GamingPickz

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is a 1987 action role-playing game developed and published by Nintendo. It is the second installment in the Legend of Zelda series, and was released in Japan for the Famicom Disk System on January 14, 1987, less than a year after the Japanese release and seven months before the North American release of the original The Legend of Zelda. Zelda II was released in North America and the PAL region for the Nintendo Entertainment System in late 1988, almost two years after its initial release in Japan.

Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA, read 5 September 2026.

Role-PlayingAction RPG

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Would you recommend it?
Released
1987
Developer
Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development
Platforms
2 systems
Critics
Not scored
Steam Deck
Unknown
Download
Not stated
We have not written a full review of this game.This is a catalogue entry: everything below comes from a source we can link, checked on a stated date. There is no score and no verdict here, because we only publish those after a reviewer has played the game and written it up properly. Our team may well have played this one. Until someone writes the review, we are not going to imply a verdict we have not put our name to.

The record

Catalogue facts
First released14 January 1987
DeveloperNintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development
PublisherNintendo
PlatformsNintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Wii U
GenresRole-Playing, Action RPG

Source. Catalogue facts from Wikidata Q187339, seeded 30 August 2026.

How long is Zelda II: The Adventure of Link? How long to beat it

Total play time for Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is about 10.8 hours to do everything, and around 10.1 hours to reach the end of the main story. These are player-submitted times from HowLongToBeat, not our own, shown with the number of players behind each.

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link length by how much you play
How you playHoursPlayers logged
Just the main story: straight through the critical path10.1h245
Main + the extras: story plus the side content most people do10.5h163
Completionist: everything: 100% the game10.8h205

Source: HowLongToBeat community submissions, read 2026-10-19.

Where Zelda II: The Adventure of Link sits on the grid

The grid places every game in the catalogue on measured axes rather than on an opinion. This is where Zelda II: The Adventure of Link lands on each map it has the data for, with the share of the catalogue it beats on each axis.

The whole catalogueEnduring classics
Year
39ahead of 2% of the catalogue
Reach
60ahead of 95% of the catalogue

Percentiles are against the games that carry a reading on that axis, not the whole catalogue: counting a game with no figure as a zero would flatter everything that has one. How the grid works.

What readers say about Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Reviews written by people who have played it. These are separate from the GamingPickz Score and are never averaged into it: that score comes from thousands of Steam reviews with a sample-size correction, and a handful of unverified ratings would distort it rather than improve it.

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Where Zelda II: The Adventure of Link appears

The ranked lists and finder pages Zelda II: The Adventure of Link qualifies for, from its own genre and platform to what it takes to run.

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Common questions about Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

What platforms is Zelda II: The Adventure of Link on?

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link is available on Nintendo Entertainment System, Nintendo Wii U. It first released in 1987.

Who made Zelda II: The Adventure of Link?

Zelda II: The Adventure of Link was developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development and published by Nintendo.

How long does it take to beat Zelda II: The Adventure of Link?

about 10.1 hours for the main story, 10.5 hours with the main extras, 10.8 hours to complete everything, from HowLongToBeat's player-submitted times. These are community medians, so your own run may be shorter or longer.