so I've been getting my ass handed to me by Zelda II

[noiseredux]

WHY do I have to go back to the first palace every time I get a game over?

Uh-oh it's one of those games? Even if you get to the last castle and die, it's right back to the start of the game? Never playing this game in that case
I have it on the Collector's Disc as well, but it's the only console Zelda I've never played (unless you count the Master Quest). I just haven't got round to it with all the other games. Plus, as it's the black sheep it's been left til last. How many lives etc do you get?

3 lives.

[Limewater]

Uh-oh it's one of those games? Even if you get to the last castle and die, it's right back to the start of the game? Never playing this game in that case

You keep all of your items and level-ups, you just have to walk all the way back to where you died. So it's not like Nethack, where you screw up once and lose a game where you've already sunk ten hours or anything.

[JordanPlayer]

I actually remember owning and playing this game as a kid... I remember it was hard as hell to get that damn hammer from the maze of caves; I remember when I actually got it I was jumping around going crazy. I eventually made it all the way up to the final castle... one time. The path to the castle was hard enough, so I never made it all the way through the game. I actually loaded the game up a couple months ago and my save was still actually there! I have since beaten the game on an emulator but I will never forget how hard this game was.

[corn619]

I remember the precise moment I got really good at Zelda II and it all made sense. It was back in 89 and I was in the caves toward later end of the game and thats when everything just clicked for me. I died a bunch of times before this moment and was just about fed up with the game.

And then..light bulb! Sounds kinda crazy typing it but this is the the best way I can explain it. I just had to predict what the enemy was going to do and stab them with my butter knife before they had a chance to move. Learning enemy movement patterns was the key to my success. It worked for me at least, and memorizing the levels and enemy placement didn't hurt either.

I ran through the levels like water, sliding under enemies then jumping into a downward thrust killing the next foe. It was weird but, I felt one with Link and it was then I saw the misunderstood genius of Zelda II. Its a awesome game and I think people just don't see the greatness hidden under the difficultly. Man, typing that made me want to play it again.

[noiseredux]

Learning enemy movement patterns was the key to my success. It worked for me at least, and memorizing the levels and enemy placement didn't hurt either.

Yes! I had the same revelation. It's a bit like Punch-Out! in that manner.