Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Developer	Nintendo EAD
Publisher	Nintendo
Platforms	3DS, FDS, Game & Watch, GameCube, GBA, NES, NES Classic Edition, Wii, Wii U
Released	Famicom Disk System JP: January 14, 1987 Nintendo Entertainment System AU/EU: September 26, 1988 NA: December 1, 1988 GameCube NA (Collector's Edition): November 17, 2003 Game Boy Advance (Classic NES Series) JP: August 10, 2004 NA: October 25, 2004 EU/Oceania: January 7, 2005 Wii JP (Virtual Console): December 2, 2006 Nintendo 3DS JP (Virtual Console): December 22, 2011 Wii U JP (Virtual Console): August 28, 2013 NES Classic Edition NA: November 10, 2016 Nintendo Switch JP (Switch Online): October 10, 2018 Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda WW: November 12, 2021
Added to Museum	NES CE: June 22, 2017 Famicom Mini: August 10, 2017 G&W: The Legend of Zelda: November 29, 2021

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was first released for the Family Computer Disk System by Nintendo in 1987. It is the second game in The Legend of Zelda series. As part of one of Nintendo's most popular franchises, it was brought to most of Nintendo's subsequent systems, either as ports or through emulation.

Story

In the long distant past, the King of Hyrule used an artifact known as the Triforce of Wisdom to bring prosperity to the kingdom. When he died, his son was not happy that he only inherited a piece of the Triforce. He learns from a magician that his sister Zelda inherited another part of the Triforce. Because his sister wouldn't reveal anything about the Triforce, the magician puts a spell on her to put her into eternal slumber. The powerful magic succeeds in putting Zelda to sleep but it kills the magician in the process.

Generations later, the hero, Link, must find a way to wake her from her sleep, as his failure to do so will bring about the return of the evil Ganon.

Development

The Legend of Zelda was directed and designed by Tadashi Sugiyama and Yasuhisa Yamamura. As with the first game, Shigeru Miyamoto produced the game and Takashi Tezuka wrote the story and script.

Versions of the game

As part of one of Nintendo's most popular franchises, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link has been brought to many different systems, both through traditional game ports and through emulation.

It was first released for the Family Computer Disk System in 1987. It then was released for the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1988.

The game was then released on the GameCube in 2003 as part of The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition and was ported to the Game Boy Advance as part of the Classic NES Series in 2004. An emulated version of the NES version was released for the Virtual Console on Wii in 2006. It was released on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in 2011, and on the Wii U Virtual Console in 2013.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was also included as one of the 30 games in the NES Classic Edition miniature video game console, that emulated NES games and resembled a miniature NES, in 2016.

It was included in 2019 as part of the NES games for the Switch Online service in 2019. A version of the NES game with several powerups enabled from the beginning was released as Zelda II: The Adventures of Link SP was also included as part of the NES games for the Switch Online service.

The NES version was included in Game & Watch: The Legend of Zelda, which was released worldwide in 2021.