{"id":1918766,"date":"2026-05-05T13:25:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T10:25:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1918766"},"modified":"2026-05-05T13:25:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T10:25:08","slug":"shigeru-miyamoto-felt-zelda-2-was-sort-of-a-failure-and-nintendo-actually-considered-a-link-to-the-past-as-the-real-zelda-sequel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1918766","title":{"rendered":"Shigeru Miyamoto felt Zelda 2 &#8220;was sort of a failure&#8221;, and Nintendo actually considered A Link to the Past as the &#8220;real&#8221; Zelda sequel"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/zelda-2-adventure-link\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Zelda II: The Adventure of Link<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Shigeru Miyamoto felt Zelda 2 &#8220;was sort of a failure&#8221;, and Nintendo actually considered A Link to the Past as the &#8220;real&#8221; Zelda sequel<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Hyrule your resources.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Link-stands-with-his-sword-and-shield-in-Zelda-2-artwork.-Link-has-pointed-ears-and-dark-hair.-He-is-wearing-a-green-tunic.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"Link stands with his sword and shield in Zelda 2 artwork. Link has pointed ears and dark hair. He is wearing a green tunic\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"Link-stands-with-his-sword-and-shield-in-Zelda-2-artwork.-Link-has-pointed-ears-and-dark-hair.-He-is-wearing-a-green-tunic.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Nintendo<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Victoria Phillips Kennedy avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/1644925423.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Victoria Phillips Kennedy avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"1644925423.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"179\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/victoria-kennedy\">Victoria Phillips Kennedy<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      News Reporter<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-05-05T13:25:08+00:00\">May 5, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/zelda-2-failure-a-link-to-the-past-real-sequel?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          7 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"2e56e3ba-ebc4-474d-9c0b-82872daabaf1\" data-name=\"Zelda II: The Adventure of Link\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Zelda II: The Adventure of Link\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Zelda II: The Adventure of Link\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Zelda II: The Adventure of Link\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Zelda II: The Adventure of Link\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Zelda II: The Adventure of Link\" title=\"Follow Zelda II: The Adventure of Link\"><br \/>\n  Follow Zelda II: The Adventure of Link<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Previous comments made by Nintendo legend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/personas\/shigeru-miyamoto\">Shigeru Miyamoto<\/a> have resurfaced, where the Zelda series creator admitted despite it being his idea, he felt Zelda 2 was &#8220;sort of a failure&#8221;, and Nintendo instead believes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/legend-zelda-link-to-past\">A Link to the Past<\/a> to be the original game&#8217;s &#8220;real&#8221; sequel.<\/p>\n<p>Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link released back in 1987, as a direct sequel to The Legend of Zelda. However, despite being a commercial success, it didn&#8217;t live up to the hype of the original, and often falls far behind other series entries when it comes to polls and the like. This is largely due to how different the game played &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20080320074126\/http:\/\/gameboy.ign.com\/articles\/560\/560627p1.html\">IGN<\/a> actually dubbed it the &#8220;bastard stepchild&#8221; of the Zelda series. And, it seems, there was a similar sentiment in Nintendo.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Zelda A Link to the Past SNES Commercial - Retro Game Trailers\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7yjfTQ009ms?