Zelda I Quest 1 Walkthrough

First Quest Overworld Map

Important Locations (First Quest)

Items

Here is a nice little walkthrough for all the important items that you get in the overworld.

Level Walkthroughs

Level One

Level Two

Level Three

If you already got the items I suggested in the two previous walkthroughs, then there isn't anything you need to get before you move on to level 3.

Level 3 is located in grid (E,8). From the starting screen, go up one screen, left four screens, down one screen, and right one screen.

In this level, you're introduced to an enemy that's a little more difficult, the red Darknut. These are little red knights that wander around aimlessly, trying to stab you. You can attack them from all sides except the front. You have to do some fancy swordwork because these guys have a knack for pointing their shield at you as soon as you swipe at them.

In the room where the raft is, just avoid all the enemies and go straight down the stairs. Trying to fight all the little knights isn't worth the trouble.

The boss of this level is kind of frustrating. It's this giant monster with four heads that floats around the room. The goal is to kill all four heads. You can hurt the heads with your sword, but that will take forever. I recommend that you use your bombs. Watch him for a moment to get the right timing, and then place a bomb where you think he will pass by. If you timed it right, the bomb could blow off two or three of his heads (or all four if it goes off in the exact center of the monster). Be careful though, as more of his heads disappear, he moves much faster. This boss will take good timing and good luck.

Now we start to get down to the nitty-gritty. This level will introduce a brand-new concept: dark rooms. When you enter one of these rooms, it will be black and you'll have to use the candle to light up the room (please note that dark rooms are indicated by dark-blue rectangles on the map). But before you head off to level 4, you should go and get the letter and another heart container.

The next heart container is in grid (R,3). From the starting screen, go right eight screens, and up five screens (you'll use the raft).

The letter is in grid (Q,1). From the starting screen, go right four screens, up five screens, right two screens, up one screen, right one screen, and up one screen. After you get the letter, you can buy potion from the various old ladies (the caves where the person didn't talk). When you go into a shop with the old lady, equip the letter and use it; then you will be able to buy life-restoring potion.

Now it's time to go on to level 4.

Level 4 is located in grid (F,5). From the starting screen, go up one screen, left two screens, and up two screens (you'll need to use the raft).

This level is simple and fast if you know how to navigate it right. First of all, you'll need to get the stepladder. Be careful when you enter the room with the stepladder, because there are monsters in there that will eat your shield. They look kind of like big sandwiches, and if you touch them they'll suck you in. Once you kill all the enemies in the room, push one of the blocks in the center to reveal a hidden stairway.

After you get the ladder, go two rooms right, up one room, and right one room. Then bomb open the door on the top to lead you into a secret room full of rupees. Next, bomb the wall to the right, which will take you to the room next to the boss. DO NOT bomb the door to the left because it comtains the boss from level 3, and it's just a hassle that you don't need to deal with. In the room to the left of the boss are some of those giant things that split into bats, just kill them and push one of the blocks to open the door to the boss. The boss of this level, Gleelock, is mildly difficult. He is a funky dragon with two heads. He is only vulnerable in the heads at the end of his long necks. When you kill one of the heads, it turns into a red spirit that floats around the room and shoots fireballs at you. Unfortunately, you can't hurt the red heads and you can't block the fireballs even if you have the big shield. Just kill it as fast as you can. Get the heart and you're off to level five.

Level Five

Before you go to level five, buy potion! You will need it. Also, make sure you have at least one hundred rupees if you want to increase your bomb capacity.

Level five is in grid (M,1), and you have to be persistent to get to it. From the starting screen, go right one screen, up five screens, left one screen, up one screen, right four screens, and up five screens. When you go up, you'll keep getting the same screen until you hit number five and you go to the screen with the entrance.

In this level, you'll encounter a few new enemies. One of them is call Pols Voice, and they look like really screwed up bunnies. They're really easy to kill if you use an arrow, otherwise they take about a dozen sword hits. You'll also encounter Gibdos, which are mummies. Just relentlessly stab them until they're dead.

