Nintendo thanks the buyer and lists nine precautions for looking after the cassette.
Page 1 holds the contents and a battery-backup notice. The cassette has a lithium battery, careless use of the power switch or RESET can erase saves, and battery replacement is a paid service.
Map of Hyruleハイラルのマップ
A two-page illustrated map of Hyrule in the Light World. Lost Woods and the Master Sword's forest are in the northwest, Death Mountain and Tower of Hera in the north, Kakariko Village in the west, the Desert of Mystery in the southwest, Hyrule Castle in the middle, Eastern Palace in the east, and Lake Hylia in the southeast.
Other places marked: House of Lumberjacks, the elder's house, the fortune teller, Sanctuary, the smiths, the tavern, Desert Palace, the Zora's lair, Waterfall of Wishing, the graveyard, Magic Shop, Link's House, the general store, the fountain of happiness, and a fairy fountain.
Story: The History of Hyrule物語『ハイラルの歴史』
Four chapters and a prologue tell Hyrule's past up to the start of the game.
Myth
Three goddesses of power, wisdom, and courage made the world and left the Triforce behind when they departed.
The Triforce was said to grant the wish of whoever touched it. Hylians, a long-eared people who used magic, lived in Hyrule.
The Golden Land
Many fought over the Golden Land where the Triforce rested. A band of thieves at last opened the way in, and their leader Ganondorf, known as Ganon, touched the Triforce.
Ganon's evil wish turned the Golden Land dark, and evil began to seep out into Hyrule.
The Imprisoning War
The King sent the seven wise men and the knights against the evil. While the knights fell, the Master Sword, the blade of evil's bane, was forged, and the wise men sealed the entrance to the Golden Land. This fight became known as the Imprisoning War.
The priest
Centuries later, plague and drought struck Hyrule. A wizard named Agahnim appeared from nowhere, ended them with his magic, and became priest, ruling in the King's place.
Prologue
One rainy night the hero wakes to Princess Zelda's telepathic call from the castle dungeon. His uncle leaves with his sword.
The Golden Land has become the Dark World, and Ganon wants the Light World too. To break the seal, Agahnim is sacrificing the maidens descended from the seven wise men.
The goal is to rescue the maidens, defeat Ganon, and make a new wish on the Triforce. The booklet calls the genre action adventure.
1. Before you start1.ゲームを始める前に
Insert the cassette and switch on: the title screen appears, then a demo. Press the A, B, X, or Y Button or START for the player select screen.
There are three save files. Move the fairy cursor with the Control Pad or SELECT. To enter a name, aim the cross-hair at a letter, press A, B, X, or Y, and finish with END or START.
A registered file shows the hero's figure, the name, and the hearts. Pick it again to start; progress is saved to that file.
KILL mode erases a file when all three are in use. Erased data never comes back.
COPY mode asks which file, then where to copy it. Whatever was in the target file is lost.
2. Main and sub screens2.メイン&サブ画面の見方
The main screen shows the green magic meter, the item set to the Y Button, Rupees (999 at most), bombs (10 at first), arrows (30 at first, useless without the Bow), the current dungeon's small keys, and the life gauge of red hearts.
The bomb and arrow limits can be raised by doing a certain thing in the game.
START opens the sub screen and pauses the game. It has item select, the item name, the DO window with A Button actions, special items, equipment, and a box for dungeon items and Pieces of Heart.
Special items come from bosses, differ between the Light World and the Dark World, and are all needed to finish the game.
Inside a dungeon this box shows the Map, Compass, and Big Key, which the booklet nicknames the three sacred treasures. Outside dungeons and buildings it shows your Pieces of Heart.
3. Controls3.コントローラの操作
Control Pad moves, A acts, B swings the sword, Y uses an item, X shows the map, START opens the sub screen, and SELECT ends the game.
SELECT forces a game-over state and saves. B also confirms on the player select and game over screens.
Control Pad: moving
Walk in eight directions. Hold the Control Pad toward a ledge with no fence to jump down, which opens shortcuts and new places. Stones and statues in dungeons can be pushed.
A Button: actions
The A Button has seven main actions: run and ram, talk, lift and throw, swim, open chests, read, and grab and pull.
