Talk:The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Game Boy)

Totakeke Music

"This tune IS used in the Japanese version of the game. Entering your name as "とたけけ" (Totakeke) causes it to play on the file menu. It goes unused in the US version of the game."

It's not the tune you get by entering ZELDA in the US version? I always found it a little odd that all you get for that is to hear this song one time. HyperHacker 21:18, 27 June 2010 (EDT)

No, the tune you get for ZELDA is entirely different. Tracks 60 and 96 in the GBS, respectively. -- Xkeeper (talk) 21:19, 27 June 2010 (EDT)

Interestingly, a somewhat less-known fact is that the German translator (Claude Moyse) changed Totaka's song to his own little tune in the German version. You get it to play by entering MOYSE as your name. Makes me wonder if there's a way to do it in the US version that nobody knows about yet. -- Xkeeper (talk) 21:24, 27 June 2010 (EDT)

TODO

So is there finally a way we can post all the "TODO" content for this page to just finish the page finally? I have a feeling the TODO pieces has been lingering around for a while and I can't do anything further with it right now to finish it. -- Rick 22:43, 11 July 2010 (EDT)

Well, I've done about all I can for now. I'll continue to poke around in the game with the debug mode, but I don't really expect to find much. Much that's worth noting here, at the least... -YK 22:02, 13 July 2010 (EDT)

Here's the music modifier code: 01??68D3 - for no reason really. Nensondubois 21:52, 13 July 2010 (EDT)

Unused music

Hello. I uploaded a bunch of tracks that I think are unused. Wouldn't hurt for someone else to double-check them. --GoldS 00:13, 18 July 2010 (EDT)

56, 59, and 79 are the only ones I cannot remember definitively. The others are all from various one-shot buildings and other cameos. -- Xkeeper (talk) 00:20, 18 July 2010 (EDT)

56 is a version of Totaka's Song, the same song you get when you type your name in as Totakeke in the Japanese version. It's probably used, but only accessed through some special means. ChozoZero 00:36, 18 July 2010 (EDT)

• 08 - Rapids Ride theme
• 50 - Weird Mr. Write's house
• 55 - The goat penpal's house
• 56 - Unused Totaka Song variation
• 59 - Unused item jingle variation
• 79 - Unused jingle
• 87 - Chicken Coop (or whatever it's called)

So, three are unused. -YK 00:45, 18 July 2010 (EDT)

I knew some of those sounded familiar. Sorry, it's been a while since I've played this one. --GoldS 01:08, 18 July 2010 (EDT)

Yeah, I've been messing with the game a lot using the debug mode of late, searching for any scraps of interesting info, so I've heard all those songs plenty of times. Incidentally, a while back, I did an MP3 rip of Link's Awakening a while back (mostly from the GBS; I don't like that format, long story), and found only *four* unused songs (the three above plus the Japan-only "TOTAKEKE" song), so at least one of the five "unused songs" listed on the page here is probably actually used. -YK 01:26, 18 July 2010 (EDT)

Hmm. Judging by the relative length and what it's described as sounding like (a "warping effect"), I'm gonna assume that "Unknown 5" is the weird little song that plays when the Flying Rooster is reviving. Not unused. Of course, I'd need to hear that specific song to know for sure... -YK 01:30, 18 July 2010 (EDT)

Could this be the way to trigger Track 56 in the game? I'd test, but my cart is missing, and I'd have to play through the game from the beginning to get to that point, otherwise. :( Hopefully, it doesn't just play the alternate menu music. --Aoi 02:36, 24 July 2010 (EDT)Aoi

No, that one is part of the song for Richard's Villa. -- Xkeeper (talk) 02:37, 24 July 2010 (EDT)

Oh, so it's an actual part of the Villa theme. Bleah. Maybe you have to stand in one place and play a certain instrument about sixty times or so. :D (Yes, it's been a long time since I've played it, and yes, I should probably stop using smileys.) --Aoi 02:40, 24 July 2010 (EDT)

