The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

This page details one or more prototype versions of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

1990 OverdumpPartially-recovered overdump data discovered within the localization prototype of Super Mario World. Mid-1991 OverdumpPartially-recovered overdump data discovered within the earlier prototype of Super Donkey.

European Builds#

英語_PAL\pal_asm\zel*.bin#

• PAL build, but uses the US "-Nintendo- PRESENTS" font upon booting the game.
• Must wait for logo to fully appear before able to skip using buttons, like in the US final.

German Builds#

ドイツ_PAL\Ger_asm1\zel*.bin#

• Some of the text on signposts is slightly moved. For example, arrows are placed above the text.

Ger_asm1	Final

French Builds#

フランス_PAL\Fra_asm1\zel*.bin#

• Has the palette used in US and other regions (The France builds appear to use a slightly lighter palette normally).

Fra_asm1	Final

• The sword drops into the title screen logo slightly sooner.
• The game's title has been localized for the title screen logo graphic "RETOUR VERS LE PASSE" ("BACK TO THE PAST" in English), which can be seen in this advertisement. (Source: Dark Linkaël)

French Advertisement	Fra_asm1	Final

• The A and D of the "ZELDA" logo in this build (and the Fra_asm build) are slightly altered, with more of a point to the top of the A.

• The Dialogue Test NPC is present in the Sanctuary.

• A few words have been changed. The biggest change is "Poudre Magique" which has become "Pouvoir Magique", as this was an error.

Eh, Eh, Eh ! Bien fait pour toi !
Pardon, c'est pas ce que je
voulais dire ! Maintenant ta
Poudre Magique diminuera
deux fois moins vite !
Félicitations ! Maintenant,
fais de ton mieux, mais à mon
avis, ce ne sera pas suffi-
sant. Mauvaise journée ! Salut.

Eh, Eh, Eh ! Bien fait pour toi !
Pardon, c'est pas ce que je
voulais dire ! Maintenant ton
Pouvoir Magique diminuera
deux fois moins vite !
Félicitations ! Maintenant,
fais de ton mieux, mais à mon
avis, ce ne sera pas suffi-
sant. Mauvaise journée ! Salut.

Vas

Va

Appuies

Appuie

Jettes

Jette

• During the credits sequence, "VAUTOURS" is misspelled as "VAVTOURS." This was corrected for the final version.

Fra_asm1	Final

• During the credits sequence, the text "VENUS. REINE DES FEES" has no dot in retail.

Fra_asm1	Final

• During the credits sequence, "PALAIS DE L'EST" is abbreviated as "P. DE L'EST" and "TOUR MONTAGNE" is misspelled as "TOUR MONTAGE."

Fra_asm1	Final

フランス_PAL\Fra_asm\zel*.bin#

• Debug features are available by default.
• This build also uses the localized title screen.

Fra_asm	Final

• The Dialogue Test NPC is present in the Sanctuary.

• A few words have been changed.

Au revoir ! Et merci beaucoup !
Maintenant, tenez-le en l'air
pour que tout le monde le voit.

Au revoir ! Et merci beaucoup !
Maintenant, tenez-le en l'air
pour que tout le monde le voie.

Merci LINK. Je sentais bien
que tu te rapprochais.

Merci, LINK Je sentais bien
que tu te rapprochais.

LINK Grâce à toi, je peux
m'échapper des griffes des
diaboliques monstres. Merci !

LINK, grâce à toi, je peux
m'échapper des griffes des
diaboliques monstres. Merci !

Canadian Builds#

フランス_NES\N_F_asm\zel*.bin#

• Runs at the speed of a PAL ROM, despite being in the North American French asm folder.
• 0x80000-0xc4000 is just padding, and the game seems to boot fine, although with missing graphics. Copying data from a retail ROM (or from the zl3.CHR file) fixes the graphical issues.
• The N_F_asm build seems to have some small graphical issues when using the retail assets, indicating some changes were most likely made somewhere.
• Has the palette used in US and other regions (the France builds appear to use a slightly lighter palette normally).

Gameplay differences, when compared to a European French ROM:

• Intro Logo sequence is slightly faster.
• Screen wipe effect when entering/exiting interiors is slightly slower.
• During the ending sequence with the Triforce, the pieces lift into the air much quicker, but the text speed is much slower to display on-screen. After the text is done, the pieces lower and come together much quicker.
• No text is present during the ending sequence showing the areas of the game, and during the credits. Additionally, the camera pans much slower during these scenes.

N_F_asm	Final

Other Builds#

More builds are present in the form of .hex files, which are within the folders located at SFC\ソースデータ\ゼルダの伝説神々のトライフォース\.

How to Make the ROMs Playable#

These builds can be made playable by converting these Intel-Hex format files into binary format. Regular hex2bin tools will usually not work correctly, as these particular hex files slightly differ from normal: the extended segment address has a 3-byte field (normally it is only 2 bytes). A python script to do this task can be found here.

