2D Zelda Adventure Mode

2D ZELDA ADVENTURE MODE

Opening scene: We open on the Link of the original game, asleep in his cabin as terrible nightmares haunt his dreams and cause him to toss and turn through the night. Having dealt with these dreams for far too long, he decides to visit the Old Man who helped him through his adventure. The Old Man searches through an old tome and finds that numerous events throughout history are changing as he reads them and that something is messing with time, resulting in Link’s nightmares. He tells Link that he will find answers at a lost ninth dungeon somewhere out in Hyrule.

DUNGEON 1: THE NINTH DUNGEON

Link searches far and wide across Hyrule, encountering numerous enemies familiar to his adventures. As you go, you also pick up sparse rumors that one of the two ruling Zeldas has gone missing. You finally discover the lost ninth dungeon and traverse it, encountering a Gohma, Dodongo, and Manhandla, which act as the a circuit of bosses.

Behind the Manhandla, Link encounters a mystical doorway, with the Elder Zelda standing outside of it. She tells Link that her descendant passed through some time ago to investigate the same strange occurrences he has been investigating, but she has not returned in three days. Link agrees to go through and find Zelda.

DUNGEON 2: THE DARK WORLD

Link steps through and immediately falls through a time warp, coming out a thousand years in the past, in a very much not lost temple. He emerged into a much more lively and bustling Hyrule than the one he’s used to, exploring the castle town and interacting with familiar faces such as Maple, the witch in training, a merchant named Ravio, and a pair of sisters running rival minigames named Madame Couture and Lady Maud. Each of these have a sidequest of their own, and if you can fulfill their sidequest over the course of the game, they will join your party.

After a little while of exploring, Link will be accosted by Hylian soldiers who say there’s a warrant out for his arrest. He tries to make a getaway, but as he does so, he collides right into a second Link. For a moment, these two are surprised by the other’s existence, believing each other an enemy and dueling. After a short time, they find themselves surrounded by soldiers again, and end up joining forces to take them down.

They take refuge in a temple, where the second Link receives a message from his Princess Zelda, explaining that Agahnim seems to have risen from the dead and taken over the castle and soldiers. She is trapped in the castle, but instructs him to seek out Sahasrahla for help. The Link doubles set out, searching for Sahasrahla, helped along by a band of monkeys. When they find him, he pulls out the same tome the Old Man used, and deciphers that an ancient evil known to the both of them is haunting their dreams, and has recreated Agahnim from the second Link’s nightmares. He gives them the ability to switch between the Light World and the Dark World, allowing them to get past the castle’s defenses and inside.

The castle acts as the Dungeon for this world, as well as the corresponding pyramid in the Dark World. They reach Agahnim, only for him to send Link 2’s Zelda away via a magic spell. They fight Agahnim as the dungeon boss.

DUNGEON 3: THE TEMPLE OF SEASONS

The two Links return to Sahasrahla, who perceives that both of their Zeldas have been cast across time, not just through their own timelines, but also into alternate timelines created by an ancient rift. He doesn’t quite have enough power to send them to those timelines, but he believes the three Oracles will have the power to do so. He opens two portals to Labrynna and Holodrum in order to find them.

You can go through either portal as it doesn’t really matter, both will be important to complete. Inside, you will find such allies as Ralph, Ricky, and the Subrosians, all of whom will be able to join your party if you complete their sidequests. Though you will not be able to find the Oracles, you will find medallions belonging respectively to Din and Nayru, with one for Farore hidden somewhere in one of the two. Once all three have been brought together, a portal will be opened to the Oracles’ true location, the Temple of Seasons.

This acts as the Dungeon for the level, with Onox and Veran having taken over the temple and taken the Oracles’ hostage, both resurrected using Link 2’s nightmares of them. Once they are defeated, the Oracles will be freed and Sahasrahla explains to them what they need their powers for. Working together, the Oracles and Sahasrahla will open a portal for the Links to travel through.

