Pro Tip of the Day - legend of zelda 3

Pro tip: Sword tapping in Zelda 3

Will — Mon, 10 May 2010 13:00:00 +0000

When you're playing through the Super NES Legend of Zelda game, you come across lots of walls that look like they can be destroyed to find some goodies behind them, but some of them are just old, crumbly, and not real breakable. Wouldn't it be great if there were some way to tell them apart?

And there totally is!

First, find a wall that you want to test. Then press and hold the Sword Button (commonly known as the 'B' Button) then walk into whatever wall you want to test. Keep trying to walk into the wall and Link will eventually start tapping on the wall with his sword.

If it's a normal, non-breaky wall, you'll hear this tapping sound.

But!

If it's a breakable wall, you'll hear this tapping sound instead.

Which will save you time, effort, and you won't waste time throwing bombs around walls that will never break.

So it's totally win-win... er... win.

Pro tip: Alternate uses for Ether medallion

Will — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 14:00:00 +0000

There are lots of times in the Super NES Legend of Zelda game where you will find a situation like this:

It's pretty obvious that you need to get across that chasm, and it's also pretty obvious that there is a quantity of invisible flooring in some configuration, since there are enemies standing on the gaping nothingness. Usually, though, when you find a place like this, there are lanterns that you have to light which will illuminate the floor somehow, but what if they go out before you get across? Or, worse, what if they're not there to start with? You could create a fake block with the Cane of Somaria and walk slowly across the floor, pushing the block in front of you and then use a piece of graph paper to map out where the pitfalls are. But that sounds way too tedious and far too much like work for me.

What you might think about doing is using your super-handy Ether medallion. Which will damage enemies in the vicinity, but also has the side effect of lighting up the room and momentarily revealing the floor's layout.

Now, as long as you can remember that floor layout for the ten seconds it'll take to cross it, you're in great shape. Or, if you're like me and forget halfway across, just use it again for a refresher.

Pro tip: How to get in an inaccessible room in Ganon's Tower

Will — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 14:00:00 +0000

While going through Ganon's tower in the Super Nintendo Legend of Zelda game, you'll notice that there's a sealed door across a pit.

It's trivial to unseal the door, just chuck a bomb across, but how do you get Link over there? There's nothing to grapple your hookshot to. There are two ways that I know of. One is to set another bomb next to you and let the explosion send you sailing over the gap, but that seems a little ham-fisted to me. A more elegant solution is to press A to start your dash, then turn to face the wall just before you actually start moving, done right, you'll smack the bricks on the walkway and bounce across the gap without actually costing you any hearts.

And since it's kind of hard to get the timing down from just my description, you can see it in action here.