Zelda 2 How To Use Hammer

Released in December 1988, The Adventure of Link follows Link on a side-scrolling quest through Hyrule to identify six crystals back in their palaces, and eventually wake the sleeping princess Zelda. Highly criticized every bit existence too unlike from the offset Zelda, The Take chances of Link introduced some elements that would be seen in many later Zelda games such as towns and magic, but other things never seen again such as experience points and i ups.

All-time Single-segment time: 1:01:21 by John 'Pro_JN' Nurminen on 2013-05-14.
Best Single-segment time with Upwardly+A warping and deaths: 0:57:43 by Kristian 'Arctic_Eagle' Emanuelsen on 2011-01-11.
Best Unmarried-segment time with Up+A warping and deaths, European version: 1:05:00 by Kristian 'Arctic_Eagle' Emanuelsen on 2007-12-09.
Best Single-segment time with Large-skip glitches: 0:18:57 by Neil 'PresJPolk' Stevens on 2014-08-18.
Best "New Game +" fourth dimension with Upwardly+A warping and deaths: 0:41:10 by Kristian 'Arctic_Eagle' Emanuelsen on 2009-02-24.
All-time "New Game +" time with Upwards+A warping and deaths, European version: 0:44:52 by Kristian 'Arctic_Eagle' Emanuelsen on 2006-11-17.
All-time "New Game +" time with Large-skip glitches: 0:09:42 past Phil 'inzult' Grand on 2013-10-06.
All-time 100% Single-segment time: ane:15:22 by Travis 'Solairflaire' Hofman on 2012-03-11.

Return to the Game List, the FAQ, or the Dwelling house Page.

Single-segment 1:01:21 by John Nurminen.

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Author'southward comments:

Comments to be added subsequently, simply don't know what to write at the moment. Time of the run is one:01:21

Single-segment with Up+A Warping and deaths: 0:57:43 past Kristian Emanuelsen.

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Author'southward comments:

This run category is Zelda Two at its fastest without major glitches, playing from a newly created game file. You are allowed to use the warp pull a fast one on back to The Due north Palace get-go point, which involves pressing up+A simultanously on controller 2 later bringing up the spell screen with the get-go push button on controller 1, and so choosing the continue option. This gives you 3 lives again, simply you also lose your excess experience points. You likewise take the freedom to corruption death, which can salve some time, e.one thousand. at the palace items, which are commonly positioned at dead ends in the palaces. Instead of backtracking from the position of the particular, you intentionally accept damge to die near the dead stop as rapidly as possible after picking upward the particular, being transported back to where you entered the room. This likewise applies for the hammer item. Merely possibly the most of import thing almost the death abuse is that dying refills your magicbar, enabling the utilize of more fairy spells through palace doors. You can skip more keys that way.

I aim for fastest time in this run, non best style. I skip the following helpful things in the game to relieve time: Candle, magic cardinal, cantankerous, shield, life, burn, spell, three heart containers, the upwardly thrust and plenty of palace keys.

I'm especially happy about my avoidance of random enemy encounters on the overworld map in this run. The route and levelling are as well very good, but I believe my fighting execution leaves a lot to exist desired. I take likewise much harm throughout, and coupled with unwanted deaths, 1 in Decease Mountain, one on my way to Darunia Town and one in The Great Palace, I'thou withal not certain it's wise to publish this run, as the time of sub 58 minutes simply sounds better than how this run actually looks visually. At to the lowest degree that's how information technology seems to me. I remember as well being very surprised at how good the fourth dimension ended up beingness when recording this speedrun. I didn't expect it to be sub 58 minutes, and hadn't watched my timer since somewhere around the quaternary palace, and could barely believe my own eyes really. There's definitely room for improvement in this one, but it's also the most difficult speedrun category for Zelda 2 imho.

Cheers to Rodrigo Lopes for beingness such an inspirational Zelda II competitor.

Thanks to the SDA crew for their crawly piece of work and for publishing this run and other incredible speedruns.

European version single-segment with Up+A Warping and deaths in 1:05:00 by Kristian Emanuelsen.

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Author's comments:

Zelda Ii is my favorite NES-game and because of nostalgia information technology's also my all-time favorite game. This game had everything I wanted from a videogame at the time of release. I hadn't played The Legend of Zelda (which is as well a dandy game and a difficult one, only very different and non as technical), which was probably an advantage. Zelda Two gets a lot of unfair stick. Those who haven't played The Great Palace with the revolutionary AI of the Dreadhawks at that place shouldn't criticise the game IMHO. Only I am the beginning to admit that a speed run of this game contains too much fairy-casting through locked doors. Though a speed run without it would be even longer and this speed run is over 1 hour long...

