Thanks to the efforts of the Video Game History Foundation, another bit of Nintendo history has been preserved and released online. Yesterday, Frank Cifaldi (founder and director of VGHF) uploaded the ROM data for a prototype cartridge of the original Legend of Zelda on NES. Twitter user MrTalida then dug through the ROM data to spot any differences and a bunch of lines of code do seem to have changed before the final release.
That Legend of Zelda prototype labeled "NOA COPY 2.23.87" you've maybe seen photos around the internet for decades has just been released by @frankcifaldi!
Here's a binary comparison between it and the retail 1.0 version of Zelda. 3rd image shows diff bits in red. pic.twitter.com/00gWeX08ky
— MrTalida (@MrTalida) April 25, 2024
The prototype cartridge, itself, is different from the retail version in that it is encased in a yellow housing. It looks rather ugly, but that was merely a shell for testing. The code, itself, is something I can’t quite attest to as I’m not sure how to read what MrTalida has shared. It’s fascinating that the entirety of The Legend of Zelda’s code can be reproduced in a single image, though. The only difference MrTalida has spotted is that a bug renders Link under the ground when he exits doors for a single frame. Strange.
I've only been able to play the prototype for a couple minutes, but one minor bug I observed: When you exit a cave, Link remains under the ground at his last position for one frame before teleporting to the cave entrance. pic.twitter.com/UodBkr0vCX
— MrTalida (@MrTalida) April 25, 2024
In the coming weeks, fans will be combing through this prototype to see if Nintendo made any serious changes. I would imagine this earlier build is fairly close to a release state from the screenshot MrTalida has shared, but there could be something lurking within the data.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
