No more fucking around, I want to finally beat Zelda II, It's my favourite 2D Zelda but I haven't even beaten it once, any tips or advise would be greatly appreciated.
>>12493087Play the Jap version. You level much faster in it.
>>12493092I'll give it a go, only problem is that I do want to also be able to read what people are saying.
>>12493092The Jap version is a rough beta without all of the dungeons/bosses from the US version and it has different and worse music. Only good part is that it's FDS so it doesn't have the status bar breaking up when there's a lot of action happening.
>>12493087Jump, and as you're landing, attack. It's an easy way to deal with mid and high tier enemies once you get the rhythm.>>12493092Don't do this. This person is either trolling or doesn't know what he's talking about. The levelling in the Japanese version is much more obtuse. The international version of Zelda II is the definitive version, it adds new graphics and a new boss.
>>12493087>It's my favourite 2D Zelda but I haven't even beaten it once,
>>12493107I've been doing that thus far, i'm trying not to use guides or walkthroughs to cheese the game or discover things that would make it easier much earlier.>>12493109What's the problem in liking a game you struggle with? Games back then were not guarantees you'd ever beat them, I can appreciate something that kicks my ass relentlessly.
>>12493107>The international version of Zelda II is the definitive version, it adds new graphics and a new boss.No load time/flipping disks, better music, more content, etc.
>>12493106It has all the palaces but two bosses are recycled and the palaces are all just gray instead of getting a unique color for each one.
>>12493087Remember where all the extra lives are but dont collect them until your about to hit the last level
>>12493087Hey Anon,I just beat Zelda II the other day for the first time in a long while. For me remembering that many of the shield enemies (Knuckles, Lizards) are cheesed by jumping and slashing at their heads on the way down helped, especially because the last two dungeons of the game don't play fairly.Remember to use your spells, I'd rather use my magic than die with a full magic bar.Don't be afraid to die in a dungeon. Make progress through the dungeon, unlock doors, collect keys and key items, and even try and level up. Zelda II can beaten in increments. Lastly, if you're really really stuck, ask for help. You can ask here (and yeah you'll get laughed at), or you can always look up hints. We all like to pretend that that's cheating here, but paid guides existed when I was a kid. Also you can continue from the Great Palace to respawn at the start of the dungeon rather than by Zelda.I should also add that the final boss is hard, you need to lead with the Thunder spell just to get them into a damage state, and they only fire projectiles behind them. Good Luck>>12493112I agree man, you can absolutely love a game that kicks your arse. People are weird about these sorts of things.
>>12493087>It's my favourite 2D Zelda but I haven't even beaten it onceThis is /vr/ in a nutshell.
huge zelda 2 fan excited to beat it for the first time
Aight, li'l nigga. I'mma lay it out for ya. Farm the bubbles when u get to the first palace. They're the skulls that bounce all over. If you get one sword strike on them they get stunned. You can stunlock them by repeatedly striking them. Bonus points for using a turbo controller for this phase. You'll get pushed back a little bit each time, so adjust your positioning during your stunlock. When you kill one, then go into another room and return to do it again. You can easily grind out a shitton of levels this way and it makes the game about ten times more playable for a noobie. Draw put a map when you get to Death Mountain and you'll be good. There are some pretty cryptic finds in the game. If you literally cover every overworld square in the game with Link and you press buttons as you explore the world and you actually observe your environment and listen to people, then you'll probably be fine. Just think like an 80's kid. If you're low in a dungeon, then farm the chuchus that drop from the ceiling and you'll get your health back. Knight statues and gargoyle statues can drop health too. So you can go to the entrance to a lot of palaces and continuously farm the statues at the front to replenish yourself. It resets the dungeon to leave, but sometimes it's better than game over. Otherwise, it's a pretty cool game. Definitely try and improve your combat game. Those mechanics are tight.
>>12493943>It resets the dungeon to leaveAs in it just resets the enemies.
>>12493087I'm not joking when I say you actually have to cheat to beat it. If you don't abuse the while-landing attack, you won't be able to get past several enemies. The game is hard because the combat was not tested and outright just doesn't work. Enemies can block your attacks no matter where you strike from or where they block from. They just cheat. So you have to cheat back. Or better yet, just don't play it. The game fucking sucks.
>>12493087Enemies will always lower shields if you're falling, so jump stab all of them to deathCrystals will fill your XP all the way to the next levelWhen you get a red potion you can heal yourself while it's filling up for extra magicks
>>12493087The biggest advice is really just to read the manual, and keep it around as a reference. There's stuff in there the game itself doesn't really explain, and which gets misinterpreted as "obtuse". Also write down what people say. Most of it is important aside from the obviously recycled "Hello" stuff
>>12493943also if you're at the end of a palace and your EXP is close to leveling up then go back and level up before you set the crystal in the statue; the statue is a free level up so milk it for the most EXP possible
>>12493087Be smart with your exp and save the free level up at the end of a palace for when you're not anywhere close to having enough exp to level up on your own. Jump and stab as you're falling to get through most shields. When you get to Death Mountain, keep going right for the most part. That's all you need to know.
