A Link to the Past Glitches - The Under Underworld

LTTP

Compatible Versions ? 1.0 1.1 1.2 GBA

Details Discovered: dvdmth Verified: Yes

Instructions

1. Perform the Scrolling Shenanigans glitch by hitting the right bumper twice. When you travel north to the next room, use the Hookshot to reach the upper door, then go west.
2. If you end up experiencing effects (C) or (D), head east, then go south in the middle (whether you see the right room or not).
3. Once you enter the room with the Fire Rod chest, head back east through the same door.
4. It looks like Link went back into the room opposite the door, but what you see is the dummy Link. Move back and forth until Link's true location is visible on the west side of the Fire Rod room! Use the Hookshot to cross the gap, then head east through the same door you just went through.
5. After the double-scrolling effect finishes, you'll be in a later room of the dungeon (use the Map if you don't recognize what came into view). Dash each two times to get Link's true position into view quickly. You're in mid-air! This is quickly fixed, however, by simply climbing the stairs to your north (sort of). Just walk over them and you'll "climb" to the top of the stairs. Then, climb back down them and you'll be on the bottom level, like normal.
6. Head west, through the door you see there. Link will disappear as he enters, but don't be bothered by it--just go. Another double-scroll will occur, and you'll be under the floor of the room you first went in after triggering the glitch.
7. Once you're under the dungeon floor, move Link back and forth until the camera is in sync with him.
8. Once the camera is in sync, head to the west. When Link hits the hard boundary at the end of the room, the screen will loop around, eventually stopping on the Fire Rod chest room.
9. Move Link back and forth, taking care not to go too far to the right.
10. If the camera DOES NOT scroll at this point, then go on to step 11. If the camera does scroll as you move back and forth, then go back and redo steps 8-9.
11. Go tothe east. The camera should scroll to the room east of the Fire Rod room (duh).
12. Notice the circle of pots at the Northern end of this room. Normally, you would see a spark enemy moving around these pots going clockwise.
13. Keep going east until that spark appears. (You should go the same distance you went back in steps 8-10.)
14. Now go east two more times (two more cycles around).
15. Go west. The screen will now scroll to the Fire Rod chest room.
16. Go west two more times (two cycles around). As the screen scrolls around the second time, you should see that spark enemy I mentioned above. If you don't you miscounted somewhere.
17. Go east. The screen will scroll back to where the circle of pots (and the spark) is located.

Results

If you performed these instructions correctly, the camera should now scroll normally throughout the entire Under-Underworld. That is, never again will it scroll beyond the boundaries of a map square. (It will scroll between rooms within a map square, but it should always stop at the map square's boundaries until you travel to the next sector.)

It seems to be fairly tedious, but after you've performed this procedure a couple of times, it should become fairly straight-forward. To be honest, even I don't know exactly why it works the way it does, but who's complaining: It works, and that's all that matters.

Here's a list of all the reasons why you should do this from now on when exploring the Under-Underworld:

1. No more unpredictable scrolling.
2. No more sprites disappearing as you moe around (I've had Link disappear, and I've had enemies and other objects disappear as well - now those problems are gone forever.)
3. No more going through doorways and not being sent to the right location.
4. Enemies and other objects can now be interacted with.
5. You can now see those wall masters. (If you're like me and got caught by an invisible one once in a while, you're glad now.)
6. Items now work as they should.
7. In dark rooms, Link's light "cone" now appears at the correct location.
8. You can now explore the Under-Underworld smoothly and naturally, something that prior to now was only possible in emulation!

Note that the exploration still isn't perfect - you can't enter every room's normal playing area, and it's still possible for Link to get stuck in some rooms to where he must warp out with the mirror. Also, graphical glitches still occur as the wrong sprite palette is used (although most oddities are fixed by bringing up the map, going through a door, and/or using the Ether medallion, there are some graphical quirks that remain until you leave the underworld altogether). However, this is a much-needed improvement over what we've been stuck with since the glitch was first discovered. Enjoy!

Notes

Now, by moving under the floors of different dungeons and other indoor scenes, you can get just about anywhere (with some limitations) in the underworld! But be very careful of the following:

- When moving north or south, stay in the middle of the scene currently loaded. You don't want any wraparound effect to be visible when moving north or south. Usually there are no problems, but crashes are possible if wraparounds are combined with vertical scrolling.

- Don't trust the flashlight in dark rooms. When moving west or east, the flashlight does not reveal Link's actual location. (Moving north or south is somewhat better but still not always accurate.)

- Keep your Magic Mirror handy--it's easy to get stuck when you go into a room that has both an upper level and a lower level.

To beat the game early once you're in the Under-Underworld follow this route:

• Go west near the top of the screen (to keep from getting stuck) until you reach the throne room of Hyrule Castle.
• Go north through the dark room, then stop when you reach a lighted room again (it will be a portion of the Tower of Hera).
• Go west one scene. The west side of this scene MUST be scrolled completely into view before continuing, but do not go beyond this scene. (You'll see the section of Hyrule Caster's tower, where Agahnim warped Zelda to the Dark World.)
• With the screen divided between the rooms horizontally (with the empty rooms on the right side), go north until you reach your destination (through and beyond Ganon's hideout).