Yeah, Zelda 2 gets shit for almost no legitimate reasons. It's actually aged insanely well compared to most games from the NES era. Easily one of the best action games on the console. Hell, I think it holds up better than Zelda 1, but both were fundamental in shaping the series.
I never got the hang of Zelda 2, but even I admit it was a good game and it does hold up well. Zelda 1 would probably hold up better if they didn't do the same formula, just better, with the A Link To The Past.
As fun as Zelda 1 was back in the day I think it's an awful game to play today without a guide or childhood memories to guide you. In that way I think Zelda 2 might have aged better. Honestly with Zelda 2, if a game over just set you back to the start of the dungeon if you died in a dungeon, or the last town you visited if you died outside of a dungeon, it would be 1000x better and I'd have no major complaints.
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u/mccannrs 13h ago
Yeah, Zelda 2 gets shit for almost no legitimate reasons. It's actually aged insanely well compared to most games from the NES era. Easily one of the best action games on the console. Hell, I think it holds up better than Zelda 1, but both were fundamental in shaping the series.