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How badly do we want a Zelda II sequel?
- Thread starter Sammy Samusu
- Start date
Wonko_C
Member
Yep, it might be inspired by many games, including Zelda II, but it's its own (awesome) thing in the end. People insist in downplaying what is to me the most important aspect in Zelda II: The two perspectives and how they work together: sidescrolling and overhead, and not many games did that, and the few that did it were too different.
The flow to Zelda II is something like this:
-Top-view: Explore the overworld for entrances to dungeons, towns, caves, or secrets. Stay on the path as much as you can to avoid spawning enemies. If you can't avoid them you enter a "battle screen" which is a very short sidescrolling combat arena.
-Sidescroll: Inside the palaces find keys, find the treasure/item, and find your way to the boss and defeat it, the palaces are maze-like in nature and you don't have a map so you have to rely on memory and learn your way around.
-Sidescroll: Explore the towns for clues, new magic, and secrets.
-Topview: Some of the items you find in palaces can be used in the overworld (like the hammer or the ocarina) to open up new areas.
It's this synergy between the top-down and sidescrolling parts that makes Zelda II unique (This is why I disagree about games like Monster World or Ys III being similar, because they don't have two playable perspectives). Of course the top-down parts often feel too much like an empty overworld map like those from early RPGs, but that could be fleshed out in a sequel.
I'll refrain from sounding like a broken record from now on.
I never had the chance to play the Gargoyle's Quest games, now I want to try them.
Uncle Rupee
Banned
I never had the chance to play the Gargoyle's Quest games, now I want to try them.
Gargoyle's Quest is one of my favorite Gameboy games of all time. Just barely edged out by Link's Awakening and Donkey Kong 94. It's on the 3DS eshop these days, I'd say go for it!
Somebody might have already quoted and said this, but the first adventure time game, hey ice king give me back my garbage (or something to that effect) was very much a zelda 2 spiritual successor.
edit: yup, beaten.
See You Next Wednesday
Banned
The original idea for Shovel Knight came from Link's downthrust move mechanic, and they created a character around this mechanic that used a shovel. The director/level designer plays Zelda 2 every week or so. The stage setup of the game is more like Mega Man in the way you go through a boss' stage and its influenced by other games. Shovel Knight can't pogo off the ground like in Ducktales and instead off an enemy or blocks like Link did in Zelda 2 (but with more of a jump because they focused on this specific mechanic). There's also the knockback from when you strike enemies, and the knights you encounter during stages with the moving shield are based on Ironknuckles. There's also the villages full of townspeople.
Games that inspired Shovel Knight
http://www.usgamer.net/articles/game-dev-recipes-shovel-knight
Adventure Time: Hey Ice King... is a fun throwback to Zelda 2 (and fun for fans of the show) but its very easy difficulty is intended for a younger audience.
Zelda 2 won the best overall video game award in Nintendo Power in 1989. Although this award is from Nintendo Power, the yearly awards were voted on by readers sending in a contest polling postcard in the magazine.
Nintendo Power volume 6 May/June1989
You know when a game is GOTY when people mail postcards saying it is.
According to this Nintendo Power wiki that lists the nominations readers could vote for, Zelda 2 was voted as best Overall game over The Legend of Zelda.
http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/1988_Nintendo_Power_Awards#Winners_and_Nominees
Zelda 2 was featured on the cover of Nintendo Power volume 4 for a feature that was spread across two issues (and additional issues for tips), and featured previously for the Japanese release in the magazine's predecessor, the Nintendo Fun Club Newsletter. Nintendo Power's first issue which covered the second quest of Zelda 1 featured a half page preview for the game to build anticipation. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was huge back then for its time, not unlike how Ocarina of Time was years later (but without longer delays). http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/File:Nintendo_Power_Magazine_V._1_Pg._034.png
http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/1988_Nintendo_Power_Awards#Winners_and_Nominees
Zelda 2 was featured on the cover of Nintendo Power volume 4 for a feature that was spread across two issues (and additional issues for tips), and featured previously for the Japanese release in the magazine's predecessor, the Nintendo Fun Club Newsletter. Nintendo Power's first issue which covered the second quest of Zelda 1 featured a half page preview for the game to build anticipation. Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was huge back then for its time, not unlike how Ocarina of Time was years later (but without longer delays). http://nintendo.wikia.com/wiki/File:Nintendo_Power_Magazine_V._1_Pg._034.png
Awesome! Really hope you will like it
Make a late to the party-thread for Gaf to help you out if you ever get stuck!(and sorry for the late answer, didnt realize you had responded)
Two great posts here. Zelda 2 was great and much better than Zelda 1 when it came out imo. Its the people that started with the later games, that bear more resemblance to the Zelda 1 that considers it a "black sheep".
