The Legend of Zelda (NES) Cheat Sheet

[Ziggy]

Here's something I made for myself, so I figured I'd share...



Introduction

Similar to the cheat sheet that I made for Castlevania II: Simon's Quest (found here), this is a condensed walkthrough for The Legend of Zelda. This style of guide does not hold your hand, and only gives you the major steps of the game in bullet point fashion. That's why I call it a cheat sheet and don't consider it an actual walkthrough.

Right now this is a text-only guide, but I may also make a graphical version.

When I got my first NES, I had a lot of fun wandering aimlessly around Hyrule. But, I never liked that the game doesn't give you any clear direction where to go, aside from a few cryptic clues (some of which are meaningless due to a poor translation). And I never liked that there's no indication which trees can be burned, or which walls can be bombed. Gone are the days that I have the time (or ambition) to try and burn every tree and bomb every tile of wall.

I don't like walkthroughs. Not so much because I consider them cheating, I just don't need my hand held like that. For that reason, they are annoying when you just need a quick nudge in the right direction.

So, I made a cheat sheet for Zelda. It's a simple bullet point structure for finding everything on the overworld map. It's basically a summarized version of this walkthrough that I found on YouTube. This walkthrough shows you how to get every item on the overworld map, and it takes a route that gets you major items as soon as possible. It will have you get minor items (ie: secret money caves) in a logical order (along the way or close by). It does not show EVERY secret location in the game, but all major items are there. That's why it works good for a cheat sheet, if you want to mostly do your own exploration.

It points out locations using the grid from this overworld map I found on a Google image search. You can also use that map to find exactly which tree to burn or which part of the wall to bomb.

Dungeon navigation is not included since it would read like Map Quest directions. Most of the dungeons are pretty easy to navigate, but if you need help, just consult the maps on Game FAQs. For Level-9, I like this map from ZeldaDungeon.net as it shows the quickest route.

Cheat Sheet

OVERWORLD START
• Use this overworld map for navigation.
• On the starting screen (H8), head into the cave and collect the first sword.
• Kill all enemies you encounter to collect 20 rupees. Head due East from the start screen to P7 and purchase bombs. If an enemy drops bombs, skip buying them.
• Head back to L8 and bomb the wall, collect the heart piece inside.
• Head North to M3 and bomb the wall, collect the heart piece inside.
• Head to O1 and collect the letter from the old man.
• Head to P1 to collect 100 rupees.
• Head to K1 and enter the cave, collect the White Sword.
• Head to G7, enter the cave, and buy the Blue Candle.
• Head to L7 and burn the tree, go down the steps and collect 100 rupees.
• Head to C7 and burn the tree, go down the steps and collect 100 rupees.
• Head to E4, touch the top middle statue, head down the steps and purchase the Blue Ring.
• Head to E7 and enter the cave, show the letter to the old women (now you can purchase potions).
• Head to H5 and burn the tree, go down the steps and collect the heart piece.
FIRST DUNGEON
• Head to H4 and enter Level-1 (map).
OVERWORLD, PART II
• Head to I5 and burn the tree. Go down the steps and collect 30 rupees.
• Head North to I3 and burn the tree. Go down the steps and collect 30 rupees.
• Head to N3 and bomb the wall. Enter the cave and collect 30 rupees.
• Head South one screen to N4. Touch the statue on the right, go down the steps and collect 30 rupees.
• Head to O5 and touch the statue on the right. Head down the steps and collect 10 rupees.
• Head to P7 and enter the cave, purchase the arrows.
SECOND DUNGEON
• Head to M4 and enter Level-2 (map).
OVERWORLD, PART III
• Head to H7 and bomb the wall. Enter the cave and collect 30 rupees.
• Head to G6 and burn the tree. Go down the steps and collect 10 rupees.
• Head North one screen to G5 and burn the tree. Go down the steps and purchase the upgraded shield for 90 rupees.
THIRD DUNGEON
• Head to E8 and enter Level-3 (map).
OVERWORLD, PART IV
• Head to B8 and bomb the wall. Enter the cave and collect 30 rupees.
• Head to B6 and burn the tree. Go down the steps and collect 10 rupees.
• Head to E4 and touch the top middle statue. Go down the steps and purchase the bait for 60 rupees.
• Head South three screens to E7, purchase a red potion if necessary.
• Use the raft to travel to P3. Enter the cave and collect the heart piece.
FORTH DUNGEON
• Use the raft to travel to F5 and enter Level-4 (map).
OVERWORLD, PART V
• Head to P6 and use the step ladder to collect the final heart piece.
• Head to B3 (to navigate the Lost Woods, travel North, West, South, and West). Push the tombstone that is second from the right in the middle row. Go down the steps and collect the Magical Sword.
• Head to E3. Touch the top-right statue and collect the Power Bracelet.
FIFTH DUNGEON
• Be sure to have at least 100 rupees for the bomb upgrade.
• Head to L2, the Lost Hills. Travel North 4 times to get to L1. Enter Level-5 (map).
SIXTH DUNGEON
• Head to C3 and enter Level-6 (map).
SEVENTH DUNGEON
• Be sure to have at least 100 rupees for the bomb upgrade.
• Be sure to have the bait before entering Level-7 (cheapest location is E4).
• Head to C5 and use the whistle to drain the lake. Head down the steps to enter Level-7 (map).
EIGHTH DUNGEON
• Head to N7. Burn the tree and go down the steps to enter Level-8 (map).
FINAL DUNGEON
• Head to F1 and bomb the wall (left rock) to enter Level-9 (map).
• If you get stuck, this map shows all of the warp points.