The Zelda II European Version is modified, meaning that motion on the overworld-map is 5/6 speed compared to the American Version, simply the sidescroller-scenes are almost every bit fast.

This run is exactly every bit minimalistic as my previous run: I skip the spells: Shield, Life, Burn down and Spell. I skip the items: Candle, Cross and Magickey. And I skip iii Life-containers (information technology's possible to skip 4).

Speedrunning Zelda Ii takes a long time and can exist quite frustrating. I'm not sure this run is amend fighting-wise than my previous 1:06:17 run, but it'due south certainly more clever and faster. By irresolute around on my route and level-upwardly system I decrease the luck needed when it comes to magic-potion/feel-bag droppings.

For those who aren't as familiar with the game as me, I will endeavour to explain how the magic-potion/experience-bag dropping system works: Later killing 5 'big enemies' you volition take a l/l chance of either a magic-potion (refills your magic) or an experience-pocketbook (200 experience points) at the drop of the next 'big enemy' killed. (Bosses, Bluish Ironknuckle and Red Lizalfos don't count). E.g.: I impale v Orangish Moas ('big enemy') at the entrance of Maze Island Palace (quaternary) to fix me upwards for a magic-potion (refilling my magic to bandage Fairy-spells through locked doors, saving time skipping keys) inside the palace at the kickoff Blood-red Ironknuckle. It will save me two lives and a lot of fourth dimension. Fingers crossed for non getting an experience-bag at that place...

I get maximum luck on magic-potion/experience-bag debris in my run:

A magic-potion in Parapa-Palace (saves one life - 1 extra Fairy-spell needed).

An experience-purse in Midero-Palace (1 of 2 needed to level-up).

An experience-bag in the Island-Palace (needed to relieve time, non killing an extra Blueish Ironknuckle for level-up).

A magic-potion in Maze Island Palace (needed to save two lives and a lot of time: 2 extra Fairy-spells needed).

A magic-potion in Three Middle Palace (saves ane life: 1 actress Fairy-spell needed).

Here's my thoughts on how the key areas of the game were done in the run:

Decease Mountain: Far from perfect, simply I tin can't complain with no unwanted deaths there without the Candle. Dissimilar my previous run, I employ a decease-abuse at the hammer-location to save time, and leave hither with stats 3-1-two instead of four-1-2 (Attack - Magic - Life). I compensate this 'loss of experience' by taking on Midero Palace (2nd) with stats 3-one-ii before Parapa Palace (1st), something that would prove costly...
To The Water of Life/Medicine: I avert the random meet in the swamp and do some acrobatic jumping inside the unlit cave.
Midero Palace (second): Why oh why... It wouldn't be a Kristian Emanuelsen Zelda Two run without the 1 unwanted expiry in information technology would information technology? Everything went smoothly in here until THAT Bluish Stalfos drained near all my life-energy. Enough to make 1 hit from Helmethead lethal... I kill him without getting hit afterwards of class. Room for comeback.
Parapa Palace (1st): Pretty straight forward and easy inbound here with v-1-2. Thankfully, I got the magic-potion instead of the experience-purse.
Island Palace (3rd): Went well, but I unnecessarily turn and kill the Red Ironknuckle at the archway.
Rescue the kid and to Darunia: I "waste product" some time on my way to Darunia, can't complain overall though, faster than usual.
Maze Isle Palace (4th): As stated before, the killing of the 5 Orange Moas at the archway aren't just for feel-gaining, but likewise to set me up for a magic-potion that is a definite must in this palace. I can therefore "fairy" my style around the palace with only one death-abuse instead of three. Carrock goes downwardly very quickly indeed. On my mode to the Boots, I choose to level-upwardly Life to 4, then that I can survive one hit from Gooma if my life-energy is full there. I didn't take a hit from Gooma subsequently on, then it proved to be time-wasting...
Body of water Palace (5th): Not very adept, a somewhat lack of concentration. Too many pocket-sized stops for my liking. I do a death-abuse to refill my magic at the beginning, as it is slightly faster than going back to get the key. I use Fairy-spell at the locked door instead.
To and from New Kasuto: I get lucky once again, being able to skip the kickoff of those three like tiles with hitting a random meet at the right time. When entering Three Eye Palace I prefer to have killed 5 'big enemies' on my fashion, setting me up for a magic-potion/experience-bag to refill magic at that place. Therefore some of the random encounters to and from New Kasuto are wanted, just non the second final i where the Red Lizalfoses dwell in the woods equally those don't count when it comes to magic-potion/experience-bag droppings.
Three Eye Palace (6th): All went well, except that Barba should be disposed of at information technology's second appearance, not the third.
Bridges to and from Old Kasuto: I don't apply whatever fairy-spells at the bridges to relieve magic for Death-Road. I almost die at the beginning bridge from Sometime Kasuto... Close shave.
Death Route: All goes well here.
The Great Palace: Tin't complain. I go 'under' and then 'over' the Blue Dreadhawk betwixt the two sets of blocks this fourth dimension. Certainly a lilliputian more than risky, simply worth the seconds saved.
Thunderbird: Think positive... I have no hits from him.
Dark Link: Hmmm, could and should have been killed a little faster.

