Game Comparisons  »  The Legend of Zelda  »  Graphics

Graphics

Many times game localizations include graphical changes, and that holds true for The Legend of Zelda too. A handful of graphical changes were introduced during the localization process – here’s a quick peek!

Title Screen

As you might expect, the title screen is slightly different in both versions of the game.

The Famicom Disk System version says, “The Hyrule Fantasy – Zelda no Densetsu”, and below it is “Switch to Side B”.

The NES version says, “The Legend of Zelda”, and below it is, “Push Start Button”.

What is this, a record player?

So what happened to the thing about “The Hyrule Fantasy”? It was dropped completely from all the localization stuff, but in Japan it was included on everything that used this logo, from the game’s box to all related merchandise, like this board game:

Oh this might be a fun drinking game!

In a way you might even think of it as the game’s subtitle, like “Adventure of Link” or “Ocarina of Time”. In North America, though, it’s just plain ol’ “The Legend of Zelda”.

Okay, so then what’s the Side B dealy about? Well, the disks used by the Famicom Disk System are two-sided, and occasionally you would have to flip the disk over to continue. Not all FDS games were two-sided, but Zelda was.

Holy crap it's a miracle FDS games are still around with their disks exposed like that

Incidentally, the Famicom cartridge version of Zelda released in 1994 had its title and title screen changed to include a “1” in the name:

If I was dumb I'd think this means the game takes place between 1986 and 1992

This didn’t happen with any of the English-language reprints or ports, though.

A Difference of Font

Another thing that’s immediately obvious is that the English font is different in both versions of the game. The FDS version is a thin 8×8 font, while the NES version is the standard, thick 8×8 font used by lots of games back then.

Japanese players actually got the thick font years later when the cartridge version of the game was released in 1994. I guess that counts as a rare case of a double reverse localization change 😛

At first I thought screenshots with the skinny font were actually taken from a cheap ROM hack, never knew it was an official font!

Zora Makeover

Another easily-spotted graphical difference is the Zora.

In the FDS version, the Zora graphics are like all the other enemy graphics – no outlines at all.

For the NES version, they added in outlines and better contrast to the Zora graphics. This makes them a lot easier to see in the blue water. This change was kept for lots of later ports too.

Here’s a look at the Zora face in both versions:

I still refuse to accept Zoras as a legitimate race/species - to me they'll always be those bastards that shoot fireballs at you every chance they get

And here’s a look at the Zora when it’s facing away from the screen:

You mean it's not just a weird space academy symbol of some sort?

I knew the Zora had two different sprites in the NES game, but I never knew what the non-face one was – it just looked like some weird thing. I guess I never realized until now that it was supposed to be a Zora facing away from the player. It was immediately obvious to me when I saw the FDS version, though. Neat!

The Zelda Legends of Localization book also covers a few more graphical changes, a look at box art inconsistencies, a surprising mistake in the Japanese naming screen, and more!
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Last update: May 21st, 2019
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