How to Beat Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (NES) - mechanics and walkthrough

A few minutes of mechanics, and a narrated walkthrough.
Any comments and suggestions welcome, there is pretty much always a better way to do something.
Soundtrack:
0:05 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - Overworld
0:46 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - Battle Theme 1
1:35 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - Village
2:44 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - Palace Theme 1
4:48 Zelda II: The Adventure of Link - Great Palace Theme
6:19 Super Mario Land - Muda Kingdom
7:04 Mega Turrican - Stage 1-2
9:20 Dangerous Seed - Stage Intro
10:39 Ironsword: Wizards & Warriors 2 - Mountain
13:02 R-Type Leo - Area 2: Red-Hot Desert
15:10 Golden Axe - Wilderness
17:40 Legendary Axe - Zone (4? 5A? 7? I've seen it as all of these)
19:35 Link: Faces of Evil - Serigon Caves
21:12 Battle Garegga - Fly to the Leaden Sky - (Stage 1 - Valley)
23:30 Space Harrier - Main Theme
26:12 Bomberman 64 - opening
28:39 Ys Book I & II - Ice Ridge of Noltia
30:49 Super Castlevania IV - Rotating Room
31:49 Ys Book I & II - Stay With Me Forever

[@Movie_Games]

OMG, a video walkthrough that isn't hours long and just tells you the important stuff? Yes! I'm finally going to beat this game.

[@arquejecovorrato20]

did you do it?

[@wesss9353]

Did you Speedrun it yet?

[@dirtpipedan]

it is def refreshing to not see a 4 hour video. I'm not even planning on playing it but I'll watc

[@dudeman5303]

@@wesss9353 tbh, I felt good about beating the game without losing all my lives but I didn't realize how much of an achievement that is overall in the Zelda 2 fanbase.

[@Head173]

I second that! Great video dude!

[@Truedoogie]

There’s something cathartic and soul healing about having a complete thorough walk-through of this game. It represented a lot of my childhood and I eventually beat it as a kid, but it always had a reputation of being incredibly difficult. This video is the equivalent of a Nintendo game counselor telling me everything that he knows about the game.

[@AGibson723]

What was that number? 2068857529? I think later the area code was change. 4258857529? I didnt have to use it so much for Zelda 2 but a few times a week for Ultima: Exodus. The fact I actually have the number memorized, or at least i think I do, is a testament to the struggle we faced. Lol

[@djbloodshot]

Finally someone explains the numbers beside the magic and how magic goes down

[@pokepress]

I like to describe the difficulty as “hero mode on by default”.

[@dudeman5303]

Or even nightmare mode lol. It's just insane - I can't believe I beat it without losing all 3 lives ever on the original NES. I played it a lot back in the day and never beat it, then a tiny bit after graduation I pulled it out and i got like 2/3 of the way through and had picked up 1 spare life and died once so I still had 3 lives, then save and quit and discovered it counted as me having a game over - I was super pissed and almost just stopped playing tbh. I went back the next day to play and beat the game with no game overs and then got even more super pissed cuz had I had the time to keep playing the first sitting I could've beaten the game with no game overs and it's way harder to do than I realized at the time. Something just clicked in my brain when I beat it that time cuz I kicked ass more than I ever did before or after, and it just pisses me off that they'd add a save feature and not let you record your state and come back without it counting as a game over. Like I should've been able to have a 000 counter when I beat it, I really was mad that they'd do that. I think it should've saved your game and kept it all the way it was when you left it - if I had died once and not picked up a spare life it should've saved the game and recorded I had 2 more lives, something like that. Not having the time to beat it in one sitting shouldn't count against you, I am a working class dude who doesn't have time to beat a game like that in one sitting usually so it's just not fair for them to do that. I get that people can abuse it, if you have 1 life left and save and quit it'll reset to 3 lives but they should've not made it that way and instead had it record how many lives you had.

[@dudeman5303]

Sorry I kinda ranted there lol.

[@andyfritter]

Zelda 2 may not be my favorite Zelda game, but it is my favorite NES Game. Really awesome guide, I didn't even know about skipping event tiles like that either.