Really hope you lot savor this run!

Single-segment with Large-skip glitches: 0:18:57 by Neil Stevens.

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Author's comments:

This run has been a long time in coming. Zelda 2 has had a lot going on since 2012, and while SDA has gotten a couple of smashing submissions, it hasn't gotten the fastest possible run from a new game. I thought SDA deserved one, so I've spent the last 6 months or so trying to make a run good enough for that. In the concurrently the record dropped from nineteen:15 to 18:53, so over these months the standards went up!

The basic techniques in this run accept been known for many years, thanks to the TAS community (inzult and others), but nigh of it couldn't exist used in a live run because we needed left + correct to skip. Thunderbird (and therefore Thunder and most of the game). But in 2012 Solairflaire came up with a way to fairy out of premises and skip Thunderbird without left + right. That opened up a whole new route, and the fun began.

Scaryice came up with a theory TAS with help from inzult. Feasel proved it could be washed in a real run. And in January of 2013 I devoted myself to really running the glitched categories. Took the record, went dorsum and forth with Pro_JN to grind the record down. Eventually Simpoldood took the record, then JN took information technology dorsum at the 18:53 that JN and Simpoldood both have at this writing.

And so, this run. My previous best was a xix:thirteen. It should have been sub-19, which was my SDA submission cutoff, just I got terrible encounters. This run, the 18:57, had some bad luck and could accept been the record, but play quality wise this was 1 of my all-time e'er, and in fact my Palace 7 from entry to Dark Link was my best always, and then I'm happy to share information technology.

What'south happening in this run:

We walk left from the start, which allows us to get outside at the aforementioned frame every fourth dimension, i frame faster than if we walk correct. That gets us to a specific overworld encounter set that lets us just hold right and walk to Rauru town. The frame-based RNG resets every time we proceeds command in North Palace at the showtime, or afterwards an controller 2 Up+A continue, so nosotros can count on the same encounters and townfolk spawns afterward every Upwardly+A.

Once in Rauru we talk to the healer lady when she is on two specific subpixels, which are one frame windows. I don't get it perfectly clean, but talked to her one frame early the second time, which gave me a second chance to talk to her. costing me 1.four seconds. That ~1.5 seconds is the most I'll requite upwardly here and not reset. Why give up ane.5 seconds this early in the run? Because at that place's enough resetting come up already.

By talking to the healer lady like that, we glitch her script, and she opens the door in the wrong identify. That causes the door that opens to go *nowhere*, which sends usa to a fallback identify we call Glitch Town. Glitch boondocks is broken, patently. Doors go nowhere (and therefore *back* to Glitch town). The left-mitt exit takes you lot back where you came from on the overworld, simply the right-mitt exit is hanging and goes different places, depending on what town you're in.

Some towns transport you to places you're stuck in and accept to reset, simply Rauru happens to take you lot to King'south Tomb, which is handy considering this takes the states *past* the hammer filters, and lets usa go into the hammer area behind Decease Mount via the 'back door'. It's faster, but we're grossly underleveled for this.

The bubbles on the bridge aren't lucky for us, and the hopping guys in the nighttime after those rock stairs (Megmats) are unlucky, costing a few seconds off of the ideal hammer run, simply the hammer run was pretty good.

This is also effectively the "Low%" run of the game, with the absolute minimum items and spells taken. The leveling is important though, and we *need* Magic three at the hammer. The manner the drops work, the sixth 'big drop' enemy we kill is the cherry-red Daira at the hammer, so he has a l% chance of dropping a 200 Point Bag, the rest of the time dropping a Red Jar. We need the 200 points for Magic three, so this is the second large reset filter of the run, the glitch at the offset being the offset.

If we don't get the bag, nosotros have to impale extra enemies later, which triggers *another* 6 drop, *another* 50/50, merely that's much later in the run, so we're vastly better off resetting here. That's why I'm willing to give upwards 1.five seconds at the starting time. I'one thousand usually resetting anyhow.