Yes. Let the Villa song play for a while and you'll hear it. -- Xkeeper (talk) 16:54, 24 July 2010 (EDT)

lolo

Smallhacker found out that the French version of Link's Awakening plays a unique song if you name your file "LOLO". Someone should check it out. -- Prince Kassad 17:49, 25 July 2010 (EDT)

Okay, so, I'll just list what I know at the moment. The Japanese version has two passwords, one of which is mentioned in the article and plays Totake's song. I assume that the other is a transliteration of "Zelda" and plays the remixed Zelda theme. The German version contains two passwords: ZELDA and MOYSE, the latter also playing the Totake song. The French version has ZELDA and LOLO, the latter being, as far as I can tell, completely unique. The English version has ZELDA as its single password, with the code checking for a second password being removed altogether. ("MOYSE" is the last name German translator. Too bad they didn't set it to "OWSEN" in the English version.) --Smallhacker 17:58, 25 July 2010 (EDT)

Yes, the second (Zelda) code for the Japanese version is 'ぜるだ'. --Aoi 01:24, 26 July 2010 (EDT)

Here's the LOLO song.

--GoldS 18:01, 25 July 2010 (EDT)

Also, someone who actually knows Z80 may want to confirm my claim that the password checking code was removed in the English version. My claim is based only on pattern recognition. The relevant area of the ROM is around 4A00 (PC) in all versions. Each letter is stored as ASCII+1, so B = A, C = B, ..., Z = Y, [ = Z. The letters are stored 5 bytes apart with what I assume to be comparison and branching instructions inbetween. The Japanese, German and French versions have two sets of these patterns while the English version only has one. --Smallhacker 18:12, 25 July 2010 (EDT)

You seem to be talking about this:

ld a, [$DBA6]
ld e, a
sla a
sla a
add a, e
ld e, a
ld d, $00
ld hl, $DB80
add hl, de
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $5B	//'Z'
jr nz, @49E9
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $46	//'E'
jr nz, @49E9
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $4D	//'L'
jr nz, @49E9
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $45	//'D'
jr nz, @49E9
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $42	//'A'
jr nz, @49E9
ld a, $60	//Song 0x60
ld [$D368], a
@49E9:

If so, then yes, this only checks for "Zelda" in some very unfashionable way... --Tauwasser 18:51, 25 July 2010 (EDT)

EDIT: Indeed, below is the code for the German version:

ld a, [$DBA6]
ld e, a
sla a
sla a
add a, e
ld e, a
ld d, $00
ld hl, $DB80
add hl, de
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $4E	//'M'
jr nz, @4A1D
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $50	//'O'
jr nz, @4A1D
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $5A	//'Y'
jr nz, @4A1D
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $54	//'S'
jr nz, @4A1D
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $46	//'E'
jr nz, @4A1D
ld a, $3C	//Song 0x3C
jr @4A3C
@4A1D:
ld hl, $DB80
add hl, de
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $5B	//'Z'
jr nz, @4A3F
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $46	//'E'
jr nz, @4A3F
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $4D	//'L'
jr nz, @4A3F
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $45	//'D'
jr nz, @4A3F
ldi a, [hl]
cp a, $42	//'A'
jr nz, @4A3F
ld a, $60	//Song 0x60
@4A3C:
ld [$D368], a
@4A3F:

--Tauwasser 18:56, 25 July 2010 (EDT)

I'm really goddamn intrigued by this LOLO song, I want to know what its deal is. What's the story behind it? How did they get the go-ahead to make a whole new song (as simplistic as it is) just for a random Easter Egg in one version of the game? Could it be some kind of recurring song like Totaka's (I didn't see anyone in the French credits that looked like a LOLO so who knows)? So many questions here. --Sebmal 03:25, 27 July 2010 (EDT)

MOYSE actually does play a different song in the German version. It's not as good as the LOLO song, though.