With the Pegasus Shoes, hold A for about a second where nothing is in the way to run in four directions. Ramming walls may open holes, and ramming trees may shake something loose.
At first only grass and pots can be lifted; heavier stones come once lifting power goes up. You cannot swing the sword while carrying. Swimming needs Zora's Flippers, and you cannot use the sword or items in water.
Read signs and stone tablets with A; in dungeons, A at a stone panel plays an elder's message. Grab levers and statues with A while pushing toward them, then press the other way to pull.
In the DO window, RUN appears with the Pegasus Shoes and SWIM with Zora's Flippers, and LIFT goes from 1 to 3 as lifting power grows.
B Button: sword
Mash B for quick slashes. Hold B for about two seconds and release for a spin attack, stronger than a normal slash and hitting enemies behind you too. Running with the Pegasus Shoes gives a dash attack through a line of enemies.
Holding B keeps the sword thrust forward, guarding your sides with the shield and keeping your facing as you move. It also mows rows of grass.
With a level 2 sword or better and every heart full, the sword fires a beam at distant enemies. When no button is pressed you hold up the shield, which stops arrows and the like from the front but not sword blows.
Y Button: items
The Flute only works once it has been played at a certain spot. After that it warps you to any of eight points in the Light World, picked on the map.
The Cane of Byrna and the Magic Cape start with Y and stop with Y again. They drain magic the whole time and switch off when it runs out.
Pick items on the sub screen with the cursor. You can carry up to four bottles, so Up and Down on the Control Pad choose which one.
X Button: map
On the overworld, X shows a slanted close-up map of the area; press again for the full map. L or R switches between them and X returns to play.
The full map blinks your position and your next goal; if you are stuck, head for the mark. The Dark World has its own full map, and the small differences from the Light World are a key to Hyrule's secrets.
No map can be viewed inside houses or caves.
4. Powering up with equipment4.装備によるパワーアップ
The sword has four levels, shown by the number on the sub screen. The first goal is the level 2 Master Sword.
The shield has three levels. The first stops only arrows, spears, and stones; bigger shields block more.
Clothes start green. A Blue Mail and a Red Mail are hidden somewhere and cut damage to 1/2 and 1/4.
The damage you take from enemy attacks drops to 1/2 and 1/4 respectively.
The Pegasus Shoes are a treasure of the wise men's clan, handed down by the elder Sahasrahla. They let you run very fast.
The Power Glove lifts white stones, and the Titan's Mitt lifts black ones.
Without Zora's Flippers you are pushed back out of deep water, and some places can only be reached by swimming.
In the Dark World people change into a shape that mirrors their heart. The Moon Pearl, which works through the Triforce's power, prevents it.
5. Game over and saving5.ゲームオーバーとセーブ
When the red hearts run out the game is over and you choose one of three commands.
Save and continue records your items in the cassette and carries on. You restart partway through the castle cellar before Princess Zelda is rescued; after that in the Light World you choose Link's House, the Sanctuary, or the Death Mountain cave; in the Dark World you start at the Pyramid; in a dungeon, at its entrance.
The Death Mountain cave can only be chosen once you have reached it.
Save and quit saves and returns to the title screen. After a game over inside a dungeon, restarting this way does not put you at the dungeon entrance.
Continue without saving leaves the file as it was. To go back to the saved state, press RESET.
On restart, red hearts are refilled to roughly 2/3 to 1/2 of the gauge when it holds four hearts or more.
Pressing SELECT forces the game-over state so you can save. Use it to stop in a hurry or when you are stuck at an enemy with no magic or items left. In a dungeon, the Magic Mirror is another way back to the entrance.
Each heart restores one. They drop from enemies and hide in grass and pots. A small fairy restores seven hearts, and a big fairy somewhere fills your life every time you visit.
A large magic jar fills the meter and a small one restores 1/8. Magic use can be cut to half the starting rate by doing a certain thing.
The Magic Shop in northeast Hyrule sells potions, and you need a bottle to buy one. The green potion (60 Rupees) refills magic, the red potion (120 Rupees) refills life, and the blue potion (160 Rupees) refills both.
Life starts at three hearts, and each Heart Container adds one. The first is found at the Sanctuary and the rest come from dungeon bosses. Four Pieces of Heart make one container, and life tops out at 20 hearts.