[@FaderFlosser]

I really enjoyed that! I was born in 81' and Zelda 2 was a bigger part of my life than the first one. I never beat this game when I played it around age 8 but I did get to the last temple and that blows me away! When I watch or play this game now its like a time machine, trasporting me instantly to back into the mind of the young boy I once was... Magical!

[@AGibson723]

Same! I was born in 80. This brought back a lot of gaming memories. Not just for Zelda 2, so many others. As I try to explain gaming in the 80s and 90s to my daughter, as she plays Minecraft or Fortnite, she just laughs and calls me a Boomer. 😂

[@louisnemzer6801]

20:49 "Just an artistic representation of the first Zelda game" woah. Mind blown! Zelda II takes place North of Death Mountain, which was the furthest North you could go before

[@FireGuts]

Right?! I didn't know that either til I started putting the video together. But it 100% is

[@Dadaph]

Not gonna lie and say Zelda 2 is my favorite Zelda. But it is in my top 5 and I feel it's a really misunderstood and underappreciated game. So I'm very happy to see this video. It's a popular game to hate on, but I never thought it was bad. Like many other NES games, game knowledge is key, and the manual really comes in handy. I was able to beat the game at age 12. No Internet, no Nintendo Power, and only thing holding me back from beating the game at age 10 was English being my second language and I couldn't figure out the hints to lead me to the Hidden Town of Kasuto. Cool vid, as a veteran I knew most of this stuff already, but I'm always happy to not see another "oMG zEldA2 is baDDesT oNE beCUz I die aLOt" video. I can see these tips being VERY useful to new players.

[@Demortixx]

Same

[@r100curtaincall]

I think a lot of people agree that it isn’t necessarily a bad game it’s just very unbalanced. It ramps in difficulty way too fast.

[@brandoncolis3841]

Super Mario Bros: I want you to be more like us. Legend of Zelda: o-k (becomes something like this). Super Mario Bros: you are pathetic go be the Legend of Zelda, you are not us. This is not a bad game. It just takes a long time and is a bit challenging to beat. Sadly, people compare it to the first so much. It might not have the same charisma, but it is extraordinarily in its own way. The first three Mario games are so similiar, but the two Zelda games are so different and that is what is great about each.

[@lauratanner8475]

Don't feel bad about having trouble making sense out of the townspeople. It was translated (poorly) from the original Japanese and was supposed to be cryptic to begin with. After translation it became kinda nonsensical at times.

[@swlchl]

This is one of THE BEST walkthroughs I have EVER SEEN. Doesn't go on for hours and show every little detail, just explains the core mechanics and gives helpful tips. Well done.

[@wormskull2454]

That downward thrust @0:39 to make that jump & save your magic, beautiful ....

[@FireGuts]

Hah, I had to put in some nonsense during the intro. See also: blocking guma's chain hammers with the reflect spell. It is so hard to have your shield line up with his arcing shots...

[@coolman229]

This is a game that deserves to be remade. We've had decades of RPG Metroidvanias and Smash Bros giving Link a refined 2D movement. It could get revitalized.

[@Gaawachan]

Old comment, but you should look up Zelda 2 Enhanced Edition (made by HoverBat) if you don't already know about it.

[@coolman229]

@@Gaawachan I'll check it out

[@venkelos6996]

Thank you for making this video! As an 80s kid, and someone who has always loved the Zelda series, I remember when this game was new, and I could certainly never beat it. I know a lot of people were less pleased with it; with the changes between it and the original, and the the later games that more copied the first, but I liked it, even if it was too "NES tough" for me. In an era where so much of Zelda is Ocarina, Skyward Sword, or Breath of the Wild, and a whole generation that never played LoZ, AoL, or LttP, it's fun to see videos depicting and discussing the older games, like they still matter, because we have the current great series we do because of them. Thanks for covering the black sheep game I like in my favorite game series!

[@unity6926]

Damn, youtube just recommended me this. I'm always down for this kind of gaming narration, subbed.