After we get the hammer we Upwardly-A to instantly game over and continue back at the north palace. We take to do some housekeeping earlier we glitch again, as you cannot get spells while the game is scroll locked without left+correct. This part went well. I got the bays, then jump, so the medicine. On the way to Mido town I got the about frame-perfect mashing to break both boulders in stride, which got me to the desert square fast enough that I skipped an encounter spawn, saving three seconds.

In Mido I get downstab, then Fairy, and when the pop upward comes for Fairy I select Fairy then upward-a, this saves time having to re-select it to fairy to accept the North Palace Magic Container. With that gotten, it'due south time to break the game fully.

We go *dorsum* to Rauru to glitch again. This is the third big reset filter in the game, because it's the same double frame perfect fox, only viii minutes into the run, *after* a 50/fifty shot and a good corporeality of execution. I got a clean glitch, and now the *luck* office of the run begins.

Well, first I enter the door 5 more times later the initial entry into the glitched door. What this does, is it smashes the door entry stack in the programming, overwriting other memory, related to Link's position. This glitches the graphics, every bit the game is dislocated a bit. We call this mode "Scroll Lock." It lets us get the "Bulwark Skip" into Palace 7 without placing all 6 gems, as well equally to skip the raft, likewise as to warp straight to Palace vii. It'due south the magic thing that lets usa skip everything but Thunder, and so with the Thunderbird skip, that's how we've gone from a barely sub-hour Zelda 2 to a sub-twenty.

Once you're down low enough time-wise in Zelda ii, the deviation between a expert run and a great run is in random run across luck. Get the correct spawns and random movements (the enemies 3/iv of the fourth dimension follow a gear up design, with their movements adamant by their positions relative to Link, and one/4 of the time move randomly), and you're proficient. On the manner to Palace 2, to get the Glove, I did not get adept luck. Information technology could have been worse (and was in my old best run), but at this point I was getting worried.

With the Glove gotten, nosotros now need to go go the Magic Container by Spectacle Rock. We didn't go it before because at present when we become it, we're going to do magic. The encounter between Palace 2 and Saria Town once more weren't great, simply weren't terrible, then nosotros were even so in position for the run. Death Mount went okay, no bot trolling or anything. The footling blue guys, Bots, are the virtually random enemies in the game, and tin can hop into you like *crazy*.

Something yous run across in Expiry mountain oft, but throughout the run in Roll Lock, is walking right, then left. This confuses the game somehow, and makes the left-paw go out plow into the right-hand leave, so we terminate upwardly incorrect warping a bit.

Through death mountain nosotros get the container, and thank you to the glitch, we wrong warp out of the cavern. It turns out you can just wrong warp within the same "map" in the game. and it turns out that Death Mount and Maze Island are on the same map in the game code. Then, we go to skip the raft.

It's peachy likewise considering we demand this magic container anyway. We go that, and we become the one slap-up stroke of luck in the run. Zero encounters betwixt Maze Island and the cave, perfect spawns. That'south 6-8 seconds saved, since usually you become two encounters there and lose time depending on Tektite trolling.

We wrong warp again at this cave, and end up at Kasuto Swamp. This is where we grind, because we demand Magic 5. Magic 5 + 7 Magic Containers is enough to cast Fairy twice and Bound once, which we must do in guild to execute the Thunderbird skip afterward.

Nosotros grab two bespeak bags, and kill 4 orange lizalfos, becuase at 150xp they're the best enemies to grind on. We kill the i Red we practise because he'south right confronting a stone and relatively quick to impale. I got a bit of bad luck hither, with ane swamp meet and one Big red encounter, when I only want Small orange encounters. That right there, those 2 events, cost me the record.

Apart from that the grind went well enough, I killed what I needed to, taking no hits, and getting back to the cavern. We grab the 500 points there, to avert a half-dozen drop and a 50/50 shot, then kill one last enemy on the way to the Not bad Palace to take Magic 5. The blue lizalfos takes 19 hits. Merely I made it with no impairment.

The route within Palace 7 is actually almost the same as the unglitched route. We're just grossly underleveled, and practise become to skip a few enemies. The room with the blocks and the dragon heads (Ras) was one of my very best executions in a run. That last hit to stun him on the way out of the room scared me though. If I miss that I miss sub-nineteen.

The hardest room in the run is the one with the blocks and the Blueish bird knight, aka Fokka (a proper name I was conscientious not to say in whatsoever of my GDQ marathon commentaries, for obvious reasons). Not only do you accept to practice two make clean executions of the double cake break jump, to wedge the sword between two blocks, break them, and get lifted into the gap. Just you besides have to get past the Fokka. Touching his body is instant decease at 4 hearts and Life 2, costing 10+ seconds. 2 deaths mean the run can't exist completed without trying the whole Great Palace over once again. Then this room *must* be done cleanly. I executed and I got a skillful beam sword pattern. Whew.

