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As the other reviews mention, this hack is a technical achievement that revamps sprites, items, the world, and adds several later QoL improvements to Legend of Zelda. That being said, I do agree with some of the other reviewers who stated the game was boring and empty at the beginning. Things like the unnecessary amount of stores with the same items, the lack of early collectible heart pieces, and the blue lantern/dark dungeons, did cause me to almost stop playing. Fortunately, around the time you get to the 3rd and 4th dungeons, especially the latter, the game starts to really pick up steam and showcase some better overworld usage and fun to use items. In terms of design and enjoyability, I'd put it right next to one of the mainline Gameboy titles like Oracle of Ages (albeit a shorter version)

Okay, this is seriously absurdly crazily wild. You might as well assume that this is not a Zelda 1 hack, but rather Link's Awakening hack.

But putting aside what hack this is, the sheer amount of technical upgrade makes me feel you are a god. I wish I had your ability. Holy crap, dude.

Just the new technical mechanics make this worthy of playing. Seriously, try this. You'll be amazed.

I have to say beyond my amazement at the technical masterpiece that Infidelity created here, until the middle of the game I was very tempted to stop playing and probably even leave a review that didn't recommend this title. After finishing this hack (on original hardware in an N8 Pro no less!) and to my knowledge finding everything but 2 pieces of heart, I am recommending this title with a few caveats. Once I beat Agahnim and had the ability to go between light/dark worlds the hack grew on me, or rather the hack finally came into its own. In other words the hack finally became fun!

I've come to the conclusion that one of the main issues with the fun factor of this hack is how flawed the early game is. The over world is quite vast (it's literally a Link's Awakening map but reversed or mirrored) and fairly early on much of it is open to exploration save a few areas. The over world is riddled with dead ends, which eventually become thru-ways once you get the hammer or hook-shot later in the game. Nothing felt worse than traversing as far as you could to just finding a dead end with a cave to nothing or another shop/money making game. Early on the vast map just feels like a wasteland with nothing of interest, almost every time you feel like you reached an interesting place you are punished with another useless shop and a dead end. I found myself saving and resetting often just to start back in the village rather than trekking back on foot. Aside from a couple items found in the over world (the red lantern and master sword), much of your access to areas was particularly useless and a waste of time. I don't even believe I found a piece of a heart until the dark world was available and then I was finding them left and right. And as a result exploring became fun as it should be!

I think the early game could have been improved in a few ways: making at least a few pieces of heart or something available to reward adventurers, replacing many of the shops with characters giving hints or just quirky or interesting lore or anything to peak the player's interest, and outright closing off more of the over-world before Dark World is introduced. The world is just too large and sprawling with little of interest to warrant it being so open so early.

I'd also like to close with a couple of other points that I found particularly annoying. The amount of shops is just incredible almost to the point where it felt like a joke by the end. I don't even mind there being a lot of shops in theory, but why do they almost all offer the world map and blue lantern? By the end game I was short on bombs and was too lazy to grind for them. Why couldn't the shops sell bombs or arrows? I had such an excess of rupees I would have gladly traded them in for bombs rather than more keys I didn't need.

Overall I loved the interface of three items selected which could be toggled with the select button. It was a great idea. However, when I entered the subscreen to shift stuff around there was this rather annoying thing that happened more than I would have liked. The A button spot gets switched from sword to the Pegasus Boots (this happens when you hover over the Pegasus boots and press up or down). All this for one mechanic, with boots on A then feather on B you can do a special long jump. A mechanic I believe I did only once. This feature should have been removed entirely or amended in some way (perhaps a separate subscreen item which is boot/feather combo which can be equipped to B as normal). It was too easy to by accidentally switch the sword out of the A slot for something that is almost never needed.

I could go on about things I found annoying (the blue lantern, how easy it was to fall in pits) but I'll end on a positive note. Infidelity really did a stellar job and really pushed the limits of what the NES can do and should be applauded for their amazing work. I found myself in awe throughout my play (especially the opening crawl, new items, Epona mini game, and last Ganon fight!) This hack is an inspiration for what can be done and for what is possible for this aging hardware with still so much untapped potential.