[@gamer301681978rAw]

This is a kick ass tutorial! Great content, excellent delivery, highly infomative! I can't think of much to improve it. You've earned a well deserved like and sub my friend!

[@azumarill1403]

This was made only 3 months ago? Where were you years ago? Hahaha just kidding but I honestly always loved this game and this is really helpful! Thanks. 😁 Also I love that you used CD-i Zelda characters in your video 😊

[@FireGuts]

Thanks! There's even Zelda CD-i music at 19:35 haha.

[@azumarill1403]

@@FireGuts I noticed 😊

[@hannes8835]

This is a wonderful walkthrough. All the necessary and helpful informations on point. Thank you very much for your work.

[@Allgoodnames]

This is great stuff. Just what I was looking for as I am just starting my first run of Zelda II. I hope you make more like this.

[@supergrafxengine4620]

I am so happy you are back!! Superb quality video 😊👌💞💞💞

[@deicorpse8931]

Omg you really helped me in beating castlevania! Im so glad to see you have returned!

[@bylil101]

YES! You're back! So happy that you are making new content! You do excellent work, sir, and hope to see more content in the future. Great treatment of Zelda II.

[@jackpiazzoni2226]

Appreciate all the streamlined and helpful tips, not to mention the length of the video. Beat the game in a shorter time than expected. Keep up the great work.

[@sheirsly]

Wonderfully helpful. No way I could have done it without you. Thanks!

[@matttyree1002]

10:36 Nice! Love the Ironsword music, one of the best NES soundtracks!!

[@theblowupdollsmusic]

Really great walk-through. Thank you for taking the time to put this together. The game seems much more approachable now.

[@OrtadragoonX]

Love the musical choices throughout the video. Especially Space Harrier. Bravo with that choice in particular.

[@roeuth]

Good video, you explain all the magic,equipments, techniques, and enemy patterns. I’ll never play this game but I like to watch a summary of the game with all the explanations. Good Job 👍

[@ennoire]

Finally a new upload! Welcome, welcome, welcome back!!!

[@Foxxy999]

Good breakdown! I beat this one last year. What finally got me over the hump was taking the time to force repeated level ups in Palace 1 by defeating Bubbles. Once I cleared the first half of the map and got the downward thrust I began to really get into the game. Those event tiles on the way to the Great Palace are the worst and cheapest deaths in the game.

[@brandoncolis3841]

Defeating Bubbles are so much easier after you get the up and down thrusts if you get them in a spot where they cannot escape easily.

[@NoahRichard]

This is a really informative, comprehensive guide. I watched this after beating the game for the first time, and despite having mixed feelings on it, having a handy resource like this is encouraging me to give it another go. Great work!

[@cocacolan1712]

Awesome walk-through! Will use this next time I try to beat this game. Also thank you for actually not only putting the music you used in the description, but have timestamps for when which one places. Most youtubers don't even do one of those, and I like being able to know what a catchy song in the bg of a video is

[@thrillhouse_vanhouten]

Dang, this is a thorough and useful guide. I'm gonna keep this in mind the next time I attempt to conquer Zelda 2! Subbed

[@tangentingtangerines5709]

The legend returns!

[@mikefisher4834]

I saved this video to my favorites I haven’t played this in so long I needed this video🎮💙🔥

[@worldrummer]

Nice concise video and God tier music selection.

[@vdog4799]

Hey man this was really helpful! Thank you👍❤️

[@wormskull2454]

I’m one of those people who LOVE this game. It was one of about 20 NES games I owned as a kid & I beat it several times. As a 36 year old I find it hard to beat without save states ( I know, I know....) but I tell myself I’ve earned that privilege lol.

[@ricorodriguez3579]

What a pain! Thanks for this guide, I could not have finished it without it.

[@jplxlabelle1681]

This guy. Legendary walk through as always. -Entertaining -action/comedy -amazing gameplay -great explanation The only thing I would add is the locations of the 6xLink figurines, and a couple of the important squares with decent benefits, like faerie 🧚 locations.