It was also #1 and #2 in Nintendo Power's Top 30 for seemingly forever. I used to read that religiously as a kid.
Jan/Feb 89 Vol 4 Rank #3 (6604 votes) Original Zelda is #2 (6941 votes)
Mar/Apr 89 Vol 5 Rank #2 (5622 votes) Original Zelda is #3 (5563 votes)
May/June 89 Vol 6 Rank #1 (12939 votes) Original Zelda is #3 (5124 votes)
Jul/Aug 89 Vol 7 Rank #2 (13428 votes) Original Zelda is #4 (5158 votes)
Sept/Oct 89 Vol 8 Rank #1 (12754 votes) Original Zelda is #4 (5551 votes)
Nov/Dec 89 Vol 9 Rank #3 (7123 votes) Original Zelda is #8 (4553 votes) - Interesting that Mega Man 2 surged to #1 even though it had been out for months.
Jan/Feb 90 Vol 10 Rank #2 (6886 votes) Original Zelda is #7 (3508 votes)
Mar/Apr 90 Vol 11 Rank #4 (5196 votes) Original Zelda is #6 (4210 votes) - Zelda 2 finally leaves top 3 after over a year
May/June 90 Vol 12 Rank #5 (3928 votes) Original Zelda is #4 (4916 votes)
July/August 90 Vol 13 Rank #5 (4315 votes) Original Zelda is #7 (4034 votes)
Sept/Oct 90 Vol 14 Rank #8 (3503 votes) Original Zelda is rank #11 (3150 votes) - Zelda 2 finally leaves top ten after Super Mario Bros 3, Mega Man 3, and Final Fantasy came out.
Anyone who says Zelda 2 wasn't popular when it came out is a moron or just wasn't around back then to know.
This sounds like my game of the forever. Order of Ecclesia had something similar going for it, but it wasnt fleshed out enough imo.
I think the soundtrack is my favorite part of Zelda II, but I still enjoyed the gameplay and rpg elements. Shovel Knight is a great game, but the intentionally silly characters and towns that served little purpose other than saying "we have towns, like Zelda 2!", left me wanting a game of that nature with a solid story.
To those mentioning Faxanadu, that game is still great in almost every way. Soundtrack, story, progression, level design. However, the key system frustrated me more than a few times, having the wrong key to a door. Go play it if you haven't!
To those mentioning Faxanadu, that game is still great in almost every way. Soundtrack, story, progression, level design. However, the key system frustrated me more than a few times, having the wrong key to a door. Go play it if you haven't!
It's been done... and done better than Zelda II, I might add:
Wonder Boy Dragon's Curse / Trap
Wonder Boy in Monster World
Monster World IV
Ys III
If you haven't played Monster World IV, then go play it on virtual console or PSN or whatever. Great game.
All these games are amazing and must plays, but I think the overworld in Zelda 2 makes the experiences quite different even though the core gameplay is similar. Super Adventure 2 is a closer fit imo.
B_Boss
Member
Oh my god have I been dreaming of this. I remember there being a test of this Zelda II (I think it was a mockup?) on BS SatellaView and I was floored with the image....talk about one of the biggest teases in my gaming life....One of my absolute favorite games of all time and I still replay and beat the hell out of it today. At least Smash Bros used a theme from the game lol...though they should've used "The Great Palace" Theme.
Thats not entirely true lol:
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...o_wishes_nintendo_had_done_more_with_zelda_ii
Dammit....this is all we'll get:
Thats not entirely true lol:
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...o_wishes_nintendo_had_done_more_with_zelda_ii
Dammit....this is all we'll get:
Godzilla's Left Toe
Member
Not a fan and it's pretty evident the people who work on Zelda are not either.
They did use the Great Palace theme in Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii. There's actually a secret to get it to play on the stage without unlocking it yet. Go into the music section for stages and select the Temple stage and slide the Temple music theme all the way to off. The new Great Palace theme will play instead without having to unlock it in the game. http://youtu.be/Y1nGxG7RMEQ
Much of Miyamoto's regret about Zelda II seems like it has to do with the Japanese version and the limitations of it being originally developed for the Famicom Disk System with what they were trying to do.