A few rooms after this are pretty straightforward. The last Blueish Fokka can troll and impale you. It's uncommon but it tin can happen. He could have striking me with his sword axle there, which isn't instant death just is a slowdown. However I jumped perfectly (not trivial due to the glitching making the floor steps invisible), dodged it, and didn't have a hitting. 1 key moment of good execution in the run.

After that nosotros go downwardly to the room with Lava and Bots, and we have an intentional death, because we need to refill our magic for the Thunderbird skip. So we take to get *by* those Bots on pedestals. This is a nerve wracking room, because again, Bots are random and tin easily jump into you lot, knock y'all into the lava, and ruin a good run. It's happened, on possible sub-19 runs, too. Then I take that room slightly cautiously. Slightly. I went for it on the first 1, but the second one was *and then* perfectly positioned to knock me off it looked suicidal to but go for information technology. The third one already suicided and then we were through.

Next we walk under Boss Bot (the behemothic blue guy) because the glitch has shifted our position. I and so queue upward Jump because it'southward fourth dimension for the Thunderbird skip. On the bridge at a specific position, I leap out of bounds, and cast fairy. Fairying out of bounds lets us go through a wrong get out, like to the right paw leave of Glitch town, and the many right-mitt exits I accept in scroll lock.

This lands united states of america on the ceiling above the room before Thunderbird. We then walk correct a bit (fail to walk correct and y'all'll become taken back to the start of palace 7! Run over!), and fairy out of bounds again. This takes the states to the peak of the far right hand side of Thunderbird'due south room, and we can walk straight right to Dark Link.

Dark Link is a luckfest. He can cost 5, ten seconds just by jumping into you lot a lot or worse, jumping back and waiting. He did one jump dorsum, no waits, and one jump into me, so it was practiced enough.

And that's the run. Cheers to everyone listed to a higher place, the Zelda ii Crew, my stream regulars, and the SDA volunteer staff.

"New Game +" with Up+A Warping and deaths in 0:41:10 by Kristian Emanuelsen.

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Author'southward comments:

This game is just so freakin' crawly! The 2D-fighting engine in this game is just also masterful. Mixed in with some clever RPG and adventuregame elements, man... At present, what can I say about this run? It'due south plain ane of many fun ways to play Zelda 2, starting off from a completed file, totally overpowered, bully everything in your way, hahaha! Man... okay, okay, about this run: Expiry Mountain non the fastest, but I brand up for it with no random enemy encounters on my mode there. A few modest bug hither and at that place. I die once unwanted in The Great Palace. Sub 41 minutes is very doable.

Thanks to:

Tommy "tmont" Montgomery for his Zelda II NG+ run at SDA which I learned from and enjoyed. Well played, promise you'll watch my run i twenty-four hours, a comeback to the crazy globe of speedrunning would be highly appreciated.

The SDA-coiffure for downloading, transferring, uploading, and all that other important stuff that makes this run possible for others to enjoy.

European version "New Game +" with Up+A Warping and deaths in 0:44:52 past Kristian Emanuelsen.

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Writer's comments:

NG+ is an amusing manner to speedrun Zelda Ii IMHO. The forcefulness-advantage gives you the opportunity to defeat some of the bosses, e.m. Gooma, with more than daring fighting-strategies. And well-nigh chiefly, you don't take the frustrating NG-Decease Mountain problem of a 35 %? chance of getting through with the hammer, even though you fight perfectly (gathering plenty feel to level up set on to 4).

I consider this run to be fifty-fifty more lucky than my NG-run, as I have very few random-encounters. The run through Expiry Mount isn't optimal, simply I'm happy with everything else in this run (as far as I remember). I promise you find this run entertaining!

"New Game +" with Large-skip glitches in 0:09:42 by Phil 'inzult' M.

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Author'due south comments:

Zelda 2 is a game where you lot have to become around and collect a lot of stuff, deal with a lot of enemies and bosses, manage your experience and magic the whole time, and maybe if you lot're skillful at information technology, it takes like an hr.

If yous beat the game, yous're allowed to start over with the spells, levels, and sword techniques you had previously collected. If you use glitches, you lot don't accept to practice much collecting, or deal with many enemies or bosses. It takes less than 10 minutes.

And so actually, a run of this category isn't much similar Zelda 2 at all.

I'll start with the glitches.