[@moisesmoraes1696]

Great video I noticed that you haven't uploaded much but i hope you keep going This video is really high quality

[@ChuckingDice]

Hey you're back! Good to have you here!

[@marmarbinx3458]

Thank you so much, dude!! Truly, you are a gentleman and a scholar. I tip my hat to you, fine sir.

[@MsSmellybob]

Oh baby. This game has some real memories for me, wow.

[@shinobi-zensei]

Excellent! I finally understand this game lol! I think this is the Zelda game that most deserves a full on remake

[@blkmge]

These videos are great! I wonder what NES game you'll cover next.

[@kevinharding3281]

Love the Mega Turrican music playing in the background.

[@ThrawnTheater]

I'm only a few minutes in, and I am already blown away by this video. Zelda II is my most nostalgic game, one of the only ones my Dad and I have beaten together. Thank you so much for this!! Btw today is Adventure of Link's 32nd birthday.

[@andrewdesira6520]

Your videos are underated. Good work

[@ender7278]

This video should be included with the game. What a fantastic, concise guide!

[@hughmen]

Please do more of these. You are good at making this interesting, even to a person who knows the game back and forth.

[@FireGuts]

Haha, thanks! I stopped doing them because they took me so long. Pandemic hit and I figured "hey, I can do another now that there's a shutdown!" 6 months of work later....

[@scottlarsh3119]

Great video. I just picked up the original gold cart for my NES. Never played 2 before. Your video gave me the info to jump right in....thx

[@FireGuts]

Good luck! The difficulty curve can feel pretty real shortly after the first palace, not gonna lie. Which is why I encourage things like making sure you have all your lives before hitting a palace, even if you have to game over to do it. Downstab makes the game run a lot smoother.

[@redmoonbloodmoon3161]

the trigger for placing the crystal in the crystal statue's hole are the raised platform squares below it, so you can jump over them, to not place the crystal, and exit the palace, which will remain open, allowing you to run-farm the palace over and over for exp (start to boss/end of palace, jump over the squares below crystal statue, rinse and repeat), and/or if you're about to lvl up (and got no monsters to get the last exp needed for lvl up), to bypass the placing of the crystal, to not waste the crystal exp, though you'll have to run the palace again to place the crystal to beat it (once you also got the item of course). The boss is one time only, once you kill it, it's gone forever the 'fire' spell has some other uses too: 1. it can be used to knock back some monsters/bosses, which can be helpful 2. it's extremely useful against the flying dog spitting monsters/screens-rooms (as you can kill two of them with one fireball with the right timing) and/or against the fast flying eyeball monsters too also, with the dog spitting monsters/screens-rooms, only so many can spawn on the screen at a time, so it's best not to kill them if you can, go past them and/or follow behind them, without killing them, as that way, more won't spawn and shoot at you, makes it much easier to deal with these monsters and the screens/rooms you find them in

[@bismergleow4031]

lol Wish I had this video when I beat the game. Would've saved a lot of time and frustration. Good video, man.

[@luleta1644]

Hell yeah! I love nerding about game mechanics!

[@Jonaleko]

Ok, this video is amazing. I'm going through all the zelda games (in the timelines order) and this is my last game before BotW. I'm already at the Great Palace and was struggling to fight agains the bird soldiers, so I searched for some guides and stumbled opon your video. I ended up watching from beginning to end, even though I've already learned by trial and error most of the tricks you showed and some more that you didn't talk about (I discovered you can force the blue knuckle boss into the edge of the screen so he can't attack you too often, for example). Although I like to struggle with the game to find out things by myself, only looking for tips if I'm stuck or frustrated, this is an awesome breakdown of basically everything one needs to know if they wanna go through the game a bit more easily.

[@tarotcard0371]

This is excellently done. I already knew most of this stuff just from how much I play the game, but I never got the final palace down as much as I should have, simply feeling my way through the dungeon. That tip at 31:15 is seriously gonna help for the no death run.

[@FireGuts]

Hah yeah it's like a secret code that makes navigating the Great Palace so simple

[@BonesawIsReady]

I've always wondered what the 'correct' way to beat Shadow Link was, not counting the crouch in the corner trick.