From the video in the article, it takes 6 seconds to load the first town. (I believe the Great Palace is on one side of the disk so you have to eject it and flip it over to load it). The Japanese release of the GameCube Zelda Collection cut the load times down to a minor annoyance with 2 seconds that includes the "wait" loading screen. http://youtu.be/lGA9yD1nXK8?t=2m37s
I absolutely adore Wonderboy in Monster World. Wonderboy in Monster Land is one of the first video games I got alongside my Sega Master System, the video game console I grew up with. I own and have played all the games as they were released and generally think it's an awesome series. I would say this series is one of my top two favorite Sega franchises, period (the other being Fantasy Zone).
The Wonderboy games were always, IMO, a case of being on the wrong system at the wrong times. I also think sticking with the Wonderboy name kind of was a mistake, since really the series is sort of two series that overlap.
Wonderboy was a side scrolling platformer, first released in the Arcades, then coming to the Sega Master System. Sega owned the character but Westone (Then known as Escape) owned the game. They sold the game to Hudson who created their own character, Master Higgins, and it was re-released on the NES as Adventure Island. This game played like a number of "metered" platformers of the time - where one must constantly run forward collecting fruit to replenish a constantly draining Time meter at the top of the screen. It is actually one of the best sorts of games in this "metered" style, but more relaxed games like Super Mario Bros eventually proved to define the genre. Wonderboy generally has a jungle setting, although stages can also take place on beaches or in caves. The main character is a child wearing a sort of tarzan attire who attacks by grabbing throwable axes (think the axe from castlevania) and can sometimes ride a skateboard. It was a ho-hum game that has a little bit of charm and is generally better remembered as Adventure Island.
The sequel to Wonderboy was called Wonderboy in Monster World in japan, but came over seas as Wonderboy in Monster Land, which really screws up the naming scheme for the rest of the series. It was also first an arcade game, then got a port to the Sega Master System. Wonderboy 2 really changes everything, it's still a side scroller, and you still jump on platforms, and it's still level based, but the moment-to-moment gameplay is completely different. Instead of being more like a mario game, it played sort of like an action game. Think Castlevania or something similar. They also included some light RPG elements - your hp (represented by zelda-like hearts) could grow as you passed certain scores (making your score essentially behave like XP).
One of the biggest additions to the series was gold. Enemies now dropped gold when defeated, similar to Sega's own Fantasy Zone, which could be used in shops for various things. Magic was usually purchased through these shops, as were all weapon and armor upgrades. Occasionally, health shops would show up, allowing you to completely heal yourself which proved very important as you only have 1 spare life in the game in the form of a revival potion that gets used when all hearts are gone, although those who were lucky might randomly find a potion for sale in random shops (or even luckier, enemies will very, very rarely drop a potion). These shops were also home to bar tenders, who would refill a bit of your health when a drink was purchased as well as provided hints for subquests. Early on, enemies drop small coins but as you progress, they slowly begin to drop bigger coins and eventually money bags all worth much more gold.
A number of your stats could be upgraded permanently. Buying new swords would increase your attack. Eventually you'd buy a shield and that would enable you to repel certain attacks, first arrows then eventually fireballs. Your armor upgrades would allow you to take more damage before losing hearts. Shoes would make you walk faster, jump higher and further, and climb faster. There were also a number of powerups you could get, that would grant you unique abilities. One let you hove as you jumped, thus greatly expanding the distance you could travel. One made you invincible for a short while. One doubled your strength. Stuff like that.
There was also an optional hidden subquests, one of which spanned the length of the game, culminating just outside the final boss's lair that really gave you a big advantage for completing. A memorable subquest in the game involves purchasing drinks along the desert leading up to the boss encounter with the Sphynx. Unlike normal bosses in the game, the Sphynx's battle was supposed to be an all or nothing quiz, where he would become instantly defeated if you chose the correct answer or you would die and it'd be game over if you chose the wrong one (although skilled players could still defeat him if they chose wrong). The Sphynx's quiz seemed to be random nonsense and different playthroughs might yield different answers to the same question, so just memorizing them wasn't enough. Examples include "What game have I been playing recently" with choices such as Afterburner, Hang-On, and Space Harrier. Buying multiple drinks at bars leading up to this boss battle will net you items to give to other bar tenders, ending with one just outside the Sphynx's entrance who would give cryptic hints that pointed to the correct answer. For example, if one mentioned that the Sphynx has recently been wearing aviator sunglasses, that would mean the correct answer to the question above would be Afterburner.
