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Spoilers Ahead:

I'll start with some things I did like about this hack. You don't start off with a sword but do get a boomerang that's does damage and stuns enemies (cool add in). The sword was easy to find in the overworld. I was able to beat Level 1 without the sword but didn't like the fact I could get trapped in the Dodongo boss room if I didn't have bombs and have to take a death for. Potions were cheap in the shops which was nice, didn't need the letter for them either. Custom music in the flute from your ordinary flute noise. I did like the new overworld and level re-designs, but now I get to the cons of this game

I didn't like I had to remember having to track back to level 1 with the bait (barf bag in this game) to get the bracelet to get to level 3. Over-priced red lantern (should be given in a level) when the game expects you to burn a lot of places in the overworld. Not really a fan of putting early levels in Lynel territories for level 3 & 4. Levels 1 & 2 were good beginner dungeons for the game, and starting Level 3 off with no up-grades was not so bad with the Darknuts because they could easily be cheesed to kill. But Level 4, no up-grades against Wizrobes? Even with potions it was too much. Level 5 having Blue Darknuts and shooters with no up-grades is a big yikes, (gotta give the player a break with these sorts of things) and nobody likes enemies that always return, that should be taken out of your game. Couldn't get a shield, blue ring, or White sword (at least those 2 were free) until after a repugnant of a Level 5 because you needed the raft for those 3 up-grades. Level 6 was ok, but still brutal with blue Wizrobes and red/blue bubbles everywhere (And 8 Reb bubbles before Gleeok boss room!?). Level 7-8 weren't as bad, Level 9 was way too huge and way to brutal for me. I liked the Dark Link Ganon fight though. Unnecessary spikes in every pendant room, could cause a death with low health and have to re-do the dungeons all over again. and Moblin secrets were useless.

After several deaths and many hours into this game and fully completing this game, I want to give The3Dude credit for a challenging hack but I can't recommand anyone playing this game unless they're up for the challenge themselves. He did a great job, just wasn't for me

5/10

Updated Review; The latest version of this mod includes several difficulty modes for players of every skill level. All of the discovered bugs/glitches(there doesn't seem to be any more) have been fixed and this mod is now refined to what could be considered close to a retail product. Well done! If you enjoy LOZ1 and are looking for a new experience, you will not be disappointed here.

Original review as follows; Judged on it's own merits, this is a very worthy take on LOZ 1. The graphics are very well done and creative. The remake of the OST is subtle and yet different enough to make it new.

That having been said this is not a game mod for the casual gamer. This is for those who like an extreme challenge.

GENERAL THOUGHTS: There have been a lot of these types of Zelda 1 hacks, and this one is really no different.

The overworld is kind of ugly and bland, and just a mess of mazes The color palettes chosen are incredibly drab. The ocean looks like gray rocks. Most passageways are made entirely too small, meaning enemies will most certainly spawn to halter your progression.

Hiding away the weapons and requiring you to read a readme manual for vague hints is not a lot of fun either. I'd get it if it was a really good game that came with a quality printed manual.

SOME POSITIVES: The added touch of some small original tunes is a nice touch. The dungeon entrances and graveyards have quite a neat look to them.

CONCLUSION: Overall, it's not awful. But it's certainly not much fun. (As of v1.0 - See below for updated review).

EDIT/ADDENDUM TO ORIGINAL REVIEW OF v1.0: The author has generously updated the hack to make it much more accessible, and as such, it's only fair to update my review.

I feel the comments made by snarfblam perfectly sum up what's lacking with this hack. It's still got ways to go to be truly enjoyable without having to abuse savestates. All the fake shops adds nothing but punishment. There needs to be a balance of fun and punishing, and it's not quite there.

The effort is worthy of praise nonetheless.

The3Dude continues to amaze with some very formidable hacks for sure, and Trial of Courage is not exception!

