Uploaded January 2017 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
This video shows the introduction to Zelda II, comparing just the background layer (bottom left) and just the sprite layer (top right) against the complete image (top left and bottom right).
Note how the stars and sparkling water are all on the sprite layer, as well as the sword and the part of the rocks that stick out above the point where the scrolling splits.
The sprite rocks are also used to hide visual glitches that were the result of how difficult it is to do precise timing on the NES.
The stationary part of the background ends up being copied several times to accomodate the vertical wrapping of the internal graphics memory. It has to move out of the way of the text! Illustration here:
twitter.com/bbbradsmith/status/817258998831333376
Zelda II for the NES
Nintendo, 1987
This video shows the introduction to Zelda II, comparing just the background layer (bottom left) and just the sprite layer (top right) against the complete image (top left and bottom right).
Note how the stars and sparkling water are all on the sprite layer, as well as the sword and the part of the rocks that stick out above the point where the scrolling splits.
The sprite rocks are also used to hide visual glitches that were the result of how difficult it is to do precise timing on the NES.
The stationary part of the background ends up being copied several times to accomodate the vertical wrapping of the internal graphics memory. It has to move out of the way of the text! Illustration here:
twitter.com/bbbradsmith/status/817258998831333376
Zelda II for the NES
Nintendo, 1987
