#16: Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Nintendo, NES, 1987/1988)

The world of Hyrule is considerably expanded, for example; no longer is the human population of the world limited to cave-dwelling hermits, now there are whole towns full of people going about their business, each with their own story to tell. Very short stories, admittedly, but still fraught with character and emotion. “I AM ERROR” is perhaps rightly the most celebrated example, though I personally am rather a fan of “IF ALL ELSE FAILS USE FIRE”.

But in truth, while the cast of characters in Zelda II may be larger, while the actual physical area of its world may even be larger, the fact is that it doesn’t feel that way. Because while there is plenty of world out there to see, the game simply will not let you see it until it decides you are ready. The non-linearity of the original Legend of Zelda may have been somewhat illusory, but at least some real effort was put into maintaining that illusion. In Zelda II, choosing to explore any path but the right one very quickly leads to a dead end.

Which is perhaps appropriate for a game that has, itself, proved to be something of a dead end.