Instruction Booklet

The story

Long ago the world was in an age of chaos. In the kingdom of Hyrule a legend told of the Triforce, golden triangles with mystical powers.

Ganon, the Prince of Darkness, led an army into Hyrule and stole the Triforce of Power.

To keep the Triforce of Wisdom from Ganon, Princess Zelda broke it into eight pieces and hid them across the kingdom.

Zelda sent her nursemaid Impa to find a man with courage. Ganon took the princess prisoner and sent his men after Impa.

Ganon's henchmen cornered Impa, and a boy named Link drove them off. Impa told him the whole story.

Link has to put the Triforce of Wisdom back together, because only then can he get into Death Mountain, where Ganon lives.

Hints on How to Destroy Ganon

Impa told Link the layout of the nine labyrinths, and the booklet says those layouts are printed somewhere inside it.

Death Mountain can be found by watching closely where and when the monsters show up. Merchants in caves sell useful things, some of which Link cannot get anywhere else.

Fairies at the springs refill Link's hearts. The labyrinth entrances are hidden, a few of them very well, and every labyrinth holds at least one treasure.

Link should carry weapons such as the Boomerang and pick the one that suits each enemy, switching quickly on the sub screen. The LEVEL display tells him which labyrinth he is in, and the booklet warns him to take them in order.

With the Map and Compass, Link can check the passages one by one. Doors sometimes shut behind him, but every one of them can be opened again.

Ganon has a weak point too, and a friendly character in the game will tell Link what it is. The booklet ends the tale with Link holding both Triforces and setting off for unknown lands.

Creating your own Link character

The game can hold up to three Links. On the title screen press START, choose REGISTER YOUR NAME with SELECT, press START, and pick an empty slot with SELECT.

Letters are picked with the Control Pad and set with the A button. When the name is done, choose REGISTER END and press START.

Erasing an old Link character

ELIMINATION MODE deletes a saved Link. Pick the Link, press START, then choose ELIMINATION END and press START. The data cannot be brought back.

Starting the game

SELECT moves the heart to a Link and START begins the game. The menu shows each player's name, how many games they have played, and their life power.

GAME OVER

When the game ends Link can choose CONTINUE, SAVE, or RETRY. CONTINUE keeps everything he owns and starts him again with three hearts.

SAVE writes what Link owns to the Game Pak's memory. RETRY goes back to the menu without saving.

A Link who falls inside a labyrinth and continues starts again at that labyrinth's entrance. Anywhere else he starts from the very beginning of the Overworld.

Do not press POWER or RESET between saving and the select screen. To switch off safely, hold RESET in while turning the power off.

Playing with a friend

Two players take turns, each with a different Link. When a player is done, SAVE and then switch off.

Stopping the game

To bring up the save menu in the middle of play, open the sub screen and press the A button and the Control Pad on Controller 2 together.

A battery in the Game Pak keeps the saved data.

Basic Wisdom

The Control Pad moves Link and picks the item for the B button. The A button swings the sword, and B uses the item chosen for it.

START switches between the main screen and the sub screen. SELECT pauses the game and starts it again.

What are the "main" and "sub" screens?

The main screen is where Link fights. The sub screen lists his treasures, and the one for the B button is chosen in the blue frame by pressing Left or Right.

Link meets all sorts of challenges above and under ground

The Overworld is the land above ground, with forests, lakes, mountains, and friendly people.

The Underworld is the set of labyrinths below ground. It has more enemies than the Overworld, and the pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom are hidden there.

Let's learn some skills for battling the enemy!

The A button attacks with the sword. A hit enemy flashes and is pushed back.

There are three swords: the Wooden Sword, the White Sword, and the Magical Sword. Each is twice as strong as the one before, and the one in use shows in frame A.

Treasures are used with the B button, and the one ready to use shows in frame B.

Link's shield blocks spears and rocks. The Magical Shield also stops spells and the balls Zora fires, though some attacks get through any shield.

