Miyamoto Calls Zelda II ‘Sort of a Failure’; Names True Sequel

Shigeru Miyamoto called The Legend of Zelda II ‘sort of a failure’ in a resurfaced interview. He said the game’s concept was his but development was handled by a different Nintendo team.

Miyamoto noted the title did not go through the same iterative improvement he applies to other projects. ‘The games I make usually get better in the development process, since we keep coming up with good ideas, but Zelda 2 stayed the same. It was sort of a failure,’ he said.

He also explained how Nintendo views the series’ succession: The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is treated internally as the direct sequel to the original game, while Zelda II is regarded as ‘more of a side story about what happened to Link after the events of The Legend of Zelda.’

The comments indicate that concept ownership and hands-on development can come from different people or teams at Nintendo, and that the company distinguishes between the idea for a title and its final execution.

The resurfaced remarks clarify how Miyamoto and Nintendo categorize those early entries in the series but provide no new information about future projects.