I remember the first time I found Mario’s face plastered on a wall inside a house in A Link to the Past’s Kakariko Village. This discovery alone was enough to excite me, being such a diehard Nintendo fan even as a young lad. Things only got better when, for whatever reason, I decided to make Link pull on the plumber’s portrait. My strange impulse was then rewarded, as rupees came flying unexpectedly out of the wall.
I felt like a boss. Here I was, a kid playing Zelda with no strategy guide, internet access or advice from other players, and I had found a secret all on my own. It wasn’t until now, around 20 years later, that I found out that this is just one of many “pull spots” scattered across the game’s map, with 11 other places that also reward the player when Link grabs hold and somehow yanks rupees into existence.
I thought I knew you, A Link to the Past. You really pulled one over on me.
Yeah, yeah. I’m sure there are some of you who already knew about all of these. You are hereby recognized as very smart people. Even you have to admit, though, that this is a very underlooked feature that doesn’t get raised often in A Link to the Past discussions. According to Nintendo Life, Benjamin Daws (who goes by Do Whatever Games on YouTube) felt the same way and recently uploaded a video that highlights all 12 of these locations.
They are rather tricky to find without guidance, especially as some are specific to either the Light or Dark World (there are seven in the former, and five in the latter). On top of this, three can only be used before you defeat Agahnim, and three are only accessible after you defeat the big bad.
Even more interestingly, the type of rupees you receive depends on your performance in combat. At the 39-second mark, Daws explains that you will receive Green, Blue, and Red Rupees (or nothing at all) depending on the number of enemies you have defeated and how much damage you have taken.
If that’s not enough to satisfy your greed for rupees, there are many more secret riches to uncover in Hyrule, all laid out in the Hidden Rupees section of our A Link to the Past guide.
I’m looking forward to my next playthrough more than ever now that I have these to hunt down. After all, if I learned anything from Super Mario 64, there’s never a bad time to pull on Mario’s face.