Interestingly, I'd never heard of the LOLO one before. Kind of a neat easter egg! Congratulations on discovering it. -- Xkeeper (talk) 03:37, 27 July 2010 (EDT)

... Wow, you're right. It's only the DX version that plays Totaka's song. All this time I thought it was both. Crazy! So if Totaka has his song and Moyse has his song... who's LOLO? --Sebmal 03:55, 27 July 2010 (EDT)

Ah, I failed to realize that the classic and DX versions treated the passwords differently. In the classic version, MOYSE and LOLO have their own unique tunes. In the DX version, MOYSE is downgraded to Totake's Song. The weirdest change, however, is the French version, where LOLO actually plays the ZELDA music and the original ZELDA password has been completely removed. (Like with the English version, there's just a single password check, so they didn't change it to something else.) Just to be sure, I rechecked the English DX ROM, but there's still just the ZELDA password. --Smallhacker 15:12, 27 July 2010 (EDT)

Just curious - in the Japanese version, outside the save-select/name entry screens, are there perhaps any other checks or compares in the code at any point to see whether or not your character's name is "とたけけ" or "ぜるだ"? I've been wondering if they might actually trigger any other changes in the game, than just music changes on the file-select screen. --Aoi 01:52, 7 September 2010 (EDT)

""Lolo"...a French slang word for breasts" We probably know why it was removed now :P --Sonicandtails 02:12, 7 September 2010 (EDT)

I have ripped a GBS of the French version. Track 60 is the LOLO song: http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?2izzxy86chylbpx Nensondubois 00:12, 19 September 2010 (EDT)

Strange caves/wells

I don't want to add this to the article itself, because it doesn't really seem notable there, but I wanted to point out a little oddity I discovered. Via the debug mode, it's possible to enter the many "waterfall" caves on Tal Tal Heights, and to fall into the wells in Animal Village and on the roof of Ulrira's house (DX version only). They don't lead anywhere special, though... the caves lead either to other nearby caves (sometimes with strange glitches), or a spectacularly scrambled mess of an area (nicknamed the "Underworld" on various places around the net), while falling in either well sends you to either Madame Meowmeow's house in Mabe Village, or Christine the Goat's house in Animal Village. Not sure what triggers where you're sent, though. Anyhow, not article-worthy stuff, but I wanted to note it *somewhere*. -YK 03:57, 30 July 2010 (EDT)

Also... does anyone know what, exactly, is on the screen just to the right of the interior of Sale's House 'o Bananas? I've tried *three* different versions of the game (Japanese, original English, English DX), and trying to enter that screen (via the debug mode) causes the game to crash in all of them, with increasing levels of severity. In the Japanese version, it just freezes the game. It crashes the game to a scrambled screen in the original English version. And it crashes the *emulator* on the DX version. Just what *is* this room? -YK 21:31, 30 July 2010 (EDT)

I know this comment is rather old, but... I'd have to check with Xk to be sure, but I think that Sale's house is room 0xFE in the map data, and room FF is completely missing (no header, no map data, no terminating byte). The game crashes because the room data is essentially invalid. --Ninetales 18:36, 5 October 2010 (EDT)

Actually, it's possible to enter this room in the DX versions. I did it with the Gameshark code 01100AC1 to walk on the walls. I never succeded in entering it in the black and white versions. Here is a screen of this room :

The blue thing is the hippo, the red thing is the crocodile painter, and the green one is the man in the shop where you can borrow a raft for 200 rupees. It's right, it's the room FF. You can find the same type of rooms in the Color Dungeon.

--Morwenn 16:57, 1 November 2010 (EDT)

Hey everyone.

Does anyone know about the glitch guide on GameFAQs? Specifically the "Spell of the Unknown" part. I've looked up and down the internet for any other mention of it, and have found little to nothing. Which makes me think it's a hoax, but I'm looking for some sort of confirmation. Here's the guide for all interested: http://www.gamefaqs.com/gbc/197769-the-legend-of-zelda-links-awakening-dx/faqs/27573 — The preceding unsigned comment was added by Curtis Leon (talk • contribs)

Uh...what? There is no "Spell of the Unknown"...that's just the name of that particular section of the FAQ. Everything under it is just random glitches people have supposedly encountered (protip: take anything you read on GameFAQs with a grain of salt). There's nothing terribly new or ground-breaking in there. --BMF54123 05:57, 8 August 2010 (EDT)

Ack! Wait, my mistake. It's been a long while since I read that guide. What I was trying to refer to, was the "Link to the Past" glitch on there. I'm fairly certain it's a hoax, it's just it's been bugging at me for... years, now. I've never found out another word about it not counting that guide.

