A Link to the Past Glitches - Under Over Underworlds
Jump and Save Variation
Instructions
- Go to a place in the underworld where you can jump from an upper level to a lower level.
- Jump, then while Link is in the air, press Select and choose to save and quit. (NOTE: The glitch may not work at every location. For example, the first room in Hyrule Castle does not permit the glitch, although other rooms in that same dungeon do.)
- After saving, return to the file select screen and select ANY game (it doesn't matter which one you pick - it can be the same one or a different one).
Results
If the file you picked was saved in the Light World, be sure to start in either Link's House or Sanctuary - NOT the Mountain Cave (you'll see why later). If all goes well, Link will be in a "hybrid" state. Although he looks normal, the game internally thinks he is on the lower level, even though he's on the upper level. The result is that as soon as you get hit by an enemy, dash into a wall, or do certain other things, Link will magically disappear under the floor and end up in the lower level!
Note that for the glitch to work, Link must not travel to the lower level or any underworld scene prior to activation. This is because entering the lower level fixes the bug, as the erroneous "lower level" status is repaired. This is also why you cannot start at the Mountain Cave, since you begin on the lower level there.
Applications of this glitch are enormous:
- Beat the game immediately after rescuing Zelda! Now it's possible to beat the game with only 3 hearts, and (almost) nothing else!
- Explore *BOTH* underworld maps! Before, via the Skull Dungeon glitch, we could only explore one map. Now we can explore both! (See below, however, for some very annoying consequences.)
- You can even disappear under the ground in the overworld! However, doing this doesn't cause anything extraordinarily important, as the game still acts in many ways as though you were still on the surface. Basically, the result is that you disappear, but you still interact with the playfield (i.e. you bump into walls, pick up stones, enter caves, fall down holes, etc.). Most items you use will appear above the surface; thus, you can kill an enemy with the beam off of Link's sword (not the sword itself, however) and retrieve the item using the boomerang.
- If you start a new game after setting up the glitch, Link will disappear beneath the floor of his room as soon as you jump out of bed. (This is one possible starting place for exploring the new underworld.)
Three major problems exist with the new underworld, however:
(1) If you enter the underworld at one house/cave, activate the glitch, then work your way to another house/cave, then exit, you will appear outside at the place you started from - NOT the place you just exited. This is because the game does not distinguish between different exits in the second underworld, as there is no place where you can enter and exit via different doorways under normal conditions. (Note that the game actually takes advantage of this phenomenon, defining only one fortune teller place, one fairy fountain [not counting those that exist as portions of other caves], etc.)
(2) In many cases, as you explore the new underworld, the scrolling will screw up, showing signs similar to those related to the Skull Dungeon glitch. Note that these problems will not appear AT ALL in the original underworld if you use this glitch. This is because the original underworld was designed to let you move from one map sector to the next, whereas the new underworld does not have any houses/caves that scroll beyond map square boundaries. (It appears you can resolve this problem by starting in a place like Blind's [Light World] hideout, where rooms exist that stretch across multiple screens. However, this does not appear to be a 100% fix; you may still encounter the problem nevertheless.)
(3) The new underworld is much smaller. Therefore, it is very easy to scroll out of bounds, forcing the game to crash very violently (sometimes showing a weird screen with the word "BUG" written multiple times on it). IF THE GAME CRASHES, SAVED DATA MAY BECOME CORRUPTED!! I've had files copy from one slot to another, I've had files revert to an earlier saved status, and I've had files screw up entirely. This is making it very dificult for me to map out the new underworld. EXPLORE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK - BACKING UP GAMES DOES NOT GUARANTEE THE PREVENTION OF DATA LOSS!! (Apparently this game's file save system is very vulnerable.)
Notes
The glitch is demonstrated at 4:46 in the above video.
Magic Mirror Variation
The original form of the glitch used a different technique. In this case, you used the Magic Mirror to set it up.
Instructions
- Go to (for example) Level 4 of the Dark World.
- Go to a spot where you can jump down to the lower level, then try to time it so that Link uses the Magic Mirror as he starts his jump.
- This step is different depending on version
- SNES: If done right, you will return to the entrance without hearing the normal warping sound, and you will not have control over Link.
- GBA: If done right, you will hear Link's voice and the warping sound at the same time. You will have control over Link.
Results (SNES)
- If you were facing left or right when you jumped, Link will be motionless and you have to save and quit. Upon resumption, the master glitch above will be armed, so getting hit will knock Link to the lower level.)
- If you were facing north, Link will move automatically (in a very weird fashion) northward, causing some bizarre scrolling effects. Eventually, the action stops, at which point (if you haven't already done so) you will need to save and quit. (Again, the master glitch will be armed as before.)
- If you were facing south, Link moves automatically outside the dungeon. Once out, he continues his automatic motion southward, but will stop after a couple of seconds. At this point, you regain control of Link, and the master glitch will be armed. (This provides a method of activating the glitch without saving in the process.)
Results (GBA)
- The master glitch will be armed.
