The Legend of Zelda FDS prototype

segaloco · Dec 25, 2010

Merry Christmas, everyone! We've got something special for you today: a prototype of Zelda no Densetsu, better known to most of us as The Legend of Zelda.

This is an early build of the original FDS version of Zelda, complete with different room layouts, sprite changes, new music, and odd glitches. As a lot of you guys know, it's very unusual for first party prototypes like this to make their way out to the public, so this is quite a find.

This build shows how the initial design of Zelda was notably less difficult than what we ended up playing on our NESes (and Famicoms). Practically all of the gameplay changes from this build to the final were made to make the game more challenging:

The prototype, pictured on the left, tends to use an easier selection of enemies than the final, seen on the right. Frequently the enemies are fewer in number in the prototype as well. Money is considerably easier to come by, too, as you can see from Link's maxed out rupies.

Some early designs for the monsters can be seen in this prototype also. For example, notice how the Pols Voice didn't initially have whiskers:

All of the known changes in this prototype, including altered gameplay mechanics and new game over music, have been documented in extreme detail and will be posted over at The Cutting Room Floor. As I am writing this, the info hasn't been uploaded yet, but it should be ready to go later today.

You can pick up the .fds file right here:

Thanks to Chris Covell for his help in obtaining the disk, and for ripping the NSF, Rob Budrick for copying the game, and GoldS for documenting all of the differences.

Enjoy!
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http://forums.lostlevels.org/viewtopic.php?t=2471

Pretty sweet

Sojiroh · Dec 25, 2010

OMG, thanks for letting us know.

Borman · Dec 25, 2010

Great Thanks a lot to whomever dumped it, its always appreciated.

Subcritical-Strike · Dec 25, 2010

can i use an nes emulator to play this?

Skaarg · Dec 26, 2010

Critical-Strike said: ↑

can i use an nes emulator to play this?
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Any emulator that supports FDS and you will need the FDS Bios.

JamesMichael · Dec 26, 2010

Read about this earlier really interesting! Apparently the game is much easier than the final game so I'm guessing thats why they decided to change some of the layouts to make it harder for the final release

The Legend of Zelda FDS prototype

segaloco Enthusiastic Member

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The Legend of Zelda FDS prototype

segaloco Enthusiastic Member

Sojiroh Dauntless Member

Borman Digital Games Curator

Subcritical-Strike Gutsy Member

Skaarg Enthusiastic Member

JamesMichael Light Hearted Drunk

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