Thematically speaking, the series became more european in style. The main character - still the same person from Wonderboy - dresses as a knight as the game progresses. You walk through european style towns, and caves full of lava. Occasionally you walk in the sky on clouds, but the tone is always that of something vaguely european. The graphics, though small, were mainly detailed and strove for a more down to earth art-style, even though you were fighting giant squids and snakes and bats.
All in all, Wonderboy in Monster World really changed the tone of the series, and almost all further games in the series would take after it. The exception would be the next direct sequel. Wonderboy III: The Monster's Lair was released in the Arcades first, then ported to the Sega Mega Drive (but never came to the US Genesis). It is a side scrolling platformer like the first game, that generally plays the same with a number of modern improvements. The time meter was back, and levels autoscrolled. This time around you always have a weapon, a sword that fires bullets. You can get a number of additional weapons that behave in various shmupy ways. One rotates around your character, another acts like a lazer. It feels much more like an arcade game than Monster World, with no RPG elements or alternate paths. Also gone is the gold and shop mechanics of the predecessor.
The graphics underwent the biggest change, moving to a chibi anime artstyle that the rest of the games in the series would adopt. The setting, however, mainly remained the vaguely european affair from Monster World. This gives the series a pretty unique look.
Wonderboy III: The Monster's Lair is technically not a Monster World game. It is rather a Wonderboy-only game, like the first game. This is where it gets confusing - the next home console game in the series was not a port of Wonderboy III: The Monster's Lair. Instead, it was a sequel to Monster World. For this reason, the game was called Wonderboy III: Monster World II in japan. However, once it came overseas, the title changed to Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap.
Wonderboy III The Dragon's Trap is where the series really took off and became one of Sega's best. It is pretty much universally praised as being one of the best games on the Sega Master System, if not the best. As a diehard SMS fan, I can admit that the system's library had a very different feel to the NES library, and that the general public certainly enjoyed NES games more. It's all about the way they control, how they feel... it's an intangible quality to those games that really caught on. It was hard finding Master System games, at least early on, that had the same level of polish and gave the same kind of feeling. Wonderboy III is undoubtedly one of the games that pulls off that level of polish.
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night apparently draws a lot of inspiration from Wonderboy III, as they share a number of common themes. Wonderboy III is when the series became a MetroidVania - gone are set levels and instead established is an overworld. As you continue through the game, you gain new powers and abilities that let you access previously inaccessible areas to eventually find new dungeons. Being a MetroidVania, the game shouldn't be completed in one sitting and introduced a password system to continue.
The game itself begins as a direct sequel to Monster Land. Again, like Symphony of the Night after it, Wonderboy III begins by replaying the last stage and boss of Wonderboy in Monster Land (albeit a shortened version of the final stage, with a much easier boss). Where Monster Land ended with a generic black text ending, beating the boss in Wonderboy III reveals that he placed a curse upon you, transforming you from a human being into a dragon. Only by recovering the Salamander Cross can you regain your human form. Hence the premise of the game.
The graphics style is a continuation of the Chibi art style of the arcade game. The graphics are generally colorful and cheery, very comparable to Super Mario Bros 3 of the time. Large, well-shaded blocks litter the landscape and these are generally amongst the best graphics on the SMS.
Dungeons are typically broken up into three phases - first an "outside" phase where you must physically traverse to the dungeon itself, usually through a themed environment. Then, the actual dungeon itself. And finally, a one on one boss battle. Unlike Zelda and metroid, these phases are generally straight forward without a lot of puzzle solving. Despite that, the combat is really good, and the game proves addictive.
Beating each boss grants you a new ability by way of transformations. You transform from a dragon (who can shoot fireballs) to a mouse (who can squeeze through small spaces and climb on walls) to a fishman (who can swim) to a lion (who can swing his sword up and down) to a bird (who can fly). Eventually you gain the ability to freely switch between these transformations, making the dungeons a bit more active towards the end of the game as you'll need to figure out which ability you need to progress inside of a single dungeon. You also gain items that enable you to do things like swim in lava.
