By Dan Merrill, aka Hylian Dan
Contents
Introduction
The first Zelda game I ever played was Link’s Awakening. I wasn’t very good at it. When I finally beat the game after a few years, the death count that showed up next to my file was pretty high.
I decided to play the game again, this time without dying once. I didn’t quite make it – when Link would twirl around and fall down dead, I’d frantically turn the game off before it would record the death. So in that way I managed to beat Link’s Awakening with a death count of zero, and the game rewarded me with a slightly extended ending.
Now, when I play a new Zelda game, it’s rare for me to see the game over screen more than once or twice, and even then it’s usually only when I’m being recklessly sloppy. I don’t think I’m the only one who’s had this sort of experience with the series.
As players, our skills have grown. We’ve become more familiar with the gameplay mechanics of Zelda games. And the games themselves seem to be getting easier, with no option for adjusting the difficulty settings.
When I breeze through new boss battles on my first try with my health meter close to full, I often miss those good old days when the bosses terrified and overwhelmed me, when I could safely expect to die maybe half a dozen times per boss.
Fortunately, I’ve found ways to recreate that sort of experience. The following list of challenges was created for all of you who wish there was more fear and difficulty in the 3D boss battles, for all of you who feel nostalgic for the days when you’d see Zelda’s game over screen again and again and again, and for all of you with free time on your hands.
I created and play-tested these boss challenges hoping they’ll provide the sort of thrill and desperation for veterans of the series that I originally felt when playing Zelda games. I haven’t just tried to create meaninglessly frustrating battle experiences, however. These challenges should certainly provide varying degrees of frustration, but I hope they also provide fresh gameplay variety, a solid fun factor and a sweet feeling of relief when the boss finally dies.
I’ve made videos so you can watch what most of these battles are like, but remember that the point of this list is for you to go and try some of these battles yourself.
Enjoy.
Next page: Ocarina of Time Challenges
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July 20th, 2009 at 4:55 am
Very nice, I' ll try some of them sometime. I think there's one challenge you could add to the list. I did this recently and feel very proud about it.
-In TP, defeat the two darknuts in Hyrule castle with 3 hearts, no shield, no hidden skills and 3 hearts.
I had to use a bottle fairy…so make that 6 hearts.
July 20th, 2009 at 4:57 am
Oops, I meant ordon sword instead of saying three hearts twice….
July 20th, 2009 at 5:10 am
these are great. if nintendo put a little more work into the boss battles, they could be a lot more fun.
July 20th, 2009 at 1:12 am
The iron boots make everything harder. XD
I’ve heard of “The Three Heart Challenge” throughout the Zelda community. Complete any Zelda game with only three hearts by not collecting any of the containers. Supposedly, one game would not allow you to continue unless you picked up a heart container, but I can’t remember which game or which version of a game it was.
These days, I only die when I’m being reckless or when my 3 heart self runs afoul of a new enemy or hazard that jumps me. I can’t think of a single time that I died during Phantom Hourglass, even if I did come close. I usually have more difficulty with small ledges and bottomless pits than bosses.
July 20th, 2009 at 5:25 am
Great challenges. I don't think I'm Hylian enough to try these though. :/
July 20th, 2009 at 6:57 am
That game would be Ocarina of Time. If you skip the heart container after defeating Gohma in the Deku Tree dungeon, the Deku Tree will give it to you anyway and the one left in Gohma's room disappears.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:01 am
Some of these are pretty good, but a lot of them involve the generic "Iron Boots + Limited Run" challenge that fans use a lot. Still, things like stunning Ganon with a jump attack, fighting Twinmold as Goron Link, and fighting Majora's Mask in Deku Form stand out.
July 20th, 2009 at 8:30 am
I have the Collector's Edition Wind Waker demo, and I've tried so many times to race through that dungeon before the 20 minutes are up. It is VERY hard, but kind of fun to try.
July 20th, 2009 at 1:05 pm
try beat gannondorf whit no shield and 3 hearts in TP
July 20th, 2009 at 1:45 pm
I'm certainly gonna try what you said about Spirit Tracks.
July 20th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
really? cuz i did a 3 heart OoT run and beat the game w/ only 3 hears…
July 20th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
I'm good at Zelda, but not to the point of trying these challenges and winning! Good luck, guys!
July 20th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
I beat the King Bulblin one in Hyrule Castle using only Bomb Arrows. It was part of my Three Heart + Minimal Master Sword Challenge.
July 20th, 2009 at 7:40 pm
I'd like to add one for Bongo Bongo
-no c items
-broken giants knife
-kokiri boots only
Difficulty – brutal
No lens of truth to see where bongo bongo is, but its always obvious he's between the hands. No bow/hookshot for the hands but luckily your sword can stun the hands too. Broken giants knife always make it a challenge. Have fun!
Also for TP you can use a glitch to skip the ordon sword and keep the wooden sword for the entire game which should be a pretty hard challenge.
July 20th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
I dont have Ocarina of time any more but when i had it I tried challenge #5 it was hard at first but i got used to it. They look like fun challenges!
July 21st, 2009 at 1:20 am
XD Try beating the four darknuts the second time through the cave of ordeals, I have every Zelda game and I still had trouble on those guys with twenty hearts, but then again, I tend to use no shield when I tried it again I had it equipped and it made it much easier.
July 21st, 2009 at 4:00 am
this inspired me to play twilight princess with the 3 heart challenge!
July 21st, 2009 at 4:01 am
Holy CRAP. I don't think I'd be able to do these EVER.
July 21st, 2009 at 4:02 am
How is that hard? Do it shieldless and with and with the ordon sword.the OHKO is nasty though.
July 21st, 2009 at 4:41 am
That'd be A Link to the Past, which makes you take the Heart Containers after taking out the bosses in the dungeons. I think you could finish with 13 hears minimum, by skipping all Pieces of Heart and the extra container in the Sanctuary.
July 21st, 2009 at 2:37 pm
I'm going to try all the Majoras challenges, but I'm sure I'll die tons of times haha.
July 21st, 2009 at 3:27 pm
I did the Gohdan challenge my first play-through of WW. At that time I really didn't have that much knowledge of L-Targeting but I was still able to beat him my first time around, thankfully I had 2 half-empty bottles of Blue Potion
July 21st, 2009 at 6:56 pm
I like all of these! They are GREAT! But I found a challenge for Ganon in OOT. Don't get the double magic meter or the "super hearts" as I like to call it, because the double your defense. I found it to be hard because the pots under you don't give you much magic. And you can't miss Ganon with the light arrows. It a real challenge!
July 22nd, 2009 at 4:35 pm
What garbage repel the rays of Ganon with one pot of fairy and a broken sword cut he.ok
July 23rd, 2009 at 2:06 pm
I have a challenge. In TP in the final fight with Ganon, have the iron boots on the whole time and never chance him at all. It's kinda hard. Once you get the hang of it it's easy.
July 24th, 2009 at 6:03 pm
I am definitely going to try some of these!
July 28th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
The first time i fought Ganon, i only had the boomerang : o And i actually made him collapse! took a loooong time though x D
August 7th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
Try defeat Dark Link using Iron boots and Z(or L in Collector)-TargetingFor the "veteran Hylians" like me it's still a medium to easy, but it's still fun to do.
November 20th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
My favorite zelda boss EVER was Ganondorf in TP. They need more bosses like that.