The Legend of Zelda

  • Zelda 1,LoZ,The Hyrule Fantasy
  • Action
  • Adventure
  • RPG

Publications

The Legend of Zelda (ゼルダの伝説) is an adventure game that needs no introduction to most NES players. It is a large game that normally takes days to beat, but at TASVideos, we often reduce games to the minimum time necessary in order to complete them. It's a secret to everybody.
This is the seventh iteration of this TAS, 20.6 seconds faster than the previous run. The improvements are largely due to better luck manipulation and some major route changes that lead to Link staying away from gambling. For more details, read the submission comments or the author's subtitles on the encodes.

The encodes feature commentary by the author as soft subtitles.
This run was console verified using micro500's TASLink replay device (with 1 frame per latch poll).
This movie has a full Atlas Map encode, which shows the standard encode overlaid on a zoomed out map.
The second quest of The Legend of Zelda is what you get by having completed the game once. It is more difficult than the first quest.
In this movie, the authors enter ZELDA as the player's name to start the 2nd quest without having to complete the game first.
This is a 666 frame improvement over the previous movie thanks to better optimization, be sure to read the author's submission notes for more information.

Watch this run being played back on a real console.
The Legend of Zelda (ゼルダの伝説) is an adventure game that needs no introduction to most NES players.
This time, Link is not just satisfied with collecting the Triforce and saving the princess; he feels like getting through Hyrule with a lot of shiny artifacts and weapons, even if he never uses them after getting them. In this run, the player collects the best version of every object and status upgrade, including all the heart containers, every inventory item, the best sword, and both bomb upgrades. Link even buys the Bait an extra time more than required, so that the bait remains in his inventory at the end of the game.
This run is a 1497 frame improvement over the previous published run of this category, For more details about what constitutes a 100% run, see the submission comments.
We also have other runs for The Legend of Zelda: an any% run through the first quest, a 'swordless' first-quest run, and an any% run through the second quest.

Watch this run being played back on a real console.
Of all the challenging ways to play Legend of Zelda that people have attempted on a NES console, one of the most famous is the "swordless" challenge. In this challenge, the player must beat all of the game, up until the final boss Ganon, without using a sword. It is not possible to damage Ganon without a sword however, so many swordless runs reach Ganon's room to die there.
In order to actually complete the game, Lord_Tom does pick up a sword and kills Ganon. However, the sword is only obtained shortly before attempting the final level, and even then, the sword is not used until absolutely necessary. In the meantime, sit back and watch a run which relies heavily on luck manipulation and effective bomb usage to beat the game very quickly. For more details, see the author's comments.
This is a 34-second improvement over the previous movie by Baxter.
View this movie played back on a real NES right here.

The official encodes feature commentary by the author as soft subtitles.
The Legend of Zelda (ゼルダの伝説) is an adventure game that needs no introduction to most NES players. But for those who do want an introduction, it is the first game in The Legend of Zelda series and appears to take place in the middle of one Link's neverending quest to defeat Ganon.
Even after collecting the Triforce, saving the princess, and collecting every kind of trinket and gizmo he can find, Link is still not satisfied. The best version of every object and status upgrade, including all the heart containers, every inventory item, the best sword, both bomb upgrades. and even the bait, all of that wasn't enough. Link wants to do all of that again, but with a harder quest. The 2nd Quest.
chatterbox decides to fulfill Link's request and does the 2nd quest while collecting every unique item available. If you want to know more about the run was done, including how every glitch was executed, you can read the author's notes.

The YouTube and downloadable encodes have author's commentary in the form of captions.

Watch this run being played back on a real console.
The second quest of The Legend of Zelda is what you get by having completed the game once. It is more difficult than the first quest. In this movie, the authors enter ZELDA as the player's name to start the 2nd quest without having to complete the game first.
The authors in this run also enter some of their own code, and don't really complete the game a second time either – yet somehow do. See the authors' notes for more details.
The baseline tab shows the default movie beating the game as fast as possible without any special conditions.

Game Versions

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TypeNameTitle OverrideRegionVersionPlatformHashes
Good Legend of Zelda, The (USA) (Rev 1).nes [PRG1] U Rev 1 NES SHA1: 3701381A82FC7D52B2DD3E8892047B30A114AB43
MD5: F4095791987351BE68674A9355B266BC
Good Legend of Zelda, The (USA).nes [PRG0/Rev 0] U Rev 0 NES SHA1: DAB79C84934F9AA5DB4E7DAD390E5D0C12443FA2
MD5: 337BD6F1A1163DF31BF2633665589AB0
Good Zelda no Densetsu - The Hyrule Fantasy (Japan).fds J Rev 0 FDS SHA1: 135AC9CBDF3983AA77D7581B26D685D02615D36A
MD5: 5C0785479D5149F18F77D23DDBA1DF41