The RPG elements have really ramped up here. The gold and shop mechanics return, and gone is the score entirely, which is instead replaced by Charm Points. Because you are a monster, like all the other monsters in the game, you have to be conscious of how you look to other characters in the game. The more charming you are, the more likely they are to talk to you. Shop keepers, for example, won't sell weapons to something they're afraid of. The kind of creature you are at any moment affects your CP (with the dragonman being the lowest, and lion being the highest) as well as what kind of armor your wearing. Obviously wearing the heavenly armor will make your CP go up, while using the hades shield will drop your CP. You can also perminantly raise your CP by finding charmstones hidden amongst the world.
The other stats from Wonderboy in Monster Land return, with actual numbers to let you know how your stats improve. Weapons and armor and shields you collect can actually be equipped whenever you want, and there are special stats that encourage you to do so. For example, you can only swim in lava with the right armor, and a certain combination of stuff will grant you the ability to heal yourself.
Wonderboy III is one of the very best 8-bit games around and a true classic. By the time it was released, the SMS was already completely dead in the united states, and the Sega Genesis had already launched. Nobody paid attention to it and it sort of became a cult hit. It's sequel was the first game in the series to take to their 16-bit console. It is a sequel to Monster World II, so in japan it was appropriately titled Wonderboy IV: Monster World III. In the US and Europe, confusingly, it was released as Wonderboy in Monster World (because Wonderboy: Monster World was released as Wonderboy in Monster Land... kinda going for a Mario Land/Mario World thing I guess).
Wonderboy in Monster World is a terrific game, and my favorite in the series. It ditches the transformation mechanic from Wonderboy III, instead letting you remain human the entire game, but still takes its metroidvania gameplay style and really expands upon it. This is the game that really introduces Zelda-like puzzles to the series, and a lot of them are great. For example, early on, you come across some locked doors and, upon talking to villagers, you find that an ocarina can be used to open them. You eventually find said ocarina in the game and can return to those villagers to learn songs to play to open up these doors. Later, that same ocarina can be traded to learn the location of a hidden entrance to another dungeon.
Wonderboy in Monster World's level design is much more involved than that of Wonderboy III, which, in many areas, amounted to long hallways without much to do besides run forward. These dungeons take you all around, and you can enter and exit them multiple times.
Virtually everything Wonderboy III did, Wonderboy in Monster World does but better. You can now save instead of requiring a password. And where Wonderboy III had one sort of central hub area that interconnected the "levels," Wonderboy in Monster World has several. The scope of the game is dramatically increased and everything is generally bigger, better, and longer. The levels themselves contain much more vertical space than before, with huge oceans to swim up and down in, for example, or large spires of floating platforms to jump through.
Thematically, although it never really states it, the game is sort of a remake of Wonderboy in Monster Land, although officially it is a sequel. You visit the same places, generally in the same order, and do the same things. It's just much better. The game actually plays as an homage to the entire series, with tons and tons of very small touches that players of the entire series recognize. Midway through the game, you need to shrink down to enter a tiny dungeon, for example, and you are tasked with collecting pigmy armor. Upon finding all the pigmy armor, the device that shrinks you down is the same device that transformed you into different creatures in Wonderboy III. There are also various nods and music remixes throughout the game.
Wonderboy in Monster World generally streamlines the RPG elements found in Wonderboy III. Gone are charmpoints, or really any experience points at all. The weapons and armor and stuff still give you numbered stats, however. In wonderboy III, your magic worked based on stock (i.e. you've found 4 thunder bolts) where in Wonderboy in Monster World you have individual MP for each spell you learn, that can be replenished by inns. Finding out how to max out all your magic in the game is actually incredibly time consuming and ultimately unnecessary.
Wonderboy in Monster World would wind up being the last Wonderboy game. It was released early on in the Sega Genesis life and I believe that played a big factor in why it was overlooked. It was also a sequel to a series that didn't have much exposure in the west and ultimately faded into obscurity. Like Wonderboy III, it has become a cult classic. Despite being the last Wonderboy game, it is not the last Monster World game. Late in the Mega Drive's life, the final installment of the series was released: Monster World IV.
Monster World IV isn't a Wonderboy game for a very good reason: you are not a boy. This is the only game in the series with a female protagonist. Gone is the european setting, and replaced is an arabic theme. The game retains and refines the chibi art style the series had become known for, and its one of the prettiest games on the system. The combination of chibi anime art style, with a female protagonist (who isn't sexualized to high-hell) and the arabian setting makes Monster World IV one of the most unique visual experiences in gaming.