MINI-DUNGEON: SHRINE OF THE FOUR SWORD

The two Links find themselves in a strange temple somewhere in Hyrule. Sahasrahla contacts them and tells them that he detects a powerful item they will need to save the princesses. They work their way through the dungeon and encounter a sword similar to the Master Sword. Link 1 decided to pull the sword despite Link 2’s hesitancy, and he is immediately split into four while a powerful demon is released from his tomb. The demon, sensing time travel magic on the pair, sucks it into himself, opening his own portal to travel back in time and seek revenge on an ancient enemy. To keep them busy, he creates a Dark Link, which acts as the Mini-Dungeon’s boss.

Once Dark Link is defeated, the two (er, five) Links rush through the time portal after the demon.

DUNGEON 4: PALACE OF WINDS

The two Links stumble through the portal and land in the throne room of another Hyrule several thousand years back from where they just were, right in front of another Link and Zelda. In the crash, Link 1 loses his grip on the Four Sword, returning to normal, the sword landing at the feet of the new Link. The new Link believes them to be evil doppelgangers and duels them, but before the duel is over, Vaati makes his reappearance, recognizing the new Link as the one who sealed him away and grabbing Zelda for himself. In the fight, this new Link picks up the Four Sword, becoming Four Links.

Though Vaati manages to escape, Link 1 and 2 join forces with the Four Links and explain what’s been happening. The Four Links leads them out to the Minish Woods and into the village of the Picori, where they consult with his old ally and mentor Ezlo. Ezlo theorizes that Vaati will have gone to the Palace of Winds. Together, the three (or seven) Links and Ezlo track down a way to get to the palace.

The Palace of Winds acts as the dungeon for this level. They find Vaati at the end, with the Four Links’ Zelda, and fight him as the dungeon boss. When he is defeated though, a shadowy but familiar figure appears behind him, taking the third Zelda and magicking her away. Sahasrahla contacts the Links, telling them that he senses she and the other Zeldas have been sent to yet another timeline. He and the Oracles create another portal, and the three Links step through.

DUNGEON 5: TEMPLE OF THE OCEAN KING

Something goes wrong in the process of jumping timelines, and the three Links pop out several feet above a vast ocean. They fall in and struggle to swim for a while before a ship pulls up alongside them. A man in a longcoat fishes them out, talking familiarly to them like they should know him. After a spot of confusion, a fairy traveling with him tells him he’s an idiot and that they’re obviously not the Link he knows. The man introduces himself as Linebeck and the fairy as Ciela. The Links explain their situation, and Ciela says she’d love to help, but they have their own situation. Her grandpa, the Ocean King, has recently gone missing and his old enemy Bellum seems to have returned from the grave. Suspecting it to be another nightmare resurrection, the Link’s agree to help.

The Temple of the Ocean King acts as the dungeon for this level. Before you get there, you can encounter Jolene and a skeletal pirate captain, both of whom can be recruited after completing a sidequest for them. Bellum acts as the boss of the dungeon, and after his defeat, Oshus, or the Ocean King, returns, and explains that their enemy, the being behind all of this, used his stolen power to knock their time portal off course, sending them backwards in time a hundred years. He lends them his power and they hop forward to the right time.

DUNGEON 6: THE SPIRIT TRAIN

The three Links and their allies land in a New Hyrule, built on a new continent and ruled by yet another Zelda. They make their way up to the castle town, all three confused by the strange machines running on long metal tracks all over the place, and into the castle just in time to find the Princess Zelda there being accosted by a strange imp, yet another Link defending her. The Links jump into the fight and though they fight valiantly, Zelda is taken, though her soul manages to escape her body at the last second and enter a suit of armor.

The four Links and the armor Zelda all learning about each other’s situations, Link 4 takes them to his mentor Alfonzo who allows him to take the train out after their enemies and Zeldas. Alfonzo and another ally Byrne can both be recruited following select sidequests. They eventually encounter the Shadow Train and board it.

