>>2008074
The 1-up system probably wasn't designed very deliberately. It's just that every other pickup (that isn't a random drop) in the game is one time only, so they didn't make an exception for 1-ups, and they didn't think of increasing your max lives instead.
I do still think Zelda II is an excellent game, and this is one of the only mistakes I think it really has. I agree that losing all your EXP when you get a game over is pretty harsh, but I also think it's fair. I wouldn't prefer if the game encouraged grinding. But I do think the XP bags you can pick up should respawn if they're going to take away the XP you get from them. Maybe they should only be permanently gone if you actually manage to level up after getting one.
>>2007122
I really don't see it as a grindy game, unless you end up losing XP with a game over. That does suck. But if you must grind, the town just east of the bridge that takes you to East Hyrule makes it pretty easy. Really though just playing normally, you'll probably be max level when you get to the final temple anyway.