The screenshots on this page were assembled by Fizzboing. The commentary was compiled from feedback by members of The Cutting Room Floor’s forums, including GoldS, Xkeeper, Sponty, xdaniel, Reimu, and Bloodstar, some of whom previously contributed to my similar features on A Link to the Past and the Oracles series.

Onto the Screenshots!

First of all, let’s cover some points that are different in all the screenshots.

The graphics for the hearts on the status bar were changed slightly in the final:

However, the icons for half hearts still use the same shading seen on the prerelease hearts:

All of the dungeon screenshots use the level 1 tileset. Normally, a different tileset is used by each one though sometimes it does repeat.

The lanterns were removed from the final version of this room. In addition, the southern exit was made one space wider, while the little barrier to the right of the key space was changed to two big blocks.

In the released game, the treasure chest and bushes have been moved two squares upwards, and the enemy has been removed. The chest was moved further north.

The racoon is never found here. The path normally runs north to south, unlike the junction displayed here. The grass and trees have been altered as well.

There is no gap in the trees to the left in the final version of the map, possibly pointing to the existence of a deleted path.

One of the recurring discrepancies here is the amounts for various items. In the final game, you can’t obtain 99 of anything. The number of bombs and arrows you can hold is capped at 60.

The Fire Rod normally never has a counter on it at all. Perhaps it indicated the number of times it could be used before having to be replenished somehow. It also boasts a different icon in the final game:

There is also a counter on the Secret Medicine, despite the fact that you can only carry one at a time, and the Guardian Acorn usually isn’t an inventory item at all. However, both these items have unused data that would have allowed them to appear for sale in the Item Shop.

As for the instruments, the Full Moon Cello and Coral Triangle switched places. The cymbals in the picture were replaced with the Wind Marimba ().

Speaking of switching places, the Secret Medicine and trading item (pictured here as the Yoshi Doll) also swapped positions. The Yoshi Doll sprite was redrawn in the final game and scaled to 16×16 from 8×16. Today it looks like this:

Finally, the Face Key () is missing, and there’s no room for the Angler Key (). This is because the player normally trades the 5 Golden Leaves for the Slime Key (), which then replaces them on the inventory screen. Here they’re seen side-by-side, taking up two spots. The coin beside the Yoshi doll in the top row isn’t in the final game at all.

Here we see the unused coin item again. It seems to have been replaced with another 30 rupee prize in the final game. The Yoshi Doll and heart also switched places, possibly to make the doll easier to get.

On a random note, the guy who runs the Trendy Game is Takamitsu Kuzuhara, one of the Link’s Awakening developers. You can read more about it (and other Link’s Awakening trivia) in this interview. Kuzuhara also appears to have been the model for Ulrira, according to his cryptic statements in another interview, and the fact that his Facebook page has “ururira” in the URL. (But shh, *that’s* a secret to everyone…)

Lots of map differences! Let’s compare to the final version.

-First off, the early version is lacking the house on the upper-left part of the map (Mr. Write’s house in the final game) isn’t present in the early screenshot.

-The Tal Tal Mountain Range juts out to the third row, but it’s confined to the top two rows in the final game. The entire mountain range seems to be different, but unfortunately the top row of the map seems to have been cut off.

-Here, the skull tree representing the Tabahl Wasteland is a normal tree.

-Kanalet Castle uses different tiles.

-The River Rapids section is four tiles larger Interestingly, those four tiles are still labeled as “River Rapids” in the final game, even though they aren’t!

-The entrance to the Mysterious Woods was changed from a tree to three dotted tiles and a house in the final. This was probably to make room for the Fishing Game.

-The Koholint Prairie (the 3 dotted tiles and house that start to the right of the Mysterious Woods) is four tiles larger.

-The Face Shrine and Ancient Ruins use different tiles than in the final game. Here, they look identical.

-The house directly east of Mabe Village isn’t depicted on the map in the final version. It marks the location of a telephone booth.

-The lake to the east of that house is one tiler larger in the early map.

-The Martha’s Bay area extends much further out.

-There’s another 2×2 lake near the beach that’s completely missing from the final map. This is where the Signpost Maze is in the final version.

-The four blank tiles near the beach are filled in on the final map.

-Animal Village is represented by one large house on the early map, and four small houses on the final map.

-The house south of the Catfish’s Maw entrance isn’t on the final map. This is where The Mourning Mermaid statue appears in the final game.

-The final map’s House by the Bay isn’t present in this early version.

-Lastly, the lake south of Animal Village is two tiles larger.

The final map has many more pots, and one unlit torch. The design on the floor is also different. The witch’s cabinet and bed are missing. Where will she sleep?! The torch design has changed a bit, too.

In the final game, the southern exit was changed to line up with the fairy pond.

In the final game, this room has a Keese and a Blade Trap. The pushable block and torch are missing, and instead there’s an inverse L-shaped hole in the center of the room. The right-hand hole is a block smaller. The floor graphics have been changed, too.

In the final game, the room only has two Sparks.

This shot doesn’t resemble any map from the final game. The graves aren’t normally aligned in that alternating fashion.

The final version of Hot Head’s boss room has a different pattern on the floor, a relocated door, and another section of ground. His shadow also lacks the white outline.

The bridge area in the final version doesn’t resemble this at all. The background seen here no longer exists in the game.