At that place are two things to point out nigh the master glitch going on throughout the run. First there's the healer glitch, when you talk to a townsperson pacing in front end of a house on two specific frames, the AI script gets confused and they volition open a door in the wall instead of the normal door. When y'all go inside, the game doesn't know where to put you and defaults to map 0. Next, the game is likewise tracking whether or not you're in a house, and adds some number into some memory address for that. There happens to be another door on map 0 that takes you back to map 0. So whenever you become into that, it adds to the house retentiveness accost again. If you get into enough doors, it overflows into some other address related to Link'southward position. So the game thinks you're farther to the right than yous really are, and the screen won't ringlet left normally. This is called scroll lock. In that state, you can use unintended exits which allow you to wrong warp all over the place.

The other big glitch in the run, which appears twice near the stop, is that if you cast fairy while Link is off the tiptop of the screen, the game will make y'all fall. This is useful because you spawn on the elevation of the room yous end up in instead of at the side. Doing it in the two locations I exercise in this run allows you to spawn at the top right of thunderbird'south room, bypassing him completely.

On to the route!

The blank minimum stuff you need to get through the last palace is the Handy Glove and downstab (to interruption blocks), fairy and spring (to skip thunderbird) and level half dozen magic (to bandage the spells). NewGame+ allows you to start with the spells, levels and downstab. I also accept more levels and upstab because it helps.

So the road is: achieve the healer glitch, wrong warp every bit close to palace 2 as possible, collect the glove, work your style to the hammer which allows yous to wrong warp to east Hyrule, work your way to the great palace, win. In a lot of ways at that place's not much going on in this run, merely all that does is magnify the importance of doing what's in there well.

There is too one intentional death in the run, at the hammer. If you take a decease here you will respawn at the left side of the room. This is important considering you lot can't walk back to the left due to scroll lock, you'll just wrong warp somewhere in the center of Death Mountain and information technology wastes a ton of fourth dimension.

Some other of import thing to understand is encounters.

Each run across costs you a footling more than 2 seconds. Ideally you get none, but that but isn't going to happen. Yous tin can reset forever, it just won't happen.

But agreement how they work helps. In that location are 2 types of overworld see spawns that can happen. One spawn is based on steps, one on time. If you line up your 16th step to happen on a path, no step spawn will happen for that bicycle. The start timer spawn always happens ~3 seconds later appearing on the overworld. The next i will take a lot longer, depending on where the first one happened. Significant for this run is the forest (~8.5 seconds) and the swamp/grass (~11 seconds).

The manner the encounters move is likewise somewhat predictable. If they are in line with you, or close to in line, they volition move towards you. They move in the ten direction first, so if you are moving left or right and they are right above or beneath y'all, they will tend to keep moving left or correct. If they are not in line with you, they will motion in a random management. Periodically, however, encounters will have 4 random steps. And so it'south useful to exist mindful of when the unpredictable times are going to happen. In a speedrun, when you're ordinarily reaching the aforementioned place at the same fourth dimension, you can get used to when this is going to happen.

Faries always move in a random direction and every bit such are non predictable. Faries suck.

They encounters only motion every 16 frames, and then occasionally they will non motility immediately and that sometimes allows you to sneak by them.

And now the run!

I could go room-by-room merely I'll just highlight a couple of things. In general the idea is to walk a chip to the correct, then get left and end upward somewhere else.

I burn down off some steps after warping to Bagu'southward hut so that no spawns happen on the first leg of the swamp. This is very helpful because it eliminates a lot of headaches dealing with trying to contrivance encounters while walking at half speed and nowhere really to become. A couple of steps abroad from palace 2, I notice myself in a state of affairs where I'm going to get an encounter no thing what. I make a split-second decision to walk up and this gives me a modest encounter. If I had pressed left instead I would have gotten a large run across, which contains an octorok. Y'all need to pick upward 6 minor enemy kills in order to go a bluish jar to drib later on on. Usually it's not too important since there are plenty of opportunities to pick up kills in time, but in this case it comes dorsum to bite me later on.

Walking out of palace 2 I get reasonably good spawns, even though some of them took random steps towards me to mess me upwardly. I current of air upward with 3 encounters before the span. The swamp is a hateful identify, and for my coin, iii encounters is acceptable.

Afterwards the bridge I hit an run across. I consider this a mistake because I certainly could have dodged it. But the step I was on was proficient, then I continued on.

During the hammer run, I am shorter on kills than usual. Typically you choice up a couple of octoroks in the swamp. I like for the ache right before the hammer cavern proper to exist the drop. So I shift to plan B, which is to become to 4 kills, spawn ii megmats and become the drop there. I missed the megmats with my outset ii attacks, accidentally spawn the 3rd and take unintended damage. This plan wastes a bit of fourth dimension by default since turning around for kills is slightly slower than picking them upwards in front end of you, and flailing around similar an idiot on elevation of that costs a flake more. Otherwise, all damage is intended and this section of the game goes acceptably.