>>12493087While you usually press Up to interact with the background there's one spot where you have to press Down.
>>12493306>Remember to use your spells, I'd rather use my magic than die with a full magic bar.This. There's so many who play Zelda 2 and treat Heal like it's the only spell that exists and naturally they have a miserable time. There's a reason enemies drop magic refills, the game wants you to use magic when things are tough.
don't be afraid to cast shield, it's super cheap and blue magic potions are easy to come byfairy spell can be used as a get out of jail free spell in some rooms, great if you have issues with platforming + gelscast heal or any other spell while your magic is refilling from a red potiongels have a high chance to drop magic potions, some palaces have gel spawners if you really feel like farmingyour crouching attack startup (and possibly endlag?) is MUCH faster than standing attackwhen vs shielded enemies, jump and attack right before you land (you can basically poke their head through their shield this way), you can use this in tight corridors as well to absolutely destroy these enemiesyou get a guaranteed level up when placing a crystal at the end of a palace, if you want to min/max then come back when your exp amount is near emptyyou can "dodge" enemy encounters by fighting them on the dirt pathsfinal boss can be cheesed by crouching in the corner (if you do this, you did NOT beat the game)
>forces you to jump-attack the knights to beat them>places them in corridors where you can't jump at allfuck this game
>>12494361git gud
>>12493952>jump attacks are cheatsngmi
This is a bit obnoxious, but just "get good." It is a moderately tough game, but it's not impossible. Use your shields and try not to cheese enemies. Actually learn the combat. Block high and low, and alternate high and low attacks on enemies with shields. You will learn a rhythm. You can (and should) learn to beat every enemy and boss without cheese. The Shield spell halves your damage. Use it on bosses and tough rooms. It's cheap. Refill your HP with Life. You get plenty of Magic. When leveling, first prioritize Sword, then Life and Magic. You can "defer" levels by choosing "cancel" on the level up screen. Every time you beat a dungeon, you get a free level up to the next XP level. Try to time it so you pass a cheap level (like Life) and hit a big one (like Sword). If you are about to fall into a pit, quickly cast Fairy and escape.The game basically requires you to beat all the side quests. You need to acquire nearly every spell, which means doing nearly all the side quests.Good luck! I loved this game. I think it has a bad reputation because it is too complex for 10 year olds. Most of my friends in the 90s wandered aimlessly and were like "this game sucks!" It's much more complex than Zelda 1, 3, and OoT. If you actually engage with the systems and play with it, it's surprisingly deep and satisfying.
>>12494929>You need to acquire nearly every spellthis was my biggest gripe with the game. i was one of those 90s wanderers you mentioned that hated the game. so a few years back i decided to sit down and go through it all blind. i missed a spell and had no idea why i could not damage the thunderbird. when i finally looked up the solution and all it was was a spell whos only use was making that boss vulnerable. but since i didnt get some other spell, whoops sorry! you dont get to fight the boss! i dropped the game permanently right there. there is no defending that kind of game design.>but zelda 1 does the same thingnot the same thing at all because the silver arrows you need for ganon are actually in the final level, not tied to a bullshit collectathon you have no idea you have to do and the game plays a practical joke on you if you dont accidentally do it
>>12493087In the great palace you can grind the flying cow skulls to refill your life and magic. This will be necessary to make progress unless you're extremely skilled or lucky.
>>12494929>>12494351>>12493992So far your advise has been extremely helpful, I grinded for a bit and just barely got through death mountain. I'll update more if I make any further progress.
The long pause when you switch screens in this game always annoyed me.
>>12494994SMB2 has that as well, I think it's an artifact of the game originally being FDS.
>>12493647>picrela daring synthesis
>>12493087http://gamefaqs.com
>>12495018Guides are for pussies
>>12493109>>12493605>>12493647You people are absolute idiots. OP may have played through 85% of the game twenty times and only failed to do the last couple of palaces. That is enough.
>>12493952Only a psycho calls that "cheating".
>>12494361And? The jump-attack trick still works even beneath the lowest ceilings.
>>12494943>a bullshit collectathon you have no idea you have to doThere's a gap in your spell list, idiot. What kind of an empty-hearted degenerate doesn't want to try all the spells and see what they do? What is wrong with you?I agree that forcing the player to figure out to use that spell on one particular boss is bad design though.
>>12495081It's not intentional. It's just a bug you're exploiting (it's cheating)
>>12495061So is asking for tips, pussy.