The first item you need to get in this level is the whistle. From the entrance, go up one screen and left two screens. In the room with the stairway, you will encounter blue Darknuts. These guys are like the red ones except they totally suck. Just keep moving and stab them when you get the chance. These knights have a knack for turning and running into you at the most unexpected moments. Just hit and run. It'll take time to kill them if you want to stay alive. Once you kill those God-forsaken hellspawns, move the corner block on the left side of the diamond and go through the secret passageway. From the new room, go left. In this room is another gaggle of Darknuts. Kill them and push a block to reveal yet another stairway. Go down the stairs to get the nice shiny whistle.

Now, I know what you're thinking: "How do I get more bombs?" Well, there's a simple answer to that. From the room where you go the whistle, go right a screen and down a screen. Bomb the wall on the right to meet an old man. For one hundred rupees, he wil enable you to carry a maximum of twelve bombs.

Now, go back through that secret passageway you went thorugh and go back to the room just above the entrance. Cross the little river stream thing and go up a room. Don't bother with the Dodongos and go right one room, up three rooms, and left three rooms. Be careful and try not to get yourself killed on the way to the boss. The boss, Digdogger, is much easier than you think. First, blow the whistle and he'll shrink to a very puny size. Then quickly slash him with your sword before he starts floating all over the place. After you beat the boss, go up to get the Triforce. Don't go down a screen because that's just a death-trap.

Level Six

In my opinion, level six is the second-hardest level in the game (level 9 being the hardest). First of all, make sure that you have twelve heart containers. If you followed my walkthrough, you should have that many by now.

When you have twelve hearts, you need to go get the Magical Sword. It is located in grid (B,3); from the start screen, go right one screen, up five screens, left two screens, down one screen, left one screen, up one screen, left two screens, down one screen, left two screens, and up one screen. Push the middle gravestone in the second row from the right to reveal a hidden stairway where the old man will give you the sword.

The second thing you must have before going to level six is life potion. I've been playing this game for thirteen years and I still need to use potion in this level. It just so happens that there is a potion shop conveniently located near where you currently are. From where you get the Magical Sword, go down one screen, and right two screens. Bomb the third wall from the right to reveal a secret potion shop.

Now, if you're going to level six from the aforementioned potion shop, simply go left one screen and up one screen. From the beginning of the game, go right one screen, up five screens, left two screens, down one screen, left one screen, up one screen, left two screens, down one screen, left one screen and up one screen.

This level introduces the most ruthless enemy in the Zelda series: blue wizzrobes. In my honest opinion, I think they are the hardest and most persistent enemies of all the Zelda games. There is no easy strategy to beat them because they have the nasty habit of charging you without warning and relentlessly pummeling you with magic spells. In other words, they suck royally. Be careful as you make your way through the various rooms, because some doors close on you and you have to kill all the enemies before they'll open again. Some of these rooms contain Like-Likes (the sandwich things that eat your shield), avoid them at all costs. If they eat your shield, I seriously recommend that you go buy another one because the wizzrobes will definitely kill you. This is one level where you absolutely need a shield; unless you're macho and you think you can do it by yourself. Go ahead and try, I dare you.

Also beware of our good friend Gleelock (the dragon with a lot of heads, remember?). He is located one room left and six rooms up from the entrance. He's an annoyance but you have to beat him to get through the level.

To get the magic wand, from the entrance go left one room, up six rooms, right one room and up one room. Kill all those very annyoing wizzrobes and push the block to reveal a hidden stairway. The wand really isn't necessary to beat the game, but it's an interesting item to have.

If you're a good Zelda player, you should have extra keys so you don't have to waste time getting them in the levels. Assuming you have some keys, here is how you get to the boss. From the room with the magic wand, go down three rooms, and right one room. There is a secret passageway in this room, so go through it to get to the other side of the level. From here, go down one room and left one room. Go up to get to the boss, going down will lead you into a deathtrap. Before going one room up to the boss, make sure your arrows are equipped. If you time it right, you should be able to shoot an arrow the moment you enter Ghoma's room and shoot it directly into her eye. In case you don't have good timing (like me), wait until Ghoma opens her eye and shoot an arrow into it. It'll only take one arrow to defeat Ghoma (a suprisingly easy boss for such a difficult level).