On the way to the great palace, I become 1 encounter. This is common, simply 0 is sometimes possible hither. 2 is too pretty common, then I feel 1 is still solid.

The cracking palace went very well. A few less-than-optimal moments but I never hit any of the invisible walls, the damage I accidentally take isn't a big hindrance, and all together possibly only 1-2 seconds are lost in the whole affair.

Night Link tried to steal the run from me with murder, but for what I was given, the fight went well.

So I call back a run with no mistakes at all could exist a flake less than nine:38. A run with godly encounter spawns could break ix:thirty. But in full general I am very happy with how this turned out, 9:45 was my upper limit for what I considered good enough for submission since a run with that fourth dimension would need very solid play with no large mistakes. And besides, I am seriously burned out on attempts then for now, this is The Run.

Lastly, I'd similar to give thanks everyone who plays Zelda 2. You're the reason I all the same play information technology too. Also sorry I wrote so many words, guys.

100% Single-segment in ane:15:22 past Travis Hofman.

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Author'southward comments:

Thank you to the SDA staff for making SDA an awesome identify. So far, I've done three different speed runs for SDA. The first was submitted when Mike Uyama headed things. The 2d was submitted when Flip was only about to take over and he was my contact. This ane was submitted a few months later on Puwexil started doing the submission procedure.3 different runs, iii dissimilar contacts, hmmm.

I'd also like to give thanks the guys running The Sunday Sequence Break. They mentioned my run on one prove and after I sent the run to one of them, they showed some clips from the run on a later show even though information technology broke from their policy of only plugging a run once. Thanks.
This run was done on the Wii VC. At that place is only one thing I know that was stock-still in that version. If yous level at the same time as leaving area in the NES version, the game freezes. In the Wii VC one, information technology doesn't. All the flashing was as well removed when you cast/acquire spells and beat bosses. Other than those changes, I haven't noticed any differences between this and the NES i.

Things start out pretty well for me. The one encounter I had on the style to the kickoff Middle Container south of Palace i was pretty typical. The bubble encounters could have gone a tad amend, simply they were good enough. I usually hit an see going support that tiny path back to Palace ane. It'due south rare that I don't.

During and after Palace 1 upwards to the end of Death Mountain, things went pretty well. Death Mountain had a couple bumps, merely nada likewise major really, though overall it could have been amend. What happens right after Expiry Mountain, that was ... just bad gameplay. After what happens on the span and in the Medicine cave, I decided this run was going to be just practice. Needing to cast Life and so not getting a cherry potion drop was bad. Niggling did I know that this was going to have the all-time second half of the game I've ever had.
Palace 2 goes pretty smoothly. That casting of life about the Glove was unnecessary. I show a unlike strategy on Helmethead than what I've seen in the past. Ideally, I would accept not gotten hitting and right after I knocked his 2nd helmet off I would accept jackhammered his head again. Would have saved another 2nd or two, plus it looks cool killing him before his second helmet hits the footing.

That drib right before Palace three was planned. It was either the Blue Goriya or the Blue Stalfos. seventy xp is better than 30. I would have preferred a 200 P-bag though and gotten a carmine potion from the statue at the commencement of Palace 3. No such luck though. It's possible to get in then the Blueish Goriya and other enemies in that part of the cavern don't appear if you get the Heart Container near Palace 2 after finishing Palace 2. That would have messed with my drops though.

I go straight to the raft and level up there past jackhammering the Blue Ironknuckle to expiry. Getting five hits in with left handed button mashing is pretty tough actually. I've failed to pull it off plenty of times. I striking the head left of the lift afterwards hoping for an Ironknuckle. No such luck this time. Yes, an Ironknuckle can announced from that head. Screw logic, this is a Zelda game. For whatever reason, I was thinking I needed to be at 250 xp when I hit the lift, which would have been true if I got that Ironknuckle instead of a potion bottle. Rebonack (the boss) could have easily gone better. I don't jackhammer him at the outset because whenever I did, I fell through him and got striking. I'm certain if it was timed right, one wouldn't go through him though. I was going to cast shield for the boss out of habit, but cease myself.

I kill everything I can while going to Palace iv. I need xp to level magic right before getting the boots. I end upwardly at 0 when I get the boots. Even later on, I need even more xp so I hit the statue on the style out and actually get an Ironknuckle. I probably couldn't kill him that rapidly once again if I tried. I accept the forced encounters most Darunia instead of skipping them for more than xp.

