The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
The 16-bit action-adventure benchmark. Light and Dark World routing, dungeon order, item and upgrade locations, and randomizer basics.
September 2026
3 posts
A Link to the Past Crystal Switches: One Byte, Whole Dungeon
A Link to the Past does not track its orange and blue Switch Fence panels room by room. One RAM byte, shared by the entire dungeon, decides whether every crystal switch and every panel in it is up or down — including the ones in rooms you have not opened yet. Here is the exact byte, what it will and will not respond to, and why it resets the second you walk back through the door.
A Link to the Past I-Frames: 58 Frames After a Hit
One byte at $031F runs the mercy window. It gets loaded with 58 after an enemy touches you, and while it is counting down, contact damage, projectile trails, electric shocks, your own bombs and the spike tiles all skip their damage check. Here is what that buys you, and where it quietly runs out.
A Link to the Past Movement Speed: When Dashing Is Slower
A Link to the Past does not simulate movement. It looks it up. One byte picks your speed, the byte divided by sixteen is your pixels per frame, and every surface and every held item swaps the byte for a worse one. Here is the table, and the arithmetic that says the Pegasus Shoes are a loss under four and a half tiles.
August 2026
9 posts
A Link to the Past Death Guide: Every Respawn Point
A Game Over in A Link to the Past does not cost you a rupee, a bomb, an arrow or a small key. It costs you position, four escort quests, and a number the credits will read back to you at the end. Here is the whole death routine, read off the code that runs it.
A Link to the Past GBA Riddle Quest: All 10 Answers
Ten one-line clues, ten things to scoop up with the Bug-Catching Net, and a sword technique at the end of it. The Riddle Quest only exists on the Game Boy Advance cartridge, and it will not start until you have won ten Medals of Courage in Four Swords.
A Link to the Past Small Keys: All 61, Dungeon by Dungeon
Palace of Darkness keeps all six of its keys in treasure chests. Desert Palace keeps none of its four in a chest at all. Here is the key count for every dungeon in the game, and where the ones you cannot find are actually hiding.
A Link to the Past Enemy Drops: All 7 Prize Packs Explained
Zoras pay out bombs on every single kill. Wizzrobes drop hearts. A Keese drops nothing in the Light World and pulls the best table in the game in the Dark World. Here is the entire drop system, out of the ROM.
A Link to the Past Damage Guide: Every Weapon Number and What Your Mail Really Does
The Golden Sword spin attack deals exactly what a Golden Sword swing deals. The Magic Hammer hits as hard as a Tempered Sword. And the Blue Mail does nothing whatsoever about a Beamos. Here are the real numbers, out of the ROM.
A Link to the Past Magic Guide: What Every Item Costs and How to Refill It
A Link to the Past never puts a number on magic. The meter holds 128 points, the Fire Rod takes 16 of them, the Lamp charges you 4 every time you press it, and there is a freeze-then-hammer trick that forces a magic drop 100% of the time.
A Link to the Past Speedrun Guide: Categories and Tech
The world record for beating A Link to the Past is 1:28. The record for beating it the way Nintendo built it is 1:22:56. Here is what separates the three rulesets, what every category actually demands, and which glitches a "no major glitches" run is allowed to use.
A Link to the Past Enemy Guide: Every Sword-Proof Monster and What Kills It
A Link to the Past spends the whole game upgrading your sword and then fills the Dark World with things the sword cannot touch. Here is every armored, reforming, and element-locked enemy in Hyrule, and the one item that actually finishes it.
A Link to the Past Rupee Guide: Every Price in Hyrule and How to Pay It
The wallet caps at 999 and the single most expensive purchase in the game eats more than half of it. Here is every price in A Link to the Past, which minigames actually pay out, the shield you should never buy, and the secret room holding 225 rupees.
July 2026
10 posts
A Link to the Past Randomizer: The Beginner Guide to ALTTPR
The randomizer does not change the map, the enemies, or the music. It empties 216 item locations and refills them from a shuffled pool, and suddenly a 1991 game you have beaten nine times is a route-finding puzzle you have never played.
A Link to the Past Light World Guide: The Half of Hyrule Everyone Underrates
Everyone remembers the Dark World. But the Light World is where the Flute fast-travel lives, where half your bottles and upgrades hide, and where a whole quest turns Kakariko into a warp hub most players never bother to unlock. Here is the map you thought you already knew.
A Link to the Past SNES vs GBA: Every Difference That Actually Matters
The Game Boy Advance port is not just A Link to the Past on a smaller screen. It has a bonus dungeon, a secret sword technique, a rewritten script, a shorter viewport, and a Link who yells every time he swings. Here is every difference worth knowing before you pick a version.
A Link to the Past Bottles Guide: All 4 Locations and What to Fill Them With
Bottles are the most underrated item in A Link to the Past. Four of them exist, one of them unlocks the Bug Catching Net, and a bottled fairy is a free extra life. Here is where all four are and what belongs inside them.
A Link to the Past Heart Pieces Guide: All 24 Locations
Four Pieces of Heart make a container, and A Link to the Past hides 24 of them — three behind minigames, a pile more behind the Magic Mirror. Here is every one, and the tools you need before you go looking.
A Link to the Past Dark World Guide: Crystals, Mirror Tricks, and the Stuff Nobody Tells You
Agahnim drops you on top of a golden pyramid with no map, no explanation, and seven crystals to find. Here is how the Dark World is actually laid out, what gates what, and which detours are worth taking before Ganon Tower.
A Link to the Past Boss Guide: Every Boss and How to Kill It
A Link to the Past has thirteen boss fights and almost every one is an item check in disguise. Here is what beats each of them — including the one weapon without which Ganon literally cannot die.
A Link to the Past Beginner Guide: Your First Ten Hours
A Link to the Past hands you a sword and a rainstorm and then says almost nothing else. Here is the route, the combat, and the item order that turn a confusing first hour into a game you can actually finish.
A Link to the Past Dungeon Order: All 11 Dungeons Routed
The dungeon numbers in A Link to the Past lie to you. Level 3 can be beaten fifth, Level 6 can be beaten before Level 3, and one dungeon is gated behind a medallion you get from a catfish. Here is the actual route.
A Link to the Past Items and Upgrades: Every Tier Explained
The Golden Sword hits eight times as hard as the sword your uncle gives you, and half magic doubles every rod, cane, and cape in your inventory. A Link to the Past hides its best upgrades behind optional detours. Here is all of them.