What is most exciting about these hacks is that they continue to improve upon the ones made before. Keep in mind that T3D's hacks are fiercely difficult to play because they do not hold your hand from the beginning.

In fact, NONE of these hacks are for beginners, at all! Only those who enjoy crazy, torturous game plays with severe handicaps will salivate at the grind they're about to embark on. But that's the nature of these hacks, take it or leave it :)

The graphics are superb on this latest hack, and you'll find yourself immersed in a whole new world, redrawn from the ground up. On the heels of Link's Shadow, it's almost like this quest picks up where that one left off.

I like to highlight the fact that these hacks were birthed within a chromebook. It's hard enough to develop a game in a regular computer, but when your development is done on basically a web browser, you have to take your hat off to the dev, whether or not you care for the play difficulty.

Finally, if you like to eat nails for breakfast, then this is a must-play hack for you! You are the hunter, but you're also the prey, may the best character win!!

Having beaten The3Dude's previous hacks, I can't wait to make it to the finish; this one's been pretty brutal so far!

With the latest revisions made to this hack, you do see that The3Dude's committed to making a hack for all, not making two, but four separate hacks, each with a varying degree of difficulty. Consider this setup then a Trial of Courage dojo of sorts, and like The Karate Kid, you must evolve your game play to see if you have what it takes to become a veteran fighter.

The3Dude's truly brought the UFC to LoZ, LoL! :D

Currently I have cleared level 6. I recorded all my experiences on YouTube. Search trial of courage

This game is very difficult and has a great sense of accomplishment. It is very important to look at the manual in order to finish this game. It is a gem hidden in a wide world. It is worth scouting the wide world. I recommend this game to Zelda Mania. It is a Zelda game that a person who clears all Zelda games must enjoy.

I am recommending this hack because I believe there is great potential here.

Like a previous review, I have also given up at Dungeon 2. For now... I plan on coming back to this if a few changes are made or at least a complete walk through becomes available. There is just too much backtracking and not knowing what to do next. A general map of the over world with a few areas listed would be great.

The game is just too hard in it's current state and a few little edits would go a long way. I feel as this could really open up the hack to a larger audience.

1. Please increase the power of the boomerang. I understand that the closer you are, the more damage it does. This still needs some adjusting. It seems like it has no power when Link is just 1 block away. It has mega power if Link's sprite is touching the enemy sprite. Adjust this sliding scale just a little more and the game would be much more fun! If I'm just 1 block away, let that boomerang have some power! Here's another idea too, if the boomerang travels really far, make it ultra powerful. Like a sniper shot or something. If I could hit an enemy all the way across the screen and kill a strong enemy, that would feel really good too.

2. Less backtracking between dungeons. I'm not saying get rid of it, but less would be good. I got the bag and knew where to take it. That was great and rewarding. I liked it. But now I need a key for dungeon two. I can buy one for 200 or probably find it back in dungeon one. This is where I gave up. Just didn't feel like going back to dungeon one again. Or farming 200 rupees. Please keep the dungeon keys in the same dungeons. Backtracking for a few quest items is cool though!

3. Let dungeon bosses stay dead. Yeah not cool to know you need 6 bombs every time you enter that dungeon. This was the 1st time I save stated. If just feels like a pain in the butt to keep doing it. As the player, you expect some big enemies to stay dead.

4. Walk through and maps please! I would love a walk through or please expand the hints in the manual just a little bit. I found the 1st heart container. I really hate using the flame on every bush on the screen. And then when I found it, I had to walk a ways to get to it. More on screen clues could work here. Also the pay to fix doors people are not good. You get this rush of discovery and then I'm like @#$%#$! This happened twice so far. Maybe replace them with hints and clues?

In conclusion, I did have some enjoyment when I started, but quickly things got out of control. I can see the love that went in to this. I know the author is an expert Zelda player. Maybe make 2 versions of this hack. An Easy Type and a Hard type. That way it can open up for more people to enjoy.

Thanks for this!

