The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap

The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap is the Game Boy Advance entry in the Zelda series, featuring a talking hat who has got to be related to a particular fairy from a previous Zelda game.

Debug Text


This little green screen contains all the texts of the game, used and unused. To scroll through the texts, just hit Left and Right after you press the L button.

Unused Animation Mailbox


An unused animation of the decorative mailbox above the post office in Hyrule Castle Town. The level of animation suggests that there were to be fully functional mailboxes in the game, much like with Wind Waker.

NPC Test








This strange half-naked figure was probably used to test the characters of the game. He has some very strange movements.

Use these codes on the screen "File Selection" to change Link.

Unused Stained Glass of Hyrule Castle


These three stained glass are among the decorations of Hyrule Castle and are visible halfway into the "Hyrule Castle Map Test" at the place of the throne room. The three stained glass shows the three important characters of The Wind Waker: the Deku Tree, Valoo and Jabun.

Dark Hyrule Castle Intro


An unused introduction to the final dungeon that sounds far more dark and foreboding than what the game actually uses.

Vaati Intro


Another unused introduction, most likely used for appearances by Vaati.

A Link to the Past Title


An unused rendition of the title theme from Link to the Past.

Get Small Item


An unused fanfare, from Ocarina of Time. It's the fanfare for getting a small treasure.

Lost Woods


The Lost Woods part of the Credits BGM from Ocarina of Time is also present in the game.

Unused Items
To see any of these items in the game, set the memory address (A button) or  (B button) to the corresponding value.

Butter




Value: 

It's... butter. In a bottle. Unfortunately, either its functionality was removed, or it was tied to a character or event that no longer exists.

Unused Sword


Value: 

There is one unused sword in the game. Internally within the game, all swords are organized in the order you receive them. For example, Smith's Sword is hex value, the White Sword with no infused elements is etc. This sword is listed at hex value  which is in between the hex values for the White Sword with three elements and the Four Sword. This indicates that, at one time, there might have been one more sword upgrade before getting to the Four Sword. As it is now, the sword's button graphics use the lantern. In the picture above, it is assigned to button A.

Fire Rod


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Value: 

A Fire Rod, with a graphic similar to the one used in Four Swords Adventures. While the game does not normally feature the Fire Rod, the description of figurine #108 in the European version of the game says Ice Wizzrobes are vulnerable to it, so it was clearly intended to be included at some point in development.

Pickup text for the Fire Rod can still be found in the ROM, at :

You got the Fire Rod! This mystical rod shoots forth mighty flames.

Apparently, it would have (also?) been sold in a shop, according to text at :

Fire Rod 350 Rupees

For some reason, the item's behavior is identical to that of the (DEBUG) Cell Overwrite Set item, documented below.

Debugging Items
Three debugging-related items exist in the final game: (DEBUG) Mega Crush, (DEBUG) Enemy Set, and (DEBUG) Cell Overwrite Set. None of them have a proper icon, and the only one that seems to function is Cell Overwrite, which allows you to modify ground tiles in a variety of ways.

In the multi-language European version, only the English and French scripts have actual names for these items, and the French script uses romanized versions of the Japanese names ((Debug) megacrash, (Debug) teki set, and (Debug) cell kakikae set). All other scripts have single null values where the names should be.

Controls for (DEBUG) Cell Overwrite Set, when set to button A, are as follows:
 * Pressing A multiple times will change the tile in front of Link.
 * Pressing and holding R, then also holding A will copy the tile in front of Link, who will start to glow. If you keep holding R+A, then go somewhere else and release A, the copied tile will get pasted in front of Link.
 * Pressing and holding A, then also holding B will modify all of the four tiles surrounding him. Hold R then hold A to copy, and while holding them, press B to paste.

Unused Enemies
The enemies can be spawned by using the GameShark codes and  where ?? is one of the variables below.

Podoboo and Mini-Podoboo


Value: for the Podoboo,  for the Mini-Podoboo.

The Podoboo bounces around a lot and splits into two Mini-Podoboos when hit. The Podoboo was used in Four Swords, but the Mini-Podoboo was not, however. Adding makes the Podoboo split into n+2 Mini-Podoboos, up to  which makes the Podoboo a one-hit kill.

Zol and Gel


Value: for the Zol,  for the Gel.

Adding makes the Zol change to green and split into two smaller Gels when hit. changes the Zol to red, as it appears in Four Swords, but splits into four Gels.

Likewise, the same codes change the Gel to green and red respectively, although there are no differences in behaviour.

"Mole" in Castor Wilds


In a cave digging in Castor Wilds, there is a word in Japanese very well hidden "もぐら", which means "Mole".

Biggoron's Dungeon
With a hex editor, it's possible to find a list of the places and dungeons in the game. At the bottom of this list is "Biggoron's Dungeon". It is probably used as the game's internal name for the Gorons' cave. Indeed, finishing the "quest" of this cave is the only way to manage to see Biggoron.

Regional Differences
There are some differences between the various regional releases of the game. The European version seems to be an earlier build than the North American and Japanese versions, as it contains some bugs that were fixed in the latter two.

Lon Lon Ranch
In the Lon Lon Ranch zone, you can go to the Gorons' Cave by using whirlwinds. In the European release of the game, one of these whirlwinds is missing. However, it doesn't prevent you from entering the cave.

Palace of Winds


In the European version, using your Ocarina on the top of the building that leads to the Palace of Winds is not allowed, as it is in the other versions.

Bomb Bag upgrade in Stockwell's Shop
In the Japanese and North American versions, you can buy a Bomb Bag for 600 rupees at Stockwell's after having bought the Boomerang. A glitch in the European version prevents you from purchasing this bigger Bomb Bag, because it does not appear on the shelf after purchasing the Boomerang.

Eenie's Kinstone Fusion Bug
In the European version, trying to fuse Kinstones with Eenie, cancelling the fusion, leaving the screen with him and going back renders you unable to perform this fusion again and complete the Goron sidequest.

The following patch fixes the above three bugs in the European version:

Lantern Bug
In the European version, when you turn your lantern on, then immediately throw your boomerang, the boomerang will disappear for a while and you will be able to do some strange things, such as float in the air. If you repeat the process with the bow instead of the boomerang, you will shoot two arrows instead of one. These bugs are not present in the other versions of the game.

Sword Dojo Music
The European release's music in the Sword Dojo is a bit different from the Japanese and US releases. The reason for this change is unknown.