The Legend of Zelda

The Legend of Zelda
Developer: Nintendo Publisher: Nintendo Platform: NES Released in JP: February 21, 1986 (FDS), February 19, 1994 (NES) Released in US: August 22, 1987 Released in EU: November 15, 1987 This game has unused enemies. This game has regional differences. This game has revisional differences. This game has a notes page This game has a prototype article This game has a prerelease article

The Legend of Zelda features Link on a quest to save Zelda from the evil Gannon (sic!). On his way, he gets no help at all except for the Old Man who gives him a random stick he picked up somewhere (plus some vague hints), and is on his own in the vast land of Hyrule.

Unused Enemy Values

Monster modifier: 0350

• 18 - Strong enemy that resembles Digdogger, only completely graphically corrupted
• 26 - Nothing? (Puff of smoke) (may be replacement data for cleared-out rooms)
• 29 - Nothing? (Puff of smoke) (may be replacement data for cleared-out rooms)
• 42 - Gleeok with one head.

Unused Spawn Type

Via the use of world scrambler codes, you can force enemies to spawn from an unused configuration; all the enemies will rush out from a single cloud of smoke.

NES Revision Differences

To do: Other differences?

Title Screen

PRG0	PRG1

The PRG1 version adds a trademark symbol to the title screen.

Save Option Screen

PRG0	PRG1
It's empty, but surely nothing could corrupt my save data

The PRG1 release of the game adds a small warning to the continue / save / retry screen.

Version Differences

Detailing the changes between the Famicom Disk System, Nintendo Entertainment System and Famicom cartridge versions of the game.

Graphical Differences

FDS	NES / Famicom cart

The alphabetical characters were changed from a thinner, unique font, to the common font used in many other NES games.

FDS	NES / Famicom cart

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

Title Screen

FDS	Famicom cart

The original Japanese version's title is "The Legend of Zelda", while the re-release on cartridge is "The Legend of Zelda 1". The graphics were repositioned to accommodate for the longer title.

The copyright information was updated, and the Disk Side B message was replaced with "Push Start Button."

Prologue

FDS	NES / Famicom cart

The title of the story was changed from "Legend of Zelda" to "The Legend of Zelda."

FDS	Famicom cart

For the NES release of the game, the Bible was renamed Book of Magic. The Japanese cartridge version keeps this US name change, but the Katakana text still says Bible.

The English text for the items is blue in the Japanese versions, in the NES version, the text is white.

FDS / Famicom cart	NES

The sheet of paper Link is holding was slightly modified for the NES, and the spacing between text and the Triforce was also reduced.

Game Over Menu

FDS	Famicom cart
Retry doesn't mean what you think it means	The 2P trick makes this easier

The Game Over menu options are spaced further apart in the Famicom cart version.

You picked something!

The NES and Famicom cart versions text flashes when you select something. This does not happen in the original game.

Map Changes

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

FDS	NES / Famicom cart

Five Keese were added to this otherwise empty room of Level 4.

FDS	NES / Famicom cart

And again, there are seven Keese added to this room of Level 5.

Pols Voice

File:ZeldaFDSPolsVoiceFinal.png In both the original FDS version and the Japanese re-release on cartridge, Pols Voice is invulnerable to arrows, but instead it's extra vulnerable to the Famicom's built-in microphone feature. As the NES system lacked this feature, it was instead given a weakness to arrows. Besides this weakness, they can also be defeated the hard way with the sword in all versions of the game. There is some functionality of the Famicom Microphone leftover in the U.S. version, as using an emulator with the microphone ability on does work too.

Ending

FDS	NES

In the FDS version, after Zelda thanks Link, they hold up the Triforce of Power and Wisdom and the frame starts to flash and 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.

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.

Audio Differences

Music

• The Title Theme and Ending Theme is richer in their compositions in the FDS version due to utilizing the system's wavetable sound channel.
• The tune that plays on the Game Over screen uses the wavetable sound channel as well, making it sound a little bit different. Also, whenever you move the cursor on the screen it resets the musical loop for some reason, this is not the case on the NES and Famicom re-release.
• The now famous success chime that is heard whenever you solve a puzzle or find one of the many secrets in the game, sound a little bit different in the FDS version due to the wavetable sound channel.
• In the FDS version, there is no success chime when pushing those blocks that open the doors in the dungeons. (It's a little odd as it was in place in the FDS-prototype version of the game and then again in the NES and Famicom re-release versions.)
• The music in level 9 has more beats of the bass before starting the rest of the tune. In the NES and Famicom re-release it goes almost straight into the melody.