[@brandoncolis3841]

This works the best for me. Apply the spell Shield. Do not jump so much. Just continue ducking and attacking with your sword.

[@MiltonGeorges]

I liked the Wizards & Warriors 2 music that you included midway through :)

[@BangBang-hk4rg]

Golden Axe was one of my all-time favorite games as a kid! 🤘

[@Benderbendingnow]

Guts cheers for the video, you are really damn good at what you do. I don't know if you stream anymore, but I'd absolutely watch.

[@FireGuts]

I haven't streamed in 4 or 5 years, but thanks!

[@HPRshredder]

I'm not actually trying to spoil anything for myself as I'm fixing to give this game a real go, but I wanted to look at a few videos to get me pumped while I'm at work and your presentations is excellent. I like the way you're breaking down things into an infographic kind of style.

[@MrJibaku]

Man my brother and I watch your castlevania one every year at Christmas. Now we get a twofer!

[@Robin-lg6mz]

I literally got Nintendo online just to play Zelda 2, thanks for the guide

[@timothymiller5539]

That was so entertaining. I made it to the final boss a few times but never finished it. It has some amazing romhacks these days I hear. I always loved fighting my way through death mountain before the 2nd temple. Lol🍻

[@tripmeister2211]

Thank you! Im on a Zelda playthrough where i am going through all of the Zelda games in release order. This was my first time playing Zelda 2 and my goal was to beat it without save states with some guidance. This video was perfection, exactly what i was looking for. I beat it yesterday and it was a great experience (thanks to you). As you've obvously put a lot of effort into this video, you deserve to hear how great it was.

[@FireGuts]

Glad you beat it! Good luck with the rest of the series, and thanks for the kind words!

[@Adventureruler]

Interesting! Thanks for the heads up! 👍

[@Progvo]

I love Zelda 2. I've beaten all Zelda games to date, except those on the Philips CD-i system. While Zelda 2 is by far the easiest Zelda and one of the simplest NES games, it has always given me the most enjoyment. It was also the first game I ever completed back in 1988 when I was 9 years old.

[@christopherscoma]

Your commentary is a delight and I’m sad that you don’t have a whole series of videos like this.

[@FireGuts]

Thanks so much

[@Triforce72O]

This is a fantastic tutorial! Beaten the game, now aiming for a 1CC run!

[@SoftComet]

Dude this is amazing!!! Edit: you still missed some secret 1-ups and exp farming points!. + few smaller things but..... i only watched 1 minute this video and subscribed instantly!!! Please make more these kind videos! (Wizards & Warriors 3, metroid, blaster master etc)???? I JUST LOVE YOUR WORK

[@gsv213able]

I had no idea reflect blocks the projectile attacks from the red and orange monsters. Thanks for telling. I only used reflect on level 4 for the boss and robed enemies in the palace

[@qualix7]

I was always confounded watching my older brother mull through this game, seemingly enjoying it. Now I feel like I can understand why it’s actually pretty fun. It really feels like a great accomplishment to get through a palace and make it back to the town to rest.

[@Maceyoshiman]

Great video. Would love to see more like it.

[@Manticore_007]

I love your screens! I mean using the style of the game with the little screenshots inside and the artwork from the manual. Let's check out some other videos of yours!

[@davidbrinkman7867]

amazing walk thru

[@gsv213able]

Awesome video. I remember beating this game when I was 11 in 1990. No strategy guide, no internet. Trial and error. Hours and hours ..I can beat it beginning to end in 1 sitting.

[@BlackFrog24]

Bro welcome back!!

[@zerobyte802]

This is like a Nintendo Power article in video form. Hits the high points. Gives some general gameplay tips.

[@TranslatedAssumption]

20:47 I never knew that but it makes perfect sense now that you mention it.

[@FireGuts]

I didn't know that until recently either. I always thought it was weird there wasn't anything else down there but now I know why.

[@Ragitsu]

Brilliant breakdown, sir. This game may be difficult, but it doesn't lack nuance.

