The Legend of Zelda/Console Differences

Original Release
There were a few changes between the Famicom Disk System, Nintendo Entertainment System, and Famicom cartridge versions of the game.

Title Screen
The original Japanese title is The Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda. The NES version removed "The Hyrule Fantasy" from the title, and "The Legend of" took its place; the Disk Side B message was replaced with "Push Start Button". The Japanese re-release on cartridge changed the title to The Hyrule Fantasy: The Legend of Zelda 1, with the graphics repositioned to accommodate for the longer title. The copyright information was updated, and again the Disk Side B message was replaced with "Push Start Button".

Prologue
The title of the story was changed from "Legend of Zelda" to "The Legend of Zelda". However, the foliage next to the title wasn't updated to accommodate for this change.

For the NES release, the "Bible" was renamed "Book of Magic". The Japanese re-release on cartridge keeps the NES name change, but the Katakana text still says "Bible". In addition, the English text for all the items is blue instead of white in the Japanese versions to more easily distinguish the languages from each other.

The sheet of paper / sign Link is holding was slightly modified when the English text was added, and the spacing between text and the Triforce was also reduced.

Erase File and Font
For the NES release of the game, Kill Mode was renamed Elimination Mode.

The alphabetical characters in the FDS version was changed from a thinner, unique font to the common font used in many other NES games. The alphabetical characters got the same treatment as the NES version in the Japanese re-release as well.

Loading Screen


When you change disk sides or save your progress in the FDS version, a loading message appears in Katakana text, translated to "Please Wait".

Text
All the dialogue text appears right-aligned and starts right above the characters heads in the Japanese versions, sort of like a speech bubble in a comic (only without the bubble). In the NES version, the text appears centered for the most part of the game due to space constraints. The space between rows was also changed in order to fit three rows of text instead of two.

Game Over / Save Option Menu
The Game Over / Save Option menu was slightly re-positioned for the NES version and yet again for the Japanese re-release where the options are spaced further apart. The cartridge versions' text flashes when you select something, this does not happen in the FDS version.

Zora
A black outline was added around the Zora sprite to make it more visible. The eyes and mouth were also redrawn.

Pols Voice
In the original FDS version, Pols Voice is invulnerable to arrows, but instead they're extra vulnerable to the Famicom's built-in microphone feature. As the NES hardware lacked this feature, it was instead given a weakness to arrows. Besides their unique weakness between versions, they can also be defeated the hard way with the sword in all versions of the game. The Japanese cartridge re-release also has the microphone weakness removed, presumably due to the AV Famicom's lack of a microphone (the AV Famicom was released only a few months before the cart re-release). Just as in the NES version, Pols Voice is weak to arrows in the re-release.

Map Changes
Two dungeon rooms in the game have additional enemies in the NES and Famicom cart version.

Eight Keese were added to this otherwise empty room of Level 4 (First Quest).

And again, there are eight Keese added to this room of Level 5 (First Quest).

Ending
In the FDS version, after Zelda thanks Link, they hold up the Triforces of Power and Wisdom, and the frame starts to flash; they both disappear just before the rest of the text starts to appear under them. In the NES version, they don't disappear until the frame starts to scroll to reveal the staff credits.

Other differences:
 * The FDS version has short loading times when you start the game or whenever you enter or walk out of a dungeon.
 * There is far less slowdown in the FDS version compared to the NES and Famicom re-release.

Music
The compositions are often much richer in the FDS version, due to the use of the system's wavetable sound channel.

Secret Discovery / Puzzle Solve Chime
In the FDS version, there is no secret discovery chime when pushing the blocks that open the doors in the dungeons, a little odd given that it was present in the FDS-prototype version and again in the NES and Famicom re-release versions.

Game Over
Whenever you move the cursor on the Game Over screen in the FDS version it resets the musical loop for some reason, this was corrected in the NES and Famicom re-release.

Level 9 (Death Mountain)
The FDS version has more bass beats before the rest of the tune begins. In the NES and Famicom re-release, it proceeds straight into the melody, which effectively makes the musical loop more seamless in the NES version.

Sound Effects
The FDS version utilizes the system's wavetable sound channel for many sound effects as well.

Boss Noise
The sound the bosses make that is heard whenever you are close or inside their rooms.

Item Appears
The sound for items that appears when clearing a room of enemies.

Enemy Killed
In the FDS version the same sound effect was used whether you hit or killed the enemy, an additional unique sound was added for killing an enemy in the NES version.

Rupee Pick Up
This is also heard when moving the cursor on the File Select and Inventory screens.

Link Hurt
(Also heard when deleting a saved game file.)

Link's Death
When Link dies, there's more of a series of sound effects in the FDS version as opposed to the little theme that is heard in the NES and Famicom re-release.

Moving The Cursor On Game Over Screen
The FDS version uses the same sound for moving the cursor as in all the other menus in the game, the cart versions changed it for this particular screen.

(The cart versions uses the same sound effect as when a projectile hits Link's shield.)

2003 Version
The game was re-released for the GameCube in 2003, the Game Boy Advance in 2004, and the Wii Virtual Console in 2007. The ports are all altered with a new translation, in an attempt to reduce the amount of Engrish. This altered version of the game, oddly enough, didn't make the cut when the game was released to Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors, which is closer to the US PRG1.

Story
In addition to cleaning up the severe Engrish in the original release, the quotation marks in the original was scrapped and the color coding was altered as well; where the original put emphasis on the Triforce and its eight pieces by using the blue color and Link's quest by using the color red, the updated version instead went with a blue color for Zelda.

Treasures
Additional Engrish fix-up in the treasure listing:

Dialogue
A few lines of text in the game was somewhat corrected as well:

PAUSE text
In the GBA and GameCube versions, when the game is paused, a small, black box that says "PAUSE" appears. This does not occur in the NES / Famicom cart or FDS versions.

Japanese Re-release
The game was also re-released in Japan on GameCube in 2004, and later on the Game Boy Advance and Wii Virtual Console. The Japanese re-release was instead in the form of the FDS version; the port was treated with the same rewritten intro as the international re-release, along with an updated copyright.

It is a faithful port of the original Famicom Disk System version, but at least one weird audio glitch can be heard in the dungeons: namely, the sound the bosses make that is heard whenever you are close or inside the lair has the same volume no matter if you are outside or inside their rooms. In the original FDS version, the volume was a bit lower when you were outside the boss room.