Damage turns Link's hearts white. When every heart is red, his sword flies out as a beam and hits enemies at range.

Treasure: The Magic and the Mystery

Rupees, which the booklet calls rubies, come in yellow and blue. A blue one is worth five yellow ones, and Link can carry up to 255.

A Heart Container adds a heart to Link's LIFE, and a Heart refills one. Saving a Fairy from the enemy turns all his hearts red.

A Key opens one locked door. The Magical Key opens doors as often as Link likes, and an A then shows in place of the key count.

The Stepladder lets Link cross a hole or river one tile wide. The Raft, launched from a dock, carries him over seas and lakes, and some places can only be reached with it.

Each labyrinth has a Map and a Compass. The Compass shows where the piece of the Triforce lies.

The Letter is for the Old Woman in a cave. Choose it on the sub screen and press B in front of her to show it.

The Blue Ring halves the damage Link takes and the Red Ring cuts it to a quarter.

The Power Bracelet makes Link strong enough to move big rocks.

The Clock freezes the enemies, but only on the screen Link is on.

What you find when you press button B

The Boomerang stops most enemies in their tracks. The Magical Boomerang flies further.

Bombs come four to a pickup, and Link can carry eight at most.

The Bow fires the Arrow or the Silver Arrow, and every shot costs one Rupee. Some enemies can only be beaten with the bow and arrow.

The Blue Candle and Red Candle light dark rooms and throw fire. The blue one works once per screen, while the red one keeps going.

The Recorder, called a whistle in the booklet, is described only as a strange magical item.

Bait lures enemies, though some ignore it.

The water of life comes as a Red Potion and a Blue Potion. One drink turns the red into blue, and drinking the blue uses it up.

The Magical Rod is the wand Wizzrobe uses. With the Book of Magic as well, it shoots flames.

Now let's get the Triforce together!

A diagram shows where each level's piece sits in the triangle: 1 and 2 at the top, 5 and 7 in the middle, and 3, 6, 8, and 4 along the bottom.

Picking up a piece turns all of Link's hearts red and sends him back to the labyrinth entrance.

With all eight pieces, the whirlwind from the Recorder carries Link to the entrance of the ninth labyrinth.

The Overworld

Above ground, Link looks for the labyrinth entrances that lead to the eight pieces. The small map at the top left is the radar and marks where he is.

Walking Link to the edge of the screen scrolls to the next scene.

Old Men, Old Women, and Merchants live in caves. To buy, Link picks up the item he wants. To pay for advice, he stands on the price, and without enough Rupees he is ignored.

Fairies at the springs turn all of Link's hearts red again.

Not every cave is in plain sight. Paths that seem closed may open when Link tries a different item on them.

The nasty characters Link bumps into in the Overworld

Tektite: the red ones jump about a lot and the blue ones move little.

Octorok: red and blue, both spit rocks, and the blue ones are meaner.

Leever: lives in the ground, and the blue ones are stronger.

Peahat: the ghost of a flower, which can only be hit while it stands still.

Moblin: a bulldog-faced goblin of the forest that throws spears. The booklet spells it Molblin.

Armos: a soldier turned to a stone statue, which comes to life when Link touches it.

Ghini: a graveyard ghost of two kinds. Some appear when Link touches the gravestones.

Lynel: a guardian near Death Mountain whose sword goes through Link's small shield.

Zora: half fish and half woman, called Zola in the booklet. Her balls go through the small shield.

Falling Rocks: boulders that tumble down from Death Mountain and cannot be destroyed.

The Underworld

Inside a labyrinth the radar becomes the labyrinth radar and shows the layout once Link has the Map. The LEVEL display gives the labyrinth's number, and if it is too hard Link should get out fast.

Let's walk around inside the labyrinth

A candle lights rooms that are pitch black. The sub screen keeps track of the rooms Link has walked through.