...

-2. Slide the cartridge out part of the way, turn it on and slide it all
    the way in (Note that this only works on GBC and GBA), and if it
    worked properly, there should be a name as Terry, or John there, two
    of the co-creators of the storyline for the game. The games are just at
    the beginning, with the magic rod, Lvl.2 sword, all twelve hearts, and
    the pegasus boots, but to play the full extent of this game you must
    have it plugged into an AC adapter (or play fast with full batteries).
    If you turn this off you will lose the rare Debug twilight game, and it
    is very hard to get it back after doing so.

My copy of Zelda 1 has "ALEX" scribbled on the side. Maybe that means it's a prototype version released to ALEX, the guy who did all the graphics. -- Xkeeper (talk) 06:13, 8 August 2010 (EDT)

In all seriousness, this FAQ has about as much truth in it as L IS REAL 20X6. Sorry to disappoint. -- Xkeeper (talk) 06:13, 8 August 2010 (EDT)

Ha, thankies. Just a small lil' prick that wouldn't go away, you know? Sorry for takin' up yer time.

In even more...uh...all seriousness, "Terry" and "John" did not create the game's storyline, as LA was created entirely in Japan, and those are obviously not Japanese names. There are no Terrys or Johns in the credits, either. Either this is the steamiest load of crap I've read in a long time, or this incredibly rare pre-1.0 magical mystery ROM has not been dumped yet. Guess which way I'm leaning? --BMF54123 06:20, 8 August 2010 (EDT)

Indeed. I also love how he comments about a "beta LA ROM", or going so far as to say you could access it with a gameshark code. I've found neither. So yeah. I don't get why people make up these false claims about stuff that might just be important to other people. Trolling, perhaps?

There's a review on GameFAQs where someone praised the graphics of the celery and carrot characters in the locked refrigerator of Kingsley's Adventure. I'd like for that person to explain to the rest of the world how he was able to see them as there is no known way to open the fridge. I've also gotten emails from people asking how to play as Dogi in Ys 3: Wanderers From Ys because a FAQ there claimed it was possible. --Flying Omelette 08:08, 8 August 2010 (EDT)

An FAQ also told me once that Wolverine and Spiral were leftovers in Street Fighter Alpha. Oh, ha ha! FAQs are funny! -- Rick 10:42, 8 August 2010 (EDT)

Ugh. I hear you, FO. Crappy FAQs on GameFAQs led me to getting *so* much useless e-mail back when I was involved in that scene. I wrote the internet's first complete SaGa Frontier FAQ, but some horrible, horrible "monster FAQ" written by someone else, which suggested you could absorb *any* skill, and transform into *any* monster, proved to be a nightmare for me. I got *so* much garbage e-mail asking why they couldn't do the stuff in that FAQ... Yeah, GameFAQs has no quality control. -YK 14:03, 8 August 2010 (EDT)

Translation

The French translator is Julien Bardakoff. He's done a few other games too, but good luck finding out any information.

Also we could really use that whole Quebec version too. ~~---- — The preceding unsigned comment was added by Xkeeper (talk • contribs)

Only partially true. Julien Bardakoff is credited as the translator of the DX version. The original translator was Veronique Chantel, who is still credited in the DX version as part of the 1993 staff. Therefore, I assume that the old translation was reused and simply added to/modified in order to account for the DX changes. --Smallhacker 10:24, 8 September 2010 (EDT)

Likewise, the original German version credits Claude M. Moyse for the translation while the DX version credits Moyse, Thomas Rinke and Club Nintendo, with a second mentioning of Moyse as part of the 1993 staff. I assume that the same thing happened here. --Smallhacker 10:33, 8 September 2010 (EDT)

I blame the lackluster credits dump I used. No organization, just headings in one part, names in the other. Idiots. -- Xkeeper (talk) 14:27, 9 October 2010 (EDT)

