Djinn
and Tonic
Zelda 2 is definitely the black sheep of the series. Most often players have only played just a tiny bit if they even played it at all. Clearly the game is far too frustrating for anyone who is not a die hard fan or really loves a challenge. Most people rarely even find the first palace much less beat it. So I wondered, what could be done to make this game a little easier or more fun to play. What changes could be made to this game that would help it out of it's place as the worst Zelda title?
Lengthen the sword The magic sword Link uses in the game is tiny. It looks to be barely the size of a dagger, possibly smaller. Either way the blade is so short you all too often need to get in "will be hurt" range to hit an enemy. Normally enemies who carry swords and shields themselves like Darknuts and stalfos. And especially so with human shaped bosses such as Horsehead and Iron Knuckle. You have to jump into the perfect distance just to hit their heads and normally straight into their weapons which are more than twice as long as Link's. Now bosses are typically supposed to be hair pulling hard but for everyday enemies like Stalfos this should not be as true. There is having a decent challenge and then there is having the game mechanics completely working against you. Link's tiny sword puts him well in harm's way but if it were at least twice as long then random encounter enemies could be more manageable. And normal combat with common enemies would not always result in Link getting hurt.
Tighten the Controls The controls are a little too loose. A lot of games had this problem in the NES days, Mario 1 being a great example. Too many times I would need Link to jump across a chasm onto a platform or over an enemy but the control was too loose and Link would fly straight over the platform and into another bottomless pit. Control while jumping was hard, even by 8-bit sidescroller standards. It needed a little tweaking for much less floating left and right while running and jumping. Far too many common enemies require perfect timing while performing a jump attack to hit.
Bow and Arrow I believe this game definitely needed some sort of long range item. The sword beams are not that. They have a very short range and disappear, plus they still have the same full life requirement. Some form of long range but ammo required weapon like the bow from LoZ would help out a lot in many areas. Then taking care of rooms in dungeons that are filled with too many enemies could be handled. Under normal conditions a room filled with tinsuits was death for anyone who bothered to stay around too long. So the ability to shoot a few from across a room would help out here. Darknuts would still be capable of moving their shields up and down depending on where you are shooting so challenge for harder enemies would still be there. The inclusion of the bow would make engaging them less impossible. It would go a long way in making several areas that were too mind numbingly frustrating actually playable. Even enjoyable, who does not like picking off enemies from a distance if you can afford the arrows?
Give better Directions One serious problem with this game is the fact that all too often you have absolutely no idea where to go at all. The villagers are no help. They tell you that candles are sometimes useful or their name is Error. Just one villager that give the info to you straight and says something like "The cave northeast of here has a candle. Get it." would be so much more helpful than almost anything else they tell you. Changing some of the villager's words so that they actually give you helpful information that truly give you a real idea of exactly where to go next would be too helpful for words. Wind Waker and Twilight Princess helped out a lot with the ability to speak directly to the King of Red Lions or Midna who would give you a little hint on what you should be doing next. Perhaps Zelda 2 could have a fortune teller or fairy that you could go to every now and again for some hint on which direction to head toward next or where a palace might be.
All these ideas I thought of while still trying to maintain the game as a normal 8-bit NES game. So what other idea does anyone else have that could be done to make Zelda 2 actually fun to play? Again keep it a NES game, no insane upgrades to technology that the NES was not capable of.
Lengthen the sword The magic sword Link uses in the game is tiny. It looks to be barely the size of a dagger, possibly smaller. Either way the blade is so short you all too often need to get in "will be hurt" range to hit an enemy. Normally enemies who carry swords and shields themselves like Darknuts and stalfos. And especially so with human shaped bosses such as Horsehead and Iron Knuckle. You have to jump into the perfect distance just to hit their heads and normally straight into their weapons which are more than twice as long as Link's. Now bosses are typically supposed to be hair pulling hard but for everyday enemies like Stalfos this should not be as true. There is having a decent challenge and then there is having the game mechanics completely working against you. Link's tiny sword puts him well in harm's way but if it were at least twice as long then random encounter enemies could be more manageable. And normal combat with common enemies would not always result in Link getting hurt.
Tighten the Controls The controls are a little too loose. A lot of games had this problem in the NES days, Mario 1 being a great example. Too many times I would need Link to jump across a chasm onto a platform or over an enemy but the control was too loose and Link would fly straight over the platform and into another bottomless pit. Control while jumping was hard, even by 8-bit sidescroller standards. It needed a little tweaking for much less floating left and right while running and jumping. Far too many common enemies require perfect timing while performing a jump attack to hit.
Bow and Arrow I believe this game definitely needed some sort of long range item. The sword beams are not that. They have a very short range and disappear, plus they still have the same full life requirement. Some form of long range but ammo required weapon like the bow from LoZ would help out a lot in many areas. Then taking care of rooms in dungeons that are filled with too many enemies could be handled. Under normal conditions a room filled with tinsuits was death for anyone who bothered to stay around too long. So the ability to shoot a few from across a room would help out here. Darknuts would still be capable of moving their shields up and down depending on where you are shooting so challenge for harder enemies would still be there. The inclusion of the bow would make engaging them less impossible. It would go a long way in making several areas that were too mind numbingly frustrating actually playable. Even enjoyable, who does not like picking off enemies from a distance if you can afford the arrows?
Give better Directions One serious problem with this game is the fact that all too often you have absolutely no idea where to go at all. The villagers are no help. They tell you that candles are sometimes useful or their name is Error. Just one villager that give the info to you straight and says something like "The cave northeast of here has a candle. Get it." would be so much more helpful than almost anything else they tell you. Changing some of the villager's words so that they actually give you helpful information that truly give you a real idea of exactly where to go next would be too helpful for words. Wind Waker and Twilight Princess helped out a lot with the ability to speak directly to the King of Red Lions or Midna who would give you a little hint on what you should be doing next. Perhaps Zelda 2 could have a fortune teller or fairy that you could go to every now and again for some hint on which direction to head toward next or where a palace might be.
All these ideas I thought of while still trying to maintain the game as a normal 8-bit NES game. So what other idea does anyone else have that could be done to make Zelda 2 actually fun to play? Again keep it a NES game, no insane upgrades to technology that the NES was not capable of.