Poorly designed overworld. Uninspired dungeons. Seemingly random enemy placements. Visually an interesting, but ultimately poor mash-up of Legend of Zelda and Link's Awakening. It just looks like a mess.

Probably the most overrated romhack I've come across.

The author clearly went to a lot of work and is accomplished on a technical level, but there doesn't appear to be a point to this rom hack. The overworld and graphics style is meant to largely mimic Link's Awakening. Dungeons appear to be the same as original LoZ, just with the new graphics (which I really don't love).

Enemy placement in the overworld appears random and lots of screens only have 0-2 enemies on them. Glad it's not super difficult, but still, what is the point of this?

Music didn't sound great and hit detection was annoying at times. I don't understand the praise I'm seeing in some of these reviews, and I think it's telling that the reviews are really hit or miss. It suggests to me that many people just like anything Zelda. This rom hack is a technical achievement, but he should be working with someone else on level design.

While some of the technical features of the game are great, this is hardly even a zelda 1 hack anymore. At this point you might as well make a stand alone title. This isn't even z1 anymore at this point.

As a game, it's good, but could still use some work. As a zelda 1 hack, it's the worst out there.

I've gotten back into the spirit of playing Zelda roms once again, and this game was first on my list of games to try out play

First off would like to say the game opening title screen is brillant, don't how he coded in the Windwaker and Ocarina of Time sprites into the game but was a beautiful touch, intro in this game starts you off on the right track many other Zelda roms dont do. Money, boomerang, and sword. the game is very generous at first with giving extra money on the next screen to get set-up with other items before you head to the first dungeon, there's also a map item you can buy cheap to show you the overworld and you can tell the artist of this game put alot of time just into that and also coding a spin-attack which the first Legend of Zelda never had plus hookshot and other items. Adding swimming into the game was great. glad they didn't add diving secrets (never liked those) instead of having 5 extra heart containers lying around the overworld there are 20 heart pieces to collect from using the Ocarina from light & a dark world he added and trading things found for heart pieces.

One complaint I did have was there were too many shops that just sold the same things, other shops being more expensive, most of the dungeons are the same as the first Legend of Zelda, some from the first and second quest. to many cracked bomb-able walls that tells the player "Hey! bomb here!" instead of letting the player explore said bombable walls, you only got 1 bomb drop at a time and not 4 like the original, as said with the shops they should have sold bombs instead of every shop having a key (Which you don't really need because they're given everywhere in the dungeons & overworld) But did like how you used them for the overworld dungeons like in Oracle of Seasons/Ages.

This game actually felt like a 3rd quest before Link's Awakening, I recommend you try this game if your looking for a good old NES Zelda game, there's a little challenge in the game, but what Zelda roms dont? Give it a shot, you wont regret it

8/10

I now see the problem so many people have with this hack. Don't get me wrong, this hack is extremely professional and I completely applaud the creator's work and effort put into creating such a technical masterpiece.

BUT... The game is way too "Link's Awakening" if not less polished, and with so much wasted potential. Almost all additions to the game were ripped from Link's Awakening. Everything from graphics to the new items. The entire overworld is just Link's Awakening's overworld but just mirrored and with a hilariously large amount of shops. Almost every building that in the original Link's Awakening had different and unique things inside have all been replaced with overused shops.

Also, the one thing that could have saved this hack from being a disappointment was left alone. That is new dungeon designs. All the dungeons are the EXACT same dungeons from the original game, with two exceptions. All the rooms in the dungeons are pitch black and the stepladder holes were replaced with actual pitfalls that damage you. Though it is a cool feature, it annoyed many people and to me specifically, it came across as lazy. Everyone would've loved new dungeon designs!

Just from what I said above, I would only recommend this game to you if you love Link's Awakening and have never played the original Zelda.

Or

If you would like a fun twist to the original game and have never played Link's Awakening.

But for everyone like me who has played both LA and Zelda 1, this hack will look very attractive at first, before it then becomes a disappointment due to it not feeling original.

The reason people play ROM Hacks is because they want to experience something fresh. But this doesn't feel fresh, it feels like Link's Awakening was forced into Zelda 1. So much to the point where it feels like a Link's Awakening Remix hack more than a Zelda 1 ROM hack.

