Update [Fri 28th Jun, 2024 16:00 BST]: The port is now available to the general public.
Original Story [Fri 21st Jun, 2024 10:00 BST]: Infidelity, the talent behind NES-to-SNES ports of games such as Contra and Mega Man, has just revealed his next project – bringing Zelda II: The Adventure of Link to Nintendo's 16-bit system.
The port is currently only available to Infidelity's Patreon subscribers and is in beta.
"It's playable from beginning to end, but please read the included readme file, for the laundry list of known issues that I still need to tackle," adds the developer.
Released in Japan for the Famicom Disk System in 1987, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link would come to the West in a more traditional cartridge format the following year.
A notable departure from the original game, Zelda II introduces a side-on perspective when exploring towns and taking part in combat, and even features experience points – something that has never been seen in any other Zelda outing.
While it was a commercial success and still has its fans, Zelda II is arguably one of the less-acclaimed entries in the long-running series; it was ranked 31st out of 33 in Nintendo Life's list of the best Zelda games.
[source x.com]
Comments 19
Keep them coming.
I'll subscribe to not have to play it...
Next, I really wanna see Batman: Revenge of the Joker get ported across to SNES. And then some SNES ROM hacker can add 16-bit colour for the ultimate version of the game.
@RetroGames You know Sunsoft themselves did that, just arguably not very well (and probably why it was never officially released, though who knows if it would've been tweaked if they did)?
The canceled port did have the NES soundtrack intact, which I guess depends on your opinion: whether it was good enough as it was, or if you wished to have seen whatever punch the SPC700 could've given to it.
@KingMike The official 16-bit versions were terrible though, unfortunately. So I'd rather take a direct port of the NES game and just have some talented SNES artist update to 16-bit colours (and they can add an MSU! audio option too if that exists). Job done.
Just finished the PC port. Gonna be hard going back to vanilla
Nintendo Screaming Get the Lawyers like Bubby Ray Dudley screams for D-Von to get the Tables.
How to make your video game project become lost media in seconds.
Guy Charges for Unauthorized Port, Plays the Victim Afterwards. Hundreds Defend Him.
I want an animé of this game in the style of the artwork shown as the header.
This is what Zelda has always been for me. Zelda II was my first, and while I also adore Zelda III, I think II will always give me the most feels.
Risky move. Better to not paywall something using an IP Nintendo owns. Their lawyers will sniff it out.
Nintendo legal team incoming—RUN!!!!
He never should have mass-distributed his project, let alone paywalled it. You can’t play with Nintendo’s toys without permission, and then tell the world about it!
Get your own toys, or keep it to yourself. Sheesh.
That was a really bad idea to paywall it at first. How are people still this naiive when it comes to working with IP you don't own? Maybe at least run it past a competent attorney? Yes, it's a little bit of a gray area since Patreon subscribers aren't technically paying for the game itself, but as an attorney myself i would have categoricaly advised against it.
@Bonggon5
I felt the same when Metroid was "ported" but without the map system which fan hacks added to the NES original.
These bare bones ports completely lack the quality of life improvements added by fans over the years.
@Sketcz I don't know if you have an earlier version of the Metroid port, but it has a map now, along with other improvements.
I actually like this porting project more than I expected. There are added options and improvements. There are often multiple soundtrack options, added saves(Metroid), some color improvements(Ducktales), and maybe some other things I'm overlooking.
@sdelfin
It has a map? Nice! Thanks - that must have been an update. The first release just had extra saves. Will check out.
@Sketcz Yeah. I noticed it is shown as "Rev E" so I assumed there have been changes along the way. And I know in this one case, someone created a hack for this port changing the status screen.
Just so you know, the map is accessible from the status screen. It's not the mini map you've previously described, so that might still be better, but it's great to have a map of any sort.
I'm glad it's released. Also hoping Nintendo keeps looking the other way. Infidelity does really good work with these ports. I want to see him keep going with these as long as he still has the drive to.
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