Zelda II: It's Not the Black Sheep | Retro Odyssey

I also want to clear a misconception: you CAN choose your level-ups in the NES version. If you scroll up to "cancel" on the NES level-up screen, it will NOT spend your level-up, and after getting a few more XP you will get a second level-up where you can CHOOSE what stat to boost. It's hard to explain but simple to understand once you do it

You don't have to level-up evenly in NES. You can cancel the level-up and bank the EXP for a couple of lvls until it gives you the option you want again. For example: you want to focus on ATK, depending on H Containers and M Bottles in the early-game for those upgeades. Lvl 1 ATK up. Lvl 2 cancel and bank, lvl 3 cancel and bank. Lvl 4 ATK up. This is total game-changer once you know it. Just don't die between activated lvl-ups or you lose your banked exp.

This game is REALLLLLY underrated, it's very different from Zelda 1 but it has an adrenaline effect in battle at times, it is so hype when you're fighting a dark nut, they feel like a puzzle when fighting them, and the sword techniques are just so cool

Something I love about your videos is how you directly address the "parroting" a lot of reviewers and essayists do, and try to engage with the game on it's own terms instead of just mimicking what others are saying. So many reviews feel like they tick the same wikipedia data points and then just restate where the game has landed culturally, but you're really engaging with the games and analyzing them from a personal level. Hope you keep at it because your channel is really refreshing!

I love how Link's best move is basically Mario's standard move. Just jumping on mofos

For new players wanting to finish this game, here are some tricks-strategies from a very old player of this game: 1- Grind at the beggining: You can either use HPRshredder technique (at 29:00 in this video) or you can do it in Parapa Palace. Get at least attack x 5, you're going to need it in Death Mountain (See point 5 to know how to grind in palaces without messing it up) 2- Use the life spell without hesitation, combine with magic bottles drops for magic recharge. You know how enemies can drop blue or red magic bottles? these are your friends, since at the beggining you'll probably lack some combat experience and get some damage. So use the life spell, recharge magic, and redo. See next point to find more red bottles. 3- Like HPRshredder said, strike statues to drop red bottles, especially those at the start of a palace. If a statue drop an iron knuckle instead of a red bottle, go out, come in again, strike again until you get it. 4- Before getting a magic red bottle, click start, position your cursor in the life spell, click start again to go out of the menu, get the red bottle and INMEDIATELY charge the life spell. You'll find that red bottles will charge your magic almost to the fullest, while also getting the life recharge from the life spell. Neat trick! 5- Never finish a palace by dropping a cristal IF you have lots of points for the next life-magic-attack upgrade. Cristal holder statues at the end of each palace will charge your points infinitely until the next upgrade, so if you have lots of points, this point boost will be wasted. For example: Imagine your next upgrade is at 4000 points, and you already got 3200 after finishing the palace... the statue will only give you the remaining 800 points. But, if you manage to get to the 4000 by your own, your points will go to 0 and the statue will give the next 4500-5000 points needed for the next upgrade after the one you just took. One way to achieve this is going out of the palace WITHOUT placing the cristal. Notice that, when placing the cristal, if you get close to the statue links snaps in place and the cristal gets placed... BUT, if you jump the place where Links get snapped for placing the cristal, you can skip the whole thing, go out of the palace and come back in again. Or you can just go back to a room with fire-skeleton head bubbles, which do not stay dead and revive just by coming to their rooms again. They each drop like 50 points if I remember correctly. 6- Like HPRshredder said, learn to use the down thrust accordingly. This makes the game so much easier. 7- You don't have to kill all enemies you encounter... some are simply not worthy. You can easily skip them by jumping in their heads with the down thrust and coming the other side.

Zelda 2 was the first Zelda game I ever played, so I never saw it as a bad game. I definitely saw it as a hard game, in fact I never could finish it as a little kid. I couldn't beat it until years later as an adult. More people should appreciate the game and what it did. Great video and I hope a lot more people get to watch it.

It's the cool uncle of the franchise, letting you do things you usually wouldn't.

it's funny how personal experience is everything. this was my first zelda game, and didn't play a different zelda until Ocarina. I never knew that everyone was thrown off by this game! I thought it was fun and mysterious and figured other Zeldas were just like it..

The funny thing is, Zelda 2 is probably the least played Zelda game, but it has some of the most iconic Zelda tracks that gets reused in other media

Just dropping a comment while binge-watching your content. Zelda 2 is an essential part of the series’ DNA. It feels divorced from the series, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. As you correctly point out, it was simply ahead of its time.

Your Zelda 1 and Metroid 1 videos inspired me to finally give those amazing cryptic games from before my time a chance, and even dragged a friend into doing the same thing. I finally finished both of them, and just in time to have another good video to supplement the game I'm tackling next. Keep giving these games a second chance no matter how dated people think they are.

It's one of the better Zelda games and is by far underrated. So many complain because it's too hard and it's honestly not at all and has some great mechanics. I love it.

Dude, I absolutely love this! You're voice and review style is so relaxing. It's funny how I used to love shouty videos when I was in my early teens. Nowadays, I crave chill vibes. Life is pretty stressful right now and somehow this video made me relax instantly.

Use reflect spell against Thunderbird helps with its fireballs.

My dude do you realize how good your content is? Please don't stop. One day it'll catch fire and you'll get the publicity these videos are worth!

Amazing and comprehensive overview of Zelda 2! You give it the justice it deserves! It does get a lot of hate, but it's a fun game for what it is. For me, no game was more satisfying to finish than this one 😆 It really felt like finishing a long and arduous journey. It's 100% justifiable to beat Dark Link by crouching in the corner. That, too, is a technique learnt along the way! This video was such a comfy watch and I really appreciate the time and effort that went into it! the pacing, editing, visuals, and sound design is smooth and seamless. I enjoyed every part of the video! Your humor was also all in the right places and brought all your points together nicely! I'm glad my Zelda 2 fanworks could be of service to the community! ☺

Zelda II is such an awesome game, this "black sheep" myth has to stop, I like how you compared it to the "ugly duckling" a way more accurate comparison. I admire that you applied yourself to beating this and the first Zelda, most people today only think of Zelda in terms of the Eiji Aonuma formula (Ocarina of time forwards) and it's refreshing seeing someone who stared playing Zelda games with Spirit Tracks (!) go back and play the originals and appreciate why they are good, instead of just bashing them because of dated graphics or "cryptic puzzles".

33:29 "The DVD screen waiting for the logo to hit the corner thing going on" 😂😂

Zelda 2 was a very important game to me growing up in the early 90s. This video excellently sums up my feelings on this game's greatness, even if I feel several other Zelda games are greater than this one. I still go back to this game every few years or so. Great video!