[@ShinoSarna]

Welcome back!

[@mikegreen2229]

Back in the 90’s, as a teenager, I attempted to beat this game once and for all on the original NES. I had made it past the 6th palace, which was easier said than done in the days before internet help. I went to turn on the game one day and all my progress was lost. I thought that the cartridge internal battery failed. Then, I found out my mom let her friends small child play it when I wasn’t home. That kid erased my profile. I was so pissed I didn’t play the game for about 20 years. Good memories! 🤣

[@sheliawright1131]

Great summary!

[@vloebo]

Amazing guide! However this game is still impossible and my wife hates me.

[@matttyree1002]

30:50 This is my favorite Castlevania song, great music choices in this vid :)

[@LazyGardenGamer]

I kinda wish I would have watched this video before I started and finished this game a few weeks ago, lol. I learned this all on my own though, through great struggle, haha

[@Doc141]

Great guide!

[@DanniTehLeopard]

I know that Zelda 2 isn't incredibly popular but it's a shame that this video doesn't have more views. I have been trying to play and beat this game off and on for the last decade or so and always gave up before even completeing Parapa Palace due to my overall confusion of enemy and gameplay mechanics. 3 hours or so later after finishing watching this video I'm now heading to the 4th Palace and while I'ms till pretty shaky on some controls, Ive never felt more confident in an attempt with this game. Thank you so very much!

[@FireGuts]

Good luck! I hope you push through!

[@DanniTehLeopard]

​@FireGuts Thank you very much! As an update I managed to finally complete Zelda 2 about 3 days after the original post. Thank you again so much!

[@andywarda1481]

Funny thing is I was just thinking of replaying this.

[@SirJoelsuf1]

0:40 Zelda 2 Speedrunner here. SECONDS in and I had NO idea you could do Eco Key that way. I feel like I should do a tutorial on this game now haha. But I'm definitely gonna give this a watch.

[@FireGuts]

Haha, knowledge from a throwaway clip, I love it. I also wonder how many people learned the useless fact that you can block Guma's weapons with Reflect. Took me forever to actually block enough in a row for a clip.

[@V8Supercar1]

Still my all time favorite Zelda game and the first Zelda game I ever beat.

[@tinyguy9398]

This guy's memes are over 9,000!

[@ss4kaioken295]

Makes me wanna finally try this game out!

[@FireGuts]

I hope so! I think it's worth the setbacks since there is a save system

[@bailey5533]

Excellent content here! You should make a video on analysing how to beat Contra next!

[@trowepiper5787]

You beat it like this….up up down down left right left right b a start bruh

[@markaitkenguitar]

How the hell did I beat this without a guide?! Needless to say, if I ever dare try it again, I’ll be following this video step by step. Fun watch on its own as well!

[@Verbalaesthet]

Can you calculate the age of the area by counting the graveyard size which is about 100 times the size of the villages?

[@Unexpectedperspectivesnow]

Wow that's a scientific analysis and layout of the game!

[@GamerFromJump]

3:55 - Since you get six free levels for the statues, it seems to me that the best bang for your XP buck can be had by using them to get Levels 6-8 on Attack, Levels 7-8 on Magic, and Level 8 on Life. These are the top six most expensive level ups, so it makes sense to get them free.Thankfully the US version doesn’t do what the Japanese version does and drop your levels to that of your lowest stat.

[@brandoncolis3841]

I suggested that too. It makea things so much easier on the player and can make things shorter.

[@nonickels8975]

Never finished it. Honestly can't believe the patience I had in playing it without aides like this back in the '90s. The game guides you along if you investigate but get out. I don't care to invest that much time anymore. Anyway great game good guide yadda yadda thanks.

[@Sabowie]

OMG THE BEST

[@emailchrismoll]

I beat this game over the summer of 1989 when i was 10 and 1/2. I remember my very first impression was that "the graphics suck" because I was used to seeing an overhead view from zelda 1. The manual or the game should have specified that the overhead world in zelda 2 was just a "map view". Solid game!