Color Dungeon

Just to mention it, I'm from a French Zelda website. I've played Link's Awakening and searched glitches for years. I've found some strange rooms in the Color Dungeon, and written an article about them on a french wiki (http://wiki.zelda-solarus.com/index.php). I know by then that about half I've written about Link's Awakening on this wiki is false or useless, so don't pay attention to it. I would like to show you some screen captures I've taken (http://wiki.zelda-solarus.com/index.php?title=Zones_de_test_de_la_Tombe_des_Couleurs). Someone told me taht the elements which are in these room are the result of "pointers" on other rooms (sorry if it's hard to understand, 'cause it's hard to explain it in english. Moreover, I haven't any knowledges about hack -____-). If you find something interesting in these rooms, or some explanations about them, it would be great.

[[image:ScreenExample.png]]

Morwenn 17:52 30 October 2010 — The preceding unsigned comment was added by Morwenn (talk • contribs)

The Color Dungeon bank only has pointers for about 20 rooms or so... Everything after that reads data meant as room objects as a pointer, which can result in all sorts of bad things. Kind of surprising it doesn't outright crash, really. -- Xkeeper (talk) 13:28, 30 October 2010 (EDT)

Game Boy Color Promotional Demo

There a sequence in the game boy color promotional demo with Link's Awakening. In this sequence, we can see recolored graphics unused in the final version:

• The trees border's color is slightly different from the final one,
• The Moblins' arrows are green,
• The monsters' destruction animation is also different from the final one.

However, those graphics aren't included in the final DX versions. So I was asking wether we should talk about this in the Link's Awakening main article or not. --Morwenn 16:22, 7 November 2010 (EDT)

Condoms and War

http://www.schnittberichte.com/schnittbericht.php?ID=3918 Someone should look in to that... --Sonicandtails 04:42, 3 February 2011 (EST)

Well the hippo and the bikini are already here. The Buzz Blob stuff is most interesting though. Are there textual differences in the English version as well, or was this only done for the German release? -- Prince Kassad 09:36, 3 February 2011 (EST)

You can check the text dumps for the original and DX versions here:

Original:http://www.zeldalegends.net/files/emulation/dumps/zelda4/usa/z4dump(usa).html

DX:http://www.zeldalegends.net/files/emulation/dumps/zelda4/dxusa/z4dump(dxusa).html

GlitterBerri 06:49, 4 March 2012 (EST)

How the Doggy World works

Has anyone figured out why the kennel world glitch works? Or can we at least do some research? I think I might be able to do something, but I don't know where to start. -Cakes 23:43, 17 July 2013 (EDT)

How would that matter on this wiki? The only thing known about this glitch is that it works with any door, but this one is the only that you can enter from behind - level design matter. Why the doors do not work the same way in both directions or why it depends on the number of monsters killed remains a mystery. -- Morwenn 15:44, 18 July 2013 (EDT)

Sorry, probably should've been more clear: I do want to know things like that, because monsters being killed seems to be a common thing in LA glitches, with the tunic glitch and Dog World relying on it, or why it loads all the dungeon rooms when they (if walk through walls is used) are normally loaded together in the dungeon.

Ah, damnit, I forgot my sig. -Cakes 13:29, 19 July 2013 (EDT)

Sorry, I forgot, but I know something for sure. It does not answer the whole question, but gives some pointers (I studied the behavior of that glitch a long time ago). All the maps in Link's Awakening are either 16x16 screens or 8x32 screens. Actually, the three "big maps" where you arrive when you arrive with the kennel glitch can be either the overworld, a big map with dungeon rooms and one with mostly houses and caves (I used the GameShark code 01100AC1 back in time to walk through walls and wander around). Actually, these big maps are all 16x16 screen maps. And one thing I noticed is that the coordinates of the screen where you land on either one of these maps with the kennel glitch are always the same and should correspond to the screen coordinates on the map when you take the door by its front and not its back (D3 or D4 for the kennel glitch, I don't remember). The number of killed monsters seems to change the landing map, but not the coordinates of the screen on the map. Now I'm sorry, but I don't think I be able to help you more than that :) -- Morwenn 13:22, 20 July 2013 (EDT)

Eagle's Tower (3F) Unused Room in the official guide (German)

Last night, I noticed in the official guide (German) of Link's Awakening shows the inaccessible room in the Eagle's Tower (3F). This is the original version (Japanese).

