A Legend of Zelda fan has created their very own Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link remake, complete with new features, quality of life update, and pretty visuals.
As highlighted by a user on Resetera, there's an improved version of Zelda 2 floating around online. The game's creator, HoverBat, shared a post on Reddit a couple of years ago giving future players a complete rundown of their fan game, Zelda 2: Enhanced PC Edition, and it seems to have resurfaced in 2023.
According to the game's developer, they grew up playing the Nintendo title and, although they loved the original, they felt it was "lacking content" so built an engine to add more features to it. To do this, they used the engine GameMaker and the level editor Tiled to make a "direct translation" using the game's original assembly code - which basically means they've kept physics, combat, AI, etc. the same, and just added their own features.
In saying that though, the post reveals that some of Zelda 2's original mechanics and logic have been "modified" for quality-of-life reasons, or to fix some of the original's bugs. In terms of what new features they've added, the post lists several new things that have been implemented in the action RPG, including things like a saving system, a dungeon map to show you the rooms you've visited so far, an overworld map, new HUD elements, and much more.
As for those quality of life changes, HoverBat says they've added things like Link retaining 25% of his XP when continuing after game over, making background flashing optional, making beeping when your HP is low less frequent, faster dialogue speed, and more. There are a lot of new and exciting things in this version of the 80s Nintendo title, which you can see for yourself in the playthrough below from YouTuber Vinesauce.
This is not the first impressive Zelda fan remake we've seen recently - we've also seen a lot of Ocarina of Time remakes and fan projects. There's been the fully-fledged fan sequel to Zelda: Ocarina of Time called The Legend of Zelda: The Sealed Place, as well as the Ocarina of Time PC mod that adds support for better graphics, a pet dog, and a multiplayer mode.
My personal favorite though, is the fan-made Unreal Engine 5 anime inspired by Ocarina of Time and Studio Ghibli - and yes, it's as magical as you're imagining.
Find out what else you could be playing with our best Zelda games list.