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/7yjfTQ009ms\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Zelda A Link to the Past SNES Commercial &#8211; Retro Game Trailers<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Zelda A Link to the Past SNES Commercial. <a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7yjfTQ009ms\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20040623204151\/http:\/\/www.miyamotoshrine.com\/theman\/interviews\/230403.shtml&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1777987352146129&amp;usg=AOvVaw02bVB5jQpg97zQrQh82klN\">Back in 2003<\/a>, Miyamoto revealed Zelda 2 was his &#8220;original idea&#8221;, but &#8220;the actual game was developed by another team&#8221;. Now, before I go further, I know this is an old comment, but it recently got reshared in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/awclick.php?awinmid=2961&amp;awinaffid=103504&amp;clickref=grd-gb-1093380443147460584&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.magazinesdirect.com%2Fuk%2Fretro-gamer-subscription%2Fdp%2Ffe2efd7d%3Fsrsltid%3DAfmBOopoHUwRw3_2dQb1WrmJE1-zxIaSs286XvqphO74BOwwXcpXTR4V\">Retro Gamer<\/a>&#8216;s 40 years of The Legend of Zelda issue (thanks, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/the-legend-of-zelda\/shigeru-miyamoto-thinks-zelda-2-was-sort-of-a-failure-and-a-link-to-the-past-is-the-real-sequel\/\">Games Radar<\/a>), and as a fan of the series, I found it interesting. So, I am sharing it again.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Anyway, back to the original interview. Miyamoto went on to say that the games he makes &#8220;usually get better in the development process&#8221;, because the team &#8220;keep coming up with good ideas&#8221;. For whatever reason this didn&#8217;t happen with Zelda 2, though, and it instead &#8220;stayed the same&#8221; throughout the game&#8217;s development.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was sort of a failure,&#8221; Miyamoto furthered, before adding: &#8220;We actually see A Link to the Past as the real sequel to The Legend of Zelda.&#8221; But, if Zelda 2 wasn&#8217;t considered a true sequel internally at Nintendo, what was it considered to be? Well, according to Miyamoto, it was viewed as &#8220;more of a side story&#8221; to the original Legend of Zelda.<\/p>\n<p>So, there you have it &#8211; Zelda 2 is about what happened to Link after the original game, but A Link to the Past is the &#8220;real sequel&#8221; to The Legend of Zelda.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Link fights a large serpant-like creature in Zelda 2\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Link-fights-a-large-serpant-like-creature-in-Zelda-2.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1280\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Link fights a large serpant-like creature in Zelda 2\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"Link-fights-a-large-serpant-like-creature-in-Zelda-2.jpg\" height=\"720\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1280\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Nintendo<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Legend of Zelda turned 40 on 21st February, 2026. To mark the occasion, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-pure-and-scattered-beauty-of-modern-zelda\">Christian Donlan wrote an essay on the ineffable magic of its two most recent entries<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/zelda-breath-of-the-wild-walkthrough-guide-tips-4857\">Breath of the Wild<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-walkthrough-tips-9343\">Tears of the Kingdom<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As for the series&#8217; future, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/all-new-star-fox-and-zelda-ocarina-of-time-remake-reportedly-set-for-switch-2-release-this-year\">Nintendo is reportedly releasing a remake of Zelda: Ocarina of Time later this year<\/a>. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/legend-of-zelda-live-action-film-link-outfit\">live-action Zelda film adaptation is also in the works<\/a>, which is due to be released on 7th May, 2027.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Previous comments made by Nintendo legend <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/personas\/shigeru-miyamoto\">Shigeru Miyamoto<\/a> have resurfaced, where the Zelda series creator admitted despite it being his idea, he felt Zelda 2 was &#8220;sort of a failure&#8221;, and Nintendo instead believes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/legend-zelda-link-to-past\">A Link to the Past<\/a> to be the original game&#8217;s &#8220;real&#8221; sequel.<\/p>\n<p>Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link released back in 1987, as a direct sequel to The Legend of Zelda. However, despite being a commercial success, it didn&#8217;t live up to the hype of the original, and often falls far behind other series entries when it comes to polls and the like. This is largely due to how different the game played &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20080320074126\/http:\/\/gameboy.ign.com\/articles\/560\/560627p1.html\">IGN<\/a> actually dubbed it the &#8220;bastard stepchild&#8221; of the Zelda series. And, it seems, there was a similar sentiment in Nintendo.