Map (3F) Eagle's Tower

One last thing, I do not see anywhere the japanese name for the precomposed savegame "えすぼほら".

--Dark Linkaël (talk) 07:11, 3 April 2014 (EDT)

Precomposed savegame on the Nintendo Classics box

There is actually a screen capture of the precomposed savegame on the back of the box of some versions of the game. I didn't check all of them, but here are already two of them:

The images aren't that clear, but we can see that the number of hearts is exactly the same and that the player is inside the 2nd dungeon with that many hearts and the fire rod. It really seems to be the precomposed savegame. Should we mention that on the page? -- Morwenn 23:07, 11 April 2014 (UTC+1)

It does seem likely, and even stronger evidence for that is that in both screenshots, they have more than 509 Rupees. The numbers make sense, too. Reaching that part of the Lost Woods from the town square wouldn't take them past many enemies or items, hence only having two more. Reaching the second dungeon and the mini-boss inside it would entail defeating a number of monsters and opening chests, hence having about sixty more. --Peardian (talk) 19:46, 11 April 2014 (EDT)

German and Japanese versions

The article mentions regional differences between the japanese and international versions, however, the german version also has all of the japanese content (i.e. bikini, hippo in a towel). Also: I added a translation to the "Unused german dialogue" page. Quite a lot of that is actually used in the original german version (as in, not the DX. I never really got around to play the DX). Also, when you spray powder on those electric blobs and they look like dorks, they say "Never without a condom..." when you talk to them. --Dustball (talk) 00:55, 09 August 2014 (GMT+1)

The DX version is based on the English one and has all of the censorships unlike the original monochrome version. Also, I thought we had a link here describing the German mono-DX difference, but I don't see it right now. -- Sheeza (talk) 19:20, 8 August 2014 (EDT)

Debug Utilities

I see where there is a GameShark equivalent for the Engine Pause (0101C17B), but not one for the Debug Utilities. I tried 01010500 and 01010005, guessing from the Engine Pause GS code, but no luck. Is there no conversion for that particular instruction/memory location? --MyOhMyke (talk) 03:15, 27 June 2015 (EDT)

The code would in fact be 01010500. I'd check to make sure the other debug functions in that section work (codes 01010300 and 01010400), and that you're using a DX (color) version of the game, as the code you're trying to use only exists for DX versions. ShimmerFairy (talk) 03:46, 27 June 2015 (EDT)

Minor differences between German/Japanese & American DX versions

So I've recently noticed that there's a few minor sprite differences between the german DX version and the american one. For example:

• the book in the library you need the Pegasus Boots for casts a shadow in the american version but it doesn't in the german/japanese versions
• if you walk in shallow water, the german/japanese versions have the little wave that surrounds Link rapidly change color between white and black, whereas it stays white in the american version
• the gauge that fills up in the Seashell Mansion and flashes when you receive the Level 2 Sword flashes in darker greens in the american version, but cycles between various shades of green and yellow in the german version
• you can skip the "You got a Piece of Power/Guardian Shell!" text in the german version, but you have to sit through all of it in the american version

Are those noteworthy changes? Because I've never seen those outlined anywhere.--Jaryl (talk) 15:01, 29 November 2015 (EST)

I would say so, yes -- Xkeeper (talk) 14:32, 29 November 2015 (EST)

Missing revisions and changes

Hi all, we are missing some revisions from The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Game Boy)#Debug_Utilities section.

Black and white version

• Two Japanese revisions
• Three English revisions (Europe & USA release is the same)
• Two French revisions

DX Version

• Three European versions (European english release is different from USA release)

I would guess the DX European release includes the same bug fixes as the USA release. --Robossnik (talk) 20:51, 7 May 2020 (UTC)