The Shadow Train acts as the dungeon this time around. As they work their way through it, they encounter the imp Cole and his demon lord Malladus, both of whom act as the dungeon boss. Once defeated, they run to the back and find the familiar figure standing before four portraits, each containing a Zelda, one of them incomplete. He turns and reveals himself as Yuga, a humble servant of the ancient evil striving to return. They try to fight him, but he manages to use his magic brush to snag the escaped Zelda spirit and put her back in her body in the fourth painting. He then magicks the Zeldas away and tells the Links if they want them back, they’ll have to find him in his world.

DUNGEON 7: LORULE

The Links and all of their allies are whisked back to the original timeline by Sahasrahla and the oracles, none of them having any idea what Yuga meant about his world. It’s around here you can wander around and finish sidequests. If you’ve already completed Ravio’s sidequest, he will step forward and reveal that he knows exactly what Yuga means. If you have not, you will need to before you can move forward. Ravio will reveal himself as a version of Link from an alternate world called Lorule. He will supply the heroes with the ability to turn 2-Dimensional and slip through cracks into Lorule.

Lorule Castle will act as the dungeon for this world. You will have to traverse the palace, occasionally switching back to Hyrule to get around. Once you get to the end, you will find Yuga drawing magical power from the four Zeldas, sending them all into a strange egg of sorts in order to give his lord physical form once again. You will have to fight him as the dungeon boss. Once he is down, you will be able to free the Zeldas from their paintings and Hilda from the cell where Yuga was keeping her.

The Zeldas, having been aware during their draining process, tell the Links that their true enemy lies on a strange island in the sea, an island existing only within dreams and imaginations. Link 2 perks up, saying he knows exactly where it is.

FINAL DUNGEON: KOHOLINT ISLAND

Setting sail on the S.S. Linebeck with their veritable army of allies, they cross the ocean, traveling near and far and searching everywhere for it. Most are ready to give up, but Link 2, knowing what to look for, spots a seagull in the sky, directing Linebeck to follow it. The seagull leads them right into the path of a raging storm and the ship is capsized. The Four Links wake up on the shore of Koholint Island, greeted by Marin, telling Link 2 that it’s nice to see him again.

The whole island will be open to explore, with each ally having been scattered across it, requiring you to find them all one more time before marching up to the final dungeon. Once you do, you will travel up to the egg at the top, something about it reminding Oshus of a long-lost brother he hasn’t seen in centuries.

The inside of the egg will act as your final dungeon. At the end, you will encounter the Demon Lord Ganon, now with a fully restored physical form thanks to the magic of the kidnapped Zeldas. A difficult boss fight will ensue, requiring all four Links to strike at the same time to land the killing blow.

Once Ganon is defeated, his form will start to distort and change. Though the Links and their allies will be confused, Zelda 1 will explain that he is not the real Ganon. That she senses he is a different being. The false Ganon will then express his anger and his rage at being nothing more than the shadow of some fish’s imagination, trapped forever in a world of make believe. He will say that he lusted after the might of the demon lord, who had risen time and time again to wreak havoc on the real world, and so he used the nightmares of the four Links and their collective memories to reconstruct his form and take it for himself. Everything clicks in Link 2’s head and he realizes who he truly is.

Nightmare casts off his failed Ganon form, returning to his old form that Link 2 once faced, resulting in one more surprise final battle, this time against Nightmare, shifting forms between himself and all of the villains he created from the Link’s nightmares. Once he is defeated, the dream world will once again dissipate, and the heroes will find themselves drifting on the open sea, back on the S.S. Linebeck.

Final scene: The heroes will return to Zelda’s castle in Hyrule, everyone saying goodbye as the Oracles, Zeldas, and Sahasrahla prepare to open portals to send everyone back to their own times. Before they do, however, a portal opens in the middle of the throne room, the real Ganon emerging and snagging all four Zeldas, pulling them through.