The game's rpg elements are actually a bit dialed back from Wonderboy in Monster World. Gone are multiple weapons, replaced instead by linear weapon upgrades. Gone is the metroidvania structure as well, as the game has a central hub with linear level entrances (think Mario 64, kind of). However, the game retains the way it grants you new abilities as you continue, this time in the form of a companion character that follows you who can transform. The types of transformations it learns changes as it grows throughout the game, and soon you have the ability to do things such as use it for placable platforms or as a way to hover.
The game only features a handful of dungeons this time around, a significant reduction from Wonderboy in Monster World, but the dungeons are much much bigger this time around. Most of the puzzle solving comes from learning how to use your companion almost like a gained item in zelda dungeons.
Despite the radical changes, it is a Monster World game through and through and contains tons of cool nods to long time fans of the game. Officially, the game takes place eons after Wonderboy in Monster World, and you get to revisit a lot of the same locations, some of which have undergone dramatic changes.
The game is great, but unfortunately it was never released in the west on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, and in fact only very recently got a western release at all. Being the final game in the series and released late in the mega drive's life, this essentially doomed the series to obscurity, save for diehard fans like myself.
Today, with the virtual console and thanks to the internet, this series is finally getting some recognition it deserves. Its funny that this thread exists, as I've always saw the wonderboy/monster world games as Sega's answer to Zelda, and thought they totally bested Zelda II in every way. It was a constantly evolving and improving series, with no two entries really being identical. Consistently creative is how I'd describe it. I would definitely urge anybody who came into this topic wanting a sequel/remake of Zelda II to check out this series, especially Wonderboy III The Dragon's Trap, Wonderboy in Monster World, and Monster World IV.
Sorry if this post got so long, I'm just a huge fan of this kind of forgotten series.
Oh, another game I forgot to talk about: Much like how Golden Axe Warrior was released on the Sega Master System as a Zelda I clone, its sequel on the Sega Game Gear was a Zelda II clone. Ax Battler: The Legend of Goldenaxe is pretty much The Adventure of Link (and when you think about the name of the game, it even becomes obvious).
Ax Battler retains the overworld and random enemies of Zelda II:
Only bummer is that it really isn't a good game, unlike Golden Axe Warrior. If you're absolutely dying for more Zelda II, you might want to check it out, but go in with really low expectations.
Ax Battler retains the overworld and random enemies of Zelda II:
Only bummer is that it really isn't a good game, unlike Golden Axe Warrior. If you're absolutely dying for more Zelda II, you might want to check it out, but go in with really low expectations.
petran79
Banned
thanks for the detailed review of the wonderboy games!
I remember the amiga version of monster land. I liked that game much more than zelda 2 at that time.
later i watched a live walkthrough in the arcades. No youtube back then!
Also the shantae games are the spiritual successors of the wonderboy series, especially 4.
I remember the amiga version of monster land. I liked that game much more than zelda 2 at that time.
later i watched a live walkthrough in the arcades. No youtube back then!
Also the shantae games are the spiritual successors of the wonderboy series, especially 4.
NinjamicWZ
Banned
I think Zelda II is my favorite "mood" of Zelda (reminds me a lot of the cartoon show tbh), but I never really liked the hybridization of top down and sidescrolling, and the sidescrolling gameplay was pretty painful imo... what I would want is basically what Metroidvania has given me for nearly 15 years, and what I got in stuff like Faxanadu, Ys3, Popfulmail etc. I need beautiful 2D as well as elegant and fluid controls. Just give me the Zelda staples: door keys, items, block puzzles, and some environment diversity that has an exterior "field" and town to the traditionally boxed in map idea... and of course, the amazing potential for sidescrolling versions of Zelda enemies and bosses in today's day and age. Even Link's secondary items and things such as dashing, jumping, sinking, walking on walls and ceilings... all have endless potential to do things that have never been done in a sidescrolling adventure game.
I've always wanted to see a spiritual successor to Adventure of Link, a game that'd try to bring the AoL formula into a full-fledged 3D world.
It doesn't have to be part of the Zelda series. It could be a new IP or a spin-off using an established Nintendo character like Marth, for example.
It doesn't have to be part of the Zelda series. It could be a new IP or a spin-off using an established Nintendo character like Marth, for example.
