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There’s perhaps no video game designer more renowned or well known than Shigeru Miyamoto, the designer behind iconic Nintendo series such as Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda – both profoundly influential franchises that have stood the test of time. So it may come as a surprise that in a 2013 interview, when asked what he considered to be a bad game that he made, his answer was a Zelda game.
Which one was it? The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. While he didn’t outright say it was a bad game, he stopped just short of it. He was quoted as saying,
“I wouldn’t say that I’ve ever made a bad game, per se, but a game I think we could have done more with was Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, When we’re designing games, we have our plan for what we’re going to design but in our process it evolves and grows from there. In Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, unfortunately all we ended up creating was what we had originally planned on paper.”
While the answer is a bit shocking coming from the creator’s mouth, the game has not been without its detractors over the years. Many have criticized the title for its extreme difficulty and cryptic puzzles. It’s earned a place as the series’ black sheep of sorts, even becoming the focus of a 2011 Angry Video Game Nerd episode.
To be clear, not everyone thinks that Zelda II is that bad. Although the entry was a clear a departure from the style introduced in the original Legend of Zelda, many fans will vouch for the game as a fun and unique experience.
What do you think? Was Zelda II: The Adventure of Link that bad? Or is Miyamoto being a little hard on himself? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
