Miyamoto says the Famicom Disk System version of Zelda II was a “bad game”
Shigeru Miyamoto is highly regarded for his commitment to producing quality games. He’s even been known to completely overhaul aspects of a game in the middle of development if it isn’t living up to his expectations. That said, it turns out there’s at least one instance of a release that Miyamoto wasn’t happy with.
In a recent interview with podcasters and former Nintendo employees Kit and Krysta, games journalist Stephen Totilo shares a tidbit from a discussion he had with Miyamoto. According to Totilo, Miyamoto was very excited at the time about the release of Pikmin 3. Miyamoto said he knew Pikmin 3 was going to be good because of his experience as a game developer. In response, Totilo asked if he had ever released a “bad” game. Miyamoto answered in the affirmative, citing the Famicom Disk System version of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.
The Famicom Disk System was an add-on for the original Famicom released only in Japan. The accessory used floppy disks and was meant to produce cheaper games, as well as higher quality sound. According to Miyamoto, he was disappointed with the Zelda II release because of its long load times, an unfortunate side effect of the peripheral.
As far as revealing Nintendo secrets go, this one is a pretty safe answer! As Totilo says in the interview, he was hoping that Miyamoto would give up something juicier, but an alternative version of Zelda II was the best he could get. Check out a clip of the full anecdote below:
