SECRETS, CODES, & INTEL | The Legend of Zelda Declassified NES | NESComplex

so much has been said about the legend of zelda that it seems impossible that anything more could be learned but it turns out there's quite a bit to secure this information i snuck into nintendo headquarters and extracted classified files okay that's not true but after studying interviews articles books and magazines investigating every anecdotal theory and testing reported glitches i've created this video as a culmination of my findings in this episode of declassified i'll break down all the secrets codes and forgotten lore for this classic game detailing information you may have heard some you've forgotten and some you've never known [Music] [Music] even though super mario brothers was released first development on zelda began first and the two as of yet unnamed projects were created simultaneously throughout most of 1984 and 1985. to ensure each would be as different as possible development ideas were sorted into two categories based on tempo structure gameplay and eventually appearance and color scheme one of these early ideas involved moving a square on a black screen it was rejected for their athletic game category but worked perfectly for exploration this simple experiment became the basis of zelda inspired by the popular indiana jones films and computer-based rpgs which were dominating japanese gaming designer shigeru miyamoto began to plan the game around the core ideas of treasure hunting and sword-based combat the project was also famously shaped by his own experiences growing up sliding shoji screens a bulldog that barked and charged at him each day after school and of course his often mentioned childhood explorations miyamoto once discovered the opening of a cave he returned to it several times before he worked up the courage to go in lugging a homemade lantern he went deep inside until he came to a small hole that led to another cave breathing deeply his heart pounding he climbed through he never forgot the exhilaration he felt at this discovery so for this new project he wanted to convey the idea that an average boy could grow to become a hero through a series of amazing events meanwhile nintendo was rethinking their entire strategy for gaming at home wanting a cheaper alternative to semiconductor and chip-based cartridges they began work on a system add-on that would play disc-based media famicom disk system media could hold 128 kilobytes of data nearly triple the capacity of standard cartridges it employed an additional audio channel for enhanced music and it allowed for game progress to be saved these new features were perfect for the sprawling adventure miyamoto had in mind even in the earliest sketches he had a clear vision of the treasures and creatures for this new project and while some never materialized the sense of magic and adventure were in place from the beginning the gameplay however was not one early idea was to use the disk system's right ability to allow players to create dungeons for their friends to explore but it became apparent that playing labyrinths was much more fun than creating them the creation tools were cut and the game became just a series of dungeons without an overworld connecting them early mock-ups depict a three-dimensional entrance where players would enter the first dungeon immediately presumably straight from the title screen eventually the overworld was implemented and the team began filling it with caves dungeon entrances and lots of hidden secrets but test groups weren't accustomed to non-linear gameplay and didn't know what to do in response miyamoto took away the sword link initially started with and added the opening cave so players would begin immediately with exploration in mind interestingly the old man in the cave originally offered link a choice between the sword and the boomerang a relic that somehow even made it in the instruction manual the team always intended to call the game the legend of something but the final word eluded them until miyamoto heard the name of author f scott fitzgerald's wife zelda he thought it was mysterious beautiful and perfect for the game and the princess he had created empa meanwhile who gave link direction came from the verb impart link's name though associated with several conflicting origin stories over the years always has to do with connection miyamoto said he originally envisioned the triforce fragments as computer chips and the game set both in the past and the future since the protagonist bridged these periods he named him link as for his appearance it was born out of system limitations fellow designer takashi tezika gave him an oversized sword and shield to help him stand out from enemies and a large hat and elf-like ears to better contrast with his weapons these features reminded miyamoto of peter pan so they adopted a similar attire and color scheme and link came to life given that mario and zelda were developed at the same time you might expect to find similar musical borrowings in zelda's score as well but the entire zelda soundscape shows original work and composer koji kondo's maturing talents with one small exception [Music] though it's only a simple arpeggio it's worth noting that kondo played keyboard in a college band that covered mainly the songs of deep purple still his talent cannot be ignored for the opening crawl they had originally used an 8-bit rendition of maurice revell's bolero [Music] in japan most music becomes public domain 50 years after the death of the composer but when the team double-checked ravel's date of death they discovered he had passed away only 49 years and 11 months earlier the copyright remained and as the promised disk system launch title zelda could not be delayed kondo worked feverishly through a single sleepless night and created one of his most memorable compositions ever a more introspective rearrangement of the main theme which according to miyamoto suggested courage before setting out on an adventure on february 21st 1986 zelda no densetsu was launched in japan it contained the title the hyrule fantasy as they hoped it would be the first in a series of games set in hyrule of course they were right but the name didn't stick its release in north america however almost didn't happen at all cartridge memory couldn't initially contain it saving game progress would have required long passwords and even if they overcame these issues nintendo of america president minoru arakawa feared americans wouldn't have the patience for it thankfully with advancements in semiconductor technology and the implementation of battery-backed saves the legend of zelda eventually did release abroad in all its golden splendor did you see the latest nintendo newsletter whoa nice graphics i'd like to get my hands on that game you mean you haven't played it yet we can play it on my nintendo entertainment system it's the legend of zelda and it's really rad those creatures from janna are pretty bad octorox tech takes leavers too but with your help our hero pulls through and to alleviate arakawa's concerns they included a map miyamoto however thought this diminished the sense of adventure so it was sealed with a warning to use it only as a last resort but it wasn't exactly the same game some aspects were improved upon and others particularly the sound design had to be altered due to technological differences between the nes and disk systems [Music] its appearance as a famicom cartridge didn't come until eight years after its initial release and three years into the life of the super famicom at which time a one was added to the title screen while it's the first game in the series the legend of zelda takes place late in hyrule's vast history during the period of nintendo's fractured timeline when hyrule was small and vulnerable and gannon had already taken his beastly pig-like form the manual played an important role emphasizing the epic nature of the game with maps a well-written story and unforgettable artwork but there was also a promotional video released for the disc system that animated the story's artwork and showed an early build you may have noticed that the image behind the story is a more realistic recreation of the game map but did you know the original terrain was also in the adventure of link and when you compare it to the north eastern area of a link to the past the layout of death mountain the water source and the graveyard show its end there too speaking of maps the dungeons are laid out with interesting shapes and names that loosely fit them some however like snake and lizard are more of a stretch but one in particular really stands out the third level is not connected to world war ii germany but as a much older symbol called manji which far from a symbol of evil actually means good fortune it's often used to mark temples on maps and believe it or not has become popular among the selfies of japanese schoolgirls but the nine dungeons of zelda hold another secret their seemingly random shapes fit perfectly together like puzzle pieces carved from a single grid to maximize memory usage throughout these underworld labyrinths there are often trenches full of water and in later levels lava only it isn't lava according to the official player's guide these are rivers of blood and back to the manual some bits of lore have been lost or tainted by poor localization hyrule's currency for example is translated rubies but was always intended to be called rupees miyamoto stated he thought it sounded cute and noted it had nothing to do with the rupees of india the sprite meanwhile was repurposed from clue clueland's ingots also according to the manual link does not yet exist but you create them when you register your character not only is this not a translation error it gets more disturbing in the disk version eliminating link is called kill mode in the section about ganon the manual says link's going to have a difficult time trying to destroy ganon he's real mean it makes him sound like a third grade bully more than the imposing prince of darkness this word mean is also used of manhandler and octorocks moblins are a little bit meaner than octarox and aquamintus emits mean beams if it all sounds off it's because the word would better be translated as powerful tough or strong certainly not mean did you ever wonder why showing the old man's letter to the old woman allows link to suddenly buy potions though it wasn't in the game developers created the backstory that the elderly