And if the author doesn't make any changes, I will come back to this once there is more info about it in the wild.

MINOR SPOILERS

The graphics look nice. Clearly a lot of work went into this. The polish shows in certain areas, and there are some clever touches too. The chickens were good for a laugh.

Unfortunately, though, this hack continues the disappointing tradition of starting with a swordless segment. You do get a boomerang that does a modicum of damage (provided that you happen to go the right direction from the start screen). Wandering around trying to find the first dungeon is unnecessarily painful when you have to stop and jackhammer even the weakest of enemies with the boomerang to kill them. Over-use of door repair caves don't help the situation. Case-in-point, a certain landmark that bore some resemblance to one from the original game: I felt clever when I took it as a hint that there was a secret there. Not so much when I got punished for my observational skills.

It doesn't get much better when you get to level one. The first half of the dungeon entails trying to blindly feel your way through darkened rooms. Without a sword. Once you do get the candle, you need to hit the subscreen twice in every room, once to light it up, and again to re-equip your boomerang.

I tried really hard to give this a chance. Finding the second dungeon took ages, and my advice is if you feel like you're on the wrong track, you're probably going the right way. Again sans sword, and really getting your money's worth with that subscreen, I tried to tackle level 2. After fighting a room with three Dodongos, dying, and realizing that I now needed to leave and farm some bombs because the three Dodongos respawn, I threw in the towel. It's not the most frustrating moment I experienced, but it was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I can tell that there's a really good hack hiding under all that frustration. If you're down for a hard hack, or don't mind abusing savestates, you very well may enjoy this hack. I suspect that with the right testers, a few small but critical changes might have been made to give this hack much wider appeal.

Both the Overworld and Dungeons were nicely designed. The clues were not hard to understand. Once you beat a dungeon, you are given reasons to revisit a previous dungeon for items or keys.

The Overworld is easy enough to transverse most places if you have a sword and Hero Shield. Without them makes some area a challenge unless you make good use of the Boomerang, Bombs, and Red Candle. While you don't start off with a weapon, going down 1 screen and then left 1 screen, and push the 1st grave right in front of you(You don't need the bracelet), and you will acquire the Boomerang which can kill enemies with enough hits. Bombs are easier to replenish especially in Dungeons. Plus the shop with the Red Candle also has Bombs for free. Grinding early on to buy the Red Candle would make life a bit easier in this game.

No worries for Sword wielding people as you'll get your 1st sword when you're ready to venture to Level 3.

Level 9 is definitely a challenge worth playing as there are no shortcuts for it. You will travel to nearly every room in order to beat it.

As you beat the bosses of the dungeons and enter the Triforce/Tear room, don't be so hasty to get it. A number of Levels have secrets beyond the room by finding what wall to walk through including the Silver Arrows. Yes, you get Silver Arrows before Level 9.

If you're looking for a fun new Zelda experience that will truly challenge you, then this is the game for you. Do you have the courage to take on this challenge?

excellent design! very good graphics, well-designed sprites, very good gameplay!

Maybe it's something common in Zelda hacks, I don't know, but what is the GD point of having me wander around the map without a weapon? There's nothing fun about that. I got so bored in fact I put on turbo and just ran through the baddies.

If you're not going to start me with a weapon at least put it somewhere where I'll find it within a few minutes of play. This is boring af.

I'm not going to judge most of the hack because I'm not going to play it. It's a shame because I like the level designs, each screen I saw was pretty cool. The bad guys were hard enough to put some pressure on you to move your butt without being so hard that it's taxing going through the maps. Link looks pretty dang good as does everything else. It should be a really great hack and if folks are normally into running around and not fighting I guess it is.

I made it to the snowy area, still no weapon, turbo'd through quite a bit of it, and stopped. I really appreciate the work put in but I don't play Zelda to dodge and run away. I kill everything. No killing = no fun = ruined your own hack as far as I am concerned.