Level Seven

Level seven is a welcome break from the difficult level six. I think level seven is quite easy, of course it might just be that way for me because I've been playing this game for as long as I can remember. This level will give you a very useful item: the red candle. You can finally use a candle more than once in a particular screen, which makes finding bushes to burn a lot less time-consuming. Also, before you go to level seven, make sure you have the bait (the piece of red meat on a bone). You'll need it to get through a certain part of the level, and you'll lose it from your inventory when you do need it. One more thing: have at least one hundred rupees on hand if you want another bomb upgrade.

Level seven is located in grid (C,5). From the start screen, go up one screen, left four screens, up one screen, left one screen, and up one screen. I'm sure you're asking yourself, "Kasuto, there's no level here! It's just an empty pond!" Well, you've got some attitude mister. Simply blow your whistle and watch the pond magically dry up and reveal a stairway. I told you I was always right (well, I might not have actaully told you, but you knew it all along).

Let me guess, you're not happy with being able to carry only twelve bombs (assuming you got the upgrade in level five). Well, let me tell you something. Back in my day, we were happy with eight bombs! We didn't need twelve, let alone sixteen. And you know what else? We had to walk fifteen miles to school in the middle of winter, with snow six feet deep and no shoes! Kids today don't know what hardship is....(rambles endlessly). Sorry, I guess I got of on a little tangent there, or maybe it was a cosine (math joke, heh-heh).

Anyways, to get the bomb upgrade, from the entrance go up one screen, left one screen (bomb the wall), and up two screens (bombing yet another wall). The nice old man will enable you to carry sixteen bombs for the low, low price of 100 rupees! That's right ladies and gentlemen! For only 100 rupees you can carry sixteen bombs! You won't find a deal like this anywhere else! And, if you call within the next fifteen minutes, you'll get this wonderful Ginsu knife absolutely free! This knife will cut through solid titanium without going dull! Oops...sorry, I thought I was doing an infomercial.

Now you want the red candle, don't you? From the entrance, go up four rooms, left one room, an up one room. In this room you'll se a red Goriya that says "Grumble, Grumble..." Equip the bait, walk right up to him, and give him the bait. The bait will disappear from your inventory, but so will our hungry little friend. From here, go up one room, and left two rooms (you'll need to bomb a wall open in the process). Kill all those guys in the room and push the block that leads to the stairway with leads to the red candle.

Now, here is how you get to the easy, easy boss. From the room where you got the candle, bomb the wall to the right and go right two rooms. Go up one room, bomb another wall and go right another room. Kill all those annoying hands while avoiding the Bubbles (those flashing things that hit you and prevent you from using your sword for a few seconds). Once, you've killed all the hands, push one of the blocks to reveal a secret stairway (figure out which block to push on your own, I'm not gonna make it that easy for you). Once you emerge from the secret passageway, bomb the wall to the right to go to get to the boss. Now you're faced with the riduculously easy Aquamentus (remember him from level one?). Off him really quick and go get the Triforce.

Level Eight

Level eight isn't that difficult. You should have gained enough experience in the previous dungeons to make getting through this one a breeze. In this level, you'll get the disappointing magic book and the very handy magical key.

To get to the wondeful level eight, from the start screen, go right four screens, up two screens, right one screen (take the upper path), down one screen, and right one screen. You see that poor little bush that's all alone in its row? Well, go and burn it (hn, hn, fire! fire!; dammit Beavis, shut up!). Take the newly revealed stairway to the dark depths of level eight.

The first item to get in this level is the Book of Magic. This is probably the most useless item. What it does is make the beams from your magic wand turn into fire when it hits something (e.g., an enemy or a wall). To get the magic book, go left two rooms from the entrance. Please note that the first room to the left of the entrance contains Manhandla, the boss of level three. When you get to the room with the book, kill all the enemies and push a block to get to the staircase.

The good item in this level is the Magical Key. To get it, from the entrance go up six rooms and right one room. The first room above the entrance contains a blue Ghoma, it's just like the boss of level six except it takes more arrows to kill. Make your way up, killing enemies and bombing walls as needed. When you reach the room with the Magical Key, simply go down the stairs. When you get the Magical Key, the little key on your status screen will read "A". That's means you have infinite keys.

