, and still hasn't today.

I was pretty impressed with his progress through the game. So, I thought, "If he can do this, I should be able to". Well, that wasn't necessarily the case at that point in time. Again, I couldn't get through the freaking Death Mountain Maze. The game still wasn't fun for me.

This previous Summer, a few months ago, I was writing guides on a different site for LoZ, and was using an emulator to get pictures. I decided to download an AoL ROM, and see how well I could do if I used save states, because I wasn't content on actually being able to beat the game. I played through the game, using save states, and even though I was cheating through the game, I gradually got better at facing different enemies, and some of the tougher ones were actually getting more fun to fight.

So, I was at the fifth palace in that run, and was lazy and beat the boss while forgetting to get the Flute, stopping me from further progress in the game. So I thought, "Hey, I'm getting pretty good at this game, why not try it without cheating?" And so that happened. I played through the game without cheating, on an emulator, using my keyboard, and the game started to get actually fun, as I wasn't as frustrated anymore, and I could kill enemies like orange and red Iron Knuckles and orange Darias with ease, but still had trouble on a few enemies, like the tougher variation of those two.

I got through Death Mountain Maze for the first time. I felt really good. I thought that I could actually beat the game. And so I went on, progressing through the game, without having much trouble, and it was actually really fun. I was near the end of the game, and was about to go to the 6th palace. I was prepared to beat the palace with ease. But guess what? Either my Emulator or ROM glitched up, making the graphics really weird, keeping me from progressing. I felt really bad. All that hard work, and I had to stop there. That kind of made me like the game less, because I was frustrated.

It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago, after I beat PH, that I decided to try and beat another Zelda game I hadn't beaten, AoL. So, I got out Collector's Edition for the Gamecube, and started playing. While controls were difficult with the joystick, the game was a lot of fun. I played through Death Mountain Maze and only had one gameover while progressing through it. I continued on, and had a lot of fun playing the game. Currently, I'm at the Maze Palace part of the game, and the game is a blast so far, and I'm really happy that I'm a lot better at the game than I was before, so that I'm able to enjoy it.

In short, I've hated the game for a loooooong time. But after some work on the game, it's one of my favorites, even though I still haven't beaten it. I'm pretty sure that for a lot of people it's like this, in that the game is only fun if you are moderately good at it, and aren't constantly frustrated at it's mind boggling difficulty.

 

[dumb180]

As I said in your other threat, Zeldatwilight, I enjoyed this game very much. Here's a few additional reasons why:

Unique from all other Zeldas is the 'near death' beep. It's kind of annoying in every other Zelda game (that i've played), but I'm actually a fan of it in this one. In the dungeons, the beep often enough syncs with the music, as if it were a drumbeat. It almost softens the blow when you realize you've gotta walk halfway across Hyrule just to get back to where you were.

AoL had a good mix of strong and easy enemies. Ironknuckles, stalfos, those lizard knights, and the "blue bird guys", were all lots of fun. I really liked all the knightlike creatures. Also the ghost looking creatures. Had to stop and think on those, which is a plus.

As hinted at before, the only thing I really disliked was the arduous journey back to several dungeons. Like Maze Island, for example. However, the restart point is a good incentive to take your time, which is absolutely necessary in this game. Hehe..

 

[CZG]

Zelda 2 has indeed the best beeping heart effect. The only one that wasn't annoying but exciting.

I though the Minish Caps beep was kinda weird. They dropped the beep rate to make it less annoying, but it didn't work very well, it seemed pretty random or something.

 

[Brandikins]

Some need to realize that tough video games are the fun ones. It's boring when a game is too easy and you beat it right away. People always complain that a game is too easy or if it's too hard. The game was fun and hard all at the same time. It did have side scrolling, but at least the overworld was in four directions.

 

[Pocket Asian]

When I first tried it, I hated it. I didn't like it at all, but then after playing it numerous times I just started loving it.

 

[fredthehylian]

I actually have to say, it's my favorite Zelda game. The 2D Sidesrolling Platforming made it unique, and the way it combined it with Role Playing Elements was flawless. I actually want a sequel to this: Zelda II 2. Same stuff but with different temples, bosses, and what-not. My favorite technique comes from this game. The downward thrust. Best move ever. Funny thing: I suck so bad at defending myself that I overleveled my attack power while grinding. At the end of the first palace my attack was five.

 

[link9]

I'm just starting to play it, and it is most definitely hard, and i dont really like it. But ill stay with it!

 

[Brandikins]

Stay with it. I felt the same way when I first played it. It begins to grow on you after a while. Send me a message if you need help, K?

 

[CZG]

Well, there was this 'minor' thing.....
It was not a top-view game. And I felt ripped. And I checked the box again... And again...
Zelda 2 it said....

I was a very late buyer on the NES, so when I was still struggling with the third palace or so, there was this news about a 16 bit LoZ, a real one! I instantly forgived them for the remaining 20%, which made me love this game 100%.

Whatever games I play, Zelda 2 is always somewhere close.
Even when I played ALttP for the fifth time on my SNES, and I hadn't touched LoZ for years, I was still playing TAoL from time to time. I was missing the frustration and stress. Blood, sweat and tears... I couldn't do without.

When I beat Zelda 2 for the first time, I felt empty. And I secretly started over in the middle of the night.
Secretly from my brother who hated this game (back then, now he likes it).

A very brave thing to do from Nintendo to create this game (and MM, which is also awesome)!
I don't know what happenend if ALttP didn't excist.... I don't think I would have bothered with the later ones like OoT and MM...

Now, years later, I'd love to see Another Adventure of Link.
Sidescrolling battle madness! They can do something amazing with it, I'm sure!
This game indeed grows on you!

Damn! lvl 5!
But, indeed the (Zelda 2) downstab is my favorite videogame move ever.
The downstab in smash brothers is, of course, very correct. The Minish Cap Downthrust however.... it failed.
It was fun to see him do it the first 10 times, but, you'll never use it like you should.

 

[LANZZ]

I like all zelda game. But aol is the lowest rank. But, i still like it music and storyline. I dont like it gameplay.

 

[ThatOneGriffin]

I liked parts of it.

Until I got to Death Mountain.

I think I murdered someone that night.

 

[Brandikins]

I'd say over half of the people who play it don't like it at first, but the majority of them start to like it. I felt the same way when I started but then I began to get into it. You have to admit that the fighting style with the enemies and bosses can actually be pretty fun sometimes. The Downward Thrust is the biggest example of this. Even Ironknuckles are fun to fight if you know how to do it properly. Basically the combat is one of the things that made it so fun, for me at least.

You can make the game more fun for you if you actually read the game's back story. Back when I played it, I could never find the Hidden Palace or New Kasuto, so I made it to the Great Palace (barely) and thought it was the sixth palace. However, I read the story and found out that you go through six palaces to get inside of the Great Palace to get the Triforce of Courage.

So bottom line, it's a great game and still one of the highest-ranked games on the NES. We have to at leas remember that. If any of you guys get stuck, recently our whole The Adventure of Link section has been redone by me (including the walkthrough) and the video one done by Mases.