The votes of the last round had Ninja Gaiden beating the #1 seed Kabuki Quantum Fighter by a score of 6 to 5.

Zelda II and Crystalis were tied at 6-6.  After nearly a month of no one else voting, we had to go to the tie-breaker which awards Zelda II the victory by virtue of having more nominations in the pre-tournament.

So here is the championship match for the NES tournament of 2012...

Ninja Gaiden -versus- Zelda II: The Adventure of Link

Rock the vote!

Adventure of Link - I'm in the minority, but I actually like this game better than the original.

NINJA GAIDEN

Can't not.

Jeez.... this decision will take me awhile.

same here.

I need time to decide,

heck even voting the Presidentials was easier

I love Zelda 2 to death, but based off of graphics, sound, and story, I'll go with Ninja Gaymen.  I love frantic killing and fighting more than I enjoy a more meaty game with aimless wandering.

Ninja Gaiden

Also going with Ninja Gaiden. Not that I dont like Zelda 2, I just find Ninja Gaidens fast passe side scrolling action superior.

I'm with you, Airlock. Can't vote against my childhood favorite. Zelda 2, please. Shaken, not stirred.

Zelda 2

Gotta go with Zelda 2....I love it...with a deep deep hatred.  

The Master of Heaven and Earth at November 14, 2012 at 6:52 PM

I love Zelda 2 to death, but based off of graphics, sound, and story, I'll go with Ninja Gaymen.  I love frantic killing and fighting more than I enjoy a more meaty game with aimless wandering.

This is probably the main thing I've been thinking too.

Still debating though.

I seriously cannot decide.  It's like... do I like apples or chocolate better?  Fit girls, or curvy?  Hip-hop or classical?  Seriously, we're comparing two great, non-mutually-exclusive things.  I love 'em both in different ways.

I'll break this one down point-system review style.  This will assume a 10/10 for "overall" or "gameplay" for both.

Music
Ninja Gaiden: 9/10
Zelda II: 10/10

Fun
Ninja Gaiden: 9/10
Zelda II: 9/10

Replayability
Ninja Gaiden: 10/10
Zelda II: 7/10

Sound
Ninja Gaiden: 8/10
Zelda II: 9/10

Total
Ninja Gaiden: 36
Zelda II: 35


Ninja Gaiden wins by a point.

well zelba is trucks and ninjas is not trucks so the choice is clear; pepsi clear

zelda 2: the whatever of farts

I've been thinking similarly in the replayability,

If you can defeat Ninja Gaiden, it's a great one sit fix of gameplay that took no more than 30 minutes and its ideal if you have little time for gayming. And it sure is an adrenaline rush all the way, on the other hand ther is NO OTHER WAY to play Ninja Gaiden, if you had all the levels carved in your brain you'll be doing the same gameplay over and over. This is not bad tho.

With Zelda II there is more versatility but a much longer game session, i think it took at least 3 hours to finish, it's a fine game that have the bad reputation to be the black sheep of the series, at least as retro gaming goes.

Arguments to bash both games FAIL miserably to address inexistant bad game designs.

Zelda II: The overworld looks horrible, there are very few levels, it's too hard, you got no map in dungeons so i got lost and they are repetitive, Knight are cheap, i can't figure where to go next, there isn't enough secrets. All these things are Bullshit Main complaint:  IT'S NOT ZELDA 1

Ninja Gaiden: Its Hard, its hard, its hard, Ninja Gaiden fucks you and have fun with you, the eagles sent me to death, i cant pass 6-2 , i lost to the last boss and the sent me back.  All these things are BullShit.

If for the slightest, i think the only drawback for Ninja Gaiden is that Ryu looks like a fag without his mask, sure Link wears a green dress,  but at least he had the decency to be a fag all the way and be proud of it.  like the Peter Parker syndrome , spiderman and Hayabusa are better when incognito.

Still can't decide, i always defended Zelda II from haters, so i can't just backstab it at this point, also helped people understand that Ninja Gaiden is in reality an easy game based on quick reflexes and memorization.

Again i'd love to see another Z game with Link's Adventure approach than a Ninja Gaiden rehash plagued with cheap difficulty.

I'll go with Link's Adventure.

Johnny, I was considering doing a similar grading thing for this. I'm not sure if I agree that Ninja Gaiden is more replayable than Zelda 2 though. I'd say it's for sure more accessible in that you don't have to remember where exactly to go next and it doesn't have some of the semi-cryptic stuff that Zelda 2 has. Ninja Gaiden is always there to pick up and play at a fast pace and its linear design is not a flaw, BUT as far as replay value goes, to me it's a game that should feel the same every time you play it. It takes a lot of skill, patience, and memorization, but once you get it down, you should. . . well, have it down. Whereas a game like Zelda 2 might have you wandering trying to remember the placement of items and such.

It really depends on how you look at replayability. NG is definitely easier to replay at any time, but I think Zelda 2 is more enjoyable to replay. But I would never play through Zelda 2 twice in a year I don't think, but I would NG. So there's a time factor for me too I guess.

Still undecided.

EDIT: dang Lira, very similar posts there!

dos munos at November 15, 2012 at 2:16 PM

Johnny, I was considering doing a similar grading thing for this. I'm not sure if I agree that Ninja Gaiden is more replayable than Zelda 2 though. I'd say it's for sure more accessible in that you don't have to remember where exactly to go next and it doesn't have some of the semi-cryptic stuff that Zelda 2 has. Ninja Gaiden is always there to pick up and play at a fast pace and its linear design is not a flaw, BUT as far as replay value goes, to me it's a game that should feel the same every time you play it. It takes a lot of skill, patience, and memorization, but once you get it down, you should. . . well, have it down. Whereas a game like Zelda 2 might have you wandering trying to remember the placement of items and such.

It really depends on how you look at replayability. NG is definitely easier to replay at any time, but I think Zelda 2 is more enjoyable to replay. But I would never play through Zelda 2 twice in a year I don't think, but I would NG. So there's a time factor for me too I guess.

Still undecided.

EDIT: dang Lira, very similar posts there!

I had a very similar train of thought, but I had to go back and look at how many times I've actually replayed them both.  It didn't take long to realize that I have replayed Ninja Gaiden a LOT, Zelda 2 just a couple times.

2011 - Mega Man 2 (playthenes.com)

2010 - Batman (playthenes.com)

2009 - Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (playthenes.com)

2008 - Metal Storm (playthenes.com)

2007 - Faxanadu (playthenes.com)

2006 - Super Mario Bros. 2 (nesplayer.com)

2005 - Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! (nesforums.net)

2004 - Ninja Gaiden? DuckTales? (NWW forum)

2003 - River City Ransom (nesforums.com)

2002 - -cancelled-

2001 - Zelda II: Adventure of Link (loogslair.com)

2000 - Legend of Zelda (loogslair.com)

1999 - Ninja Gaiden (nesenshrined.com)

Since both of these have won already, I'm voting for Rygar.

No? Fine. Ninja Gaiden.

Rygar FTW!, no,really. i wish i could vote for NG too, i think both contesters are equally good and voting for one or another doesn't matter, its hard tho.  No real reason for having voted Link over Hayabusa.

Even though I play a Zelda 2 a lot more, I voted Ninja Gaiden for the Basilisk Mine Field as well as it's narrow victory over Kabuki.