Fan Re-Creates NES Zelda’s First Dungeon in Super Mario Maker
Posted on September 14 2015 by Rod Lloyd
After Super Mario Maker was released last week, we expected to see many awesome levels inspired by The Legend of Zelda. Unsurprisingly a few of these Zelda-centric levels have already popped up on YouTube, with one such example re-creating the very first dungeon from The Legend of Zelda on the NES. GameXplain recently took at stab at completing this level, showing how Super Mario Maker can be used to faithfully simulate the Zelda experience.
The stage, titled “The Legend of Zelda: Level 1,” was created by user LoneGoomba. As expected, the level completely re-creates the NES Zelda‘s first dungeon (Level 1: The Eagle) from layout to enemy placement to power-ups. There’s even a tense boss fight with Bowser at the end of the dungeon, taking the place of Zelda baddie Aquamentus. As GameXplain proves, this is not an easy boss to beat, even with the Link costume handy.
Obviously, reproducing a top-down experience in a Mario side-scroller is not completely accurate, but LoneGoomba does a great job of constructing the dungeon by creatively using enemies and power-ups. Power Mushrooms work like keys as they help to burst open doors and Fire Flowers work like the boomerang or bow. As GameXplain points out, the stage even bypasses Super Mario Maker‘s limitations by separating certain rooms with pipes. This is definitely a cool effort by a devoted Zelda fan.
You can play the stage for yourself at 59B7-0000-0036-B2BE.
Don’t forget to join Zelda Informer’s Zelda Maker Jam and make your very own Zelda-inspired levels. Check it out here.
Rod Lloyd is the Editor-In-Chief at Zelda Dungeon, overseeing the news and feature content for the site. Rod is considered the veteran of the writing team, having started writing for Zelda Informer in 2014 as a Junior Editor. After ZD and ZI officially merged in 2017, he stepped into the Managing Editor role and has helped steer the ship ever since. He stepped up to lead the writing team as Editor-In-Chief in 2023.
You can reach Rod at: rod.lloyd@zeldadungeon.net
