The Legend of Zelda adventure starts with gathering all items but late dungeon items and completing the first set of dungeons.
Before Level 1 – That whole laundry list of items that can be got before the first dungeon that I cited in the last post? Yeah, I rounded up all of those. This takes a bunch of rupees – the blue ring alone costs 250 – so there’s a lot of time farming rupees to collect items. I still remember my old farming route, which spends most of its time traveling along the shores before looping back to the fairy fountain east of Level 1 and then back to the start. This route is kind of harsh without a Magic Shield because it means having to dodge Zora beams in addition to everything else going on, but there’s also two heart containers along the way, and the letter isn’t far off the route.
Level 1 – The first level is designed to be run straight away. The Aquamentus isn’t very hard to begin with, and with the magic shield it’s a joke. Add the Blue Ring and the White Sword, and there’s nothing in this dungeon worth mentioning1. Well, except don’t get careless against the Wallmasters or you’ll have to do it all over again. The Boomerang drops here, and the bow is the treasure. The bow feels like I should use it more than I do, but the 1 rupee/shot cost makes it generally not feel useful, and the magic wand later outclasses it. The boomerang, on the other hand, is a great go-to B-button-item: it can kill some weak enemies, stun more enemies, and pick up items from halfway across the screen.
Level 2 – The first quest dungeons all have names based on their shape. Some are a bit abstract, but I can see them (eagle, lion). Some I can’t really tell, although the creatures they’re named for are long and skinny, so they can really be any shape (snake, lizard, dragon). The only three that I can really say I can see are moon, manji, and Death Mountain’s skull. Anyway, the Goriyas now are blue and drop the Magic Boomerang; there’s no other treasure here. This dungeon also introduces Moldorms, who seem to have flipped names with Lanmolas at some point: the Moldorms here fight on sand like the Lanmolas from A Link to the Past, and Lanmolas in this game have to be attacked from behind. And the boss is a Dodongo, with the infamous “dislikes smoke” hint… which led me astray when I first played the game, because I was trying to kill it with the candle (smoke → fire → candle). The blue, one-shot-per-screen candle. Yeah, that didn’t work. Now, of course, I’m not satisfied trying to feed them bombs; I go for the harder stun-and-stab method.
Level 3 – The old man here hints to get the White Sword, so at this point it no longer feels overpowered. This dungeon is also the introduction of Darknuts, who I remember as being epically annoying… but on reflection, they’re really not that much worse than everything else. Very few enemies in this game move in any sort of predictable pattern2; what makes Darknuts dangerous is when they suddenly turn toward you they’re immune to damage while unless you’re fast enough you’re going to get hit. Well, that and they’re immune to a lot of B-button-items. A room full of them can be difficult to find a safe place to attack from, but that’s why God invented bombs. Speaking of bombs and unpredictable patterns, Manhandlas are either quickly dispatched with a one or two bombs, or frustratingly take forever. The treasure here is the raft, which neatly leads to a heart container and to…
Level 4 – The most notable addition to the enemy roster in this dungeon is the Like Llike. The first time I played this game, I remember being so amused by being eaten by a Like Like that I didn’t bother to escape, and… well, it was less amusing when I finally did kill it and find my Magic Shield was gone. However, most of the level is Vires, which makes the level frustrating because Vires don’t drop anything if they split into Keeses, and Keeses don’t drop anything ever. And Gleeoks are the best boss in the game despite the strategy for them basically being “get up close and go stabbitystabbitystabbity until it dies.” The treasure here is the stepladder, which means that heart container that’s been teasing Link from the ocean is finally within reach, which also means…
The Mast… er, Magic Sword3 is now available! Unlike the White Sword, which you’re pretty clearly supposed to get before/after Level 3, there’s no obvious point for the Magic Sword. If you only get the heart containers from the dungeons, you won’t get enough for it; if you only get the obvious one on the dock to the east, it’ll finally become available right before Death Mountain. Around Level 6 feels the most natural, since you’re in the area anyway, and that requires getting 3-4 extra containers. I wonder why they tied sword acquisition to heart containers rather than Triforce pieces collected.
Next: The end of the first quest.