[ElkinFencer10]

This is great, man. I just skimmed through it since I beat the original Zelda years ago, but it took me AGES (we still had dial-up back then, so my time to look for a guide was limited) to dick my way through. I'd have killed for something like this, and I definitely think you should make a PDF version with something at the bottom that says "All the cool green-wearing elf-boys post on Racketboy.com"

[Ziggy]

Thanks. This was definitely inspired by the "back in the days of dial-up" feeling. Back then, since it would take forever just to load simple pages, I use to print stuff out. I made (and still have) a binder that I kept everything in. It included internet print outs, pages torn from gaming magazines, and hand written/drawn stuff.

I was mostly inspired by this...

page 1.jpg (32.46 KiB) Viewed 23716 times

^ This is a guide for the first Final Fantasy (it's just page 1 of 3 shown for an example). After I found this guide, I decided to finally play FF1. I loved that guide since it was so condensed. I could check it when I had no idea where I was supposed to go (which is most of the time in FF1). It doesn't even bother to show you a lot of things, like items in dungeons, how to get the best weapon in the game, etc. If you're exploring the game the way you're supposed to without a guide, you'll find those things yourself. This is just easy to reference when you're stuck.

So yeah, I really just wanted a Zelda version of the above guide. I feel like playing Zelda, but I don't feel like having to pull up a FAQ or YouTube video every time I get stuck. I don't have all these locations memorized like some NES kids do. Despite the hours I spent playing the game, I never got far.

I'd love to make a PDF version, and add art/graphics similar to the FF1 guide. I'm not sure where I could upload said PDF though. Maybe I could reach out to various Zelda walkthough sites and see if anyone would want to host it. The annoying part is that I would have to get permission from all the people's maps if I want to include them, which might be hard or impossible. Some people get butt hurt if you don't ask for permission, even when you credit them.

[KalessinDB]

My man! Blue ring before dungeon 1, atta boy. I always walk in with everything I can (including 255 coins, 8 bombs, red potion, magic shield, etc) just because it's habit at this time. I also try to get the most keys kicking around that I can while still exploring every room in every dungeon (I think you can have something like 13 without buying any by the time you get the master key - 2nd dungeon alone nets you like . You can absolutely get the power bracelet (and the arrows, fwiw) before dungeon 1 too, but it's not really necessary and doesn't add much to the game. I'm one of those NES kids that has Zelda 1 memorized (up until Level 9, I always get a little fuzzy there) and I was absolutely following along in my head as I read through your writeup. Good stuff!

[RobertAugustdeMeijer]

If I ever feel like playing Zelda 1 again, I'll use this guide! I could never properly remember where the bomb/blue candle/rupees were hidden at the start of the game : )

[Limewater]

^ This is a guide for the first Final Fantasy (it's just page 1 of 3 shown for an example). After I found this guide, I decided to finally play FF1. I loved that guide since it was so condensed. I could check it when I had no idea where I was supposed to go (which is most of the time in FF1). It doesn't even bother to show you a lot of things, like items in dungeons, how to get the best weapon in the game, etc. If you're exploring the game the way you're supposed to without a guide, you'll find those things yourself. This is just easy to reference when you're stuck.

Huh. My copy of Final Fantasy included a guide in the manual that covered everything up to finding the first two orbs. I still have it packed away.

It's one of the few games I actually got new, complete in box. Did not all releases include it?

[Ziggy]

Both NES and PS1, I had used copies of Final Fantasy that did not include the manual.

[o.pwuaioc]

Both NES and PS1, I had used copies of Final Fantasy that did not include the manual.

But did you have the NP issue of FF1?

[Ziggy]

Nope! I didn't have any sort of guide for FF1 until I got the one I posted above. It came in a Game Informer magazine. Those useless mags that I use to let Game Stop talk me into getting a year subscription for. They had nothing that interested me, except for the rare retro section in the back of them.

[RobertAugustdeMeijer]

I still have the strategy guide for Final Fantasy 1. I must have read through it a hundred times before playing it, hah! Totally memorized.

Somebody should make an updated strategy guide for Final Fantasy Ultra: Champion Edition