B_Boss
Member
Holy hell! I never knew that lol! Thanks a ton. Perhaps Miyamoto could discover new ways of creating a sequel to the game if he allowed himself to do so. Oddly those loading times felt instantaneous in context as I played it on the NES. Crazy how there was such a difference here in the US.....6 seconds?? No town took that long to load.
Isleofsancroy
Banned
Its called Link the Faces of Evil. Which honestly is a better game than Zelds II.
The Amiga version of Wonderboy in Monster Land is a really good port, one of the best versions until recently when the Wonderboy Classic Collection got released. The Arcade version, while fully translated into english, was never released in the west until that collection. So, for most people, the SMS version is the only version they played. The Amiga version is one of the rare western releases that came extremely close to the Arcade game.
Due to familiarity and nostalgia, I definitely prefer the SMS version. But I recognize the Amiga version is, mechanically, superior.
Amazing write-up, definitely share your love for the series, even thought I still think Zelda 2 is the stronger game
Oh, another game I forgot to talk about: Much like how Golden Axe Warrior was released on the Sega Master System as a Zelda I clone, its sequel on the Sega Game Gear was a Zelda II clone. Ax Battler: The Legend of Goldenaxe is pretty much The Adventure of Link (and when you think about the name of the game, it even becomes obvious).
Ax Battler retains the overworld and random enemies of Zelda II:
Only bummer is that it really isn't a good game, unlike Golden Axe Warrior. If you're absolutely dying for more Zelda II, you might want to check it out, but go in with really low expectations.
Dammit, I just bougth this supposedly bad game!
It's not terrible, but it's not really very good either. Golden Axe Warrior is a much better Zelda I Clone than Ax Battler is a Zelda II clone.
Yeah, but also much more expensive. I remember a few years ago, that game went for like £10 in box, and now its five times more
I was always on the verge of picking it up, but never did it, which sucks in hindsight.Yeah, but also much more expensive. I remember a few years ago, that game went for like £10 in box, and now its five times more
Ouch, I guess the european copies are much more expensive, because I have a boxed american copy that I got not that long ago (maybe a year?) and didn't pay that much.
FWIW I think the game gets unfairly bashed. I'll stress again that it's not a bad game, just not nearly as good as its predecessor or the game that it clones. I think the two zelda-clone Golden Axe games are an interesting part of Sega history, none the less.
Ah, but it's also pretty evident the people who worked on Shovel Knight are (cf the iron knights!), and that game is better than every Zelda game in existence.
Yeah, I have always been interested in them myself, and thinks they both looks pretty good. 8-bit Sega in general is very underrated imo, lots of good stuff on both the Game Gear and Master System imo.
LOL
JumpJeff84
Member
I wouldn't mind one.
Or at the very least, a game inspired by Zelda 2.
Shovel Knight is obviously inspired by Zelda 2, but I'd like an action RPG with the mechanics and structure of Zelda 2
Or at the very least, a game inspired by Zelda 2.
Shovel Knight is obviously inspired by Zelda 2, but I'd like an action RPG with the mechanics and structure of Zelda 2
You are a poster after my own heart, even correctly using the umbrella term "Sega 8-bit" recognizing that the two consoles form one cohesive 8-bit library. I absolutely agree, I love sega's 8-bit output. I actually have a consolized Sega Game Gear built into a Sega Master System II shell that can play both SMS and Game Gear games. It's currently overseas with a buddy who is building me rapid fire controllers for the thing.
Lots of great stuff on the system(s), and it lived for so long too. It's annoying how people only remember the years 1986 until about 1990 when they talk about sega 8-bit, because a lot of the stuff from the 90's on the system(s) were pretty great. Like Master of Darkness, Ninja Gaiden, Sonic 1, Sonic Chaos, Sonic Triple Trouble, Tail's Adventure, Castle of Illusion, Land of Illusion, Shining Force The Sword of Hajya, etc. Those are pretty great 8-bit titles.
Night_Trekker
Member
I wish people like you wrote for HardcoreGaming101. Much respect for explaining in sufficient (but not overwhelming) detail this very confusing but wonderful series of games.
Everybody who loves ARPGs like Zelda 2 should give these games a try, especially Wonder Boy in Monster World and Monster World IV. They are truly some of the best 16-bit games on the system (or on any system).
http://www.hardcoregaming101.net/wonderboy/wonderboy.htm
Also, I write for Racketboy.