7. Know before you go7.ハイラルの予備知識
Cutting or lifting grass can turn up Rupees and hearts. Green Rupees are worth 1, blue 5, and red 20.
Green is worth 1 Rupee, blue 5 Rupees, and red 20 Rupees.
Magic circles are the entrances to the Dark World once sealed by the wise men. There are eight, many under rocks. After priest Agahnim falls, Hyrule Castle's gate also leads to the Dark World.
8. Dungeons8.ダンジョンの説明
Clear every dungeon and claim the Triforce to be recognised as the true hero. Each dungeon's boss holds a pendant or a crystal.
The pendants are needed for the Master Sword: the Pendant of Courage, the Pendant of Power, and the Pendant of Wisdom. The sacrificed maidens are sealed inside the crystals.
The booklet calls underground mazes, castles, towers, and temple interiors all dungeons.
Chests and dungeon items
Each chest opens only once. The Map, Compass, and Big Key are in chests. Every dungeon has exactly one big chest with an important item, sometimes needed to clear it.
The Map shows every room and where you are, and the Compass marks the boss room. The Big Key opens big doors and the big chest. Hyrule Castle is the only place with no Compass.
Reading the dungeon map
X shows the dungeon map, with floors on the left and the room layout on the right. Two floors fit at a time; with three or more, pick one with Up and Down. The boss's skull mark appears only once you have the Compass.
In the Dark World a difficulty level from 1 to 8 appears beside the MAP label. Boss-less places such as mountain caves have no dungeon map.
Rooms you have entered are drawn, and with the Map the others appear too. Legend: skull for the boss, dark blue for unvisited, yellow dots for stairs, a blinking mark for you, a big red mark for the big chest, an arrow for the entrance, and light blue for visited rooms.
Dungeon devices
Pots can be thrown at enemies and may hold hearts, magic jars, arrows, or bombs. Once taken, contents do not return until you leave the dungeon. A switch that opens a door may sit under a pot.
A small key is used up after one door, while the Big Key works any number of times. Both belong to their own dungeon only. There are also one-way doors and doors opened by switches.
Cracked walls and floors may break with a bomb or a dash, opening the way to the next room.
Strike a crystal switch with the sword or a thrown weapon to swap the raised blue and orange blocks. When the switch is red the orange blocks are down; when blue, the blue ones. Every block in the dungeon reacts.
Falling off a walkway with no fence costs damage and sends you back to the room entrance. A pit you can see through drops you to the floor below with no damage.
9. Items9.アイテムの説明
Y Button items arrive one at a time, given by people or found in dungeons. Items whose names are printed in green use magic power.
Lamp: the very first item. It lights torches in dungeons to brighten rooms; the flames die down after a while. Uses magic.
Boomerang: stuns enemies for a while and hurts some of them. It also fetches distant Rupees and hearts.
Bombs: the blast hurts enemies and opens walls, but also hurts you if you stand close. A bomb goes off about two seconds after it is set, two can be out at once, and you can pick one up and throw it before it blows.
Magic Bottle: stores things to use later. You can hold four, so it pays to collect them early.
Bug Catching Net: catches bugs and the like hiding in grass and trees so you can keep them in a bottle.
Book of Mudora: lets you read stone tablets left in an ancient script by Hyrule's first people.
Bow: a strong weapon from the first palace, but you can only fire as many arrows as you carry. Arrows come from enemies and pots, and stronger Silver Arrows are hidden somewhere.
Mushroom: a mushroom with a sweet, strange scent and the ingredient for Magic Powder. You find it while wandering the woods.
Magic Powder: sprinkled on grass and such it may make things appear, and it is said to have surprising effects on enemies. Uses magic.
Magic Mirror: takes you from the Dark World to the Light World, and the exit it leaves takes you back again. If you would land somewhere you cannot stand, such as inside a wall, you are sent back to the Dark World. In a dungeon it returns you to the entrance; it does not work in houses or caves.
Magic Hammer: pounds down stakes and obstacles in your path. It works as a weapon too, but seems more effective combined with other items.
Hook Shot: the hook on a stretching chain grabs trees, pots, chests, and the like, and pulls you over. It is handy over pits and also works as a weapon.
