The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past Glitches

Scrolling Shenanigans
1) Enter the Dark world and go to Skeleton Forest.

2) Drop down the east most hole(1st screenshot) to enter the large room in the Skull Dungeon with three Gibdos, a Wall Master, several bumpers, spikes, a key in a chest and a keydoor in the northeast corner.

3) Kill all the enemies and make sure the northen door is unlocked.

5) Go in between the two bumpers that are almost touching each other near the north side of the room.

6) Make sure Link is on the southern side of the pot between the bumpers, and as close to the pot as he can be, then face north.

7) While facing north, press and hold B to charge a spin attack.

8) Move sideways into one of the bumpers(the results of the glitch change depending on which one you bump into, see below for more info).

9) After Link bounces off that bumper, but before he hits the other bumper, release B to perform the Spin Attack. (Timing has to be perfect - Link should be about halfway, possible a little farther, from one bumper to the next. It will definitely take several tries to get it right in many cases.)

10) Exit through the northern door without touching any walls or pots. (Otherwise, the effect of the bumping may be lost.)

If all went well, the screen should scroll horizontally beyond the walls of the room. You will see the room containing the Fire Rod chest on BOTH sides of the room you're in.

Depending on which bumper you hit, and how many times you perform the glitch, you can achieve one of the three following results. For result 1, have Link hit the right bumper first. For result 2, have Link hit the left bumper first. Finally, for result 3, perform the glitch twice, using the same bumper as your starting point each time. Finally, you can undo the glitch simply by performing it again in the opposite direction you performed it previously.

(All directions are from the room you enter after leaving the bumper room.)

RESULT 1

If you go west through the southern door, you will end up stuck in a wall and will have to use the mirror to get out. If you travel through the northern passage instead, you will enter the "Glitch Zone" (See below). Once in the Glitch Zone, the camera will no longer scroll abnormally, but it will foxus on the wrong room (not the room Link is actually in). As you move around, you will see a "dummy" version of Link on the screen, with no shield. That is a graphical glitch and does not reflect Link's true position. (Use the map to confirm his actual location.) RESULT 2 Same as result 1, except:

When you enter the Glitch Zone, the camera will continue to scroll out of bounds. This lets you synchronize the camera back with Link by moving back and forth. Some doorways will not work exactly the same as before, meaning it's easier for Link to get stuck in a wall (requiring you to use the mirror to get out). Although you can synchronize the camera with Link, what you see is a "clone" of Link. He moves through the room normally and looks perfectly fine, but he cannot interact with anything very well (pots disappear, enemies go through him, switches don't activate, and many items won't work properly.) RESULT 3

When you pass through either doorway heading west, Link will end up in the room with the Fire Rod chest, as you would normally expect. However, the camera continues to scroll out of bounds. The game otherwise acts normally until you go through another door... This is the effect you want for the Under-Underworld glitch.

THE GLITCH ZONE (These instructions assume you used result #1 above. If you used result the latter stages of the exploration].)
 * 2, things wil vary as doors won't always work the same [particularly in

Room #1: You are in the Big Key room. Camera focuses on room east of Big Key room. Head east to go to Room #2. Go south for Room #3.

Room #2: You are back in the room you were in right before entering the Glitch Zone. Camera focuses on room with Fire Rod chest. Go south to return to bumper room (you can redo the glitch for a different effect if desired at that point). Go west through northern passage to return to Room #2. Go west through southern passage to go to Room #3.

Room #3: This is the room where Link moves a statue onto a switch to open a doorway. You cannot go north because you cannot interact with the statue or switch. Camera focuses on room just west of Fire Rod treasure chest (which is also just east of where Link actually is). Go south to exit the dungeon altogether. Go west for Room #4.

Room #4: You are now in the room west of the Fire Rod room, with the camera focusing on the room you just left. (If the key door is still locked, Link will sometimes get stuck inside the door, forcing you to use the Magic Mirror.) Go east to return to Room #3, or go south for Room #5.

Room #5: Link is in the compass room (very difficult to navigate if you got the compass). Camera focuses on room west of compass room. Go north to return to Room #4. Go east for Room #6 or west for Room #7.

Room #6: Link is in the room west of the compass room, with the camera focused on the compass room itself. Unfortunately, Link is positioned right over a bottomless pit, so you can't do anything but fall repeatedly.

Room #7: This room is the room of the Swamp Palace (level 2) where Link gues through a waterfall to access a hidden doorawy. You can synchronize the camera to Link here (since the room is two screens wide), but you can't do anything else because Link is suspended in midair above the room's floor, making it impossible to go anywhere.

The Under-Underworld
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). This should get you back in the room with the bumpers. Try again until you achieve effect (B).

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.

[Sometimes it only takes one loop around to get the camera to stop on the Fire Rod room, while other times it can take three or four cycles. However, it shouldn't take longer than that - it you go half a dozen times around and the camera refuses to stay on the Fire Rod chest room, you should consider using the Magic Mirror and restarting.]

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.

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!

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).