EDIT: Also what I wrote was intentionally concise, lol. There is lots more to the series. The Adventure Island games became their own thing, as sort of a spin off from Wonderboy I, that eventually adopted the same swords and RPG kind of gameplay that the Monster World games had.
There is also a spin off of Wonderboy II: Monster World (Wonderboy in Monster Land) from Jaleco, called Saiyuki world. The first game was a blatant clone of Monster World, with extremely similar level layouts. It actually spawned it's own sequel that plays like a mix between Monster World and Mega Man, which came to the west under the title Womp 'Em (which I'd also recommend).
As noted before, Monster World IV got it's own spiritual successor in the Shante games. Those are really pricey, too.
Finally, there is the Hudson "wonderboy" series, where every game in the Wonderboy series was either ported or remixed (in the case of New Adventure Island) to the PC Engine without the Wonderboy license. Wonderboy II: Monster World became Bikkuriman World, Wonderboy III: The Dragon's Trap became The Dragon's Curse (and, confusingly enough, Adventure Island in Japan), Wonderboy III: The Monster's Lair came to the PC Engine CD as just Monster Lair, Wonderboy IV: Monster World III came over as The Dynastic Hero, whose english copy is probably the single rarest western release on the system, even rarer than Cotton.
Incredible series. I've almost got every game across every platform in every series and spin off. I only lack a few exceptionally rare ones, like the MSX version of Wonderboy (as in, not the MSX version of Adventure Island).
petran79
Banned
There was an arcade version too where i lived (greece). Must have been the english bootleg version.
I played that game in the arcades probably 1990
That would be Rambo
How did I miss this post. Thanks! How did you get that consolized Sega Game Gear? I need that for my Game Gear-games. Agree on all the games you mentioned btw, all greats. Ninja Gaiden is atually two different games on the systems if I remember correctly, and they are both good. And dont forget the two Shinobi-games on the Game Gear, they are great!
Ok, I have actually never heard about this game, I thought I knew this stuff. Thanks a ton!
Dr. Buni
Member
I want a Majora's Mask sequel, as well as a remake. It would be nice to see the downfall and maybe the end of the Hero of Time's life.
Zelda II is probably the least memorable game in the series to me. Maybe a remake could change that, but a sequel would be pointless imo.
(I am not against it, though)
Zelda II is probably the least memorable game in the series to me. Maybe a remake could change that, but a sequel would be pointless imo.
(I am not against it, though)
Hand built, my friend. The game gear isnt to difficult to get rgb or svideo out of.
DarkestFiber
Member
Would love to see a remake/sequel to Zelda II. Maybe a remake in the style of A Link Between World would work (but on the Wii U, rather than the 3DS).
Orakio Rob
Member
A friend of mine recreated one of the best Zelda II songs, and I really like his take on it. I would love to hear your opinions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHDrdEDL73Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHDrdEDL73Y
I need to look into this. Sucks that Sega never released something like the Super Game Boy
I need to look into this. Sucks that Sega never released something like the Super Game Boy
Well the Genesis and SMS both have smaller master palettes than the game gear, so neither of those would have worked. Really, they would have had to have released an entirely new game gear base system, and I'm guessing they figured the market for yet another Master System revision probably wasn't going to be very strong.
There are some cool quirks about the game gear, however. Its screen could operate in two modes, and if you tap the video out line in the correct spot, you can get the best of both worlds. When you would play a sega master system game on the game gear, it would actually display in full resolution, and the game gear screen itself would shrink it down by skipping alternating lines of resolution (both X and Y). Certain games, like castle of illusion on the game gear, are quite literally SMS games in different shells (as opposed to Sonic 1 which is actually a very slightly different game). That means if you play Castle of Illusion on a game gear with TV out, it'll display full resolution, filling the entire TV screen.
Native game gear software could display in a 1:1 mode, where, when played on a full screen, the image appears as a small box in the center of the screen, where the resolution of the GG screen cuts off. Interestingly enough, Sonic Blast is some sort of weird hybrid where the level layouts display in full screen, but the objects themselves only display in the small 1:1 box (which is probably why it was such a good choice to port to the SMS in brazil). Conversely, games like Sonic Triple Trouble do not display full screen on the Game Gear, although when run on a SMS they do (with the appropriate palettes selected, of course).
Neat systems.