There are, at an absolute minimum, two things the world needs. First, we need more love for Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. It’s a great game, especially compared to a lot of NES games out there. It’s just a little bit different is all — and you’d best believe I’ll defend it to the end. Second, we need more ’80s synth. Some people think it’s campy, but I personally love it to pieces despite having grown up in the early ’90s.
You might think these two things are unrelated, and to tell you the truth, I didn’t think to ever combine Zelda II and 80’s synth together, but this is why I’m not a musician. Magic Dance, as they’re known on Bandcamp, is. The song is titled “A Real Adventure” and is featured on their album “The Mirror of Dreams” as a bonus track. I first saw this as a recommendation while browsing YouTube and I didn’t think much of it. But my curiosity was piqued, and 10 seconds in, I immediately fell in love.
This song just oozes style and charm. It’s the kind of song that would be the closing track on an epic album or even the credits theme to an ’80s style Zelda TV show or movie. The final sequence plays, and Link is riding off in the sunset on his trusty steed Epona, having once again saved Hyrule, or perhaps he’s on a journey to another land. Either way, this song is playing in the background as the episode or movie comes to a close and it’s just absolute perfection.
Perhaps it’s because of the Katsuya Terada art in the video, but I imagined all of this in a Tetsuo Hara (of Fist of the North Star fame) style and for me, that just completes the whole package. It helps too that Zelda II is a game from the ’80s, so really this is just one major explosion of pure ’80s goodness. I’d love more than anything to see my imaginations come to life, but it’ll forever remain a dream. At least while I’m dreaming, I’ll have some amazing synth music of Zelda II’s “Title Theme” playing in the background.
