The Legend of Zelda Mega Review Part II: Levels 1-4

As promised yesterday, today I'll continue the review-mini walk through of Zelda, by writing a short pass through levels 1-4.

At this time, if you have followed the steps in part 1, Link should have 6 heart containers, the white sword and the blue ring. You might also have, if you took the time to kill enemies for rupees, the magical shield, the bait (meat) and the arrow.

• Level 1, "The Eagle"

Level 1 entrance

Dungeon map

Level 1 is located on screen H4 of the map (see part 1). It is known also as "The Eagle" because of its map shape. The lake that surrounds the island that it is located is Lake Hylia.

The boomerang

Link at the bow underground chamber

In this level Link will acquire two items, the bow (which can shoot arrows in the cost of 1 rupee per arrow-get the arrows from the shop on screen K5) and the boomerang (it can stun some enemies for a small period of time and only flies through half the screen). 

The bow is located on the top left of the level (5 screen up and 1 left from the entrance) down the stairs, and the boomerang 3 screens up and 1 left (you have to kill the red Goriyas to get it). 

The enemies that are found on this dungeon are Blade Traps, Gels, Goriyas, Keeses, Stalfos and Wallmasters.

Aquamentus

The dungeon boss is Aquamentus, a green dragon that is very easy to defeat. You have to stab him or shoot swords at him 3-4 times (if you have the white sword) and avoid the fireballs he shoots. After you defeat him, get the heart container and go to the next room to get the Triforce piece.

• Level 2, "The Moon"

Level 2 entrance

"The Moon" map

Level 2, aka "The Moon", is located in screen M4 deep in the green forest.

In this dungeon, Link will have to kill many Ropes (snakes) as the place is packed with them. Other enemies found are Blade Traps, Gels, Goriyas, Keeses and Moldorms. Ropes are very "rich" and, when killed, they will leave almost every time 5 rupees, so this is the place to get the money for your purchases.

Magical boomerang

The item that you'll find here is the magical boomerang located 1 screen right, 3 up and 1 right from the entrance. This boomerang is the same as the plain one, but it can shoot through the whole screen.

Dodongo

A little further up you'll visit the old man that says "Dodongo dislikes smoke". At this point, make sure you have at least 6 bombs. Continue on until you find the dungeon boss, Dodongo, a dinosaur-like creature. There are two ways of defeating him: The first and the easiest one is two "feed" him a bomb by placing it on its walking course. This way he has to eat 3 bombs to die. The other way is to have a bomb to explode when he passes by. This way he'll be stunned for a couple of seconds and if you stab him with your sword, he'll die. Once you kill Dodongo, get the heart container and the Triforce piece and on we go to Level 3.

• Level 3, "The Manji"

Level 3 entrance

Manji or Nazi? Why would they even do that?

Level 3, aka "The Manji" is located on screen E8 not far from the "Lost Woods". The shape on this dungeon is a bit weird, as it looks like a Nazi swastika. In Japan, this symbol resembles the Hindu or Buddhist manji, but in Europe and the USA this shape raised a few eyebrows, when the game came out.

This dungeon introduces Darknut (a knight-like enemy) that is one of the most difficult enemies in the game. Other enemies found here are Blade Trap, Keese (blue) and Zol (blue).

The raft

The item that is found here is the raft, that is used on special platform found in the game and allows Link to cross the sea. It is located on the bottom left corner, 1 screen left, 2 up, 2 left and 1 down from the entrance.

Manhandla

The dungeon boss is Manhandla. Manhandla is some sort of plant with four claws attached. It goes around the room firing at you with fire balls. It's probably the first boss in the game that is moderately challenging. Try and avoid getting hit by it, as even the Magical Shield can't block the fireballs. There are 2 ways to defeat Manhandla. The first one is to bomb the shit out of him. The goal is to lose all his claws. If one bomb hits him in the center, he goes off only with 1 hit. The other way is to stab the claws  (4 hits per claw with white sword) until no claws remain. You can also use both ways to defeat him.

Pick up the heart container and the Triforce piece and proceed.

• Level 4, "The Snake"

Level 4 entrance

The Snake is quite a complex level

Level 4, aka "The Snake", is located on screen F5 and is the second island that is surrounded by Lake Hylia. You get there by using the raft from screen F6. At this point you can get one more extra heart container using the raft, but it's better to wait to beat Level 4, so you can get another one too, as they are pretty close to each other.

Link found the stepladder. Yay...

The enemies found here are Blade Traps, Bubbles, Gels, Keeses, Like Likes, Vires and Zols. Be careful of the Like-Likes as if they get you for long enough they will "eat" your Magical Shield. This is the first dungeon that Link will face a mini boss, a quite challenging one, Manhandla.

The key item here is the stepladder. It is located 2 screens up, 1 left, 2 up and 2 right from the entrance. This item allows Link to cross areas he usually cannot,  such as a one-square gap of water or lava. Like the raft,  the stepladder does not require any particular action from Link in order to be used. He simply needs to walk to the edge of the gap, and it will automatically appear below him, allowing him to cross.

Gleeok

The dungeon boss is Gleeok. Gleeok is a 2 headed dragon that shoots fireballs. It's a pretty tough boss so be careful. Use your sword to attack his heads. Each head requires 4 stabs to kill. Once the heads are off, Gleeok is dead.

Grab the heart container and the Triforce piece and continue on.

• Overworld heart containers, Magical Sword and Power Bracelet

Now that your have completed the first 4 dungeons it's time to get some Overworld items. Go to screen P6 and, using the stepladder, get one heart container. Two screens above, P4, use the raft to get another heart container. Now you must have 12 heart containers and you are ready to get the Magical Sword, the most powerful sword in the game.

Head to B7 and go up, left, down, left (Go North, west, south, west, in the forest of maze) and reach A7. From this screen go to B4 and move the grave that is located on the second row from the right up. Enter and get the Magical Sword.

Link holding the Power Bracelet

Finally, get the Power Bracelet. Go to screen E3 and touch the Armos on the top row, farthest right next to the screen edge. Voila! The Power Bracelet is revealed. Now you can travel easily using the ladders that are in the four rock closed formation that are found in the game.

Next post: Levels 5-8