12 Legend Of Zelda ROM Hacks That Show Another Side Of Hyrule

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Menu Follow Followed Like More Action Sign in now ARC Raiders Where Winds Meet Pokemon Legends: Z-A Ghost of Yotei Events Release Dates Close By TheGamer Staff & Gabrielle Huston Updated Jun 30, 2022 Sign in to your TheGamer account Add Us On follow Follow followed Followed Like Like Log in Here is a fact-based summary of the story contents: Try something different: Show me the facts Explain it like I’m 5 Give me a lighthearted recap

Hacks and mods are such an interesting phenomenon. It doesn’t matter if the application is simple like tweaking a game’s difficulty balance, or creating a whole new space. Why do people go through the paces? Why dedicate so much time to a single game and not just make your own?

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Let’s look at The Legend of Zelda, for example, which is today’s subject. It, like many games, has a hugely dedicated fan base. Making a game by yourself is more challenging than a hack, so perhaps it’s also a learning experience. Why not learn the ropes while creating something fun from one of your favorite games?

Updated June 28, 2022, by Gabrielle Huston: Who could resist mods, hacks, or anything, frankly, to shake up a game they love and adore, but have played 300 times? That's what we're here to help with.

12 Los Hyrule

Creator	WillanZilv
Where To Find It	GameBanana
Game	Breath of the Wild

This hack is a simple mod that replaces Link with a model for CJ from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas into the Wii U version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Another hack lets you turn bears into CJ’s pal, Big Smoke. Not only can you blast away fools in the realm of Hyrule as one sick gangster, but also you can do so atop a large version of Big Smoke.

Now, along with the model changes, voice samplings from Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas have been included as well. Nothing new, but it’s a nice touch. We couldn’t have thought of a weirder hack if we tried.

11 Bad To The Bone

Creator	XmodxGodX
Where To Find It	Romhacking.net
Game	Ocarina of Time

This is a sprite mod for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time that replaces the kid Link with a Stalchild and the grown up Link with Ganondorf.

Despite there being a lot of hacks up on Romhacking.net and elsewhere, there aren't many that transform the typical hero into a villain, be it Ganon, Ganondorf, or otherwise. Unfortunately, that’s all this mod does. Time to conquer Hyrule, Ganondorf style.

10 Trapped In A Cube

Creator	PuzzleDude
Where To Find It	Romhacking.net
Game	A Link To The Past

Zelda3 Cube is a hack of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Super Nintendo. To those familiar with the film, Cube, this may come as a surprise. For those that aren’t, allow us to explain.

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Cube is a thriller wherein people have to escape an ever-evolving dungeon. Every room presents a new set of dangers and a puzzle to solve in order to get out alive.

Zelda3 Cube is a play off of that, but less gruesome. It’s designed as one big dungeon and negates your typical land exploration for something smaller and more thought-provoking.

9 A Fiery Present

Creator	PuzzleDude
Where To Find It	Romhacking.net
Game	Ocarina of Time

Zelda’s Birthday is a hack of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Nintendo 64. If you couldn’t tell from hinted the title, the story revolves around Princess Zelda’s birthday. All of her gifts have been stolen and it’s up to you, as kid Link, to retrieve the missing parcels.

Doesn’t that sound exciting? Well, it actually is because you have to go to the underworld to retrieve them. Even for young love, going into the abyss may make you hesitate. Beware!

8 The Master Corn

Creator	Dr. Floppy
Where To Find It	Romhacking.net
Game	The Legend of Zelda

It’s called The Legend of Iowa and is a hack of the original The Legend of Zelda game for the NES. As the name suggests it’s a complete remake, replacing nearly every tile and sprite in the game to make it seem more like a Hyrule adventure starring a farmer from Iowa, duh.

Instead of dungeons, you traverse meth labs. Hmm, sounds more like a Breaking Bad riff on The Legend of Zelda. Not only that, but also the sound effects and music have been altered too. They aren’t original though. If you have a good ear you might recognize them as 8-Bit covers of some more famous tracks.

7 Er, Or?

Creator	Nesplayer
Where To Find It	Romhacking.net
Game	The Adventure of Link

Zelda II: The Adventure of Error is, of course, a hack of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link for the NES. It replaces Link with a random, albeit famous, NPC from the original game: Error. Now, this game is kind of like the black sheep of the family, so many may not know who Error is.

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Allow us to explain. There’s an NPC in the village of Ruto that says, “I am Error.” That’s it. Was that his name, or was that simply a bad translation? It’s actually a little of both. The quote isn’t the exact phrasing as it was found in the Japanese version, but no matter how you slice it this dude’s name is Error. That’s odd, but okay.

History aside, the mod is the exact same adventure at its core albeit with slight tweaks. The text is more vulgar and treats Error like a buffoon. Perhaps the craziest thing about this hack is that enemy sprites are replaced with random ones from other NES games. You can fight Kirby, Goombas, and other Nintendo classics.

6 Keyblade Of Time

Creator	YamGaming1
Where To Find It	GameBanana
Game	Breath of the Wild

This simple mod replaces Link with a model for Sora from Kingdom Hearts into the Wii U version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. None of the dialogue, or anything else about the game is different.

If you love Kingdom Hearts, then this is a nice alternative to Link. You can alter Sora’s clothes and even wield Keyblades. Sorry, but they still break (although there are mods to help out with that frustration too).

5 Four Makes One

Creator	Francais, Omega, PuzzleDude, and SePH
Where To Find It	Romhacking.net
Game	A Link to the Past

Zelda3: Goddess of Wisdom is a hack of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past for the Super Nintendo. Yes, PuzzleDude is back for another mod, but this time he’s in collaboration with three other guys that each have their own extensive profiles on the website.

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You begin sort of the same way. Zelda is calling out for you, your uncle leaves, and it’s raining, but this time you tackle a dungeon in Kakariko Village. As you can imagine, the rest of the world has been rearranged too. While there is nothing new really in terms of sprite work, or quests, it is an alternate version with just enough changed to keep things interesting.

4 A Gender Bender

Creator	ArchAngelofJustice
Where To Find It	Romhacking.net
Game	The Adventure of Link

It’s called The Adventure of Lady Link, a hack of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link for the NES, is similar to Zelda II: The Legend of Error; it’s the same quest as the original, but with a slight alteration. In fact, only one thing has changed.

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Link is now a long, dark-haired girl in a red tunic. That’s it. The sprite of Zelda hasn’t even been altered into a boy. It’s not much of a mod, but hey, if you’re a lady yourself and want more female protagonists, especially in The Legend of Zelda series, then here you go. It's kind of weird how no one addresses you as a girl, but that’s of little consequence anyway.

Maybe one day we can actually play as a woman in some official capacity.

3 A National Treasure

Creator	Criken2
Where To Find It	Itch.io
Game	Majora's Mask

The Cage’s Mask is a hack of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, for the Nintendo 64. If you’re a fan of the ever-amazing Nicolas Cage, then this mod will be right up your alley.

As he demonstrates in the trailer he put up on his YouTube page, Criken2 replaced all of the faces with that of Mr. Cage. He even put it on objects like weapons and shields. It’s a Nicolas Cage overload into an already creepy entry in The Legend of Zelda series.

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