If this hack was remade but with an entirely new overworld and new dungeons utilizing the new items added in, it would be the biggest hit. But Zelda: Outlands is still the most popular due to it being brand new, and still feeling like Zelda 1.

Noted reasons people dislike this hack.

1. Feels too much like LA 2. Way too many shops 3. Horizontal Sword slash is funky, original was better 4. Magic feature felt lazy 5. Dungeons aren't fresh, they are the same as original 6. The map is a replica of LA's map but mirrored 7. Wasted potential.

Noted reasons people like this hack.

1. Great new features and graphics 2. New items 3. Cool effects and advanced hacking 4. Feels like Link's Awakening 5. Nostalgia

Use those reasons to help you.

To all you future Zelda 1 hackers, please take note of the things that ruined this hack and don't make the mistake of spending 3 Years making a technical masterpiece for it to be disliked by so many.

This is a MUST play hack, though I wasn't sure at first. I've actually played it twice this week now, due to an unfortunate glitch which I will list at the end of the review.

First, I should say that any of the negative reviews here have to be from people who wandered around aimlessly in the beginning of the game and didn't know what to do and quit in disgust. I was one of them for quite a while, and I must admit that I almost stopped playing myself in the beginning. Once you get a few key items though, you'll be AMAZED at the world as it starts opening up for you. This is by far the most extensive and one of the most impressive hacks I've ever had the pleasure of playing. Just stick with it, give it some time, and you should feel the same way.

This thing hardly even resembles the original LoZ. I had no idea that hacks could be this in-depth. This isn't your normal re-skinning hack here. It's not a level edit either. I don't want to put any spoilers which would help explain just how far this hack went, but I'll mention that the very game mechanics themselves have been changed as many new items were added that have entirely new features that weren't present in the original. Add to that an EXCELLENT soundtrack... Every dungeon and boss has different music. Most of the tunes I recognized from various entries in the LoZ series. Some of them I didn't, but I haven't played very many of the handheld ones or anything on the console after Link to the Past, so that's probably where they're from.

Now for the bad news... :(

Really, this is more of a warning than anything. There is a bug that is pretty much game breaking. If you're playing with save states I'm sure you'll be alright, but if you're only relying on the in-game save, this will ruin the save if you haven't gotten all the necessary items. I did it pretty early the first time I played and I screwed myself with it, but the second game I played from scratch it happened after I already had all the heart container pieces and all the items outside of the final dungeon and didn't have any problems.

Very late in the game after palace 8 when I was using the Ocarina [use edited out for spoilers] the game froze on me and I reset it. After that, my save game was corrupted. I lost about an hour's progress where I got the Hover Boots and I got the Master Sword tempered. Upon loading the save, both the chest was already open and the old man was already gone, but I didn't yet have the items. Also, other weird stuff happened like a treasure box in the lower lefthand corner of the map would keep re-closing so you could pick up an additional heart container piece (one time a cave even opened up here where a "take any" situation offered me another heart container piece... something that to my knowledge never happens anywhere else in the game).

On my second playthrough after I got everything I tried to make it happen again. I'm not sure if it happens in any other screen, but I can say for a fact that if you use the Ocarina in B2 it will cause the glitch every single time. I did it several more times to make sure.

I do hope that Infidelity can replicate this glitch and figure out a way to patch it, because otherwise this hack has achieved greatness and should be something to be admired by everyone in the romhacking community.

Thanks for all the years you've put into this game Infidelity. And than you for sharing it with the world.

This is without a doubt the most technically impressive Zelda 1 hack, and the most visually appealing, that I have ever seen.

That being said, it's also one of the worst I have ever played.

The game is a massive visual overhaul to the original Legend of Zelda, it adds dozens of new mechanics like the ability to do spin attacks, slash instead of just thrust, equip three items at once and swap between them without pausing, save the game from the pause screen, have a giant map that fills out as you explore it, and so much more. There's also a lot of new music tracks inside of shops, dungeons, and caves. There's new items.

How could it go so wrong?

