Source : Nintendo.com - Iwata Asks


Volume 2 : The History of Handheld The Legend of Zelda Games
  1. Like an Afterschool Club
  2. Kirby and Chomps in Zelda
  3. Make All the Characters Suspicious Types
  4. Dealing with 'Veteran' Gamers
  5. Bonus Stage 1: Ancient Documents from 1985
  6. Bonus 2: The Untold Story of the Second Quest

Bonus 2: The Untold Story of the Second Quest

Nakago

And I've got something even more interesting today. This is the first dungeon map ever created for The Legend of Zelda.

Tezuka

Basically, we were going to make lots of dungeons using one square per room, and lay them out like a jigsaw puzzle.

Iwata

In order to fit in as many dungeons as possible given the limited memory, you were making them like you were doing a puzzle.

Nakago

Right. Tezuka-san said, "I did it!" and brought this to me. I created the data exactly in line with it, but then Tezuka-san made a mistake and only used half of the data.

I said, "Tezuka-san, there's only half here. Where did the other half go?" and he was like, "What?! Oops, I messed up..." But Miyamoto-san said it was fine just like that.

Tezuka

Heh heh heh. (laughs)

Nakago

So, using the half of the memory that was left over, we decided to create the Second Quest20.

Iwata

Huh? Just wait a second. If Tezuka-san hadn't messed up, there'd have been no Second Quest?

Nakago

Yes, that's right.

Iwata

Whaaat?! (laughs)

Everyone

(laughs)

20. Second Quest: A second adventure of greater difficulty prepared for players who had cleared the original quest in The Legend of Zelda. When you play this quest, Link on the select screen changes so he's holding a sword.

Tezuka

Is it all right to reveal this? (laughs)

Nakago

But it's true! (laughs) And this is the original for the Second Quest.

Iwata

So this is the Second Quest resulting from Tezuka-san's mistake...

Tezuka

(as if suddenly remembering) Oh, that's right...

Iwata

Was it Miyamoto-san who suggested turning this into a second quest?

Tezuka

I imagine so.

Nakago

Yeah, it was.

Tezuka

He didn't tell us to just remake the game.

Nakago

He said this was just right.

Aonuma

Just right?

Nakago

He played it, and it felt just right.

Iwata

Whew! Now that's what you call turning a tight spot into an opportunity! (laughs)

Nakago

There's actually something I forgot to mention last time in "Iwata Asks."

Iwata

Are you going to bring out another ancient document? (laughs)

Nakago

Yes! It's for Super Mario, but...

Iwata

Okay, from now on this is "Iwata Forgot to Ask: New Super Mario Bros. Wii." (laughs)

Nakago

When I first heard the basic conception for Super Mario Bros., there were five worlds.

Iwata

There are eight now, but at first there were only five?

Nakago

Miyamoto-san wrote them down on a sheet of A4 paper, and said, "This is what I have in mind." He'd written down the outlines of five worlds. I said, "All right," and then he said, "Actually there's something else I'd like to talk to you about..." There was actually another sheet there. He opened it up, and the other three worlds appeared.

Iwata

In other words, he'd used an A3 sheet of paper.

Nakago

That's right. A sheet of A3 paper folded in half. He showed me the five worlds on one side, got me to agree, and then...

Iwata

He revealed there were a few more.

Aonuma

What a way to get your consent! (laughs)

Nakago

Here's that paper. It says "Underwater 2 + α". That means "Underwater 2," which was planned for 3-2, plus a little more. In other words, the idea was to import the underwater stage of World 3-2 into World 7-2 without changing the geographical forms, but increasing the number of enemies. In the end, there was no "Underwater 2," and 7-2 was "Underwater 1 (2-2) + α."

Iwata

So even though the worlds increased, you used the same material, so it was no big problem.

Tezuka

He wasn't foisting an unreasonable task onto us. He was suggesting something possible.

Nakago

All the while plotting how to get me to agree. (laughs) I forgot to mention it before, so I thought I absolutely must this time.

Iwata

I'm surprised Super Mario Bros. was so fully laid out from the beginning.

Tezuka

The other day, Miyamoto-san also saw this for the first time in a long while.

Iwata

What was his reaction?

Tezuka

He was floored.

Everyone

(laughs)

Nakago

When I told him about his five-worlds ploy, he said, "Yeah, I did that on purpose."

Tezuka

And he even said, "I pulled the same stunts back then."

Nakago

He hasn't changed in 25 years!

Aonuma

With this, and the map for The Legend of Zelda we just saw, you were making games after establishing a view of the whole picture at the start. Learning that alone makes me happy I came today.

Nakago

It makes a big difference whether you have a vision of the complete picture or not.

Aonuma

Right as rain! Oh, Miyamoto-san always says that.

Tezuka

I think you mean "clear as day."

Aonuma

You're right. That was it. Miyamoto-san likes things to be clear as day. And he absolutely loves the situation where he can say, "I see." He orders us to persuade him to be able to say, "I see."

Iwata

He wants to hear it from the others, and he wants to say it himself.

Tezuka

Yeah. I think recently he's realized that himself. That he wants to be put into the situation where he can say it.

Aonuma

He likes to say "I see."

Iwata

He lives for it.

Nakago

I see...

Everyone

(laughs)

Iwata

It's fate that someone like that made The Legend of Zelda.

Aonuma

I think so, too.

Iwata

I mean, when you're playing The Legend of Zelda there are places where you want to say "I see."

Aonuma

I completely agree. I see.

Everyone

(laughs)