Sound Effects

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

• The sound the bosses make that is heard whenever you are close to the lair or inside, is a lot different and varies between bosses, in the NES and Famicom re-release all bosses sound the same. The volume of the sound is also a little bit lower outside the lair, whereas it has the same volume no matter if you are outside or inside their room in the cart-versions.
• All the bosses and mini-bosses make a screaming sound when they take damage.
• The sound effect for doors opening and closing is different.
• The sound effect for Link's Sword Beam is different.
• The sound of the Flute is different.
• The sound effect when Link take damage is a little different.
• When Link dies there's more a series of sound effects than the little theme that is heard in the NES and Famicom re-release.
• The sound effect when Bombs detonate is different.
• The sound effect heard when picking up hearts and keys is different.
• The sound effect when moving the cursor on the Game Over screen is different.

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.

Intro

Famicom / NES	2003 Version

Famicom / NES	2003 Version
MANY YEARS AGO PRINCE DARKNESS "GANNON" STOLE ONE OF THE TRIFORCE WITH POWER. PRINCESS ZELDA HAD ONE OF THE TRIFORCE WITH WISDOM. SHE DIVIDED IT INTO "8"UNITS TO HIDE IT FROM "GANNON" BEFORE SHE WAS CAPTURED. GO FIND THE "8"UNITS "LINK" TO SAVE HER.	LONG AGO, GANON, PRINCE OF DARKNESS, STOLE THE TRIFORCE OF POWER. PRINCESS ZELDA OF HYRULE BROKE THE TRIFORCE OF WISDOM INTO EIGHT PIECES AND HID THEM FROM GANON BEFORE SHE WAS KIDNAPPED BY GANON'S MINIONS. LINK, YOU MUST FIND THE PIECES AND SAVE ZELDA.

Treasures

Famicom / NES	2003 Version
ALL OF TREASURES	ALL TREASURES

Famicom / NES	2003 Version
RUPY	RUPEE

Famicom / NES	2003 Version
5 RUPIES	5 RUPEES

Dialogue

NES	2003 Version
LET'S PLAY MONEY MAKING GAME!	LET'S PLAY A MONEY-MAKING GAME!

NES	2003 Version
SECRET IS IN THE TREE AT THE DEAD-END.	A SECRET IS IN THE TREE AT THE DEAD-END.

NES	2003 Version
PAY ME FOR THE DOOR REPAIR CHARGE.	PAY ME FOR THE DOOR REPAIR.

NES	2003 Version
DIGDOGGER HATES CERTAIN KIND OF SOUND.	DIGDOGGER HATES CERTAIN KINDS OF SOUND.

NES	2003 Version
SECRET POWER IS SAID TO BE IN THE ARROW.	A SECRET POWER IS SAID TO BE IN THE ARROW.

NES	2003 Version
ONES WHO DOES NOT HAVE TRIFORCE CAN'T GO IN.	ONES WHO DO NOT HAVE TRIFORCE CAN'T ENTER.

NES	2003 Version
EYES OF SKULL HAS A SECRET.	THE EYES OF THE SKULL HAVE SECRETS.

NES	2003 Version
SOUTH OF ARROW MARK HIDES A SECRET.	SOUTH OF THE ARROW MARK HIDES A SECRET.

NES	2003 Version
FINALLY, PEACE RETURNS TO HYRULE. THIS ENDS THE STORY.	FINALLY, PEACE RETURNS TO HYRULE. THE END.

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 Game Boy Advance and the Wii Virtual Console. The Japanese re-release was instead in the form of the FDS version, the port was treated with the same cleaned up intro as seen in 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:

• The sound the bosses make that is heard whenever you are close to the lair or inside, has the same volume no matter if you are outside or inside their room. This is not how it was heard in the original FDS version where the volume was a little bit lower outside the lair.