pair were childhood friends and they even wrote up the unseen content of the letter this heroic lad is an acquaintance of emperor please give him aid the letter was an assurance that link could be trusted another question players often have is why the value beside the key changes to an a when you find the magic key many assume it means all close but it actually stands for almighty everyone remembers the infamous commercial where deranged beatnik kramer screeches enemy names in the shadows maybe it was an effort to communicate the non-linear craziness of the game or maybe it was just the super mushrooms talking but did you know the actor john cassier was the voice behind some of the most iconic characters of our time some of the most interesting bits about those oddly named enemies are right there in official materials but they've been forgotten did you know a pea hat is the ghost of a flower or these things are called bubbles and that bubbles are spirits of the dead did you know that aquamintus is officially a unicorn monster dig dogger is a sea urchin or that zola not zora are half fish half woman swamp devils and moblins of course you remember moblins well you remember wrong they're called mall blinds it's not a typo it's in the disc version booklet too but was changed in later games to maublin miyamoto said his favorite enemy was the dark nut due to its complex behavior for the time but strangely enough they aren't called dark nuts in japan but tart knucks did you know zelda has a cameo from super mario brothers i'm talking about manhandler or test detart as it was known in japan in every language it's described as a flower but the japanese manual refers to it as a pacoon flower and japanese children would have recognized this immediately as it's the exact name of another nintendo plant most people know that oracle of seasons started out as a game boy color remake of the original zelda but did you know there was a 16-bit remake as well across august of 1995 a revised version was broadcast over the super famicom satellite modem add-on the graphics were updated overworld streamlined and the levels were completely redesigned one of the most famous codes occurs by simply registering a new file with the name zelda this unlocks the second quest which normally becomes available only after defeating ganon this simple five-letter code opens up an altered high rule essentially a sequel with new labyrinth layouts and different locations for dungeons items and secrets the only other code of note lets you save at any time many people have forgotten but you don't need to make link die to save just go to the subscreen and then press up and a on controller 2. this is mentioned in the booklet but with a botched translation press the a button on controller 2 and the control pad what link gets lots of hints during his adventure some are helpful some are unforgettable and many are grammatically confusing but one has perplexed gamers for decades 10th enemy has the bomb anyone who's played the game has probably noticed that certain enemies tend to drop rupees and others tend to drop bombs but it's been discovered in recent years and substantiated by development documents that there's a subroutine in the code that determines exactly which item link will get when he kills an enemy item drops are affected by enemy type the number of enemies killed without taking damage and at times the weapon used to kill them so back to the old man's hint as it turns out killing 10 enemies in a row without taking damage and killing that 10th enemy with bombs will result in a guaranteed bomb drop that said the hint has so many conditions that it's not very helpful and only questionably true the old man's go to the next room hint in level 9 seems to only indicate that you can bomb the left wall but in the prototype the wall to the right was an illusion and the room beyond led to the silver arrow which is necessary to defeat ganon in the final version the dungeon was rearranged and the false wall was removed yet the clue curiously remained and back to bombs since they deal magic sword level damage but can be obtained early it's a good idea to know how to use them especially against dark nuts a single well-placed bomb can destroy several but sometimes they don't hurt them at all the secret drop the bomb while facing any direction other than toward their approach and the explosion will hit them in the manual the whistle or is it the recorder is described as a really mysterious magical item use it and it'll amaze you with what it can do they weren't kidding for a non-weapon item it has a lot of uses and it's so mysterious that it even appeared in super mario bros 3. everyone knows it summons a whirlwind that warps link to various dungeon entrances but there's often confusion about it depending on the direction link is facing when it's played the destination will cycle up or down through level numbers of any previously completed dungeons if he's facing up or right it'll increase by one for each blow if he's facing left or down it'll decrease by one and if it's blown multiple times before the wind hits him it'll cycle that many dungeons in the sequence of course the whistle also shrivels the mighty dig dogger and it reveals