I am not sure what I enjoyed more about Zelda II than I did the original. Maybe it was the side scrolling sections, it felt like a different game, I felt more in control probably seeing Link swing his sword, duck, and jump, etc. I remember beating it without any help but that was after I got Zelda III on SNES (absolutely loved that one and it was the first Zelda game I ever beat).

Oddly enough, I also prefer Castlevania II over the original. The first one was just too unforgiving for me - those Medusa heads were the death of me and my interest in that game. My friends could almost one man that game though, I know I got past the bat boss but not sure how much farther I was able to make it - I don't think I ever saw the second boss. If I did, it was rare and I don't remember it now.

It didn't help that 99% of my NES/Atari gaming was done on a black and white TV either. I missed out on so much just from colors on screen. We were in the 90s before I saw Asteroids on Atari 2600 had different color asteroids to shoot.

I loved Robowarrior too, another game most people hated. That game is so much survival horror it is sad to know hardly anyone else sees it.

I agree about the Swastika looking level layout. People in the United States tend to think the whole world revolves around our country. I never understood that myself. I learned about the religious and other meanings behind the inspiration for the Swastika before I learned about what Nazis did with it. I had a history teacher actually get mad over that, apparently the other meanings behind it was one of his "key points" in the course to help keep students interested.