Now it's time to go to the boss. From the entrance, go up four rooms, and right one room. Go down the stairway and through the secret passageway. In the room the passageway leads to, simply bomb the wall and go up one screen. You are faced with the familiar boss Gleelock. It is just like the one in level 4, except this one has four heads. Just slash at the heads, avoiding the red heads that float around after you defeat one of Gleelock's four heads. Once you defeat him, get the heart and Triforce, and prepare to go to level nine.

Level Nine

You've finally made it. The last dungeon of the game is waiting for you. In level 9, you will encounter many enemies and pitfalls that would discourage any normal player. You have to be strong and persistent. Just remember that potion is a must for this level. Unless you're cheating or you are a better player than me (impossible, I know), you will need life potion. If you don't have any, you'll die. The sheer size and complexity of level 9 is mind-boggling. If you don't know where you're going, this level will take you around in circles. Don't get frustrated and throw the controller across the room like I used to do.

Level nine is located in grid (F,1). From the starting screen, go right one screen, up five screens, left one screen, up one screen, cross the river and go up another screen, and left two screens. In this screen you will see two large boulders. Bomb open the wall on the boulder at the left side of the screen. Remember how I told you that you will need potion? Well, there is a potion shop conveniently located one screen left of level 9. You might need to visit it a few times.

Here is how to get the red ring, probably the most useful item in the game. From the entrance go up two rooms, bomb the wall and go left one room, go down the secret passageway, go right two rooms, go down one room, bomb the wall and go right one room, bomb the walls and go up two rooms. Unveil the secret passageway and go get the red ring. After you get it, Link will turn a nice red color.

The next thing you absolutely must get to beat the game are the silver arrows. I don't know how many times I've managed to get to Ganon's room without the silver arrows. It's not fun. From the entrance, go up two rooms, left one room and through the secret passageway, right two rooms, up one room, bomb the wall and go left one room. Defeat all the enemies and push a block to reveal a stairway. Go through this secret passageway. From this room, go left two more rooms. Go down the stairs and through yet another secret passageway. In hte new room, bomb the wall and go up one screen. Kill all the enemies and push a block to reveal a secret staircase. Yes! You finally found the silver arrows!

Now it's time to go put the smack-down on Ganon.To get to the evil boss Ganon will take quite a few twists and turns. From the entrance, go up two rooms, left one room and through the secret passageway, right two rooms, up one room, left one room and through the secret passageway, left two rooms, up one room, left one room, and up two rooms. Kill the enemies and push block to reveal a, you gussed it!, another sevret stairway. In the new room, bomb the wall and go left one room and down yet another secret passageway. The room you come out in is directly below Ganon. Kill that funky fly-thing with the mini-flies that circle around it. You have to kill the little orange flies before you can kill the big blue one. Once that's done, go up one room to face Ganon.

When you first enter Ganon's lair, the rooms darkens and the door closes behind you. Link pulls out the Triforce and the room lights up. There you are faced with the final boss, Ganon. It'll take a little strategy and a lot of luck to beat him. His disappears and you have to slash your sword blindly to hit him. The only hint of his actual position is the fireballs that seem to come from random places in the room. My strategy is to run around the room, slashing my sword everywhere. Eventually, you will hit Ganon, causing for him to appear momentarily. After you hit him, he will appear red instead of his normal blue. When Ganon is red, that is the time to shoot the silver arrows. If you're quick enough, you might only have to stun him once and let out a barrage of arrows. However, you might have to stun him a few times before you can get enough arrows into him. Once you kill Ganon, the Triforce of Power will be left behind. Grab the Triforce and the doors will open. Go up one room to see Zelda. Oh no! She's surrounded by fire! Relax, jsut hit the fires with your sword and kill them just like any onther enemy. Walk up to Zelda to complete your journey.

Congratulations, you have beaten Zelda I. But wait, there's more! You're not finished. There is a second quest to do. The second quest is much harder than the first, especially the levels.