After converting from .hex, the ROM will need asset data for graphics and sound inserted. To determine what to insert, refer to the .sdm files located in each source folder. These files have info about the filenames of assets, the asset file's start offset, the data size, and the ROM's destination bank + address. Typically, the following files are needed (offsets are mostly the same between all builds):

• Graphics data - zl3.chr: 0x80000 (Note: sometimes named zl3.CHR1. German builds seem to need an additional file, and the name can vary, so check the .sdm files)
• Mode 7 data - smap.CH7: 0xc4000
• Audio data - zldsound0.lst: 0xc8000, zldsound1.lst: 0xd8000, zldsound2.lst: 0xd5380

After doing these steps, four builds matched retail when compared (after fixing headers):

• 日本_Ver3\asm\zel_main.hex (JP Rev 2) - 1992/01/29 09:55:27
• フランス_PAL\Fra_asm\zel_main.hex (FR) - 1992/07/15 11:50:53
• 英語_PAL\pal_asm\zel_main.hex (EU) - 1992/06/02 10:15:00
• ドイツ_PAL\Ger_asm1\zel_main.hex (DE) - 1992/07/31 09:09:12

However, a number of unique builds are present, and some have differences which are yet to be determined (but seem minor overall). The following builds have no matches found (to retail or leaked ROMs).

Here xdelta patches to use after converting the HEX file to BIN file :

Download A Link to the Past localization prototypes xdelta patch File: A_Link_to_the_Past_(Prototypes_US-EU-GE-FR-CA_patchs).zip (info)

NES_Ver2\us_asm\tes_main.hex#

1992/02/10 13:24:24

• This build dates from after the final version (January 21, 1992), it is possible that it is a prototype of an unreleased version 1.1.
• The fog/shadow overlays in the Lost Woods, Master Sword Grove, and Skull Woods are disabled.

us_asm\tes_main.hex	Final

        BEQ KCLS40      ; mori ?
;                   ; no


        CMP #040H
        BEQ KCLS40      ; ura-mori ?
;                   ; no

;<<< 04.02.10 test >>>;     BEQ KCLS40      ; mori ?
;<<< 04.02.10 test >>>;;                    ; no


;<<< 04.02.10 test >>>;     CMP #040H
;<<< 04.02.10 test >>>;     BEQ KCLS40      ; ura-mori ?
;<<< 04.02.10 test >>>;;                    ; no

        BNE GB1W160     ; mori ?
;                   ; yes


        BEQ GB1W190     ; mori-spot-kiri ?
;                   ; no

        BNE GB1W160     ; mori ?
;                   ; yes
        BRA GB1W160     ;<<< 04.02.10 test >>>;
;


;<<< 04.02.10 test >>>      BEQ GB1W190     ; mori-spot-kiri ?
;<<< 04.02.10 test >>>;                 ; no

        BEQ KCLS40      ; mori ?
;                   ; no


        CMP #00040H
        BEQ KCLS40      ; ura-mori ?
;                   ; no

;<<< 04.02.10 test >>>      BEQ KCLS40      ; mori ?
;<<< 04.02.10 test >>>;                 ; no


;<<< 04.02.10 test >>>      CMP #00040H
;<<< 04.02.10 test >>>      BEQ KCLS40      ; ura-mori ?
;<<< 04.02.10 test >>>;                 ; no

NES_Ver2\us_asm\zel_main.hex#

1992/02/27 14:07:39

• This build dates from after the final version (January 21, 1992), it is possible that it is an unreleased version 1.1.

us_asm\zel_main.hex	Final (JP and US)

us_asm\zel_main.hex	Final (JP and US)

英語_PAL\pal_asm\zel_main1.hex#

1992/06/02 09:49:54

• This build is dated several minutes before the final version. It appears to be used for debugging only.
• Debugging features as well as the Dialogue Test NPC are present.

ドイツ_PAL\Ger_asm\zel_main1.hex#

1992/04/20 17:00:59

• Seems to have graphical issues, unlike the other builds. None of the available .CHR graphic data files work with this build. Use the xdelta patch to fix.
• Debugging features as well as the Dialogue Test NPC are present.
• "-Nintendo Presents-" as well as title screen are English versions (with ® instead of ™).
• Uses a font similar to English versions, and has "--ENERGIE--" with double hyphens.
• Features a very different translation, with differences in script text for NPCs, scenes, when receiving items, and more.
• ROM size is greater than 1MB.

Final (US)	Ger_asm\zel_main1.hex	Final

Ger_asm\zel_main1.hex	Final

Final (EU)	Ger_asm\zel_main1.hex	Final

ドイツ_PAL\Ger_asm\ger_main.hex#

1992/05/06 12:00:37

• Debugging features as well asthe Dialogue Test NPC are present.
• "-Nintendo Presents-" as well as title screen are English versions (with ® instead of ™).
• Uses a font similar to English versions, and has "--ENERGIE--" with double hyphens.
• Features a very different translation, with differences in script text for NPCs, scenes, when receiving items, and more.
• ROM size is greater than 1MB.

Ger_asm\ger_main.hex	Final

フランス_PAL\Fra_asm1\zel_main.hex#

1992/06/11 09:34:31

• This build is newer than "Fra_asm" and "Fra_asm1", but it contains the text errors of "Fra_asm1". The reason could be because of the use of ASM files from "Fra_asm1" which are older.

Others#

When compared in a hex editor, the following builds have minor differences which are yet to be determined:

• フランス_NES\N_F_asm\zel_main.hex - 1992/07/14 16:03:17

Misery Mire room revision for European version#

In the European versions, one of the largest rooms of Misery Mire was modified a little bit. According to the change date in the source code, the change was made on June 2, 1992.

Regarding the original room design, there is a glitch known in the speedrun and randomizer community to clip through the railings near the top of the room through recoiling off the nearby walls. Perhaps it was discovered by Nintendo themselves by the time of the European releases?

The majority of prototypes have the old version of the room. The French version (Fra_asm) would date between May 28, 1992 and June 2, 1992, but it is very likely that the date is May 29, 1992 precisely because of a French development cartridge with this date and which seems very close to the prototype (Fra_asm).

References#