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Created By Desbreko

Zelda A Link to the Past - Lv8 Ganon's Tower - Part 1 of 2

Ah, Ganon's Tower, the longest and hardest dungeon in the game. While I'm amazed I got through all the rest in one video, there was never much doubt that I'd have to do this one in two parts. As such, I decided to split it up so that part 1 shows the two paths to the big key and Red Mail, and part 2 shows the rest of the tower leading up to the boss. I think it worked out pretty well this way; the videos are about even length, too.

Personally, I find the left path to be much easier than the right, which is why I do it first. The map is also on the left path, which is much handier than the compass on the right. Other than the red skeleton room with all the four-way fireball turrets, there's nothing on it that's especially hard once you know what to do.

The right path, on the other hand, has crap like the conveyor belt room with the braziers you have to light in order to open the door at the bottom. (Both the other rooms off of that one are traps, by the way.) Then there's the falling floor tile room that I still have not found a way to get through without either getting hit or using the Cane of Byrna/Magic Cape. In fact, all through the right path they try to dump you into pits. It's just a huge pain compared to the left path.

Fighting the Armos Knights again with the Silver Arrows is always amusing. Silver Arrows are, by the way, the most powerful weapon in the game; I believe they do somewhere between two and three times the damage of the Golden Sword. As such, they kill each Armos Knight in one hit. The room may have an icy floor but you hardly have to move to plug each one with an arrow.

I didn't have to use many re-records on the first part here. I've gotten the left path down really well and there's only a couple rooms on the right that give me any trouble. The really hard rooms come in part 2.

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Zelda A Link to the Past - Lv8 Ganon's Tower - Part 1 of 2

Part 1 of 2 of my Level 8: Ganon's Tower walkthrough for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Played in real time on Snes9x v1.43+ with re-records used to optimize video length.

Equipment checklist: 20 Hearts, Golden Sword, Silver Arrows, 1/2 Magic, Cane of Byrna

- The Golden Sword and Silver Arrows can be obtained by buying a super bomb at the bomb shop north of the Swamp Palace and using it to blow open the cracked wall in the Pyramid. Inside is a fairy pond where you can upgrade your sword and bow.
- The 1/2 Magic upgrade can be obtained by jumping down the well next to the smithy's shop in Kakariko Village and sprinkling some magic powder on the statue within.
- The Cane of Byrna can be found on Death Mountain in the Dark World by jumping off the cliff just below the warp tile by the Mountain Tower and entering the cave on the ledge below.

[00:09] Useless door
Don't waste a key on this door, you can get to the other side of it by going down the right staircase on 2F instead of the left one.

[02:59] Bomb propulsion
There's an invisible path over the pit in this room that you can reveal either by lighting the braziers or by using Ether. However, it's easiest just to blow yourself across with a bomb.

[03:22] Miniboss: Armos Knights
The only difference between these Armos Knights and the ones in the East Palace is that the floor is icy. If you got the Silver Arrows it will only take one hit each to kill them.

[06:28] Invisible path
There's an invisible path between the platforms in this room. Just dash straight left across it.

[06:39] Two paths, one destination
Both the left and right staircases on 2F lead you to this room. However, the left path has the map on it and I find it to be easier.

Zelda A Link to the Past - Lv7 Turtle Rock

Turtle Rock is hard. Like, really hard. Hard enough to bring me under ten hearts while I was wandering through it to reacquaint myself with it. ... Okay, maybe that doesn't sound too bad, but it's actually saying a lot. Making this video was even harder than the Ice Palace one, both because of how hard it is and because of its sheer length. I ended up having to skip a room that I was planning on showing and the video still ended up just below YouTube's time limit.

There are just so many rooms in Turtle Rock where even a little mistake will get you hit. And usually getting hit means taking two hearts of damage even with the Blue Mail. Like those Chain Chomp things? Those are a huge pain to get past. And the multisection hoppy things? If you're not close enough to them when you release the spin attack you're liable to get hit, either by a section flying back at you or the rest of the body as it continues hopping. But getting that close to something that both moves faster than you and jumps around in unpredictable directions is also a risk in itself.

Trinexx is also a pain. And the speed kill trick that I used is even harder to pull off correctly than beating him the normal way. It took a lot of practice, both when I made my old speed kill video and before recording this video, so that I could do it consistently.

But this was a really awesome run of the dungeon. I only took one hit from a fireball and only had to use five re-records, all but one of which were just to cover stupid little time wasters like accidentally selecting the wrong item. The other was because I screwed up the timing in the dark platform maze the first time. Pretty much everything else I pulled off first try, including the Chain Chomp room, the rupee room, and Trinexx.

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Zelda A Link to the Past - Lv7 Turtle Rock

My complete Level 7: Turtle Rock walkthrough for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Played in real time on Snes9x v1.43+ with re-records used to optimize video length.

Equipment checklist: 18 3/4 Hearts, Golden Sword, Silver Arrows, 1/2 Magic

[00:26] Laser eyes
There are two types of laser eyes, half open and fully open. Half open eyes, such as this one, will only shoot if you face them, so back out of the doorway. Fully open eyes will shoot at you regardless.