Well, the overworld is pretty difficult to navigate. It decides to lock the player's progress behind items like later Zelda games, but it's not quite so easy figuring out what you need or where to find anything. There's LOADS of buildings, but they're all shops that mostly sell the same things... These things are EVERYWHERE. And then worst of all is the dungeons themselves... they're all straight up the original dungeons from Zelda 1, but with one major difference. All of the rooms are dark all the time... you normally use the lantern once for this and it stays lit, but you have to hold the button down for it to stay lit, and it drains a magic meter to stay lit, I have yet to find a way to refill said magic power. This was the worst. I died so many cheap deaths because there was too much pressure to conserve my lantern. Plus, Infidelity decided it would be fun if those gaps you need to cross the ladder with were actual pitfalls that can sap your health in the dark... This in a game where you can be pushed back from your own sword attacks.

This is a highly, HIGHLY disappointing hack that I'll never be able to finish playing. It has so much wasted potential.

Infidelity should just remake the original Legend of Zelda with the graphical, musical, and mechanical enhancements to Legend of Link, but leave the overworld and dungeon layouts alone, and not fiddle with how darkness works. That would have been a game much more worth playing, it seriously could have out shined the original game. But this feels like something only a masochist would play.

Really enjoyed playing this hack. I have always loved the playing Zelda games and this hack did not disappoint. I spent many hours trying to find every thing I could and never got bored and the end was well worth all the time.

This rom hack sounded interesting at first and it does do some good things but it is largely uninspired and leaves a lot to be desired. It seems to be designed to bring newer elements to the first game or maybe vice versa but both LoZ1 and Link's Awakening alone are better than what this hack tried to do with them. If you want to see a summary of this review just check the bottom.

The overworld is one of the biggest flaws. It is basically the overworld from Link's Awakening reversed but with everything interesting removed from it and replaced with shops that all sell the same item, the money making game, or useless caves that lead to nothing. The prime example of this poor design is right at the beginning of the hack where you have 3-4 shops all close by and the only difference between them is how much they are selling their items for.

It is also a pain to navigate the overworld. I know that some areas are blocked off by not having a certain item in Zelda games but it is cranked up to 11 in this hack. You may know where you need to go but you will have to take a very roundabout way to get there due to some of the obstacles added in this hack. There is simply no easy way to get around until you start getting more items and even then it isn't that much better. It's also insulting when you reach an out of the way place only to find that the cave at the end is just another shop or money making game.

The dungeons are the 2nd biggest offender in this game. The designs are ripped straight from LoZ1 so you'll know what to expect here. Sure they added items from Link's Awakening but the locations for things are largely the same. The bigger problem is the lamp mechanic they decided to add in this game. Every room in a dungeon is now dark. The lamp will illuminate a room but only while the button is held down. Since there are only 2 main buttons for the controls this means that you essentially will be sticking to the lamp and sword for every dungeon. Even boss rooms are dark and you need items for the bosses which means you're fighting them in the bloody dark only able to see their shadow in the room.

Time to talk about some of the good things. The best thing that was added was the ability to select 3 items at once and swap between them using select. This means a lot less time in the menu swapping items. The spin attack is also a welcome addition. The hack doesn't seem to have any major glitches or bugs which is nice considering it actually is quite the overhaul to the original game.

Pros

• The ability to assign 3 items at a time and swap using select.
• Addition of the spin attack.
• Seems there are no major glitches or bugs.
• Completely changes the look to Link's Awakening for the most part

Cons

• Overworld is a reversed Link's Awakening with everything interesting removed.
• Dungeons are perpetually dark making you have to use the lantern.
• Overworld is a pain to navigate and not fun to explore.
• Rupees seem to be more useless than ever.
• Too many shops, money making games, and useless caves.
• Too many shops, money making games, and useless caves!
• TOO many shops, money making games, and useless caves!!!

This hack is a perfect example of the amazing results that can be had with creativity, dedication and hard work. It proves that you don't need super high end hardware to make a game that truly shines and is a joy to play! This is a quality effort of programing that would make Shigeru Miyamoto proud. Those of you who have had a hand in it's creation can count this as an accomplishment to put on one's resume. On behalf of all Zelda 1 fans everywhere, Thank You all very much!