The return trip to Palace 4 goes near perfectly, except for grabbing the P-bag and a couple hits, and those encounters that never happen if I destroy whatsoever forests. Information technology doesn't really matter which key y'all go. The one on top of the lift is closer in the room with the key, but the elevator room is a tad longer, but has no drop. If I had gotten a potion bottle from the Ironknuckle, I would have gotten the 1 on elevation. I think it'due south almost a second faster.

Palace 5 is past far the all-time run through I always had. In fact, most of the palaces themselves were better than any other run I did before this one. Xp isn't an consequence hither the mode I level. Existence able to cast fairy twice is more than of import than increasing assail. Increasing attack would take fabricated the 2 Ruddy Ironknuckles and Gooma (the dominate) slightly faster to kill. That'southward it. The few hits I do take before the boss I blame on randomness. My strategy for Gooma I wouldn't recommend for any%, fifty-fifty though information technology'due south faster than what I've seen anywhere on the web except for the TAS. At that place's a reason I cast Shield for that fight. Plenty of deaths happened here.

I get Fire at present because I didn't get information technology on the way to Palace 4. I don't think information technology matters much when it's really acquired.

Palace 6 goes incredibly smoothly. For 100%, I consider this the easiest palace in the game. I was hoping for an Ironknuckle from the drop spot after the Cross, a potion bottle works simply is unnecessary. Downstabbing Barba is risky, but oh so fast and cool. Doing the jackhammer isn't recommended because falling through him is decease, and there's a good chance it'll happen. I decided on this strategy later on noticing that he kept popping up on the correct for me. I recollect this has to do with getting in there quickly and turning left. I believe that his AI is gear up for him to appear backside you lot. The decision seems to be made while he's rearing his ugly head, or in the case of the fight just starting, while you're waiting for him to appear. I don't know for a fact if whatever of that is true though. Or, information technology could just exist I cast Jump when I did. When I did other things, he appeared randomly. I only know that when I did the same affair, he appeared in the same place.

I chose my level up strategy generally for leveling magic at the end of the Valley of Death. This allows me to enter the Great Palace with full magic while making the Valley of Decease relatively easy.

I opted to take the TAS route through the Dandy Temple instead of the normal way. This decision was made considering I had a run I was thinking I wasn't going to exist improved past a whole lot. Plus it looks absurd, and that'southward as important as being fast in a speed run. Figuring out how to do it without full life and the starting position were the trickiest parts of learning the play tricks. Information technology skips 2 or 3 rooms total compared to the normal way too, so information technology has the potential to be faster. I don't think I was significantly faster this time compared to what I've seen washed past other runners though. I did take a petty extra fourth dimension to set it up. After I got the TAS skip on the first effort, I looked at my time and realized this was going to be a personal all-time, fifty-fifty if I did die. I almost had Thunderbird killed by the third pass. Missing that one assail screwed that over though. I get to say this though: NO HIT THUNDERBIRD! I was nervous enough at this point I cast Shield against Dark Link. I didn't desire to adventure death at this point, even though I had plenty of health. I besides do a graphical glitch after Dark Link dies. I employ the Jump spell because I'm used to not having enough magic to cast anything else. I unremarkably got magic at either of the other drop spots.

In case anyone is wondering, my previous all-time was about one:16:32. This run, 1:15:18 past my timing, was over a infinitesimal faster.

This run isn't without faults so it's time to talk improvements. Doing Expiry Mountain before Parapa Palace is obvious. This is a trivial over a minute, perhaps more. If I accept my best splits for the route I took, there is about 1 minute of improvements. All of which is in westward Hyrule betwixt the end of Palace one and the end of Palace 2, so Death Mountain.

There is also xxx seconds of improvement in Palace 6 (3-Centre Stone), just that requires doing the Fairy Glitch and clipping on acme of the ceiling. Encounter http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipYzI9KWLs0 for a video about how to get on peak. It's frame perfect though. If y'all become to the correct side afterward getting on top of the ceiling just before the screen transition, spring off the elevation of the screen and cast fairy, you lot warp yourself to the right side of the next room. You lot'll still exist on the ceiling and you lot can do information technology once more and one more time placing y'all at the top right of the room yous need to fairy across. You lot would desire to manipulate for a drib from the Stalfos in the next room so you lot could finish the palace quickly though. I would say this is probably something nobody will do in a existent time speed run, but I've seen plenty of examples on SDA to know that information technology'll exist done someday. I've had the opportunity to practise it a few times while I was doing attempts, but that Stalfos didn't want to give a red potion bottle.

There are also small improvements, like not getting hitting and fugitive unwanted encounters, scattered effectually. Total, I think there's probably 3 minutes that could exist cut off this time, plus or minus a random amount because of the RNG of speed running. Or somebody that tin come up with new tricks could possibly cutting a lot more off.

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