HT Games
Avoiding Automatic Encounters
While traversing the map screen, stepping on certain tiles causes a particular area encounter before Link can pass beyond them -- similar to the way touching a wandering enemy icon initiates an encounter. If an enemy icon steps into the same area as the automatic encounter tile just as Link runs into it, Link will face the enemy rather than the tile's automatic encounter. Afterward, you can step from the area encounter tile in any direction, bypassing it altogether.
Survive a Fatal Hit
If Link gets a fatal hit (taking the last of his hit points) next to the edge of a screen and the blow knocks him into the next area, he will not die. Exploiting this glitch can help when fighting enemies for experience.
Pass Through a Locked Gate Without a Key
To bypass a locked gate without a key, Link can simply pass through a gate after transforming into a fairy.
Magic Refill Bottles
A trick with magic refill bottles allows for use of a spell, maximizing the amount of MP refilled by a magic bottle. Since the magic gauge fills slowly after picking up a magic bottle, a spell may be used as the gauge fills; using a spell during this time -- before the gauge fills completely -- causes MP to deplete, but the MP gauge continues to refill because of the magic bottle.
Warping
During the side-scrolling sections, sometimes the level layout allows for the possibility of Link jumping above the status gauges at the top of the screen. Jumping above the stats and using the fairy spell, while moving to a side, causes a warp glitch (Link appears to fall through a hole). Link might reappear in another room, at the top of a castle or back in the same room. While using this glitch, holding the "Up" button prevents Link from getting permanently stuck in the event that he reappears around the elevator at a castle's entrance.
Skip to Link's Second Quest
Entering "ZELDA" as a file name causes the game to begin in the second quest.