Into the Labyrinth

As stated in the manual, eight dragons are causing havok in Hyrule. They refuse to live in peace and they plan to conquer the land. Zelda has been captured in the battle between Hylian and dragon. You, the lone hero Link, resolve to slay every dragon in the labyrinth in which they hide. These dragons plan to stop you with the aid of Stalfos skeletons, goblins and ghosts.

This game is very simple, with the up button to climb stairs, down to use the Water of Life, and the left and right buttons to move in the desired location one step per push. The big black attack button uses your sword to attack or block the ghost.

The following has been taken from the game's instruction manual.

Link
The hero of the game. He risks his life and fights to rescue Princess Zelda.

Princess Zelda
Link's sweetheart who was kidnapped by the dragons and locked inside a deep dungeon.

Goblin
The boss who lives in each of the chambers in the labyrinth. You must defeat each of them to advance to the next chamber.

Dragon
The boss of each of the labyrinth worlds. He spits fire while attacking with his tail.

Stalfos
Between one and four of these appear in each of the chambers. You cannot attack them.

Ghosts
They attack Link from behind. You cannot attack them.

Timing
The game begins with Link in a chamber with one Goblin and a Stalfos. Like with all Goblins, block the spears he throws untill he reaches over the ledge for you. Attack his head at this point. When the Stalfos under you begins to raise his sword, you should dodge backwards. I usually fall back at the last minute, as in later levels you need timing to avoid getting stabbed.

Traveling and Battle Strategy
When the Goblin is defeated, it is always best to go right, as that is where the tomahawk is. Even though going right requires you to go through more chambers, it is best as you can rack up more points and life.
Once you have five hearts, you are able to shoot beams from your sword. At this point, I retreat to the far left corner and just let the beams fly over to the doomed Goblin. This strategy also works with four Stafloses under your feet and a ghost behind you. Once a sence of timing is established and the sword shoots beams, you are essencally invincible (unless you get careless).

Dragons
The dragons all share the same strategy. Get the axe, and be prepared to spen a lot of your time dodging. When I do battle, I usually attack, dodge, attack, and dodge. Though this is time consuming, it preserves your five heart life-span for those dungeons. In other words, do not be bullish and attack at full force. Also beware the tail. It is hard to see and sometimes forces you to doge right into a fireball.

Tomahawk
This weapon is three times stronger than your sword. You automatically use it when you are pitted against a dragon. You should find this weapon as it is very important to beat the game. To find it, keep going right when given a choice to travel. Once a dragon is defeated, you may no longer use the axe.

Map
This shows you what the dungeon looks like. You will find that level 1 and level 5 are identical, as is 2 to 6, 3 to 7, and 4 to 8. It is not important to find this item. It also shows you what room you are in.

Water of Life
This is the same as it is in all the other Zelda games. It refills your life. Unlike other Zelda games, when you run out of hearts, it automatically gives you maximum life. You can have only one bottle at a time. To use it at any other time press down.

Heart
This is self explanitory to Zelda fans -- it revives your life meter by one heart.

• There is no pause button -- be prepared for long battles. Once a battle is over, you can rest for up to four minutes until the game turns off.
• If you have a sword beam and you hit the Goblin head on, you will inflict six points of damage (3 points for your sword and 3 points for the beam).
• Enemies attack in a fixed pattern. Once you learn them, you are set. Goblins attack then dodge. Stalfos follow you and attack when you are above them for about a second. Ghosts rise up, spit a spear, and drop down. Dragons spit a constant stream of fire.
• Use the continue key if you die (you lose you current score and you start with three hearts).
• When you beat the game, you are given a second quest with harder bosses.
• If you are on level eight, you will see Zelda locked up on the boss screen.
• It is fairly important to rest your hands and mind as the later levels can be frustrating.
• Don't ask me how to set the clock -- I still have no idea how to set it.