Link’s Awakening: Seashell Mansion

 

BowWow is sufficiently exercised and fed, so it’s time for him to go home to Madam MeowMeow, who rewards Link with a kiss; the game text calls him lucky. Now it’s over to the shop and time to buy bombs and the shovel, and look at the exorbitant price tag on the bow. Link could steal it, but would be renamed THIEF, and forever unable to set foot in that shop again, so… well, maybe later. It’s not needed just yet, so we’ll just admire it for now and wait.

Before starting the approach to the next dungeon, there’s a few things to get. In the old forest, there’s a piece of heart in a cave that can be accessed now using the Power Bracelet, and a Seashell in a chest protected by a rock. There’s another cave Link can find with the Mad Batter sleeping peacefully until Link sprinkles Magic Powder on his well. The Mad Batter curses Link to have to carry more stuff, namely twice the capacity for Magic Powder. Link can get a few more Seashells: digging in Madam MeowMeow’s doghouse, in the previously-inaccessible room in Tail Cave, and digging under a bush near the cemetery.

Finally, Link can seek out Crazy Tracy, who’ll sell him her Secret Medicine, which will revive him at full life if he’s about to die, a combination of a potion and a bottled fairy from A Link to the Past. And now it’s time to start the next dungeon quest.

Richard’s Task (and Seashell Mansion)

Heading south from Mabe Village, Link finds the next dungeon, but it’s locked. Continuing on, he finds a man named Richard who offers to help with the key if Link can recover a Golden Leaf from the castle, where Richard used to live. No sooner than Link agrees to the deal does Richard change the terms: There are five Golden Leaves, and he wants them all. Link scoots out before he can change the deal further.

En route to the castle, Link makes a slight detour, discovering a place called Seashell Mansion. He goes in, and the mansion recognizes he’s got 5 Seashells, so it rewards him with another.

The castle gate is locked up tight, but by continuing around the walls, Link finds a monkey reminiscent of his old friend Kiki. Kiki wants the bunch of bananas he has, and when Link hands them over, he summons all his monkey friends to build a bridge across the moat. The monkeys leave behind a stick, so the trading sequence isn’t over yet, but Link continues on and finds a hidden passage to the castle grounds.

Two of the Golden Leaves are dropped by enemies on the castle grounds. The other three more are found inside the castle – one fairly obvious, one by blowing up castle artwork and activating the Darknuts, and the last by beating the mini-dungeon’s boss, a flail trooper. With the golden leaves, Link returns to Richard, who gives him access to a field filled with bushes, many of which are covering holes. Once Link successfully navigates the field, he finds an owl statue that tells him to look beneath his feet, and he breaks out the shovel and finds the Slime Key.

Seashell Addiction? No, I Can Stop Any Time I Want…

Before continuing on to the dungeon, Link can get half the remaining Seashells he’ll ultimately need:

  • In the tunnel between Richard’s villa to the overgrown hole-y field.
  • (At this point, before continuing the seashell collection any further, it’s best to go to the lock to Key Cavern and use the key.)
  • Under a stone along the way from Richard’s villa to Seashell Mansion.
  • Through a secret cave near the last seashell, where an owl statue says “secrets are nigh.”
    Under a bush across the water from a mermaid statue; area accessed by the same cave system as the last seashell.
  • Given by Seashell Mansion for returning with exactly 10 seashells.
  • Under bushes near Seashell Mansion.
  • Just north of the entrance to Key Cavern, accessed by jumping over pits of deep water.

Next: Key Cavern.