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"video_wrapper youtube\">\n<a aria-label=\"Zelda A Link to the Past SNES Commercial - Retro Game Trailers\" class=\"video-facade full-size\" data-platform=\"youtube\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/7yjfTQ009ms?autoplay=1\" title=\"Click to play video from YouTube\"><br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Cover image for YouTube video\" class=\"video-facade__image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/7yjfTQ009ms\/hqdefault.jpg\"><span class=\"video-facade__title\">Zelda A Link to the Past SNES Commercial &#8211; Retro Game Trailers<\/span><\/p>\n<p><\/a>\n<\/div><figcaption>Zelda A Link to the Past SNES Commercial. <a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=7yjfTQ009ms\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20040623204151\/http:\/\/www.miyamotoshrine.com\/theman\/interviews\/230403.shtml&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1777987352146129&amp;usg=AOvVaw02bVB5jQpg97zQrQh82klN\">Back in 2003<\/a>, Miyamoto revealed Zelda 2 was his &#8220;original idea&#8221;, but &#8220;the actual game was developed by another team&#8221;. Now, before I go further, I know this is an old comment, but it recently got reshared in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.awin1.com\/awclick.php?awinmid=2961&amp;awinaffid=103504&amp;clickref=grd-gb-1093380443147460584&amp;p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.magazinesdirect.com%2Fuk%2Fretro-gamer-subscription%2Fdp%2Ffe2efd7d%3Fsrsltid%3DAfmBOopoHUwRw3_2dQb1WrmJE1-zxIaSs286XvqphO74BOwwXcpXTR4V\">Retro Gamer<\/a>&#8216;s 40 years of The Legend of Zelda issue (thanks, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gamesradar.com\/games\/the-legend-of-zelda\/shigeru-miyamoto-thinks-zelda-2-was-sort-of-a-failure-and-a-link-to-the-past-is-the-real-sequel\/\">Games Radar<\/a>), and as a fan of the series, I found it interesting. So, I am sharing it again.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Anyway, back to the original interview. Miyamoto went on to say that the games he makes &#8220;usually get better in the development process&#8221;, because the team &#8220;keep coming up with good ideas&#8221;. For whatever reason this didn&#8217;t happen with Zelda 2, though, and it instead &#8220;stayed the same&#8221; throughout the game&#8217;s development.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It was sort of a failure,&#8221; Miyamoto furthered, before adding: &#8220;We actually see A Link to the Past as the real sequel to The Legend of Zelda.&#8221; But, if Zelda 2 wasn&#8217;t considered a true sequel internally at Nintendo, what was it considered to be? Well, according to Miyamoto, it was viewed as &#8220;more of a side story&#8221; to the original Legend of Zelda.<\/p>\n<p>So, there you have it &#8211; Zelda 2 is about what happened to Link after the original game, but A Link to the Past is the &#8220;real sequel&#8221; to The Legend of Zelda.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Link fights a large serpant-like creature in Zelda 2\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/Link-fights-a-large-serpant-like-creature-in-Zelda-2.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1280\"><\/p>\n<p><img alt=\"Link fights a large serpant-like creature in Zelda 2\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-lightbox data-uri=\"Link-fights-a-large-serpant-like-creature-in-Zelda-2.jpg\" height=\"720\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1.7777777777777777\" width=\"1280\"><figcaption><span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Nintendo<\/cite><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Legend of Zelda turned 40 on 21st February, 2026. To mark the occasion, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/the-pure-and-scattered-beauty-of-modern-zelda\">Christian Donlan wrote an essay on the ineffable magic of its two most recent entries<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/zelda-breath-of-the-wild-walkthrough-guide-tips-4857\">Breath of the Wild<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-walkthrough-tips-9343\">Tears of the Kingdom<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As for the series&#8217; future, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/all-new-star-fox-and-zelda-ocarina-of-time-remake-reportedly-set-for-switch-2-release-this-year\">Nintendo is reportedly releasing a remake of Zelda: Ocarina of Time later this year<\/a>. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/legend-of-zelda-live-action-film-link-outfit\">live-action Zelda film adaptation is also in the works<\/a>, which is due to be released on 7th May, 2027.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Zelda II: The Adventure of Link Shigeru Miyamoto felt Zelda 2 &#8220;was sort of a failure&#8221;, and Nintendo actually considered A Link to the Past as the &#8220;real&#8221; Zelda sequel Hyrule your resources. Image credit: Nintendo News by Victoria Phillips Kennedy News Reporter Published on May 5, 2026 7 comments Follow Zelda II: [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-1918766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1918766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1918766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1918766\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1918766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1918766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1918766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}