[04:33] Light World detour #1
Use the Magic Mirror to return to the Light World on this ledge. Inside the cave is a Piece of Heart, which will bump you up to 19 hearts if you entered with 18 3/4.

[06:50] Dark platform maze
This room can sap your hearts quickly if you don't know the correct path to take. From the start, hold in right at the first intersection and then keep holding in down to reach the switch. From there, follow the path as shown in the video to reach the door.

[07:32] Side blocking
Hold out your sword for a spin attack to protect your side from the eye lasers as you walk over and up to these chests.

[08:06] Light World detour #2
Warping back to the Light World on this ledge and entering the cave will let you grab two fairies. Also, if you're playing the GBA version, exiting a re-entering the dungeon here will act as a save point that you can restart from.

[09:19] Boss: Trinexx
In this video I use the speed kill method of defeating Trinexx to save time. To see the normal method of beating it, along with a written strategy, take a look at my other no damage video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifwDTIE5W1I

Zelda A Link to the Past - Lv6 Misery Mire

Misery Mire is a fun dungeon in that it's not especially big but it has a complicated layout. If you don't know the correct order to do things in it can leave you wandering back and forth in search of keys and crystal switches. It also actively tries to lead you the wrong way in some places. In particular, it seems to really want you to forget about the big chest and attempt to get through the big fireball room of death on B2 without the Cane of Somaria.

Wizrobes make their first appearance in Misery Mire but they're incredibly easy. I remember when A Link to the Past was new, they seemed like such a letdown after the horribly nasty Wizrobes in the original Legend of Zelda. For me, there was nothing harder in the original Zelda than a room filled with a mix of red and blue Wizrobes. In LttP they're so easy to kill that rooms where they'll just keep appearing make handy heart refill stations.

I ended up getting hit in the flying floor tile room just before the compass. I was thinking that my shield would block the fireball, since it was out to the side while I was using the Fire Rod, but it didn't work. I'm not sure if the shield doesn't block things while using secondary items (it will while swinging the sword) or if my timing was just off. Alas, it would've been incredibly cool if it had worked.

Vitreous is a fun fight because you get to totally unload with the bow and arrows and it's actually tough, unlike the Armos Knights. Plus, everyone loves shooting eyeballs, right?

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Zelda A Link to the Past - Lv6 Misery Mire

My complete Level 6: Misery Mire walkthrough for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Played in real time on Snes9x v1.43+ with re-records used to optimize video length.

Equipment checklist: 17 Hearts, 1/2 Magic, Cane of Byrna

- The 1/2 Magic upgrade can be obtained by jumping down the well next to the smithy's shop in Kakariko Village and sprinkling some magic powder on the statue within.
- The Cane of Byrna can be found on Death Mountain in the Dark World by jumping off the cliff just below the warp tile by the Mountain Tower and entering the cave on the ledge below.

[00:04] Dash bounce
You can use the Hookshot to cross this pit but dash bouncing across is faster and looks so much cooler.

[00:14] Wizrobes
Their magic waves are not actually as wide as they appear. Unless you're directly in front of them, they'll usually miss.

[01:05] Chest on the spikes
You'll need to use either the Cane of Byrna or the Magic Cape to avoid damage while getting this small key.

[07:08] Boss: Vitreous
Yet more giant eyeballs! The bow and arrows are effective against Vitreous but don't let the small eyeballs swarm you; fend them off with your sword if they get too close. When the big eyeball lifts up out of the slime, run to either side of the room to avoid its lightning attack. Once the small eyeballs are all dead, stand in front of the big one and unload eight arrows into it or keep knocking it back with your sword. Throughout the fight, be careful not to walk up into the slime past where the darker green slime is or else you'll get hurt.

I also have another no damage video, that uses only the sword, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrNGLlKmctY

Zelda A Link to the Past - Lv5 Ice Palace

After six, count 'em, six runs through the Ice Palace I finally ended up with this video. And I still used more re-records than I would've liked. There's just so many little things that can go wrong and waste time in there. Not even things that will get me hit, because I know the dungeon so damn well by now—right down to the timing of the jellyfishs' electrification—that I rarely take damage, but stupid little things like sliding back and forth on the ice in front of a doorway for two seconds before finally managing to get through. I called it from the start and the Ice Palace was indeed a huge pain to make a good walkthrough for.

I really was not expecting to be able to do the Ice Palace in one section, though. And my first recorded run was actually over YouTube's 10:59 time limit. But then I remembered two big route improvements that cut out a ton of backtracking and cut the time down by two whole minutes. In the end, I actually managed to beat it a little faster than the Dark Palace, which seems crazy to me.

This makes me wonder if I'll be able to do Ganon's Tower in one section too. That is, show all of it in one section. I'm sure I could do it in one if I skipped a bunch of the huge first floor and just went straight to the Big Key and Red Mail but I'd like to show all or at least most of the dungeon. There's a lot of secrets and interesting bits in Ganon's Tower.

Kholdstare is a really fun boss. It's similar to Blind in that there's a lot of crap to dodge, but not quite as much so that you get to balance defense with offense. And there's just something incredibly satisfying about burning things with the Fire Rod.

