# The Legend of Zelda: a work-in-progress NES disassembly

> zeldasource disassembles the NES release of The Legend of Zelda into banked assembly files. Its CC65 build uses an original iNES ROM supplied by the user and checks the rebuilt image against an MD5 checksum.

- Type: Case study
- Targets: Game
- Category: Independent reconstruction cases
- Relationship: Independent reconstruction project
- Sources reviewed: 2026-11-06
- Added to the catalog: 2026-11-09
- Original resource: <https://github.com/camthesaxman/zeldasource>
- Primary source: <https://github.com/camthesaxman/zeldasource/blob/c1de2873089cf1133b97c591827574845d2d3e65/README.md>
- Catalog page: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/legend-of-zelda-nes-disassembly-case/>
- Record JSON: <https://awesomerea.org/resources/legend-of-zelda-nes-disassembly-case/record.json>
- Chinese version: [简体中文](https://awesomerea.org/zh/resources/legend-of-zelda-nes-disassembly-case/index.md)

## Requirements & limits

- **Prerequisites:** A Unix-like environment, GNU Make, the CC65 toolchain, and the user's original iNES ROM named zelda_base.nes.
- **Limits:** The disassembly is a work in progress.
- **License:** No licence file in the repository.

## Primary sources

1. <https://github.com/camthesaxman/zeldasource/blob/c1de2873089cf1133b97c591827574845d2d3e65/README.md>
2. <https://github.com/camthesaxman/zeldasource/blob/c1de2873089cf1133b97c591827574845d2d3e65/Makefile>

## More in Games

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- [The Peacock Project: HITMAN trilogy server replacement](https://awesomerea.org/resources/peacock-hitman-server-case/index.md) · Case study
- [The Urbz: Sims in the City: Nintendo DS ARM9 disassembly and function map](https://awesomerea.org/resources/urbz-sims-in-the-city-ds-case/index.md) · Case study
- [Thexder: NES level and disassembly analysis](https://awesomerea.org/resources/thexder-nes-analysis-case/index.md) · Case study
- [TimeSplitters: Future Perfect — native PC rebuild](https://awesomerea.org/resources/timesplitters-future-perfect-pc-rebuild-case/index.md) · Case study
- [Titanic: an osu! Bancho server reconstruction across client generations](https://awesomerea.org/resources/titanic-osu-bancho-case/index.md) · Case study

## About this entry

The description was reviewed against primary sources.
Original editorial content: MIT. Linked projects, papers and assets retain their own rights and licenses.