Prerelease:The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

January, 1993


This comes from the January 1993 issue of Nintendo Power. Notable differences include Stone Warriors guarding the dungeon entrance, the arena for the worm boss has a different layout, and the map is more similar to A Link to the Past.

March, 1993
These photos were published in a French magazine called Bannzai, in a section reporting on CES '93.

Mountains


There are 3 small 8x8 wide gaps on the bridge. Final has two larger gaps. Also missing the rocks on the left and right. Mountain tops are visible in the background. Final game uses an ocean, and a cloud filled sky as the background.

Graveyard


This map is unidentifiable as no area has this design. It is obviously part of the Graveyard but it looks to be close to the mountains.

Fire Dungeon


Door is on the right wall instead of the top. Ground tiles that would be near that door on top of the screen are also gone. Floor tiles have a slightly different design.

Underwater Boss


The rocks are stacked lower than in the final game. The bricks on the left side go a little farther down than normal. The right side lacks bricks at all.

Early Map


This map seems to be later than the Banzai magazine scan. The map looks closer to the final map.

Menu


The Triangle and Guitar instruments were swapped, meaning they may have been acquired in different dungeons.

Unused dialogue


Marin never says this in the Final Game.