A labyrinth is made of many rooms. Their exits are blocks Link can push through, shutters and locked doors, or plain walls.

Labyrinths hold more than the Triforce. Link needs the Heart Containers found inside them to survive Death Mountain.

Link's notes from Impa name the nine labyrinths: Eagle, Moon, Manji, Snake, Lizard, Dragon, Demon, Lion, and Death Mountain. The booklet says the Map is far more accurate than the notes.

The enemies that attack Link in the underground labyrinths

Zol and Gel: a cut Zol splits into two Gels.

Rope: a poisonous snake that suddenly charges at Link.

Vire and Keese: a beaten Vire turns into two Keese.

Stalfos: a skeleton with a sword in each hand.

Wallmaster: a hand that grabs Link and carries him back to the labyrinth entrance.

Goriya: throws boomerangs, and the blue ones are stronger.

Wizzrobe: the master of movement, whose spells the small shield cannot block.

Darknut: a knight whose shield turns away attacks from the front.

Pols Voice: a big-eared ghost that cannot stand loud noise.

Lanmola: a giant centipede. Hitting its head does nothing.

Like Like: swallows Link and eats his Magical Shield.

Gibdo: a mummy, and a tough one.

Moldorm: a giant worm that gets shorter with each hit.

Dodongo: a giant rhinoceros whose thick hide shrugs off attacks.

Manhandla: a man-eating flower with four hands that speeds up as it loses them.

Aquamentus: a dragon that some call a unicorn. It fires beams.

Patra: comes in groups that fly in two different formations.

Digdogger: a huge sea urchin that shrivels up when attacked.

Gohma: a huge crab that has to be hit in its weak point with a special weapon.

Gleeok: a dragon with two to four heads. A head that is cut off keeps flying through the air.

Bubble: if it touches Link, he cannot draw his sword for a while.

Traps and stone statues: once a trap has moved it will not move again until it is back where it started, which gives Link a moment to get past.

And now the fight to death with Ganon!

Ganon waits deep inside Death Mountain. The booklet says the Magical Sword and one other item are enough to bring him down.

The Legend of Zelda ABCs

The complete strategy for getting to Level 1: Eagle

First, Link goes into the cave right in front of where he starts.

Inside, an Old Man tells Link to take the sword.

Going north, Link's first fights are with weak enemies. Then he heads east into the forest, using the trees as cover, and keeps fighting north through it to collect treasure.

Further north by the lake, Zora attacks with her balls. Past the lake is a bridge, and the booklet suggests fighting there to fill up on hearts.

Across the bridge on a small island stands Eagle, the Level 1 labyrinth. Inside, Link should find the Map and Compass and take the piece of the Triforce without leaving any treasure behind.

Map to get to Level 2 underground labyrinth

The ruins at the top right of the printed map are the entrance to Level 2. Link gets there by going around the right edge of the map and through the big forest.

Tips

Big enemies often have a weak point. Try different treasures against them until one works.

Some labyrinth rooms have a ringleader. Beat it first and the other enemies in the room vanish.

Kind people in the labyrinths give advice that points to the enemies' weak points.

The sub screen can be opened in the middle of a fight to switch to a better item.

Many labyrinth entrances are in ruins, but some are hidden deep in forests or mountains.

The Raft can only be launched from a dock, and some places cannot be reached without it.

Blowing the Recorder makes a strange sound, and people say it opens up paths.

The water of life cures anything, so it is not sold to just anyone. Link has to show his credentials first, and the booklet leaves the how as a secret.

Caves are said to be everywhere above ground, and Link will find them if he has enough power.

The caves where people live have invisible closed doors, and opening them is left as a secret.

Early in the game, going back to the fairy's spring often makes things much easier.

Shutters are usually held shut by the magic of an enemy in the room, and they open once Link beats it.

Rooms on the Map that Link cannot reach usually mean a hidden passage in a room he has already been through.

Pols Voice has a weak point that surprises players, but the booklet keeps it a secret.