Thanks! I'll download it today.
I gotta second this. Holy crap, OB. You are in for a real treat with this game. I haven't played much of Zelda II, only a little bit of the GBA port and the bits and pieces included in NES Remix 2, but this is one heck of a game. It's pretty much (a) everything I've ever heard Zelda II is, but, y'know, more modern, and (b) blows most (2D, I guess?) retail and indie games out of the water in terms of value. Heck, I've gotten more time out of it already than some full-priced games.
That's all kind of vague, though, I suppose. At its heart the game kind of evokes Mega Man 2 or Shovel Knight, but with many more secrets and a lengthier play experience, and with a Zelda II overworld setup rather than a level select or level map. It's an immersive experience with a very Zelda-esque sense of progression. As you gain further items and abilities, full heart containers or heart halves (i.e. 1/2 heart containers), and as you level up, you really feel like you're getting deeper into the depths of the game world on offer. I really like the experience system--defeat enemies, gain experience. Die, and you lose a chunk of experience.
And in playing the game my wife and I have been losing a heck of a lot of lives, especially when accidentally going into areas with tougher enemies we're not supposed to go to yet. (This has always been one of my favorite aspects of Zelda games or Zelda-likes--stumbling into areas I'm not supposed to go into yet, only to find an usual Kakariko Village or a glittering Lake Hylia with a few stray keese flying about...or perhaps a tunnel from the Lost Woods to Death Mountain. Okay, you can tell which single Zelda had me feeling like this the most, but still!) Anyway, yeah, so--there are a lot of areas like this. There's a lot of backtracking and kind of stumbling around in the dark (metaphorically and literally!). Which is very satisfying because it feels great to go back to an area and be like, oh, *now* I can do something here, yay!
So, the leveling up system itself is pretty cut and dry. You get to select individual attributes (wisdom, agility, etc.) to improve in specific ways. There are also good/evil paths and some clever ways to stay on either path or in the middle of the road, which oscillate between very clear and somewhat obscure.
Save system is awesome, BTW. You walk up to a liberally scattered save point. It turns blue. You're all set! And, it acts a respwan point.
A few tips for new players with very mild spoilers:
-There's a bit of troubling slowdown at some point when too much is going on onscreen. Turn Off-TV Play on to reduce this issue (it's at the main menu when you boot up the game).
-Game plays really well with a Wiimote only if you're into that kind of things.
-The boy who lost his bomb bag. Don't talk to him again after you get it back unless you want to be faced with a difficult decision.
-Shell shards. Keep at it with the turtles and you'll get what you need.
All in all, with a solid 8-10+ hours logged at this point and plenty of game surely ahead, I can give it a very high recommendation.
