“First, defeat the imprisoned Pols Voice. Last, the skeletal Stalfos…”
This simple yet subtle line of dialogue still sends chills down my spine. The original Game Boy version of Link’s Awakening was my first Zelda game, but this puzzle in the Bottle Grotto dungeon perplexed me for several months. After nearly giving up on the game and, quite frankly, the series overall, I stumbled upon the solution by happenchance. The remainder of the game was a breeze, but I always wondered why the Nightmare Key puzzle in Bottle Grotto was so nuanced. Outside of the Moblins, the names of common enemies are hardly discussed in the game so how were players expected to decern between a Pols Voice and a Stalfos?
Even the game’s instruction booklet offered little help. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the Pols Voice has an odd history in the Zelda series, which dates back to the hardware differences between the Japanese Famicom and the Nintendo Entertainment System as well as a subtle translation mishap in the original Legend of Zelda game.
Each new installment in the Zelda franchise has always tried to integrate new hardware features with innovative gameplay mechanics. Although the systems are nearly identical, the original NES and Famicom have one striking hardware difference: the latter features a second controller with a built-in microphone. During the development of the original Zelda game, the development team wanted to feature the Famicom controller’s microphone. By speaking loudly into the microphone, all Pols Voice enemies immediately vanish from the screen; thus, the legend of the Pols Voice was born.
While the mechanic was revolutionary for the time, the hardware differences between the Famicom and the NES meant that the Western version of the game had to be altered. To compensate for the console disparity, the Zelda team made the NES version of the Pols Voice enemies highly vulnerable to arrows. This change was a suitable and balanced compromise as Pols Voice enemies were not susceptible to damage from arrows in the Japanese Famicom version. With the gameplay properly altered to compensate for the hardware differences, the Western version of the original Zelda game released to critical acclaim; however, the staff made a subtle mistake in the English translation of the game’s instruction manual.
Buried on page 36 of the English instruction manual, the Pols Voice enemy description is nearly identical to the Japanese version, which suggests that the ghost hates loud noise. While this piece of information was meant as an Easter egg for Japanese Famicom players to test the system’s microphone, many Western fans interpreted this description to mean that the Pols Voice was susceptible to the Recorder’s melody. This correlation appears to be a natural fit; however, the Recorder does not damage Pols Voice enemies.
Recognizing the mistake, the Zelda team was at a crossroads when deciding how to best integrate Pols Voice enemies into future titles. Should they gloss over the enemy description mishap in the original Legend of Zelda English manual? Should the team embrace the slight mishap as part of the enemy’s lore? Ironically, the development staff opted for the latter, which created a charming ripple effect in future titles.
Pols Voice enemies returned for Link’s Awakening, but this time the enemy was vulnerable to the in-game musical notes of the Ocarina. By playing the “Ballad of the Wind Fish,” Pols Voice enemies vanish in the same vein as the Japanese version of the original Legend of Zelda. This mechanic is a lifesaver as Pols Voice enemies are not susceptible to standard sword attacks. On a side note, the Ocarina mechanic does little to help solve the Nightmare Key puzzle in Bottle Grotto as the instrument cannot be obtained until acquiring the Pegasus Boots in the subsequent dungeon.
Similar to Link’s Awakening, Pols Voice returned in Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages and can easily be vanquished by playing the Flute and Harp of Ages, respectively. Pols Voice enemies made their latest appearance in the Phantom Hourglass‘ Temple of Courage, which employed a similar microphone mechanic as the Japanese Famicom version of The Legend of Zelda. However, instead of instantaneous defeat, Pols Voice enemies in Phantom Hourglass merely become vulnerable once players blow into the Nintendo DS microphone.
While the Zelda team converted a simple translation mishap into an adorable piece of ongoing lore, porting the original Legend of Zelda to other Nintendo systems also proved to be challenging. For example, the Game Boy Advance does not have a built-in microphone; therefore, the Zelda team altered the Japanese GBA port so players could defeat all Pols Voice enemies by pressing the select button four times. Similarly, the Japanese Wii Virtual Console port required players to rotate the C-stick to perform the same function; however, neither mechanic works in the PAL or Western versions of the games.
For the consoles that had built-in microphone capability, the Zelda team did their best to replicate the original Japanese Famicom version. In the Japanese 3DS Virtual Console release, players must select the second controller before making a loud noise or blowing into the microphone, and failing to do so causes the enemies to remain on the screen.
There you have it: the quirky and ongoing history of the Pols Voice ghost. While my initial angst over the 1993 version of Link’s Awakening remains an oddity in my gaming journey, discovering the history of the Pols Voice enemy has added perspective and context to my childhood memories. While the revelation cannot reverse those months of frustration, these examples of subtle peculiarity in Zelda games are what make the series so endearing to millions of players.