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Zelda A Link to the Past - Lv5 Ice Palace

My complete Level 5: Ice Palace walkthrough for The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Played in real time on Snes9x v1.43+ with re-records used to optimize video length.

Equipment checklist: 16 Hearts, Tempered Sword, 1/2 Magic, Bombos

- To get the Tempered Sword, go to the southern section of the Village of Outcasts, where the library is in the Light World, and find the lost smith. Bring him back to his partner in the Light World and they'll temper your sword to make it stronger.
- The 1/2 Magic upgrade can be obtained by jumping down the well next to the smithy's shop in Kakariko Village and sprinkling some magic powder on the statue within.
- You can get Bombos by traveling west from the Swamp Palace and warping back to the Light World in the area marked off by posts, then using the Book of Mudora to read the text on the monolith up on the hill in the desert.

[00:28] Pengators
These duck-billed mammals (no, really) are dangerous in groups when they can surround you on the ice. I recommend burning them all at once with Bombos.

[01:58] Through the Fire and Flames
You can't be hurt while using the Hookshot so use it to pull yourself through the fireball chain.

[02:24] Dashing on ice
Dashing provides some much needed control while walking on ice, by letting you instantly stop moving and change directions.

[02:56] Don't panic
The biggest thing you can do to keep yourself from falling off the edge in this room is to simply not rush. Take it slow and then use dashing to run straight once you're lined up.

[03:38] Giant spike traps
Walk straight down from the doorway and the first two spike traps will always miss, then curve back up and left to avoid the third.

[05:51] SNES-only shortcut
This trick doesn't work in the GBA version because the layout of this room was changed but, if you beat Level 6: Misery Mire and get the Cane of Somaria first, you can use a magic block to hold down the switch under the pot and go straight to the boss from here.

[08:00] Boss: Kholdstare
First, use Bombos (or the Fire Rod if you don't have Bombos) to break the ice encasing Kholdstare. Then, after that's out of the way, what looked like one giant puffball will be revealed as three and they'll all start chasing you around the room as chunks of ice fall from above. Keep your distance, using your sword to knock Kholdstare away and make sure it doesn't corner you, and burn the frozen puffballs from afar with the Fire Rod.

I also have another no damage video, that uses only the sword, here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dpk90nNblxg

Zelda A Link to the Past - Death Mountain Descent

I decided to take a little break from the walkthrough to make a video of the Death Mountain Descent glitch. Like I say in the video description, it's one of the most useful glitches in the game and there's a ton of stuff you can do with it. One time I used it to skip getting the Master Sword and played through the Dark Palace and Thieves' Town with the Fighter's Sword. Helmasaur King gets a lot harder when you have to use spin attacks to damage it with your sword. Though, funnily enough, Blind wasn't much harder since it doesn't matter how strong the hit is, it always takes three for each head.

I also found that if you get the Tempered or Golden Sword and then go back and get the Master Sword it actually replaces the stronger sword with it. Unfortunately, I didn't think to try going back to the smithy's or the fairy pond in the pyramid to see if I could upgrade my sword a second time.

Some time I suppose I should do a glitched minimalist run so that I could skip even more stuff. I think I'd be able to get down below ten hearts total that way and play through the entire game with the Fighter's Sword. Though I'm still not sure if I'd even be able to damage Ganon with it since you have to use spin attacks with the Master Sword.

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Zelda A Link to the Past - Death Mountain Descent

This video shows how to do the Death Mountain Descent glitch, which allows you access to the Dark World before beating Agahnim. Played in real time on Snes9x v1.43+.

Death Mountain Descent is one of the most useful glitches in the game and opens up all kinds of options for sequence breaking. I show how to get the Magic Cape early with it but that's just one small use. Others include:

- Obtain items like the Flute and extra Pieces of Heart early
- Beat the game without fighting Agahnim the first time
- Skip the Master Sword entirely
- Use in combination with other glitches to skip the Moon Pearl

To perform the glitch, go through the warp portal outside the Mountain Tower, drop down the cliff, and go east to where the broken bridge is in the Light World. Move all the way into the upper-right corner of the wall and the bridge post and use the Magic Mirror to return to the Light World. Now, while you're still flashing, move one pixel and only one pixel to the right—Link's shadow should be touching the black line of the bridge but not overlapping it—and then let the portal warp you back into the Dark World. Next, without moving at all, use the Magic Mirror a second time and then step all the way out of the portal to the right.

If you moved too far to the right and got automatically warped back into the Light World after moving the first time, try again from the starting position in the Dark World. It can take a few tries to move such a small distance without going too far.

Once you're back in the Light World and standing to the right of the portal on the broken bridge, hold out your sword and slowly back into it. The goal is to go only as far left as it takes to warp and no farther. Once you enter the portal, hold in right on the control cross. If you've succeeded, Link will go through the wall and jump off into the ravine below. Go south and you'll drop down from Death Mountain on the west side of the river by the graveyard. The graphics will be a bit messed up but you can fix that by using the Magic Mirror and then warping back to the Dark World again.