Update; The newest version of this hack has cleaned up the few rough edges it had and refines many features further. This has taken an already amazing mod and made it even better. Still highly recommended!

I have to be perfectly honest here... I really didn't give this game much of a chance. It just hit rubbed me the wrong way at every possible turn. So here's a brief rundown of what I didn't like about the hack.

Right from the start, the game seemed overly-complicated. The Name Entry menu has been changed dramatically and the buttons don't really do what you'd expect them to anymore. The item menu in-game is similarly complicated, since you can have not one, but three different items at-the-ready (selectable with the Select button). This, and a location name indicator, replaces the old "world map" from the original game. You can purchase a Map item in one of the shops, but rather than view it on the sub-screen, you actually have to select it as your current item, leaving you momentarily defenseless. (I would have made it a key combination, such as B + Start, myself...)

When I actually started to wander around, I noticed more things about the game I didn't really like. There are shops everywhere on the overworld, but much like the original, only two or three different kinds. Seems kind of pointless to me... I also noticed random caves that lead to nowhere, but house Wizzrobes of all things. Needless to say, they destroyed my 3-heart self in an instant. I also noticed that Link's sword works like it does in Link's Awakening; by being swung 90°, rather than stabbing. This usually seems to work, but sometimes fails to connect. You can also charge it up and take a full, circular swing, but this seems to occasionally miss as well - especially when swinging at destructible terrain, such as bushes. Speaking of which, why can you cut down bushes but not grass?

Lastly, I really didn't like the sound design. A lot of the classic sound effects and some music were redone for the new sound hardware, but nothing sounds quite right. Sound effects are rather slow and the new music gets a little grating - especially the mini-game music and shop musics.

Overall, I'm sure this is a really fun game. A lot of work went to make this something fun and original, but the combination of bad sound, weird physics, and trying to throw future title stuff into the original just doesn't do it for me. I think I'll just stick to Armageddon Games' Zelda Classic if I want a "The Legend of Zelda EX + α". kind of game.

If this were one of the actual Zelda games released by Nintendo it would be hearalded as one of the best ones.

A light and dark worlds! Link can jump! Incredible final boss (I was really worried it would just be the same stupid invisible Gannon from the original game. Its totally not that!)

Tip: Find TWO items in the first dungeon.

I am not an Zelda fan but, I think this was amazing. I didn't cleared this game but I played for 4 days, The whole thing was different from the original game. The intro sequence was awesome. That smooth moving graphics kicked my ass. The greatest thing is the sword. You can't shoot the sword but, you can do the special move. Also, the thing that I get from the beginning was fantastic. I can get a boomerang and ruppies, that was awesome. I wonder what comes next after this hack. Keep up the good work.

Despite being the graphic designer for the sprites, Infidelity's choice for the overworld design left in me on a sore note, as it constantly alienates me with "Link's Awakening" instead of something original.

As a result, I stopped playing the game and instead started "Link's Awakening" again as the GB game is much more polished compared to the chimera, good Infidelity created.

No offense, despite his work being phenomenal, I personally believe he would have been better off creating a homebrew Zelda game for the NES, instead of forcing his own programming into a sub-optimal hard coded games with way too many limits.

Without those limits, even the controls might have been better. But anyways, it was never his goal to please the masses, but himself. I respect his decisions, despite some arguments I had with him.

You can still play his hack, if you wish so, but know that there are Zelda games which are better than this game.

Just finished playing through this hack and all I can think is wow. Just wow. This is obviously a project that was very intense in it's creation and lovingly crafted by someone who truly knows their art.

The short of it would be something like "It looks like Link's Awakening, plays like Link to the Past and takes the best parts of all of the classic Zelda franchise and tries to boil it down into one cohesive experience."

There are some wildly innovative concepts [when compared to the basic framework that is the original Zelda 1] that I never even considered the NES was capable of, let alone working from the Zelda 1 ROM. Nothing quite like having an amazingly functional Roc's Feather in Zelda 1. Being able to equip two other items alongside it to a cycling hotkey was icing on the cake.