the entrance to level seven but did you know it undoes the bubble swordless jinx [Music] or that playing it while fighting aquamantis causes them to spit more fireballs the whistle does a lot but there are some things it doesn't do the manual and tips and tactics guide both stressed that paul's voice hate loud noise but the recorder does not kill them the clue is a relic from the japanese release where making a loud sound into the famicom second controller microphone instantly cleared the room of paul's voice the manual also says once he's collected the last triforce fragment link can warp to the entrance to the ninth labyrinth the whistle doesn't do this either it's an unfortunately gross mistranslation of you can warp to the entrance of labyrinths whose triforces you've finished taking it would seem that finished taking became collected the last but entrance of labyrinths inexplicably became entrance to the ninth labyrinth and millions of kids were left scratching their heads as far back as issue number seven of nintendo power it was noted that if you defeat every enemy on a given screen except one it'll stay that way when you come back making exploration much less dangerous and when it comes to collecting rupees there's an easier way than killing ropes in level 2. one screen left of the starting screen has a hidden cave with the money making game while there's no known method for always choosing correctly there is a way to win simply select one of the three choices see your results and then end the game with the up and a trick if you won any rupees select save to retain your winnings and return to the starting screen if you lost any select retry to return to your previous save since the cave is so close to the starting screen it's easy to quickly rack up the rupees almost all video games have glitches and while they're not always useful some are worth learning about as early as the fall of 1987 the pirouette glitch was widely known when you enter level 1 the northern door is locked but by simply leaving doing a pirouette and coming right back in the locked door disappears essentially giving you a free key in the disc system version 1.0 the whistle held one more secret function though this time unintentional by blowing it in this row the whirlwind would carry link across the heart container it would register as collected adding an additional heart to link's life but it would not actually disappear this could be repeated depending on the number of completed dungeons but link would still max out at 16 hearts the screen scroll glitch allows players to teleport to the other side of the screen often bypassing rivers or rock barriers and can be used to skip the lost woods and lost hills altogether to perform it you must position link exactly five pixels from the edge of the screen and tap the control pad perpendicular to the direction he's facing for exactly one frame if done right he'll flip 180 degrees then when you walk off screen he'll reappear on the opposite side the block clip enables players to pass through solid blocks and is most beneficial in staircase rooms where all enemies must typically be defeated to execute the maneuver a line links head near the bottom of the inner square of a block then slash with your sword and immediately tap perpendicular again link will flip 180 then you'll be able to walk through the block the sword slash isn't necessary and doesn't work for all clip glitches but it makes this one easier since link doesn't move while he's slashing the ladder clip follows the same basic idea but this time allows link to cross an additional block of water pixel perfect alignment is essential and the perpendicular tap is tricky because the sword slash won't help you but executing this clip can lead to some serious shortcuts finally the recorder wrong warp glitch opens up eight additional warp whistle locations in the code the recorder only affects link's x position meanwhile the raft only affects his y position but by performing a block clip into the water beside the dock and then riding the whirlwind across it the raft will launch and both position movements will be triggered warping link one screen up and one screen to the left of the intended position do you know any interesting bits that i missed if so please comment below and i'll add them to a future video if you like what i'm doing the highest compliment you can give is recommending the channel to friends and family who might find it interesting thank you and special thanks to all the retro club patrons of the channel you make this possible

Channel: NESComplex

Views: 475,969

Keywords: NESComplex, NES, Complex, NES games, NES Review, Nintendo Review, Is it fun?, The Legend of Zelda, Legend of Zelda, Zelda, NES Secrets, NES Codes, Legend of Zelda Secrets, Zelda Secrets, Zelda Codes, Zelda Development, Legend of Zelda Codes, Legend of Zelda Development, Zelda Glitches, Nintendo Secrets, Nintendo Codes, Legend of Zelda Glitches, Declassified, secrets revealed, hidden truths, intel, NES Glitches, Shigeru Miyamoto, Koji Kondo, Zelda NES, Legend of Zelda NES

Id: xo2614GbiHE

Length: 22min 44sec (1364 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 04 2021

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