I have never finished Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Not back in the day, not upon any of the times that it has been rereleased. Not even close, really. I have tried—I’ve gone back to it every few years, and I just get frustrated by the difficulty spike and just generally in not knowing where to go next.
The next time I do get the urge to go back to this game (and it might be soon, what with this year being the Zelda series’ 35th and all), I’ll take FireGuts’ video, embedded below, with me. It is half primer/explainer of the mechanics in Zelda II, and half walkthrough, showing you the best/easiest/non-frustrating path through the game.
Beating Zelda II The Adventure of Link
Hosted by FireGuts
YouTube