Zelda II: Resurrection of Ganon (ROG) is a complete hack of Zelda II that will surely amaze you. ROG reuses a lot of maps from the original game, but does it in a really clever way to create an adventure that feels truly new.

In this hack you’ll traverse the good old overworld map, but due to Ganon’s malicious spirit you can’t reach places in the order you did in the original game. Towns are completely deserted, only owls and hint stones will help you find your way through this dark mirror world. Hints are pretty good, so I never felt lost and always had an idea of where to go to. Though, knowledge of the original game is needed, since many towns are still on the original spot, but now hidden in woods.

The design of the temples in ROG is simply amazing. Again, many maps are re-used, but there are a lot of small twists that force you to find a new way to reach the end and find the temple item. I had a lot of fun exploring these new temples, because the new solutions were never too obscure. Temple items are all mixed up and at the end of a temple you won’t place a stone, but you’ll find a magic container instead. This is a smart gameplay concept. The player starts with only one magic container, and by completing the temples he will be able to use more and more magic.

ROG has some of the most impressive graphics I’ve seen in a NES hack. The temple graphics have all kind of new tiles added, and they give each temple a unique setting. I especially liked the sand-covered temple and the flower garden. Palettes are changed everywhere to give the game a dark tone. They all work really well and are colors match perfectly.

One has to mention the incredible soundtrack to ROG. I don’t know how they did this, but the overworld theme is so good it could’ve been part of an original NES game. The pitch height in all music pieces is pleasing to the ears, better than the original game. It’s highly recommend to play this hack with the music on.

ROG adds some very welcome gameplay improvements to make the game easier than vanilla Zelda II. The guard spell is now much more useful. It can block fire and the axe swings of those annoying enemies in Death Mountain. Fairies heal both your health and magic, making it easier to survive in the temples. Overall the balance is good in this game. I never needed to grind and the difficulty never surpassed that of vanilla Zelda II.

Overall, Resurrection of Ganon stands as one of the best Zelda II hacks to date. I took a lot of notes for my own upcoming Zelda II hack ( Zelda II - Amida) . Resurrection of Ganon is a shining example of how to create a hack in which it’s fun to explore without needless frustration, while adding lots of eye and ear candy. Be sure to play this hack, it’s well worth your time!