You know, speaking of not playing as Link, there was thread over on the Zelda Universe forum about something called "Project Deluge". Basically Hyrule is flooding and you play as a some psychotic character who thinks he's Link. Check it out: http://www.zeldauniverse.net/forums/future-zelda/81252-official-valley-of-the-flood-deluge-thread.html. It was just a rumor, and was supposed to come out later this year... exactly when Spirit Tracks comes out... Too bad, since it was a pretty cool idea. They (meaning Nintendo), should turn Project Deluge into the next console Zelda game for the Wii. Most don't consider Twilight Princess a Wii game, since it was a GameCube game ported over to the Wii with motion controls tacked on... the controls were fine, but since it was never intended to be a Wii game...
Oh, and the reason for Zelda sleeping in Zelda II? Explained in the instruction manual:
"Shortly after the events of The Legend of Zelda, Link notices a strange mark on the back of his left hand, exactly like the crest of Hyrule. He seeks out Impa, who responds by taking Link to the North Castle, where a door has been magically sealed for generations. Impa places the back of Link's left hand on the door, and it opens, revealing a sleeping maiden. Impa tells Link that the maiden is Zelda, the princess of Hyrule from long ago, and the origin of the "Legend of Zelda." Zelda's brother had tried to force her into telling their recently deceased father's secrets concerning the last of three sacred golden triangle treasures of his kingdom, known collectively as the Triforce. Princess Zelda refused to reveal its location, and the prince's wizard friend, in anger, tried to strike her down with a spell. Zelda fell under a powerful sleeping spell, but it also resulted in the wizard's own death. The prince, unable to reverse the spell, had his sister placed in the castle tower, in the hope that she would one day be awakened. He decreed that females born to the royal family from that point on would be named Zelda, in remembrance of this tragedy."