Shovel: digs the ground at your feet, though some ground cannot be dug. It is needed to find the Flute.
Flute: an instrument handed to you by someone, and it makes the long journey easier.
Ice Rod: freezes an enemy instantly. Weak ones die on the spot, and a frozen enemy never thaws. Uses magic.
Fire Rod: shoots a fireball that burns enemies, and some are weak to fire. It can stand in for the Lamp. Uses magic.
Cane of Somaria: makes a Power Block of energy that you can throw at or push into enemies; it vanishes after touching five. Using the cane again bursts it in four directions. It is needed to clear Turtle Rock in the Dark World. Uses magic.
Cane of Byrna: wraps the hero in holy light so enemy attacks do no harm. Press Y again to stop; magic drains for as long as it runs.
Magic medallions: only the bearer of the Master Sword can obtain them, and they unleash strong magic over a wide area. Bombos sets off a huge blast of fire around you.
Ether gathers cold in the raised sword and releases it, with the Ice Rod's effect on every enemy on screen. Quake drives the sword into the ground and shakes the earth, affecting whoever stands on it. All three use a lot of magic.
Magic Cape: makes the wearer invisible, unseen and unhurt, yet still able to attack with the sword or thrown objects. Like the Cane of Byrna, it drains magic over time.
10. The first half of the game10.ゲーム前半の概略
A route through the first half for players who lose the thread. Woken by Princess Zelda's voice, the hero leaves Link's House after his uncle and looks for a way underground near the castle.
With his uncle's sword and shield he goes below; the Boomerang found there helps. He beats the soldiers, frees the princess, and takes her through a secret passage to the Sanctuary.
At the Sanctuary, listen to the priest and the princess to learn what comes next. From there, follow the marks on the map. First gather news in Kakariko Village, where some items can also be had.
The elder explains that the Master Sword needs three crested pendants, held by the bosses of Eastern Palace, Desert Palace, and Tower of Hera. The Bow, Power Glove, and Moon Pearl in those dungeons must not be missed.
With the three pendants, draw the Master Sword in the forest, then face priest Agahnim at Hyrule Castle. Remember what the elder said when you took the sword, and you can win.
11. Enemies11.敵キャラクターの紹介
A few of the enemies. Every enemy has a weak point, so find it and attack efficiently.
Stalfos Knight: chief of the skeleton soldiers in the ice dungeon. It keeps reviving after sword blows, and finishing it takes another weapon.
Ball and Chain Trooper: guard of the Hyrule Castle dungeon. You must beat it to save Princess Zelda; dodge its swinging iron ball.
Gibdo: tough and hard to beat with the sword, but weak to fire.
Geldman: a sand man of the Desert of Mystery who bursts out of the sand to attack.
Hinox: a strongman monster roaming the Dark World overworld. It has plenty of stamina and throws bombs.
Snapdragon: a plant that evolved into a biting enemy with a huge mouth and sharp fangs. Like Hinox, it lives on the Dark World overworld.
Mini Helmasaur: small but tough, its hard mask shrugs off the sword. It is weak to attacks from behind.
Wizzrobe: a sorcerer who appears and vanishes by magic. You can only hit it while it is visible, and it casts beam-like bolts.
Back pages巻末
For players who have seen the ending, an advert for the Disk System games The Legend of Zelda (out 21 February 1986) and Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (out 14 January 1987). Each costs 2,678 yen with tax, or 500 yen to rewrite onto a disk.
For players who are stuck, a notice for Shogakukan's official Nintendo guidebook in two volumes: the first due 13 December, the second in early February, prices not yet set.
Staff credits: executive producer Hiroshi Yamauchi, producer Shigeru Miyamoto, director Takashi Tezuka, script writer Kensuke Tanabe, sound composer Koji Kondo, and others. Copyright 1991 Nintendo.
Back cover: the Japan-only sale notice, the Super Famicom logo, and the addresses of Nintendo's head office and branch offices.
Quick-reference card操作早見表
The front lists the controls, pointing to pages 16 to 27: Control Pad for moving and the cursor, START for the sub screen and item select, SELECT to end the game, X for the map, A for actions, B for the sword, and Y for items.
The back gives a one-line note on each of 20 items. Items with green names use magic power.