Thanks to a Google+ post by Brian Green, I spent part of last night reading through Legends of Localization: The Legend of Zelda.
It’s a fascinating breakdown of the differences between the NES and Famicon Disk System versions of The Legend of Zelda. I had no idea that that the Famicon had a microphone on the second controller or that the audio capabilities of the systems were so different.
I also realized that it has been so long since I have played the game that I’ve forgotten some of the strange text and secrets.
The author has done a few other comparisons, including Earthbound, Super Mario Bros, and Final Fantasy IV, or as those of us who grew up in the US called it, Final Fantasy II.