But to say this is just a Zelda 1 hack is doing it a terrible disservice. The game world is expanded so much that I managed to get lost a few times until I started taking some notes. The Overworld Map item in game is incredibly useful at helping to keep you on track to finding the dungeons and figuring out where to head next, even if I did most of the dungeons out of order. [I think I went like 2,1,3,X,5,4,7,6,8?] Needless to say, there is an illusion of choice here reminiscent of A Link to the Past.

The fusion of new ideas with classic designs from past games just feels so good to experience. Transitioning from a dungeon that would feel right at home in Zelda 1 to scenery that makes me think I'm walking along the shores of Koholint Island then down into another dungeon with the rocking music from a Palace in Zelda 2 playing is all just really well thought out and seems to fit together near-perfectly. The secret-laden world never failed to disappoint my explorer's soul as I trekked from one end of this new Hyrule to the other and back again.

Now for all that praise, it isn't a perfect hack. The pits you can fall into are just a little too sensitive to Link's hitbox and I get the feeling that that is a holdover from the same detection code for when the Stepladder would trigger over water. If so, it's an understandable mechanic, but there were more than a few times I got irate over not being able to get over a pit in less than 6 tries. [My controller and my frustration could also be partly to blame for a few missed jumps in those bad runs.] Also, I would have loved to see just ONE shop with bombs in it. Being able to cut bushes to find them is great and all, but more than a couple times I would have liked to just been able to buy them instead of clear-cutting a field and hoping some dropped. Beyond there, there are a few extremely minor glitches here and there that might make a player "wtf" for a moment, but nothing that detracts from the enjoyment of the whole experience for more than a brief moment.

If you've gotten this far, I don't know what else I could possibly say without going flat into spoiler territory. This is a wonderful hack and everyone who loves the classic Zelda games should give it a play. You won't regret it. Infidelity and his crew that made this whole thing possible have done something amazing and certainly something to bew proud of.

I have only been playing for 10 minutes and I am hooked. Absolutely amazing and so much work has been put into this hack. My childhood has been sparked, I have never played such an intricate hack of LoZ. Highly recommended, you won't believe this used to be the 1986 classic.

I cannot rave enough about how awesome this game is.

This game is the sequel that "The Legend of Zelda" should've had. You can definitely see the hard work infinity has put into this.

This game boasts a map 4 times the size of the original, there is plenty to explore. The added ability to swim and all the new items that were ASM hacked into it are simply phenomenal, not to mention the refreshing graphics. Oh, and partial SPOILER, but theres a fantastic shoot-em-up style minigame. Oh and another spoiler alert: go beat ganon. Oh. Em. Gee.

My only minor complaint, and its unavoidable, is that there are some points of slowdown when too many sprites are on the screen. There are ways to get around it though.

All that being said, stop whatever you're doing this very instant. Any more time spent perusing the interwebs, conversing with loved ones, or reading this review is a waste of your time. Time which is by far better spent playing through this hack. Now go and enjoy saving Hyrule once again.

This is the most impressive hack I have ever played. Infidelity put so much love and hard work into this.

So many hacks out there are simple palette swaps and new level arrangements. This has tons of added assembly coded in, allowing for new mechanics throughout the game.

A new sound engine, all new graphics, skilled incorporation of top level asm programming, new enemies, weapons, items, bosses........this game is worthy of an official Nintendo release.

I'd like to thank those involved in this, and express my deep appreciation for their time and great efforts.

The only other NES hack that is on this level imo, is Rockman Minus Infinity.

Anytime you throw in chunks of fresh code to compliment, and add to /change the existing game for the better, you get something truly impressive.

This deserves some serious respect.

I played part of it. It's a good game. Some of the other versions had glitches. When it's updated download the new patch. Different, but interesting.

I'm still reeling from all the incredibleness, so this might not make a lot of sense, haha.

What the author has done is basically build an entire new game onto Zelda 1. Some of the stuff, I'm amazed that it can even be done on the NES. Sit through the intro, and you'll see what I mean.

I have a general idea of how Link's new abilities were programmed in, and man, it must have been a metric ton of work.

What can I really say, except everybody who visits this site must play this hack. If they don't play this, they suck.