>>12495143Tips and word of mouth was literally how every kid back then beat a game, zoomer
Tip: You can cancel your Level Ups and save them for later when you reach the next point threshold. I always make it a priority to level up Attack as early as I can.Beating a dungeon also gives puts you at the point threshold. Since Attack is so costly for level ups (up to the late thousands) I get past the threshold for a Magic and Life up, finish the dungeon, then get like 6-7k EXP without having to grind it all.It might take a few playthroughs to know exactly how to properly manage your EXP and when to invest in the other 2 stats, but once you do then you can have 4 Attack after the first dungeon, maxed Attack after Dungeon 4, and you'll be maxed out on levels either during or after Dungeon 6.Learn where all the free Point Bags are too. They usually give 200 free EXP, and the hidden ones in the overworld lategame give 500 free EXP. You'll know how to easily ignore fights a lot of difficult (especially assholes like Blue Iron Knuckles, the scorpions and Lizalfos) and still be max level by the time you trek to the Great Palace without ever having to stop and farm levels.Also this is just personal preference but I prefer doing Death Mountain before Dungeon 2 because it offers so much EXP by defeating enemies. It seems so intimidating but when you realize how to defeat the tough alligator dudes it becomes trivial.Orange Guys: Keep walking up to them and stabbing, you'll knock them back just enough for you to walk up to them again and stab before they can hit you with their axe. Learn the timing and they're a free 70 points. The ones by the ledges in some Death Mountain caves are the same deal despite the setup, but you'll have to crouch and hit them on the step before them.Red Guys: Take it slow, don't rush them. When they toss the axe jump and hit them. If you're brave you can hit them twice before they throw another axe.
>>12495342Tips for other specific sections of the game:There's a mandatory Blue Iron Knuckle in both Dungeon 3 and Dungeon 4, both guarding the item. At this point of the game they take way too many hits and hit hard back. Don't bother with them, instead transform into a Fairy after dealing with the other enemies in the room. Move yourself to the very top of the ceiling, then move to the open room. Press up just light enough so you move a small pixel (you can move back into the hall again to see if the fairy touches the ceiling, if not or you bump into the wall then try again.) This will allow you to fly over the knight without getting hurt and safely grab the item. They're only 150 points, absolutely not worth fighting early.There's another Blue Iron Knuckle in the 3rd dungeon right before the boss room, flanked by a Red Iron Knuckle in a tight corridor. You can completely ignore the blue guy by making sure he's far away and facing the opposite direction, then he won't be throwing knives at you while you battle the red guy.There's a particularly annoying room in Dungeon 4 with waving heads over platforms and a pit of lava. Use the Jump spell and keep moving forward without stopping. You'll jump over all the fire on blocks and heads perfectly, both ways.During the trek to the final dungeon, there's really frustrating trap tiles blocking the way forward. When you step on these, turn around and wait for encounters (Encounters are based on time and not steps like most RPGs, by the way). When an enemy goes over the trap tile, move into that enemy for a much easier encounter while also skipping the trap.
>>12494989Why is Epstein temple in a Nintendo game?
>>12495450Ironic that atheists are calling a church "epstein temple" when you pioneered zionism and the concept of a jewish nation state
Speaking of spells, a tip for Reflect: a lot of people just use modern Zelda logic of "this is only used for the dungeon you get it before" and bounce the wizrobe spells back at them, but the old man who teaches it to you isn't joking when he says THIS MAGIC WILL STRENGTHEN A SHIELD. Casting Reflect will make it so you can block a lot more attacks that your shield normally doesn't stop.
Hello again anons, I've begun making a lot more progress since last night, I feel like the end is in sight so i'll keep you posted.
>>12494994Miyamoto mentioned something related to that. I think the game woukd have been slightly different if they weren't bottlenecked by performance. I forget exactly what it was.
>>12496470Did you end up farming the bubbles?
>>12497025Yup.>>12496470thread over.
>>12497040Well done anon. I hope it's still your favourite Zelda game.
>>12497496It indeed is, i'll never understand why it's so disliked.
>>12497521I wouldn’t say it’s “so disliked”. Polarizing, but at a minimum I think the consensus is it’s pretty good.
>>12497524I suppose "divisive" is the more appropriate word, but really any discussion on this game i've attempted to have with people outside of 4chan has always been met with the same seethe and regurgitated strawmans, it's nice to know maybe not everybody thinks like that.
>>12497020I think it was just sloppy coding and I know of no other FDS to cartridge conversions that have that delay when switching screens.
>>12497521>>12497524It's mostly due to the games after it making it seem like a bizarre offshoot rather than a reasonable direction they could have taken the series. You play Zelda 1 over and over, both quests, etc. The next game comes along and what does it capitalize on? You exploring a vast world, getting into dynamic battles with your sword. But then the SNES comes along "actually Zelda was a little garden you run around and uh we heard people say those games were too hard so we made the enemies and fighting way easier and also threw in more "puzzles" because the difficulty was toned down".
>>12497521Because the combat doesn't work and the game is 90% combat.
>>12497574>Because the combat doesn't workDrop slash and take note of the patterns of the enemies who throw shit at you (like the boomerang and axe throwing enemies), the combat is the most satisfying in this game imo.
>>12497606drop slash is a glitch. beat the game without it and tell me 1 that it's even possible and 2 that it's enjoyable.
>>12497623>drop slash is a glitch.It is absolutely not, why would it be? Some enemies like the knights require you to hit them on the head with a jump slash.
I played up to the third temple over Christmas, first time I played it since I was a kid and I breezed right through Death Mountain without much issue. I know everyone considers it one of the hardest parts of the game, was I just more anal about experience retention than most? I didn't really grind any more than the second temple required, and I know I'm not just a wizard because while I like fighting them, the blue darknights kept kicking my ass.Could I have been playing a PAL version of the game that was easier or something?
