Unused Parts

There aren't quite as many unused elements of Link's Awakening as I'd hoped, but what is there is at least interesting. Most of the unused sprites are DX Photo parts, but there are some in both versions alongside 5 unused (or otherwise unreachable) rooms in the game as well.

I supplied my own hypotheses for what each might have been a part of based on both educated guess and their placement in the sprite sheet. These are completely personal, so if you have completely accurate description, feel free to bug me on AIM or something. ;)


Sprites
Cloaked Man This guy looks like any old cloaked guy from previous Zelda games. Who knows what he was originally meant to be, but he was scrapped in the end. His sprites are dangerously close to the Shrouded Stalfos, though.
Goriya Yes, the Goriya is in the game, but they didn't program him to turn around like this. Visit his cave and walk around him to see what I mean.

It's odd to see this: in-game, if you get to the Goriya cave by way of glitches and before you have the Magnifying Lens, you meet a glitched foe. The programming for the Goriya character is still there, though -- this makes me think he was originally meant to be an enemy.
Foot A foot was included amongst the other text pictures (faces, trade items, etc.). It was never used in-game, but I assume it was meant to either imply walking or distance on foot. Perhaps it used to be on some of the signs around Richard's Villa until they converted feet to minutes?
Magnifying Lens While the rest of the trade sequence items have miniature pictures for textbox use, the Magnifying Lens never had its icon shown.
Lion head This lion statue head is among the sprites of Kanalet Castle and the Southern Shrine. Perhaps it was meant to be a decoration, implying valiance?
Dog Food? This seems to be what the Dog Food looked like originally.
Frog Another sprite that looks like it *should* be in-game, but isn't. The frogs alongside Mamu never turn their heads this direction.
Weird face I have no clue where this would be used. It seems to be some generic happy dude.
Oblong Piranha This particular piece of the Piranha sprite never got used. It seems to be a sprite of the pirahna moving up/down; all Piranhas in the game, however, move left/right only, and there's no sprites of the fish outside the water to match this.
Ahh, an enemy! This flying critter might be an orignal design for the Vire or the Mad Batter. It does tend to bear a striking resemblance to the Vire's dual Keese when struck....
Seagull Swarm These gulls were probably meant to adorn the sky in the photograph on the beach with Marin.
Link Dodges Link looks like he's dodging something here. It's not known what, but this was found around the photograph data of the Rooster Statue.
Angry Link This might've been what Link looked like while getting frustrated with Tarin in the Rooster Statue photograph. It's assumed to have been mirrored, as this half is the only one found.
Odd Link A prototype for Link during some photograph events, perhaps? He does look kinda odd; I'm glad they scrapped this one.
Tarin Alternative The only differences between this and the real event in-game is Link's expression (in the final cut, his eyes are looking at Tarin) and that Tarin seems to have shrunk a few pixels.
Shine This was found around the bomb photograph pieces. I assume it was meant to be around either the shopkeep's or Link's eyes, akin to the shines seen in anime when someone's keeping a sharp lookout on something.
Unused Rooms
This room I claim to be my own secret area since the day so long ago that I stumbled upon it with the warp code. It empties out into the Kanalet Castle moat along a narrow passage north that seems to hold nothing special. I assume this room was meant to be found by diving, but either they had troubles programming it in or replaced the treasure with a Heart Piece.

While I don't know for certain if the enemies are Shrouded Stalfos (the only way to get there legit makes them glitched), I picked those, though Pig Moblins are probable, too.

Found in Kanalet Castle, this may've been the original means to get to the second floor, as the north staircase goes to Floor 2 and the bottom to Floor 1. You exit through walls in both cases, giving me the idea that this basement replaced the instant transport staricase that was used in the final product. Perhaps they realized that a basement couldn't lead to a second floor? Who knows.
This room in L:7 appears on Floor 3 before you destroy the pillars on Floor 2. It looks like it was meant to be found normally, but due to Crystal Switches, it simply cannot be done.
Directly to the right of the previous lost screen is this. The programmers knew there wouldn't be a legit way to get here, so I assume they placed this staircase -- leading to Floor 4 -- in the middle for easy access while testing the level.
Prototype
Prototype shots
This appeared in a Nintendo Power prior to the release of LA. It seems to be unnamed and contained many differences, claiming to be 70% complete.
  • Shot 1) - Here we see the original map layout. What's odd immediately about it is that it is 15x16 (unless a row is cut off?) and that Koholint was superbly mixed around. Mabe, Kanalet Castle, and Face Shrine seem to be vaguely in place, but Goponga Swamp is where Yarna Desert should be, the Tal Tal Mountain Range is cramped into the northeast corner, and a few other notable changes are there. Rather odd to me are the huge blank spaces around the map and the weird tree just southeast of Mabe.
  • Shot 2) - Link gets the sword in front of Face Shrine. The design is very similar to LttP's first level -- perhaps they saw this as a notable place to begin as well? It's also wholly possible that Link is brandishing his sword to open the shrine, too -- we'll never know.
  • Shot 3) - Link fights the Moldorm. Notice that the door never shut and the room seems to go nowhere. Maybe this was a test room for bosses until they coded the entrapment? The floor tiles and pit locations are also very different from the final game's layout.
Japanese/English Differences
OH! An obvious change is the text in Manbo's "OH!" exclamation.
Artsy Hippo In the U.S. release, the Hippo that Schule is painting looks harmless enough, yet oddly immediately sits every time Link enters the house. This is because originally, she was meant to be a nude model, hiding behind a cloth when Link enters. NOA surely axed this due to the nudity, even though it's meant to be for artistic reasons.
Brassiere?Small Brassiere? Another oddity (that becomes apparent after seeing this change) is the mermaid's flushed face when Link sees her in Martha's Bay. Surely a lost necklace isn't enough to prevent you from sitting atop your favorite rock, eh? Also, why does she flee when Link dives under the water near her?

Simply put, she originally lost her top in the Japanese version, which is why she looks and acts so flustered. This is also why she's so quick to flee when Link tries to take a peek while diving. This change is really rather funny and gives a more flirtatious feel to the game.

Zelda: Link's Awakening Guide Top